# Shakespeare — user reviews > 307 indexed App Store user reviews of Shakespeare by PlayShakespeare.com, rated 4.80/5 from 3,500 ratings. - Source: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/shakespeare/id285035416/reviews - App overview in markdown: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/shakespeare/id285035416.md - Rating breakdown: 5★ 3,060 · 4★ 307 · 3★ 66 · 2★ 18 · 1★ 49 ## What do users think of Shakespeare? Overall sentiment: positive **Pros** - 🚀 Best app out there - 👍 Excellent app - 👍 Terrific app for Shakespeare lovers - 👍 Remarkable level of detail and care - 👍 Invaluable for actors and students - 👍 Versatile study of Shakespeare - 👍 One of the best-designed apps - 👍 Fantastic resource for Shakespeare lovers - 👍 Wonderful and responsive - 👍 Brilliant app, labor of love - 👍 Bravo, amazing generosity **Cons** - 🐛 Crashes, buggy, unstable - 💰 Nickel-and-diming for features - 💰 Upgrade to pro is misleading - 💰 Constant nagging to upgrade - 🤔 Abbreviated character names - 🤔 Lack of line numbers - 🤔 Typos and errors in texts - 🤔 Awful modern translations - 🤔 Difficult to navigate and use **Commonly reported bugs** - Crashes on launch or opening plays - Scrolling and UI issues - Incompatible with latest iOS versions **Most requested features** - Add modern translations - Include line numbers - Improve search and navigation - Add more content like sonnets - Sync purchases across devices ## Newest reviews (18 of 307) ### 3/5 — Frequent nagging to upgrade, but already have… *2025-12-01, version 9.4.4* Great app otherwise. ### 4/5 — Shakespeare rave. *2025-03-05, version 9.3.1* A great site for someone like me who has to mark senior high essays on several Shakespeare’s plays every year.Not quite as useful in terms of footnotes as a printed text,but it is very useful to write my own comments and notes down the script of each play. Marking essays on about four different Shakespeare plays on a regular basis it is very useful and easy accessible ### 5/5 — Best app out there *2024-11-08, version 9.2.6* This thing is amazing. Just amazing. ### 5/5 — Tis long Time *2024-10-30* I have never read Shakespeare when I was young. Now at 53. I have taken an interest in reading him. Opens the mind and thankful for the people in my life that have spoken of him. Now back to reading ### 5/5 — Excellent *2024-09-18, version 9.2.1* Excellent app ! Well organised ! ### 2/5 — Sigh *2024-09-13* They keep finding things to charge you for. I downloaded this app four years ago and had access to all the features. Now those same features I had for free are behind yet another pay wall. Before this I would’ve given a 5 star review, but being nickel-dimed for the qualities that made the app exceptional greatly diminishes its value in my eyes. They should honor their customers. Simple as that. **Developer response:** For the last 15 years, all Pro features you and everyone originally purchased are still available (in fact, you'll find many new features have been added over the last 15 years for no extra cost). Again, no features whatsoever have been "moved behind a paywall", nor have any been removed. You couldn't be more wrong about that. But if you'd contacted support about your erroneous concerns that features have been "removed", I could have explained this—but you didn't do that and gave a negative rating instead. Any new features released in recent years and considered "power user" features are available as separate purchases. This approach keeps the Pro features that most users need at an affordable price point—and also helps support 15 years worth of ongoing maintenance and support costs for those users who have already purchased the Pro upgrade. You'd be hard-pressed to name another app that's been maintained and improved year after year ever since the App Store first opened. ### 5/5 — Remakable *2024-08-18, version 9.2* The level or detail, thought and care that went into this app is remarkable. ### 5/5 — I was told to read Shakespeare in high school I didn’t understand it but as I get holder I do *2024-08-13, version 9.1.2* I’m in love not with the man ### 5/5 — Shakespeare App *2024-08-01, version 9.1.2* It’s just so great! ### 5/5 — Awesome app! *2024-06-25, version 9.0.6* Love the Shakespeare App. A Marlowe app like this should get creatdd. ### 5/5 — Terrific App for Shakespeare Lovers *2024-05-14, version 9.0.6* I’ve had this app for years, and decided upon the purchase after keeping the free version for a time. It is an enormous help to those in their early encounters with Shakespeare, having captured difficult words and defined them. Students will find the synopses and character studies helpful, as well as statistics pertaining to each play. I personally like customising the font to an older script, and using the dark mode setting. An essential companion for anyone with a persistent or passing interest in understanding the dramatic works of this unrivalled genius. ### 5/5 — Memories revisited *2024-03-19, version 9.0.5* I am old and read S. Not recently, but when I recall the line, or part o a line, I turn to the app to locate and fill in memories. What a superb way to recall memories. ### 5/5 — So far so good, with one suggestion! *2024-02-21* The app is great. Pretty easy to navigate and UI is smooth. I just have one suggestion for the dear developers; If it was possible to include the modern translations in the Pro version it would be awesome. I understand the need for add-ons but it feels like the Pro tier could use some more features. good job lads. **Developer response:** Thank you for your feedback. The features included in the Pro upgrade are quite generous. You get notes, bookmarks, study materials, character/scene descriptions, and best of all—the Shakespeare's Words glossary. The app has been a labor of love since the first day the App Store opened (15 years ago!) so it's reinvested into the app itself over many years. Thank you for your support! ### 4/5 — Shakespeare Pro A great collection *2024-02-14, version 9.0.5* It is wonderful that I can see all of the plays at one location. However, I couldn’t find his sonnets. Did I miss them? ### 5/5 — Syncing between devices *2024-01-28, version 9.0.5* I just got this app recently and purchased Shakespeare Pro - $12.99 for access to all of the plays, plus annotation ability, plus the different folios and quartos? Sign me up! One issue I'm finding, and I don't know if this is even meant to be resolved, is that there's no way to sync my purchase from my Iphone to my Ipad, which would be more convenient to read on. Both my Iphone and Ipad are connected to the same icloud account and therefore share all photos and app downloads, so I'm wondering if there's any way that I can have Shakespeare Pro on my Ipad without having to make a secondary purchase? I really love the things that the pro version provides and I'd love to be able to use them on a screen bigger than a phone. ### 5/5 — A MUST FOR PROFESSIONALS *2023-12-23, version 9.0.4* Best online resource by far. A MUST for actors. Shakespeare in your pocket on your iPhone or iPad! Modern, Folios, Quartos, glossary, EVERYTHING you could want or ask for! And the "extras" are worth every penny! ### 5/5 — A must for students and lovers of the Immortal Bard *2023-12-20* This is a veritable gold mine of Shakespeare's work. All the plays and sonnets are here with these being read aloud as a boon. There are summaries and help with naturally difficult terminology of words which are archaic. A search can done which finds the word or term in any play or poem. What more could you want as a Shakespeare acolyte? ### 5/5 — The best Shakespeare app *2023-12-12* I’m sure the app is useful on many levels, but at my Shakespeare beginner level, it is invaluable. And the support you get is par excellence. Really great service. Thanks! ## Most critical reviews (10 lowest-rated) ### 1/5 — Repeating daily Quotes *2026-07-28, version 9.4.4* Even though hes got 100,000 quotes to choose from ### 1/5 — Was great now trash *2025-02-20* new: app shows signs of paste buffer hack issues. (old: Was a wonderful app. Now abject trash thats barely functional. App makers: shakespeare pdf's are free . You crippled you own good app trying to squeeze £10 for a pro version upsell. £10?! For things that are free and part of the common heritage of mankind.) **Developer response:** Sorry to hear you don't understand what you're talking about. The app has more features (both free and paid) than it's ever had since the App Store first opened in 2005. I'm also sorry to hear you don't know the difference between the various Shakespeare editions (free and paid), but if you had contacted support, we could have helped. Haters gonna hate. ### 1/5 — Please make icon black and white like before *2023-08-19, version 9.0.3* Please make icon black and white. It does not look authentic anymore. ### 1/5 — Unreliable *2021-10-04, version 8.4* A Shakespeare app is a good idea, in theory, for readers who already know the plays and need to look something up. It's not a good idea for first-time readers. In practice, this particular app is not a good idea for anyone. It was made by people who don't understand Shakespeare's language: You can tell because they introduced countless errors into the texts and "corrected" the spelling of words that were unfamiliar to them. This convinces me not to buy any of the book apps made by this company. They don't know what they're doing. **Developer response:** Nothing could be further from the truth. We are scholars that stand behind the texts and offer a bounty for any legitimate mistakes reported. We don't make any other "book apps" so you must be mistaken. If you had contacted our support, we could have explained anything you might think is a mistake—instead you just unfairly gave us a 1-star review. ### 1/5 — Disappointed with the pro feature *2021-06-28, version 8.2.1* I purchased the pro feature and I thought I was getting everything. The pro version doesn’t even come with the modern translations and lexicons so I have to make further purchase. This is very misleading and disappointing. Don’t waste your money just stick to the free version and use spark notes! ### 1/5 — Get help? *2021-05-24, version 8.1.2* No way to get support…why? ### 1/5 — It doesn’t show anything *2019-11-25, version 7.4.1* I’ve downloaded the free version of it and, when I want to read the play it doesn’t appear. It shows the act I’m in but not the content, it’s all blank. I’m really disappointed, was really hyped to read them. ### 1/5 — Can’t read plays *2019-11-25* I have the free version and an iPhone XS Max and I cannot read any play - when I click one all I see is a white screen that does not load the text. I restarted my phone and reopened the app and one specific play loaded and was readable after restarting but the other plays were not - I still see a white screen and no text! After closing the app and reopening again the play that I was able to read was no longer readable either! **Developer response:** Your review is very out of date and reflected a bug that was immediately fix back in 2019. Please update your app and update your review if you’re happy with the app! ### 1/5 — Confused & confusing *2019-07-18, version 7.3* This app constantly crashes on my iPhone and navigation is a nightmare. It really needs to be rethought. ### 1/5 — Hangs *2019-06-16* Does not work. Will uninstall and then reinstall. **Developer response:** You gave us a one-star review, yet have never contacted our support with issues or feedback. Reach us anytime at support@playshakespeare.com or support.playshakespeare.com ## Most praised reviews (10 highest-rated) ### 5/5 — Let Us Not Doubt Shakespeare *2026-06-11, version 9.4.4* How doth one such app that deliver content that Nature herself honors with amazement ever be denied five-stars? ### 5/5 — Fantastic - well presented and the very best *2026-04-28, version 9.4.4* See above ### 5/5 — Love this App *2026-02-19, version 9.4.4* I just love using this App. This is a great App for anyone who is as passionate about Shakespeare's works as me must have this installed in all their devices. Highly recommend this App. ### 5/5 — Bard bestow’d brilliantly. *2026-02-17* Absolutely phenomenal app. Beautiful design with intuitive navigation. Cannot imagine Shakespeare’s works presented in a more accessible fashion. Great resource to arguably the most important masterpiece in English literature. To install or not to install should be no question. ### 5/5 — An indispensable resource for the Shakespeare reader. *2026-02-03* Very useful and comprehensive app for the Shakespeare reader. I like to read Shakespeare “ neat” in my old Collins Alexander text edition without distracting footnotes and impertinent editors constantly nipping at the Bards heals. But every Shakespeare reader needs a little help with Elizabethan vocabulary and words that have changed meaning. This app, with the additional lexicons, allows one to do that quickly and easily without having to open multiple books to trace meanings. Just keep your smart phone by your side when reading to check the occasional difficult word. The synopsis sections are also useful for keeping track of the action. An indispensable aid for lovers of the worlds greatest writer. ### 5/5 — Superb *2025-11-15* Great app, easy to use and navigate. Makes the author and is works contemporary ### 5/5 — 🐐 *2025-11-13, version 9.4.4* Undoubtedly the goat ### 5/5 — Love this App *2025-11-08, version 9.4.4* This is a great App for anyone who is as passionate about Shakespeare's works must have this installed in all their devices. ### 5/5 — If you love Shakespeare *2025-04-05, version 9.4.3* This app is for you. ### 5/5 — Very useful resource *2025-03-24* As above, and so many ways of searching with different criteria makes this a top reference app for me. Well thought out both in navigation and intuitive user interface. Thank you developers and of course the Bard himself. --- *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 2026-08-26.*