The Best Nonogram and Picross Apps for iPhone (2026)

Our picks: for 3D picross, Carve (handcrafted, logic-only, one-time unlocks) or PiKuBo. For a huge flat library, Nonogram.com or Nonograms CrossMe. For lots of free puzzles, Nonograms 999. The details are below. App features and prices change, so this reflects their App Store listings in October 2026.

On this page

1. What makes a good nonogram app?
2. 1. Carve: 3D Nonogram Puzzles (best for 3D picross)
3. 2. PiKuBo (another 3D option)
4. 3. Nonogram.com (best big library)
5. 4. Nonograms CrossMe (best for huge grids)
6. 5. Nonograms 999 (best for free puzzles)
7. Side-by-side comparison
8. If you want something relaxing and offline
9. Not on iPhone, but worth knowing

Disclosure: we make Carve, so we're not neutral about it. We've tried to be fair to everything else on the list, and to say plainly where another app is the better fit.

What makes a good nonogram app?

• Logic-only puzzles. A good nonogram has exactly one solution you can reach without guessing. Randomly generated puzzles sometimes break this rule.
• Mistake handling you like. Some apps warn you instantly when you fill a wrong cell; others let you find your own errors. Neither is wrong, but it changes the feel a lot.
• A fair business model. Look at how ads appear (forced between puzzles, or optional) and whether there's a one-time way to remove them or unlock content.
• Comfortable controls for big grids. Zoom, drag-to-fill and undo matter more the bigger the puzzles get.
• Offline play, if you solve on planes or the subway.

1. Carve: 3D Nonogram Puzzles (best for 3D picross)

Carve is our 3D nonogram game. Instead of filling a flat grid, you start with a solid stone block and chip away cubes using numbered clues on each face. A bar, two dots or three dots under each number tell you whether that line's cubes form one, two, or three-or-more groups. When the last cube goes, a handcrafted voxel sculpture is revealed and added to your gallery.

• Puzzles: 200, handcrafted, in six chapters of rising size and difficulty.
• Logic: every puzzle solvable by pure deduction, with short interactive lessons for newcomers.
• Price: free to download, with Chapter 1 (30 puzzles) free. The other chapters unlock individually or with a one-time Unlock All. No subscription.
• Ads: only optional rewarded ads, which you can choose to watch for a hint or a continue.
• Offline: yes, all puzzles are built into the app.

Best for: fans of Nintendo's Picross 3D, and anyone who's played a lot of flat picross and wants something that feels new. Less good for: people who want thousands of puzzles; Carve is a curated set.

2. PiKuBo (another 3D option)

PiKuBo is a 3D nonogram for iPhone and Android from developer Daniel Benito, released in 2024. Like Carve, you remove cubes from a larger block to uncover a shape. It has more than 400 puzzles; the first pack is free and further packs are small in-app purchases. TouchArcade called it “a solid take on 3D Picross,” though it felt some of the paid packs were on the easy side.

Best for: 3D picross fans who want more puzzles after finishing Carve, or vice versa.

3. Nonogram.com (best big library)

Nonogram.com, from Easybrain (the studio behind Sudoku.com), is one of the most popular picross apps on the App Store. It advertises thousands of puzzles across difficulty levels, including colour pictures, plus hints and automatic crosses on finished lines. It's free with ads, and a one-time No Ads purchase is available.

Best for: anyone who wants an endless supply of polished flat nonograms and doesn't mind ads (or will pay to remove them).

4. Nonograms CrossMe (best for huge grids)

CrossMe, from Dynamix Software, is a long-running app with a loyal following among serious solvers. Its listing covers sizes from 10×10 up to giant 90×90 puzzles, black-and-white and colour sets, random puzzle generation, and offline play. It's free with ads; extra levels and hints are in-app purchases.

Best for: experienced solvers who want very large puzzles and a deep library.

5. Nonograms 999 (best for free puzzles)

As the name suggests, Nonograms 999 offers 999 free puzzles, with auto-save, auto-fill and undo and redo, and it's been adding new puzzles through 2026. Its in-app purchase is a hint pack rather than a content paywall.

Best for: trying nonograms for the first time without spending anything.

Side-by-side comparison

If you want something relaxing and offline

A lot of people play picross to unwind, and the genre suits it: there's no clock, and every move is a small, certain deduction instead of a gamble. If that's what you're after, look for apps with no timers and puzzles that never need guessing. Then turn off notifications and play in airplane mode. Carve was designed around exactly that feeling: no timers, no pressure, and a little sculpture at the end of each solve.

Not on iPhone, but worth knowing

If you also have a Nintendo Switch, Jupiter's Picross S series is the gold standard for flat picross on a console, and new editions are still coming out. Nintendo's original Picross 3D games are DS and 3DS only.

New to all of this? Start with our beginner's guide to solving nonograms; it takes about five minutes.