DEVONthink To Go 4 User Reviews

Top reviews

Layout and menus less functional

I appreciate the vagaries of the current os, but the os is functioning better on iPad now than on initial release. Honestly I don’t think this V4 app is yet. I’ve gone back to V3 on iPad.

Update - Latest version much improved 👍

Usable but still disappointing

Full of bugs, constantly hanging, shortcuts broken. This version is not ready for release. Stick to v. 3 for now.

Update: Ver. 4.2 is slightly better than previous iterations, but the app still lags and spins wheels upon the slightest change. Sometimes views come up blank. The Activity indicator seems to have some animation, but it does not seem to reliably indicate the presence or nature of activity. Sidebar folder counts are slow to update, and the sidebar includes two items of limited value that cannot be removed. Settings and Activity buttons are hidden in a sidebar menu where v. 3 had them conveniently in a toolbar; in other views, they can be added, but the mechanism for doing so in Settings is opaque. Deleting the app does not necessarily delete its data, despite what they say; I had such a mess from my previously deleted v. 4 installation that I had to restore a backup on Mac and start over. Setting up sync from scratch was no picnic, either. This version, while usable, is a disappointment; I thought they would be further along by now—but the emphasis seems to be on adding features rather than improving performance. Anyone sitting on the fence may want to wait for 4.3, or longer.
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Excellent Information Manager

This is an awesome tool. It captures information logically, effectively and efficiently. When saving the information, it preserves the format and images better than any of the notebook apps I have tried. It’s not as “sexy” as the notebook apps, but it does a better job at filtering out clutter and capturing what you need. I highly recommend it!
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Loved the app

Quite disappointed that the app became only yearly subscription based. The ios app is useless in this version without yearly license.
The dt togo3 is down so I’ll keep using it until it will stop working hope to find good alternative with one time based license.

Layout and menus less functional

I appreciate the vagaries of the current os, but the os is functioning better on iPad now than on initial release. Honestly I don’t think this V4 app is yet. I’ve gone back to V3 on iPad.

Best

Devonthink 4 just the best database management system I’ve ever used.

The best

I don't know what to say about Devonthink. It is such a good app in so many ways. If I were limited to one application it would be Devonthink hands down. The to Go app has continued to get better and better. This release(4.1) looks like some welcome upgrades.

beta release

i celebrate the entire devonthink catalog but sadly this version of dttg is riddled with bugs that add a lot of friction for reading pdfs and annotating - my prime use case for this app. including text highlighting and not saving page positioning and reading place. don’t swipe the ios notification shade down if you are reading long form content because chances are you’ll lose your place.
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It’s ok

The UI is clunky, the sync speed is so-so, the settings are non-intuitive: but it more or less does what it says it will do.

Update - no, it doesn’t do what it says it will. I was able to sync and download items the first couple days, but for the past week every attempt to download and read an item on my phone has given a spinner for 30 seconds and then an app crash. Yes I’ve verified and repaired, like a caveman (why are users expected to look after database maintenance in 2026?) And things still spin and crash. Sometimes if I’m lucky I’ll see the clickable “download 433 bytes” or whatever but that link does nothing.

I’ve paid for maybe 3 years worth of DtTG and I think I’ve successfully read maybe three items on my phone in that period.
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It’s ok

The UI is clunky, the sync speed is so-so, the settings are non-intuitive: but it more or less does what it says it will do.

Not ready

Love devonthink but the pdf reading and annotating functions in this version are broken to the extent that it’s not useable. Pages jump around and it’s impossible to scroll through and read a pdf. Had to revert back to version 3 until this one stays in the oven a while longer.

It. Just. Works.

This application is my number one application of everything that I use on my iPhone and Mac.

It has been dead reliable for years. The developers have upgraded it , improved it, kept it stable and stuck with it for all this time and I cannot tell you how much I appreciate that.

Very good. I use it everyday.

I’m a big DEVONthink user. It’s the backbone of my work, so I was pleased to see v3 being updated to v4, not that there was anything wrong with v3 really. This version has had a major face lift. For me the sync is just fine. I have a couple of sync locations and all of them worked fine. The biggest issue that I’m having, and this is a real issue as it is what DEVONthink is all about. Any links to resources that you have, for me, don’t work. The link goes no where. A major flaw I’d say considering that linking to other resources is one of the main selling points. Wait if you can for the next release. I’m staying with v3 as it “just works”. It will be worth it once this “regression” is fixed. Other than that, not bad.
I have just installed v 4.0.5. Excellent. Thank you for a job well done.
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Regurgitated app

Not sure how this is still around after all these years and little appears changed. Still no widgets. Very limited Siri Shortcuts support. Dreadful UI.

Response from developer

It should all work pretty self-explanatory. Please let us know by email to support@devontechnologies.com and we'll try to assist!

Don't delete v3!

I used v3 many times a day and was excited for this upgrade, but I have to warn people away from this version. It is not ready for public use. It hangs and then crashes every few pages when reading PDFs (many different files). Downloading files from a sync share takes multiple retries, and even when successful takes far longer than the same file on v3. Search rankings seem broken--keywords in document titles ranked dozens of rows less "relevant" than single references within content, if I could find them at all.

This version seems like it was rushed out prematurely and is a big step backwards in the stability of core functionality. I'm going to revert to v3 (which I unwisely deleted) for now and cross my fingers that future updates make this version usable for me. Two stars because it sort of works in a pinch but is very frustrating for more than brief usage.
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Fantastic software

I use this app alongside the Mac OS version, so I can’t comment on how this functions on its own, but in tandem with Devonthink, it is a fantastic combination. It holds everything that I'd like it to hold. It's super easy to get to the things I want. It suggests the things that make sense to what I'm trying to do.

But it does take practice. I think too often people are looking to an app to do everything for them, suggest everything for them, make it simply work without thought. You do have to think, but in so doing, I find myself well rewarded by this wonderful piece of software.

Further, anytime I've had troubles, I've been able to reach out to the company, and they've been super responsive.
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Huge problems with syncing

Syncing is very slow, terrible actually!!

Indispensable Tool

I have been using Devonthink for a few years since my retirement. I have found it to be an absolutely indispensable tool in my workflow as a regional writer. I use it as the “boneyard” for a digital Zettlekasten, the later implemented in Obsidian. Devonthink and Obsidian work well together; for example, I can link Obsidian notes directly to Devonthink database locations. I recommend Devonthink to anyone who wants to organize knowledge.
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Torture

Have fun recreating every single shortcut you created since they didn’t upgrade the existing iOS app and instead created an entirely new app.

Response from developer

It should all work pretty self-explanatory. Please let us know by email to support@devontechnologies.com and we'll try to assist!

Buggy, do not download

Full of bugs, constantly hanging, shortcuts broken. This version is not ready for release. Stick to v. 3 for now.