Shimeji screen pets play & climb on your apps. Draw or AI-create your own!
Shimeji: Screen Buddies adds adorable screen mascots that walk and climb on your apps, with AI-generated characters and customizable frames. It commands strong personalization traction across regions (#44 in fr, #71 in ca, #82 in ch) and a solid rating from hundreds of thousands of users. Total downloads: 10,000,000+; in the last 30 days: 99K.
Pros & Cons
AI-powered character creation from text prompts for unique mascots
Supports up to 10 characters on screen for a lively home screen
Original built-in characters plus PC Shimeji pack import for Android
Frame-by-frame editor for precise customization and restyling
Strong user reception with a solid rating from hundreds of thousands of ratings
Competitors often emphasize anime, kawaii or IP-based mascots; Shimeji focuses on original content and AI creation
Permissions include ad services IDs and storage; ensure clear privacy practices and license compliance
The appโs feature set is highly creator-focused, which may require more user effort to fully utilize
About Shimeji: Screen Buddies
Shimeji: Screen Buddies is a personalization app developed by Digital Cosmos.
Download Statistics
Shimeji: Screen Buddies has been downloaded 33 million times. In the last 30 days, the app was downloaded 99 thousand times. It is ranked in the top 100 personalization apps.
User Ratings
Shimeji: Screen Buddies is rated 4.45 out of 5 stars. The rating is based on 380 thousand ratings.
App Information
Shimeji: Screen Buddies is FREE to download. The APK download size is 10.73 MB. The latest version available is 13.4. The last update was on August 13, 2026.
Technical Requirements
The app has a content rating of Everyone. The app has been available on Google Play December 2016.
Description
Your screen is about to get a lot cuter! Shimeji: Screen Buddies fills your phone with tiny pets that walk, climb, nap and play on top of your apps. And now you can create your dream buddy just by describing it โจ
โจ Cute screen pets, always with you - Watch your buddies walk, climb, sit, sleep and explore on top of your apps - Tap, drag and toss them to see how they react - Run up to 10 characters at once for a screen full of fun - They keep you company while you chat, study, draw or browse
๐ช Magic AI: describe it, and it comes to life - Type your dream character — a pastel cat, a cookie dragon, anything! - Add colors, outfits, accessories and fantasy details - Pick your favorite from multiple generated options
๐ฌ Turn one picture into a living character - A single image becomes walking, climbing, dancing, sleeping and more - Keep only the frames you love with the frame picker - Regenerate and adjust motions until they fit your mascot
๐จ Draw and edit every frame - Brush, eraser, fill and color tools for every pose - Import your own art and turn it into a live screen buddy - Recolor, fix or restyle any frame — or duplicate a buddy and make it yours
๐ฆ Collect, create or import - Download original mascots made for Shimeji: Screen Buddies - Import compatible PC Shimeji packs and use them on Android - Build your collection with the editor, Magic AI, or both
๐ฎ Level up your favorites - Your Shimeji earn XP while they wander around your screen - Level up to unlock new moves, poses and surprises - Play with them for bonus XP and faster progress
โ๏ธ Smooth, smart and distraction-free - New animation engine for smoother, more lifelike motion - Ghost Mode: buddies stay visible but ignore touches while you game or chat - Battery-friendly, with simple controls for size, speed and behavior
๐ก๏ธ Original content All built-in characters are original creations for Shimeji: Screen Buddies. You can also draw your own, import compatible packs, or generate new originals with Magic AI.
Disclaimer Shimeji: Screen Buddies is an independent app, unrelated to the Simeji keyboard and not affiliated with any anime, game, movie or third-party IP holders. Our brand name and logo, watermarked images, UI graphics and text, app source code, original characters and curated database are protected by copyright and trademark law.
๐ What's new - Magic AI: create original characters from a text description - Magic animations from a single image, with frame picker - Full frame-by-frame editor and compatible PC Shimeji pack import - New animation engine, character levels, up to 10 buddies on screen
Adopt a buddy, create your own, and turn your phone into a tiny playground ๐
Recent changes: - Added Smart Description which can be turned on/off plus visible prompts - Fixed a bug where users would get stuck on a screen - Improved image and animation generation quality - Misc crash fixes
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and key performance statistics โ useful for competitive research or tracking your own app.
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I love this app, there isn't too many adds, you can make your own characters, and you can even find you're own without needing to make one
โ โ โ โ โ Damien Klydeยท Aug 13, 2026
The pets are so cute!! Make the AI a bit smarter when making a Shinji
โ โโโโDarkXWolf17ยท Aug 7, 2026
Was a great app. Got worse and worse over time, and now it's just AI slop. I want the old app back :c
โ โ โโโAlexandria Chicasยท Aug 6, 2026
Terrible I miss it when you could actually draw your own characters. Now, everything is just AI an i and an i it feels like working in an airplane so much stuff to do, and I don't know what, and it wasted so much of my battery. It used to allow 8 hours of playing and now five!!
โ โโโโChristina Moyleยท Aug 9, 2026
I loved this app when it was working properly. So many ads now as well. I used to have Sonic, Tails, Knuckles, Shadow and a custom-made Amy Rose. My Shinji were not moving, so I uninstalled the app and reinstalled only to find the app COMPLETELY different with only a tiny selection of animals for characters. I look online for my old beloved Shinji and see they don't exist anymore??? Are you serious?
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