# Defter Notes — user reviews > 80 indexed App Store user reviews of Defter Notes by Deft Works ApS, rated 4.50/5 from 70 ratings. - Source: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/defter-notes/id1570783518/reviews - App overview in markdown: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/defter-notes/id1570783518.md - Rating breakdown: 5★ 54 · 4★ 6 · 3★ 3 · 2★ 3 · 1★ 4 ## Newest reviews (16 of 80) ### 4/5 — Not bad at all, but with a key limitation. *2026-04-19, version 2.3.0* This is a decent app, but it could be better. One thing I was really hoping for in version two is that you could rotate individual pages, but I don't seem to be able to find a way to do this. I think this is a really necessary addition. Other than that, it's pretty good. ### 3/5 — Just a poorly designed app *2026-03-25, version 2.1.1* Updated review: Apparently I can draw on the iPhone, as long as I turn off the option to use an Apple Pencil. So… why is that defaulted to on for the iPhone? Maybe this is a great app, but it really does leave a bad first impression. ### 4/5 — Can‘t change any settings with iPadOS 26.2 *2025-12-23, version 2.0.3* G ### 3/5 — Unuseable at the moment *2025-11-25, version 2.0.3* The bug that could not be used to draw with the Apple Pen has been fixed. But now there is a new bug. The pages / entries can no longer be selected and deleted. Would be nice if that would be found. ### 5/5 — Awesome app- well thought out and intuitive *2025-11-16, version 1.7.1* This is a great app. I have also been testing the 2.0 Beta, which take this already awesome app a notch higher. The ability to add images/pdf and write on them, and stack/unstack them feels so refreshing and support a really flexible workflow. ### 4/5 — Stability issues *2025-09-03, version 1.7.1* Sometimes input doesn’t register or does partially. For example, I’ll write something and only some of the stroke appears. ### 5/5 — What dreams are made of *2025-08-27, version 1.7.1* This app is the virtual desk I wish I had the space for in real life. So underrated. I LOVE IT. Big thanks to the developers. Best App Store purchase I’ve ever made. ### 5/5 — Great App! *2025-07-10* Hands down, one of the best mind-mapping apps available. Would love a few more design tools/options and deeper zoom capability, but otherwise fantastic. Please continue to update! ### 5/5 — Perfeito *2025-02-13, version 1.7.1* Melhor app de estudos que existe! ### 5/5 — choose this app *2025-01-28, version 1.7.1* Nothing comes close to this. If you have stumbled upon it or read about it just buy it and start using it. You won’t look back ### 5/5 — LOVE love love the app *2024-10-30, version 1.7.1* Just want to write another review (can’t remember if I submitted before), but please keep this app alive and ticking. No other app has matched the fluidity in the handwriting smoothness, the scrappiness of getting notes/drafts/documents on a virtual desk as this app has done. Only feature request I’d love is recording notes. Not sure if the latest iPadOS updates have an API to record/transcribe into a document? That would be it. Fantastic all the way through! ### 5/5 — 아주 만족스러움 *2024-09-29, version 1.7.0* 마치 책상위에 종이를 펼쳐놓고 작업하는 듯한 컨셉이 좋습니다. 필기감도 좋고요. 필기 인식이 안되지만 이건 배터리 잡아 먹는 계륵 같은 거라 큰 불편함은 없습니다. ### 5/5 — SO good!!! *2024-09-24* This is SO good. I just purchased it and oh my goodness, it is everything i ever wanted in an app I use for education. I used GoodNotes and LiquidText before - and this one is even better. ### 5/5 — Perhaps one of the greatest work and note taking apps on the market *2024-09-24, version 1.7.0* From all the apps on the market, Defter is simply the best. It’s sleek, it’s easy to use, very intuitive. Imagine it as being a virtual work table where you can spread out ALL of your work. You aren’t limited to one stack of papers at a time. And while this app doesn’t have as many features as other note taking apps, Defter has the basics and there isn’t really a need for more tools. It just works. I’m almost inclined to say that this could pass as an official Apple app with how simple, functional and extremely useful it is. 10/10 ### 5/5 — Muito promissor! *2024-09-17, version 1.6.3* Super bem feito, ótimo para sketching e pensar enquanto se rabisca ideias. Ainda limitado em algumas funcionalidades, mas torço para chegarem lá. ### 5/5 — Artist endorsed *2024-08-21, version 1.6.3* I never leave reviews, but I adore this app. I beta tested it for 2 months, and it made such a difference to my workflow and mental well-being, I happily purchased it here. Well done, devs! ## Most critical reviews (10 lowest-rated) ### 1/5 — Scam and cheated app - avoid at any cost *2025-11-19, version 2.0.2* Bought pro version. Upgrade and unable to restore purchase. Scam and cheated app - avoid at any cost ### 1/5 — Not worth the premium price *2025-11-19, version 2.0.2* While there is a lot of cool ideas and tools I am not going to purchase the premium since there are other apps that does the same thing this app does . I love the pdf reader and annotation. There is a sandbox aspect which is awesome too. ### 1/5 — Writing is not vector - blurs at zoom *2024-03-30, version 1.6.1* I just purchased and am turned off by the fact the writing is not crisp when you zoom. Part of the turn on for spatial note taking to me is the seamlessness of not having to think about quality changing like this. Moving from Freeform to Defter Notes is a significant downgrade in terms of the visual crispness the writing. Maybe others won’t be turned off as much by this as me. ### 1/5 — Good idea, poor execution. Wasted money and huge disappointment. *2022-05-04, version 1.0.5* The idea of this app is interesting. I like the idea of having an open canvas and the ability to see notes visually. The stacks are appealing for PDFs. It allows the user to see pages of PDFs side by side. The app also offers various types of paper, including dot grid, lined, and squared grid. It even allows for changing the colors of the paper and dots! With that said, I do not find this app to be useful. The user experience is not good. Zooming in to see the PDF pages is dizzying. PDFs cannot be resized, which makes the zoom function necessary. But zooming in is frustrating. The export function is limited to one object; it’s not for each space. Handwritten text cannot be resized. The canvas can’t be written on, only the documents can. There is currently no support for opening multiple instances of the app. And OCR is not available. If you want a visual canvas, I would pass on this app. HARD pass. Instead, try Concepts or even Muse. Both are more polished apps than this. And, don’t bother trying this app out. The refund policy is unfair. $20 wasted. ### 2/5 — Disappointed *2026-03-21, version 2.1.1* Downloaded & then paid for what & still may be a half decent app. Only the links to the “manual” & the help pages are broken and am unable to get any support. VERY DISAPPOINTED. Received an email from them apologising by saying I could go to Discord to get help…..what a joke that link took me to buy the app!! It’s ok… Apple refunded my purchase. Apple Freeform is filling the gap you left. If you’d offer free or discounted for the frustration I’d reconsider. ### 2/5 — App is abandoned *2025-10-15, version 1.7.1* no updates since i purchased it more than a year ago ### 2/5 — Decent app - no documentation *2024-07-02, version 1.6.2* The app is actually pretty solid. It’s a great concept with a clean interface but it has two flaws that make it unusable for me. At twenty bucks, this is a fairly pricey app and yet has almost no documentation. The company has put out a string of YouTube videos that are set to music only, no words, and are really just feature demos but there really isn’t any documentation for this app. For this price the developers should really invest in better documentation. My second issue is that the tool bar disappears in split screen mode such that in unable to add any new elements to the desktop. This means that I’m having to switch between two apps in order to take notes and this just slows me to a crawl. ### 2/5 — L’application plante *2023-11-01, version 1.5.4* Au regret de contraster que l’application plante depuis la dernière mis à jour 1.5.4 À chaque fois que je ferme l’application, et la réouvre, celle-ci se fige environ 1 minute après utilisation. Ps: j’ai tenté de redémarrer l’iPad, mais le problème persiste. Je suis sur iPad Pro 4ème génération avec le dernier ipadOS ### 2/5 — Nice concept but the low res text kills it *2023-03-10* The concept of the app nice and well executed in many ways. Unfortunately, the price is quite high and there’s no way to try the app before buying it. I would gladly pay for it were it not for the fact that the Apple Pencil ink is not a nice, clean vector stroke like notability or goodnotes. Rather, it is a pixelated blurry mess like the one in Apple notes (which is why that app doesn’t let you zoom). At almost any zoom level it is either blurry, pixelated or both. Also, it’s not really suited for taking quick notes during a lecture. It may be nice for creative work or comparing many different sources of information, but the ink is really too awful for anything in my opinion. ### 2/5 — Neat idea … five stars when internal links works for PDFs *2022-06-03, version 1.0.5* I use a lot of PDFs … one of my daily used ones is roughly 3000 pages. It imported fine here … but since links from Table of Contents (and other internal links ) all do not work - I’m unable to use the app for these PDFs. I look forward to a new version of this app when I can tap a link in the PDF and the thumbnailed pages will center that page at the top when the PDF jumps to that page from tapping the link. ## Most praised reviews (10 highest-rated) ### 5/5 — This app is great but lacks some essential features *2026-07-29, version 2.6.0* This app is great but lacks some essential features like pdf navigation through bookmark, pdf search, take screenshot of the pdf through lasso, and freehand writing and annonation in the canvas... ### 5/5 — Perfect for visual thinkers *2026-06-14, version 2.4.1* I love that this note app doesn't force you into a rigid structure. The infinite canvas and the way you can organize notebooks in Defter Notes just feels right. It is fluid, intuitive, well-designed and perfect if you prefer a flexible workspace over standard text documents. ### 5/5 — Excellent for creatives and researchers *2026-06-04, version 2.4.1* Defter Notes is unparalleled as a note taking app for creatives and researchers. The app is very intuitive and flexible allowing you to put to “paper” any idea or concept that comes to mind. Moreover, the ability to edit, annotate and manipulate a pdf file is unlike any other pdf app out there. This feature alone makes the app worth it. Although there is a learning curve, it is well worth the effort. When you become familiar with the flow of the app, you will be able to express almost any thing that comes to mind through this app. ### 5/5 — Great App! (Update x 2) *2026-04-29, version 2.3.0* Bring to Front/Back not working + Crashing app. Please repair. Also, would LOVE to be able to write directly on spaces without text boxes or notes. Otherwise, great. Thanks for your consideration. ### 5/5 — Feedback *2026-03-13, version 2.1.1* amazing app but needs a pick tool and more options for lasso and select tool paste and Image restyle the words and stuff like that otherwise i love it and the palm recognition lags a bit it but its the only apps with a fast paced writing and it feels fast and refreshed i tested other apps and they were a bit laggy ### 5/5 — Great App! (Update) *2026-02-23, version 2.0.7* A fantastic app. Allows for SO much detail. Updating to Version 2.0 was simple with backup. Would love to be able to write directly on board without having to add a note or space. More pen options would also be appreciated; otherwise great app. Please continue to update! ### 5/5 — Too pricey *2026-01-21, version 2.0.5* While there is a lot of cool ideas and tools I am not going to purchase the premium since there are other apps that does the same thing this app does . I love the pdf reader and annotation. There is a sandbox aspect which is awesome too. ### 5/5 — Everything creatives want in notetaking *2026-01-13, version 2.0.4* I’m a designer and artist so my brain’s never thrived in rigid, word doc-like apps, but that’s unfortunately a LOT of notetaking apps. So when I came across this app, it was such a treat, because it just gets it. Fluid but also allowing for structure. Customisable but super intuitive and not overwhelming. You can tell the devs spent a lot of time tailoring it to how creative brains actually think ### 5/5 — Great app for students *2025-12-15* I love how this app can handle pages of notes, stacks of PDF, and images all in an infinite canvas. So far, there are almost no performance issues, and the writing experience is quite smooth. I enjoy the lasso tool and the minimalistic UI. The organization feature imposed by the folder is very nice, but what’s even cooler is there is a space you can drop items into on the side, should you wish to later drag it into another folder. Kind of like a temporary clipboard, but for more than just text. The clipboard area can store anything from pages of notes to images. The gesture shortcuts, such as for undo and redo, are also fluid and intuitive. The developers are hard-working and readily listens to community feedback. Note: I am still using version 1.8 for the app as the 2.0 is still missing some familiar features for me. ### 5/5 — A joy to use *2025-11-24, version 2.0.3* Notes Apps are at their core tools. But that doesn’t mean they can’t be made enjoyable to use. Defter is the only App I tried that really felt like ME. I can freely customize my spaces, use wormholes to quickly and efficiently navigate through my notes. The discord community to offer feedback directly to the devs is amazing. I am looking forward to growing alongside you App. --- *Data collected daily from the US App Store and indexed by [AppsHunter](https://appshunter.io/). User reviews are verbatim App Store reviews. Ratings, prices and chart positions refresh continuously; this snapshot is from 2026-08-30.*