Pencil Planner & Calendar Pro User Reviews

Reviews Summary

Top reviews

I like to nitpick apps

But there’s nothing to complain about with this. It’s everything I’ve wanted for a long time.

The ability to write on my calendar and have it show up in different views is awesome. It’s the perfect modern take on a paper planner. You can write on it but it pulls in all your digital data. So perfect. I’m hoping for reminders support down the line or things integration, but I’d rathe not have that than have it done poorly. Right now everything is done really well.

I use this almost exclusively on my iPad. Total joy to use. iPhone is a bit rougher, but that’s mostly a screen size/iOS (ie no pencil) limitation. Maybe they’ll figure it out. But iPhone is great for viewing info, not as great for entering. That’s to be expected for a app that’s really defined by the use of the Apple Pencil.

Thank you for a great app. Definitely worth the subscription price. Looking forward to the updates over the years.

Apple should showcase this app.
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Anxious for updates. Best planner!

I love this app. I'm sooo anxious for the road map items! I upgraded to the pro version right away because of how great it already is. As soon as the updates come in, this app will be #1 for planner lovers. I know how important honest reviews are, so I wanted to do my part and share my opinion. I purchased some digital journals/ planners prior to discovering this app and I'm sad I lost that $$ because since downloading this app, I have not gone back. I was looking for something similar to a physical journal where I could write and decorate and express myself, but at the same time use my digital calendar equally. This is exactly that! I love it!
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Great, no subscription, no further purchases

Great app, works just as advertised, what you see in the preview pics is what you get. Of course you’ll need a pencil for best use but if you’re looking at this app you probably already know that.

Works perfectly

So far no issues

Best iPad planner that works with Apple Pencil

I like this planner app a lot. Using it on my iPad Pro as a replacement for my Hobonichi Techo Cousin paper planner.

I also added a screen protector to my iPad Pro that gives more of a paper feel when writing with the Apple Pencil.

The planner app itself is well thought out with a clean look to the interface. Overall I’ve found it a pleasant experience to use over the last couple of weeks.

The developer has posted their features roadmap on their website. I’m really looking for the upcoming support of Apple Reminders which would simplify my workflow a lot. Also looking forward to having a notes section where I could write notes about the day or use as a journal.

I would also love to have some additional sections to the planner like a Projects section where I could keep a list of todos for projects.

Thanks for making this software! Let me know if you need any feedback or testing on upcoming features.
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One of the better ones I’ve tried!

I have been using this app for about 2 1/2 weeks or so now, and I have to day I am in love- MAJOR with this one! I have also already upgraded to the “Pro” version of the app. Which was only a couple of bucks.
~I am a huge fan of hand drawing/writing/lettering on the tablet, so it would only make sense that working with my journal/planner the style in which I enter the info (typing on a keypad vs “hand writing”). Great layout and options for page designs...Simple lined pages or dotted or combo... Have not found any sort of “issues” as of yet, but I will update if I have any. Keep up the great work, developers!
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Great app but wish it had reminders integration or recurring tasks

I really love how this app looks and works. They did a great job recreating the planner experience on a iPad. Unfortunately it won’t work for me personally for a couple reasons. 1. I have different calendars synced with my iPad & iPhone so the extra appointments overlap with my written notes (I’m not deducting stars for this because you can limit the number of appointments you see) unfortunately my personal preference is to see all of them which doesn’t really work with the handwriting functionality. And 2. I really need a way to sync with the reminders app in the same way the app syncs with calendars. Mostly because I have so many recurring tasks. Please let me know if that ever gets added and I would come back to this app.

Also, please note that this app doesn’t have stickers, tape etc. I like the minimalist look so this isn’t a deal breaker for me. But thought I would mention it.
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Great concept needs refinement

Great idea. A calendar integrated note taking.
Needs more space for meeting associated notes please. You are the only app in this space so far that I can find. Please help me help support you🙏🏻

Response from developer

Thanks for the support! We totally agree, notes are on our feature roadmap! https://pencilplanner.app/roadmap/ 

Good and very handy

I’m sure the developers will try to constantly improve this app. It’s very handy, I like it, but there is a feeling that something is missing.

Response from developer

Thanks for the feedback! We would love to hear what you are missing from the planner, please reach out at support@pencilplanner.app Also, see our roadmap for what we think is missing 😉 https://pencilplanner.app/roadmap/ 

Purchases and Privacy

I really wanted to like this app. The concept is great and the design is *excellent*. But the app pushes you to buy a subscription immediately, which is very off-putting, and then each time you attempt to test writing functionality, it zooms back out and informs you that feature requires a pro account. I support paying for the app, but if I can’t try it out at all before buying (aside from the don’t-forget-to-unsubscribe three-day trial period), why make it free to obtain? Just charge me once a reasonable amount for it and move on.
Worse, though, the app doesn’t use iCloud at all: you have to create an account on their service, which it uses for syncing all your data. A quick perusal of the TOS and Privacy Policy show vague hand-waving about protection of your data and a reminder that nothing is 100% secure, and a promise that they’re using third-party services to analyze your data but they’re sure it won’t get re-shared. No opt-out from analytics, no option to keep your own data only on your device or only sync to an iCloud folder. I just can’t encourage developers who do this: it’s time to give us options to keep control of our own data. I hope the devs review this and make improvements: I’d be interested to continue using it if these were fixed!
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Response from developer

Thanks for the feedback! The subscription model is to ensure we can continue to provide the best planner experience as well as deliver on our roadmap, as this takes extensive development: https://pencilplanner.app/roadmap/ Also, note that the free trial can be cancelled immediately without losing access for the duration of the trial. Providing support for alternate forms of data storage including iCloud is something we would love to do down the road. We definitely carefully weighed these items and decided in order to provide an incredible planning experience we needed to hold off on supporting an array of data storage options. This is what has allowed us to release pencil planner with reliable data sync as well as so many excellent features - while still maintaining secure data storage. Definitely check back though, as we hope to provide iCloud in the future. If you have any other questions or feedback feel free to reach out at support@pencilplanner.app

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