# Storyist 4 — user reviews > 70 indexed App Store user reviews of Storyist 4 by Storyist Software, rated 4.30/5 from 384 ratings. - Source: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/storyist-4/id1423912340/reviews - App overview in markdown: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/storyist-4/id1423912340.md - Rating breakdown: 5★ 277 · 4★ 41 · 3★ 15 · 2★ 12 · 1★ 39 ## What do users think of Storyist 4? Overall sentiment: mixed **Pros** - 👍 Clean, intuitive user interface - 🚀 Fast iCloud synchronization across devices - 💰 One-time purchase with no subscription fees - 📝 Excellent for organizing long-form writing projects - 🔄 Seamless Mac-iPad-iPhone sync - ⭐ Strong character and plot tracking features - 📊 Effective outline and index card system - 🎬 Good screenplay formatting capabilities - 🔗 Bidirectional Scrivener file compatibility - 👌 Simpler alternative to Scrivener - 📱 Responsive developer support **Cons** - 🐛 Data loss and file deletion issues - 💔 Upgrade from v3 to v4 requires full repurchase - 😤 Misleading free trial presentation - 🔧 Clunky navigation requiring multiple taps - ⚠️ Significant bugs in version 4 compared to v3 - 🚫 Limited language support (English, French, Spanish only) - 📱 Poor mobile UI/UX in split-screen mode - 🔌 Dropbox integration issues - 💾 Unreliable auto-save functionality - 🎨 Outdated app icon and visual design - ⚙️ Style system bugs causing formatting loss **Commonly reported bugs** - Files and projects mysteriously disappear - App crashes when opening manuscripts - Freezing during typing sessions - Auto-capitalization in middle of sentences - Spell-check suggestions showing duplicate words - Index cards losing color after updates - Styles vanishing when edited on iOS - Text disappearing from documents while outline remains - Dropbox connection failures and blank file displays - Split-screen zoom focusing on wrong area - Font selection list not loading - Restore Purchases prompt appearing repeatedly - Export formatting issues with dark theme **Most requested features** - Footnotes and endnotes support - Word and Pages format export compatibility - Better backup system with cloud storage - Folder tree navigation on mobile - Non-fiction templates with query tracking - Improved dark mode customization - Cursor support for iPad - Section-level export functionality - German language localization - Extended keyboard shortcuts preservation - Better page number formatting options ## Newest reviews (11 of 70) ### 4/5 — Storyist Review *2026-08-25* Having written a 50k word story, I find it next to impossible to proofread, edit and format the manuscript without knowing the line numbers of the text. Simply displaying line number where the cursor is and making the cursor dominantly visible would serve that purpose without much programming effort. I hope the author will make that change soon. Thank you ### 4/5 — Sonny feedbacks… *2024-10-22, version 4.5* … asked over the timbre; and yet so few enhancements over the last years., I like the program and use it with all my books. But there could be brushing up to the software. Land I even would participate for input, if needed ### 3/5 — I preferred v3 *2024-09-06, version 4.4.1* It feels clunky and there have been zero updates to address the issues it does have. BUT I feel it is the best app out there for writing. I use v3 for other projects I have running, and I feel that is actually is a 4/5. So a slight step backwards. ### 2/5 — Doesn't Work *2023-10-12, version 4.4.1* I downloaded on Iphone Mini. And it wasn't able to receive my text. Not sure why, but I deleted it for not working. ### 2/5 — App Icon is so outdated *2022-11-25, version 4.4* The ui, for the most part looks great…but the app icon looks like clip art from the early 2000s and it, an other weird emoji like icons are stamped over every document in the files app which ruins the experience for me. Less is more. Feature wise, I can get the same experience (with a better interface) from scrivener. ### 1/5 — Storyist 3 legacy *2022-08-14, version 4.3.1* I purchased storyist legacy and now it is gone, I cannot find it anywhere, other than purchase history on my past purchases through APP store granted I did not use it often but it has disappeared and when I click for discounted upgrade it has no record of my purchase. 🤔🤷‍♂️ ### 3/5 — Ok but very average *2022-04-16, version 4.3* It’s a clunky app. Not really that pro, not really amateur. Somewhere in the middle. It doesn’t quite know what it is… ### 2/5 — Would be great except for two things *2022-04-08* I’m on iOS 14.3 and in the trial period. I’m enjoying the software EXCEPT it freezes a lot. I haven’t lost anything yet but it is sooooo annoying. I’m typing along, hit a key and then nothing. I have three choices at that point. I can walk away long enough to use the bathroom or get coffee, do a hard reset on my iPad, or turn my iPad off and count to 100 before turning it back on. These freezes are super disruptive and it seems like I get one for every five minutes of typing. The second issues lie with the inbuilt editing. 1) If I see an error or want to make a change to a sentence and I use the curser to land on the word or part I want to change it capitalizes the word I’m correcting or replacing every single time. The editor does not take into consideration there are no periods before the word(s) I’m changing so I get a capital letter plopped in the middle of a sentence. -I don't want to turn off the auto caps because I do want it to auto cap the first word in a sentence.- The clue here is that new sentences follow periods so if there isn’t a period in front of whatever I’m typing the auto caps should not be triggered. —Example: If I type The orangedog ran…., put the curser in the middle to erase dog, hit space and type cat, I get The orange Cat ran…instead of The orange cat ran… 2) If I type thedog instead of the dog the word is underlined in red. Great. Only when I tap it to pick a correction choice fifty percent of the time the correction choice will be the same thing, so in this case the correction choice would be thedog. The native apple software I’m using to type now would offer me a the dog 100 percent of the time. I feel Storyist 4 should as well BECAUSE if I have to use the curser to break thedog in to two words the second word will be capitalized-GRRRRRR In the same vein, when I make a mistake and hit another letter instead of the space bar getting orangemcat gets underlined in red. Great. But the correction choice will be orangemcat 100 percent of the time, and if I use the curser to delete the m and add a space cat will be turned into Cat every single darned time, even though it’s in the middle of then sentence and there is no period in sight. If not for those things Storyiest 4 would be the best novel writing software I’ve tried. Plus, the app freezes all the time, sort of sorry I went ahead and paid for it. ### 2/5 — Worked great for about a week. *2022-04-06* To start off I had no problems and was actually loving the app. But then I had a problem opening up my manuscript (thankfully I saved progress among other apps). Once I solved that problem, a new one arose of adding bullet points after each sentence. Trying to contact support wont even open up my mail to solve this issue so sadly I have stopped using this app. Will update if glitch is fixed, since I did enjoy the app when it was functioning. ### 1/5 — It was not for me and it was not what I expected *2022-02-16, version 4.3* It wasn’t that easy to use it and I was surprised also I wasn’t able to share the pages to the emails as pdf etc… ### 1/5 — Waste of Time *2022-02-12* Tried this app for 14 days on iPad and iMac. It fell way short or expectations on both. First, it does NOTHING that cannot be done on Scrivener, which while having a much steeper learning curve, is less expensive and has many more powerful features. Second, the styles function is terribly disappointing and does not work as described in the support articles on the Storyist website. Third, parts of the support articles contradict one another -- as if they might be written for different/older versions of the software. And, fourth, support was unable to resolve my questions, and finally became totally unresponsive. Total waste of time. ## Most critical reviews (10 lowest-rated) ### 1/5 — Infuriating *2026-06-18, version 4.7* Every time I buy a new device—upgrade. Storyist acts like I don’t exist. I add my Apple ID password, and it literally stays on the same page, instead of moving to my profile. Coincidentally, the page I’m stuck on offers a new subscription. SMH 🤦‍♀️ So tired of this game. ### 1/5 — Bit of a rip off *2026-05-15, version 4.7* I used to use Storyist a lot, I mean A LOT. I bought the app years ago and it’s my go-to for writing stories and scripts. However it’s now stopped working, telling me I have to pay for the latest version. Now when I first got it, I was told it was a one-time payment, so what’s changed? It won’t even let me restore my purchases. What’s going on? Not happy. ### 1/5 — Very Frustrated *2026-04-13, version 4.7* I just spent over an hour trying to move from Scrivener to Storyist, as it was supposed to be more iPadOS friendly. There is no good way to import a document, the styles all get broken, the user guide on their web site doesn’t even match the functionality of the app, this is a disgrace. At least Scrivener does what it says it will do. ### 1/5 — Bought it a long while ago now they stole it from me in the new update *2025-09-26, version 4.6.1* Bought it in 2022, and loved it. Just went to use it and it updated to 4, and I can’t use it any more. It’s locked under the update and I have to PAY again if I want it!!!! Huge scam!!! ### 1/5 — Can’t see all projects *2025-06-15, version 4.6.1* I have created 5 projects but can’t see them all at once. Have to go into files which is a nuisance and doesn’t always work. ### 1/5 — Terrible *2024-01-22, version 4.4.1* Simply awful. Nothing like the photos ### 1/5 — 4 is so many steps backwards *2023-10-27* I really wanted to like this but the ui is so terrible, it doesn’t seem to connection to Dropbox anymore (if it does, that loops back to ui because it should be readily apparent), it’s not user friendly at all, and worst of all: it deleted my work—all files are just gone. Please, for the love of all things holy, return Storyist 3 or a Storyist 5 that takes after 3. After having had recommended 3 to my writer friends and acquaintances for years, Storyist 4 is a mess and an utter disappointment. Oh, and themes don’t work. All in all, as much as Storyist 3 was the primary reason I continued to buy ipads, Storyist 4 (as it is) is one of the worst wastes of money I ever spent. **Developer response:** A lot has changed in iOS since the Storyist 3 days! Apple introduced the Files UI in iOS 11, and Storyist 4 (released in 2019) adopted it. The Files UI *does* support Dropbox. Just make sure you have the Dropbox app installed, then tap the More (...) button in the Storyist or Files app home screen, select Edit Sidebar, and turn on the Dropbox item in Locations. And don't worry. If you stored your files in Dropbox in Storyist 3, they're still there and will appear after you turn on Dropbox in locations. If you have other questions, please email support@storyist.com. Happy to help! ### 1/5 — Either be a pay to use app or be nothing *2023-07-26, version 4.4.1* The facade of being a free app to help others is abhorrent. The fact is that require a 30 dollar purchase to actually use the app and it is the first thing actually displayed. The audacity to do this whilst portraying yourself as a free to use app is disgusting. ### 1/5 — No support zero customer service *2022-10-18, version 4.3.3* Garbage! Purchased version 3. Tried downloading version 4 - asked to pay full price when there should be a discount. Switched to Final Draft. ### 1/5 — Eats your project files *2022-09-25, version 4.3.2* This is my second review — the first one conveniently disappeared (or never went live). Don’t use this app. I’ve seen time and time again text files within a project disappear. They’re not in the backups either. Screenplay text files. Fiction text files. Hours and hours of work in multiple projects just gone. Tech support can’t (or won’t) help. App updates don’t fix the issue. Read other reviews. I’m not the only one experiencing this problem. Just avoid this app altogether. ## Most praised reviews (10 highest-rated) ### 5/5 — A Surprise.. *2026-02-03, version 4.7* Perfect Writer App.. ### 5/5 — Pretty good! *2025-05-30, version 4.6.1* I use the macOS app, and the iOS app has all the same features, presented in an easy to use fashion. I don’t really use it for logging characters or locations or plot points. Another app fills that gap, as I find Storyist’s methods for this a bit half baked. But it excels as a more focused version of Pages with much smaller file sizes. All I need is a simple writing app that lets me see the pages and word count rack up, whilst being able to highlight blocks of text and add comments to myself for future drafts. Storyist provides this with a one off payment and no sub. Can’t fault the iCloud sync either which lets me work on the same draft seamlessly between phone and desktop. Highly recommended. ### 5/5 — Brilliant and Elegant in its Simplicity. *2025-04-24, version 4.6* Beautiful and lean- not over designed and needlessly complex. It’s a Writing Machine for writers who want to Write rather than spend time being software technicians. Have appreciated Storyist from the beginning and ditched my other screenwriting programs. It’s one of the best deals in writing apps. You don’t feel like you’re being gouged by Corporate “Greed”. ### 5/5 — Zur Zeit die beste Alternative zu Scrivener *2024-12-15, version 4.5* Vielen Dank an die Entwickler für diese App. Es war so Mühsam mit der Synchronisierung auf den Geräten (Mac - iPad) via Dropbox mit Scrivener. Storyist geht mit iCloud super gut um, da das Xxx.story Format besser ist als das Xxx.scriv Format (die Datei ist eigentlich ein Ordner und wird in Unterordnern gliedert). Aber das beste noch: Storyist kann bidirektional (Import - Export) mit Scrivener Dateien umgehen. Wer nicht auf Scrivener verzichten möchte, kann sogar Storyist als Begleitapp auf dem iPad nutzen (mit ein Paar Einschränkungen) um Dropbox zu vermeiden. Ein kleiner Vermutstropfen ist, dass Storyist nur auf Englisch, Französisch und Spanisch verfügbar ist und auf die Sprache der Dichter und Denker komplett verzichtet. ### 5/5 — Best Script Writing App On The IPad *2024-09-24* I love how simple and to the point everything is. I tried Final Draft (iPad) and it sucked harder than a washed up p***star tying to regain relevancy again😂 But this is by far the best script writing app there is. And not mention final draft files are 100% compatible meaning I can just carry all of those file over with no problem. ### 5/5 — Ottima, velocissima e con sync via iCloud *2024-02-11, version 4.4.1* Ho usato Scrivener per anni ma il fatto che la sincronizzazione avviene tramite Dropbox mi ha sempre spazientito: risulta lentissima anche quando si aggiorna un file progetto piccolo. Poi ho usato Ulysses ma l’ho sempre trovato brutto per via della predilezione per il markdown (formattare un testo comporta inserire certi tag e non utilizzare gli strumenti tipici quali grassetto/corsivo/etc). Dopo molte ricerche sono approdato a Storyist che, oltre ad un’interfaccia più pulita e ad impostazioni più chiare di Scrivener, SINCRONIZZA I FILE TRAMITE iCLOUD. OTTIMO!!! L’unica cosa che migliorerei è la procedura di salvataggio dei file di backup. La funzione di backup esiste non è questo il problema (è abbastanza nascosta, vi si accede dal menu File/Scegli file, ma esiste). Si può anche salvare una copia di backup manualmente (Choose File > Save a Version). Sarebbe ulteriormente più pratico che l’app salvasse sul cloud e non solo in locale i backup automatici (funzione presente in Scrivener). Questo per maggior sicurezza in caso di problemi. A parte questo piccolo suggerimento, Storyist risulta essere IL MIGLIOR EDITOR E FILE MANAGER DI TESTO PER MAC. È come usare Word con un Finder laterale che mostra tutti i file creati. Questi file verranno salvati su iCloud e sarà semplicissimo spostarli, accorparli ad altri progetti, esportarli. Interfaccia pulita, UN VERO EDITOR DI TESTO, salvataggio su iCloud Drive, velocissimo. E non è certo solo un programma per scrittori: chiunque abbia tantissimi file di testo o scriva molti appunti amerà questo programma e la possibilità di avere la propria biblioteca in un unico luogo anzichè in cartelle sparse qua e là sul computer. APP ESSENZIALE. ### 5/5 — A Critical Tool For My Writing Process *2023-06-19* It’s a file management system and word processor all in one and it doesn’t require a monthly fee. Been using it for over a year and still love using it over other competitor apps. I’m grateful to the folks who designed this app because it has helped me get further than ever with my writing. I hope it helps you too! ### 5/5 — A Word Processor and File Management System *2022-12-04, version 4.4* Storyist is a great system for large writing projects such as a novel. Sure, there are little bugs like capitalizing the second letter of the first word in a new sentence, but overall, it’s a great app that other developers simply won’t create. ### 5/5 — Version 4.3.2 added new bug, but fixed by 4.3.3 *2022-10-15, version 4.3.3* FYI for the developers - Great app, used it for decade+ with no issues. Files stored in iCloud. Running iPadOS 15.6.1 on iPad 8gen. Ver 4.3.2 has caused the index cards to all lose their color, and won't hold color if I re-add/close/reopen. I will report other issues when/if detected. Thanks. UPDATE: This has been fixed with 4.3.3! Thanks for the quick response... Note: I'm now on iPadOS 15.7 **Developer response:** Thank you for supporting Storyist for more than a decade! This bug is fixed in 4.3.3. Thank you for letting us know at the support email address. ### 5/5 — Awesome app! *2020-11-05, version 4.2.1* Wow, this app really helps me write stories! I’ve been using this app for about a week, but I love it. --- *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 2026-09-11.*