PuppetPad
Entertainment
$4.99 · In‑App Purchases · Designed for iPad. Not verified for macOS.
iPad
Behind a toy, a powerful animation tool.
You stare at one of your drawings and think "I wish this thing would actually move." PuppetPad makes that happen. Plus a few uses you haven't thought of yet.
Grab an image. A doodle from Procreate, a photo of your dog, your boss mid yawn, a regrettable selfie. The app opens it, builds an invisible mesh around the figure, and hands you pins. Drag a pin and the figure moves with it. Drag again and it becomes animation. That is the entire workflow.
YOU DON'T HAVE TO BE AN ANIMATOR
PuppetPad was made for:
. People who want memes more elaborate than Photoshop copy and paste
. Parents who want their kid's drawing to actually walk
. Graphic designers blocked on what to do with their right hand
. Anyone who wants to animate someone's profile picture without their consent
. Anyone who wants to animate someone's profile picture WITH their consent
. Beginning animators who find Live2D and Spine intimidating (rightfully so)
. Pro animators who just want a quick iPad rough
. You, who opened the App Store out of boredom
HOW IT WORKS
1. Import a PNG. The contour mesh is generated automatically. You won't see it. It just works.
2. Tap anywhere to place a pin. Pins are joints.
3. Drag pins to animate. Every move becomes a keyframe by itself.
4. Hit play.
5. Export as GIF. Send to the family group chat.
THINGS PEOPLE END UP MAKING
. Characters waving arms like they actually exist
. Cat photos performing snake dances
. Company logos pulsing like an anxious heart
. Kid drawings waving goodbye to grandma over FaceTime
. Caricatures of questionable taste
. Story vignettes
. That one meme that needed that one detail to move
. Loading animations for your own app project
. Character rough drafts before doing the polished work elsewhere
WHAT'S INSIDE THE TOY
Underneath the playful surface, PuppetPad runs a real animation engine. Alpha aware mesh generation, an ARAP solver for natural deformation, keyframed timeline, multi pin selection, bone rigs with inverse kinematics, mesh density control, undo and redo via multi finger taps. You don't need to know what any of that means to use the app. But the engineer in you might appreciate that it's there.
FEATURES
. Apple Pencil supported (works with fingers too, if that's how you live)
. iPad landscape, full screen, zero clutter
. Works offline
. No login, no signup, no newsletter
. No ads. Ever.
. GIF export
. Undo and redo (you will need them)
PRICE
One time purchase. Pay once, it's yours. No monthly subscription, no "pro version" upsell, no paywall popping up when you try to do something useful. Forever yours, the way software used to be.
WORK IN PROGRESS
PuppetPad is built by one person in the hours that life leaves over. Every bug report and every suggestion turns into a real improvement in a future version. If you want to request a feature, complain about something, send fan art of the app, or just say you liked it:
leonardoamoraleite@gmail.com
Human reply, in whatever language you write to me in, from the same person who wrote this text. XD
Thanks for considering the app. Now go animate something absurd.
Ratings & Reviews
- This app hasn’t received enough ratings or reviews to display an overview.
PuppetPad 1.3 is here — and it brings what you've been asking for.
1 - Real alpha export. Export your animations as PNG or ProRes 4444 with a fully transparent background, ready to drop into any video editor. No workarounds, no white fringe bleeding through.
2 - Depth per pin. Every pin now has a Z value — giving you full control over which part of your puppet renders on top. Arm over body, hand over arm. Exactly how it should've always worked.
3 - Copy & paste on the timeline. Found a frame you love? Paste it anywhere in your animation. That simple.
4 - And Pro Mode! Now you can generate keyframe for each pin. Like a pro!
And of course a lot of fix and improvements!
Creating an animation has never been easier!
The developer, Leonardo Amora, indicated that the app’s privacy practices may include handling of data as described below. For more information, see the developer’s privacy policy .
Data Not Collected
The developer does not collect any data from this app.
Accessibility
The developer has not yet indicated which accessibility features this app supports. Learn More
Information
- Seller
- Leonardo Amora
- Size
- 6.3 MB
- Category
- Entertainment
- Compatibility
Requires iPadOS 17.0 or later.
- iPad
Requires iPadOS 17.0 or later. - Mac
Requires macOS 14.0 or later and a Mac with Apple M1 chip or later. - Apple Vision
Requires visionOS 1.0 or later.
- iPad
- Languages
- English
- Age Rating
4+
- 4+
- In-App Purchases
Yes
- unlimited Exports $9.99
- 25 Export Tokens $2.99
- 10 Export Tokens $1.99
- 3 Export Tokens $0.99
- Copyright
- © Leonardo Amora Leite