Appworthy

Highlights: PDF Reader & Notes

Edit Research Documents/Books

Jonas Myren Ribe
Download on theApp Store
App Store rating4.5★1.6K ratings
PriceFreeIn-app $4.99–$29.99
Age4+Store age rating
Size39 MBiPhone download
CategoryProductivity
DeveloperJonas Myren Ribe

What we found

Full report

Too little checked to say Store information only. We haven’t analysed this app or read its reviews yet.

Money

  • Free to download · in-app purchases $4.99–$29.99 (3 listed). Monthly plan $4.99 (about $60 a year). The other purchases’ names don’t say how often they bill.
  • If you subscribe through the store, cancel in iPhone Settings → your name → Subscriptions. Deleting the app doesn’t cancel a subscription.

Not yet tested.

The store currently lists version 2026.3.1, updated 2026-10-19.

Preview

Screenshot 1Screenshot 2Screenshot 3Screenshot 4Screenshot 5Screenshot 6Screenshot 7Screenshot 8

Store screenshots supplied by the developer.

About this app

"... an app that students, academics, and anyone who does substantial amounts of PDF-based research should try" - Macstories.net

"It’s the novel approach to PDF annotation that makes this app a cut above the rest"- TapSmart.com

*** "App of the Day" - App Store, US ***

USE HIGHLIGHTS FOR FREE

Highlights is a fast and lightweight PDF reader (under 10MB) packed with features to help you do your best research.

Free users have access to standard PDF reader features including document browsing, reading and annotating. There are NO ADS, time limits or tracking.…

From the developer’s store description.

For developers and the curious

The full report

The evidence, sources, measurements and versions behind every label above.

Findings and evidence

Not yet tested
Not yet tested. No analysis has been published for this app. A missing label is not a clean bill of health.

What reviewers report

No review coverage

No review analysis published for this app.

Measurements

4 measured · 4 not assessed

“Not assessed” means we could not measure it. It is never a zero and never a pass.

From store data and reviews

Developer replies to reviews
Replies to fewer than 1 review in 20
Price in the store description
The store description doesn’t list prices (most don’t)
Cancelling, in the store description
The store description says how to cancel
Themes reported by reviewers
Not assessed
This app's reviews have not been assessed yet
Five-star share of ratings
65–79% five-star
Arithmetic on the stores' own published rating counts. It says nothing about why the ratings fall where they do.

In the app package we scanned

No package has been scanned for this app, so nothing is published about what it ships. That is an absence of evidence, not a finding.

Sensitive permissions
Not assessed
No package has been scanned for this app
Analytics or tracking SDKs in the scanned package
Not assessed
No package has been scanned for this app
Advertising SDKs in the scanned package
Not assessed
No package has been scanned for this app
How we know

Supporting measurements: not a complete list of possible harms or positives. Measurement vocabulary 1.4 · how these are measured

Versions and dates analysed

Not yet tested

Not yet tested. No analysis has been run for this app, so there is no version or date to report.

Store update history

Each store’s release notes, as the developer wrote them. They are the developer’s words, not ours.

App Store

Version 2026.3.1 · 2026-10-19
The iPhone Duo release with a whole new page layout mode called Auto where unfolding will automatically switch from single to two-page layout for a book-like experience. The Auto page layout mode is also available on iPads when rotating from portrait to landscape, but is off by default. To enable it go More (...) > Settings > Page Layout and select Auto. The default on iPad is Single page layout which will slide in the notes panel when rotating from portrait to landscape. The aspect ratios of the inner and outer displays on the iPhone Duo are ideal working with PDFs. To really utilize the space, Highlights lets you view PDF documents edge-to-edge in both the folded and unfolded state. The…

Shortened here; the full notes are on the store listing.

Assessment record

Status
Not yet tested
App identifier
highlights
Sources used
None recorded
Reviews read
None recorded
Package examined
No package scan
Human inspection
Not completed
How we know
Measurement vocabulary
1.4

Store facts

App Store

What the stores publish. Store ratings are the stores’ numbers, not Appworthy’s, and are never averaged across stores.

App Store

Store rating
4.54 ★ · 1,623 ratings
Version
2026.3.1
Updated
19 Oct 2026
Price
Free · In-app purchases
Age rating
4+
Size
39 MB
Open in App Store
Developer
Jonas Myren Ribe
Category
Productivity
Listing price
Free · In-app purchases

Purchases the store lists

 What this app sells

From the store listing. Billing terms are read from each purchase’s name — the stores don’t publish them — so treat them as a strong hint, not a disclosure.

Subscriptions1
Highlights Pro: MonthlyMonthly$4.99
Show 2 more purchases we couldn’t categorise

These are really on sale; we just can’t tell from the name whether they recur.

Highlights ProTerm not stated$29.99
Highlights Pro: Legacy UpgradeTerm not stated$29.99

Method and limits

What this report can and cannot show

What a missing label means

Not yet tested. No analysis has been published for this app, so there is no method to describe for it yet. A missing label is not a clean bill of health: it means nothing has been read, not that nothing is wrong.

Limits of this report

  • A package scan is static. It identifies code and text in one Android build. It does not measure a live ad session, test a deletion request, or count the steps needed to cancel.
  • Reviews keep their sample. A review-only charge shows distinct reviewers, the share and the sample size, and is published only once it clears that label’s published threshold. Calibration labels are machine-drafted and not yet confirmed by a person.
  • Not assessed is a state. It is never a zero and never a pass.
  • A missing label is not a clean bill of health. It means the evidence did not support one, not that the app is problem-free.
Not yet human-reviewed. A human review gives an app hands-on, recorded measurements. None has been run for this app. Hands-on inspections are not yet open.
Review thresholds Read the methodology For developers

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