Picture Buddy - A simple drawing and coloring app for kids for iOS

The iPad is a kid's dream toy. It plays games and movies, and is a finger-painting easel waiting to be tapped. So there are dozens of apps that allow children to tap, dab, and paint the screen to their heart's content. Picture Buddy is yet another of these apps, and while it doesn't bring anything new to the table, its cute presentation and simple interface are perfect for a young child.

The app is very simple, and you just start it and tap to get going. There will be a palette of colors and a slider to change the radius of the brush. Then simply drag a finger across the screen to draw a picture or fill it in. This alone is nothing new -- there are dozens of apps that do the same thing. However, by paring the functions down to their basics, removing distracting ads, and avoiding unnecessary menus, the app is a perfect fit for the young children it is designed to entertain. Choosing a color is seamless, the brush size slider is easy to use, and erasing is simple, but not so much so that it will happen, accidentally.

While Picture Buddy is not a powerful app, nor does it provide many of the advanced saving and sharing functions that other drawing apps do, it does a good job of remembering who its audience is and what that audience's parents expect from a drawing app. If you have a young toddler eager to write or draw on a screen, this is a good first app for them.