Highlights: PDF Reader & Notes

Highlights: PDF Reader & Notes

Edit Research Documents/Books

1.6K ratings
466 reviews
Free
In-App Purchases

Details

  • Released
  • Updated
  • April 10, 2020
  • October 10, 2026

Features

Highlights: PDF Reader & Notes video #1 for iPhone
Highlights: PDF Reader & Notes screenshot #2 for iPhone
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Highlights: PDF Reader & Notes screenshot #9 for iPhone
Highlights: PDF Reader & Notes screenshot #10 for iPhone
Highlights: PDF Reader & Notes screenshot #11 for iPhone
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About

This app is a fast and lightweight PDF reader designed for research. It allows users to read, highlight, and annotate documents, and then extract this information into organized notes. Advanced features include table data extraction, text recognition, and smart copying of annotations into various formats.

✓Read and browse PDF documents
✓Highlight, underline, and strikethrough text
✓Add comments and sticky notes
✓Extract annotations into organized notes
✓Convert table data and recognize text
✓Smart copy annotations to various formats (CSV, BibTex)
✓Lookup citation metadata and DOI links
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What users say

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What's New in Highlights

2026.3

October 10, 2026

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 toolbar buttons float above the content in a vertical bar making them easy to reach. If you want to focus on the content, simply tap on the PDF to hide the buttons completely. You can still markup text and add annotations. Tap the PDF again to bring back the toolbar. The iPhone Duo brings features previously available only on iPad, including Apple Pencil support (coming later) and multiple windows. Highlights is built around these features, which means you can work on multiple PDFs, compare two documents side-by side on the inner display or tap and hold on a PDF in the document browser and select "Open in New Window" to open it in a separate window. This release contains a lot of under the hood improvements to allow for more flexible window resizing. This should also make toolbar contents and sheet presentations more consistent across all devices. In practice, this has some implications: - iPhones show more toolbar items when the document title is short - More predictable order of overflow items in the More menu (...) - More consistent appearance of sheets and location of dismiss buttons Other improvements: - Active Undo/Redo buttons in the More menu on iPhone now include the name of action it will perform - Improved contrast for table views in popovers and sheets with Liquid Glass - Fixed an issue with PDFs being offset vertically when changing between single and two-page layouts - Fixed an issue with PDFs in dark mode sometimes appearing with a gray background when resizing windows on iPad - Fixed an issue where the segmented control for switching between PDF and Notes could get tinted on iOS 27

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Subscriptions & In-App Purchases

Highlights Pro

Convert PDF Annotations into Notes and Export

$29.991 Year
14 Days trial
How to cancel Highlights subscription ⁉️

Events

Read more about Dark PDF Appearance

Dark PDF Appearance

No more glaring white pages in Dark mode!

Mar 25, 2026 — Apr 25, 2026

Read more about Black Friday

Black Friday

Get the best deal of the year on Highlights Pro

Nov 25, 2024 — Dec 3, 2024

User reviews

New

New

Plz allow free form sketching and scribbling

Great app but I need to alternate between preview and highlights

my because benefit

Greetings

Last update killed it on Monterey

Been using this for 2-4 years now due to black modeI Si verion check done, dev may have forgotten to fill that, result Poof, Nothing. Doesn't open on Monteray 12.7.6 no warning no nothing.

Why is there a subscription?

Okay so the app does what it is supposed to do. I can’t stand the UI. It’s literally just the Apple file system. I would like to organize my notes separately from… everything else on my computer. I guess I need the mental separation. Also, I don’t understand why there is a subscription for this app. It feels greedy. I’m not asking it to do anything extravagant, just highlight my pdfs. Won’t be renewing.
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User experience

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Reported Bugs

5 issues

Highlights and annotations randomly disappearing

Bug

Text selection issues, especially with footnotes

Bug

Compatibility problems with certain PDF files

Bug

Syncing issues across devices

Bug

Export functionality not working as expected

Bug
✨

Requested Features

5 requests

Add handwriting and freeform annotation support

Feature

Implement a table of contents or bookmarking feature

Feature

Allow editing of notes directly in the app

Feature

Provide a one-time purchase option instead of subscription

Feature

Improve search capabilities with visual results and navigation

Feature

FAQ

What does the Highlights app do?

Highlights is a PDF reader designed for research. It allows you to read, browse, and annotate PDF documents with various tools like highlighting, underlining, and strikethrough. It also extracts your annotations into organized notes and can convert table data and recognize text within PDFs.

What are the key features of this PDF reader?

Key features include reading and browsing PDFs, annotating text and images, adding comments, extracting annotations into notes, converting table data to CSV, recognizing text from images, and smart copying of annotations into formats like BibTex for citations.

Is this app free to use?

The app offers a free version with standard PDF reader features, including document browsing, reading, and annotating. There are no ads, time limits, or tracking for free users. Advanced features may require a purchase or subscription.

What devices is Highlights compatible with?

The app is designed for mobile devices and supports features like multi-window on iPadOS, suggesting compatibility with iOS and iPadOS. It also integrates with cloud storage services like iCloud Drive, Dropbox, and Google Drive.

How can I use this app for my research?

You can use this app to read research papers, highlight key information, add your thoughts as annotations or sticky notes, and then easily extract these annotations into formatted notes. The ability to convert tables and recognize text is also invaluable for data analysis from PDFs.