# The Tempest — user reviews > 44 indexed App Store user reviews of The Tempest by HEURISTIC SHAKESPEARE LIMITED, rated 4.90/5 from 52 ratings. - Source: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/the-tempest/id1099176816/reviews - App overview in markdown: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/the-tempest/id1099176816.md - Rating breakdown: 5★ 51 · 4★ 0 · 3★ 0 · 2★ 1 · 1★ 0 ## Newest reviews (19 of 44) ### 5/5 — My Favorite App *2017-02-03, version 1.0.6* LOVE this! When watching this play live I have had a hard time following along. This app was so cool!! All of the tools available to explore the play are amazing. I can't wait to explore more plays, please do more! Thank you. ### 5/5 — Very impressive!!! *2017-01-20, version 1.0.6* I cannot wait for more of these. There is no way to adequately express how well done this app is. Five stars is not enough! Thank you for this app!! Great job! ### 5/5 — More please! *2017-01-14, version 1.0.6* Wonderful! Well done! Bravo! Please release more. Thanks ### 5/5 — Absolutely brilliant *2016-12-25, version 1.0.6* Every time I sit down to read a Shakespeare play, I get lost within the first 12 lines. I either give up or plod on, understanding about 10% of what I am reading. The Tempest just became my favorite Shakespeare play because I understand it now. Please do another ASAP. Would pay much more. ### 5/5 — Beautiful *2016-12-10, version 1.0.6* Gorgeously conceived and executed, directed and acted, researched and presented. I echo the others who hope that more are forthcoming, and soon. ### 5/5 — Amazing! *2016-09-06, version 1.0.6* Taking Shakespeare now in my online college class and we will be reading the Tempest. I wish there were more of these available sooner but I will buy everyone released going forward. Excellent work. ### 5/5 — Please do another ASAP *2016-08-23, version 1.0.6* Though familiar with many of Shakespeare's works, I had never read to the Tempest. I am glad that this was my introduction to it. I am anxiously awaiting the next play. Please do it soon and make it one I haven't read yet! ### 5/5 — Great way to understand the play *2016-06-17, version 1.0.6* This approach works best for me. I get more of Shakespeare's meaning from listening to the actors' voicing the lines as I read along, than I do just reading the text or watching the play. I like the visual groupings of characters by scenes. The comments on the scenes and in other parts of the app are excellent. The app uses 1.8 GB is space if everything is downloaded. ### 5/5 — Engrossing *2016-06-17, version 1.0.6* I know little of Shakespeare because his works can be very difficult to penetrate as a beginner. This really gave me an interest in learning more and all the tools to do so. Entertaining and interesting. ### 5/5 — Single best educational app I've used. Enormously entertaining! *2016-06-17, version 1.0.6* I bought the Heuristic Shakespeare - The Tempest app last month and I've used it every day since then. This is the single best educational app I've ever used (Duolingo was my previous favorite). The developers and the actors involved in this project have created an app that lets you hear The Tempest, parse the text, see images, etc. It's an experience with a Shakespeare text unlike anything I've experienced before. I love going to the Oregon Shakespeare Festival in the summers and I can't wait until they perform this play again, because I now feel like I really understand it. ### 5/5 — I would have killed for this in high school or college *2016-05-31, version 1.0.5* I've often heard that Shakespeare is easier to understand in the context of a performance, but never have I seen such a seamless combination of performance, play, notes, and brilliant new visualizations that help to understand the play both in story and structure. Oh, and full text search would have cut the time spent writing papers by at least a quarter. I'm enjoying this read through of the Tempest more than even the live courses I loved when I was in school. Top rate work! ### 5/5 — Excellent and enjoyable tool for learning *2016-05-28, version 1.0.5* This is a wonderful app, presenting the play in a manner that preserves its character and drama, but allows for greater exploration and understanding. A great idea, executed beautifully -- I can't wait for the next one! ### 5/5 — It is wonderful! *2016-05-17, version 1.0.4* This is the way to do it! Please do more. Perhaps Twelfth Night next? This is the best money I've spent on an app! ### 5/5 — Fantastic *2016-05-15, version 1.0.4* This is a wonderful way to experience Shakespeare. The dynamic format allows you to listen to or read the text, or pause to follow a theme, word, or character through the play. I can't wait for the next app. ### 5/5 — Keep them coming *2016-05-12, version 1.0.4* This is the kind of high quality educational app that is desperately needed in the App Store. Please support this endeavor, it's worth every penny. ### 5/5 — Soooooooo Good! *2016-05-08, version 1.0.3* Really well done app. Can't wait for more of these. Having the actors available with the text is great. Seems like they put some real money in to this. Hope it does well. Definitely worth the money. ### 5/5 — Indispensable for Shakespeare lovers! *2016-05-06, version 1.0.3* This magnificent app is a really handy tool for study and comprehension. The actors don't move but you do get to see their unobscured faces. It's more like a tremendous table reading (after the actors have prepared themselves with A LOT of text analysis) than an actual performance, which is perfect, because this app is about developing the means of interpretation in it’s audience rather than delivering one to them. There is nothing cinematic other than the occasional suggestive animation or sound effect. Minimal gestures (one of them really stands out in my mind as illuminative); No costumes; No lighting; No set— Just faces and a deep understanding of the lines. (One big plus is that words whose meanings have changed over time are spoken in a way that avoids the confusion that would ensue if you read them by yourself). The app is not so much about theatrical performance; It's about Shakespeare’s words and the meanings. AND, it is undisputedly a bargain, well worth the price of an expensive cup of coffee! 6 bucks and it's on your pad! It is absolutely delightful to watch and follow along with the words! And let’s face it, Ian and Derick have voices like a $500 bottle of wine; they keep you good company! It is a bit unfair to single out those well known stars, because the entire cast is so solid. You could understand them all without the scrolling script, but every now and then I would get curious and stop, using the easily accessible notes and underlined bits in the script to go into more detail. I must reiterate— you are co-creating with them! Your imagination will be engaged; it’s not really like watching a performance as much as it’s like crawling into the play. I have yet to explore the whole thing!!! There is a lot of extra criticism and scholarship included in the app! You could spend weeks ruminating over everything that they give you! Extremely useful for actors, directors, English literature teachers, and students. The only drawback might be if you don’t have a good internet connection. You need to be able to down load the actors for each scene and act of the play. Also, I was temporarily confused if the scene was actually downloading or not because the buttons were a little confusing to me. Those are the only 2 things I can think of that are a little critical. I love it and look forward to more! This app is the best! ### 5/5 — The best of what apps can offer *2016-05-05, version 1.0.3* This amazing app offers the full text of "The Tempest," with potentially confusing text underlined and clickable for an explanation. But it offers so much more. Videos of talented actors playing each part, so the spoken word further illuminates the meaning. Other videos explore the play's structure and additional aspects. If any app ever deserved five stars, this is it. Readers can choose the level of immersion and study they want to engage in. I can't wait until this company produces more of Shakespeare. I will collect the full lot. ### 5/5 — Profound *2016-05-04, version 1.0.3* Imagine rap albums of the future… They should look like this. Reminds me of Genius a little bit, but with the content created by the artist. I am already looking to see where I can attend an outdoor performance of The Tempest this summer. Using this tool, my knowledge and appreciation for the play will be off the charts ## Most critical reviews (10 lowest-rated) ### 1/5 — Help section never appeared... *2016-04-30, version 1.0* Anyone else have the problem? I am a novice....waited, waited, looked at white screen...waited...three times tried...same white screen...app is in here, but can't open the door to kindergarten room...thanks for help. ### 2/5 — Great ... when it works *2017-11-08, version 1.0.6* Inventive, detailed app, BUT I can’t download Act 1 Scene 2. I’ve tried numerous times, without success. The first scene downloaded without problem, but not the second. I think there’s a bug lurking in there somewhere. ### 2/5 — Crashes *2016-05-01, version 1.0* This app crashes every time I open it. Perhaps all the bells and whistles (alarums and excursions?) they've added is too much even for my iPad Pro. ### 4/5 — Excellent, and if only... *2016-04-28, version 1.0* This is my first "Shakespeare app" so I have nothing to say by comparison. Other reviewers are doing that well and this gets raves from those so in the know. This is an excellent creation and an immersive learning experience I would highly recommend to anybody interested in Shakespeare at any level of knowledge. My only disappointment is that fine actors used in this production are doing "reads" instead of bringing the full force of their acting talents to bear. To assist in the reading of the script: invaluable. To bring the play to life: We'll have to seek elsewhere. ### 5/5 — Terrific job, more plays please!!! *2023-02-03, version 1.1.1* I’m revisiting the play and looking at this wonderful app again. I only wish they had continued with the series! ### 5/5 — incredible resource *2020-08-29, version 1.1.0* truly outstanding, a scholar’s delight ### 5/5 — Awesome Performance and Immersion of Shakespeare! *2020-04-21, version 1.1.0* Please do another play like this and create another app! Please ! ### 5/5 — The digital equivalent of Oxford's new critical edition *2019-10-10, version 1.0.8* The only thing that this app might improve is the download experience. It is a little buggy and I wish there is an option for audio only, not that I don't enjoy seeing Derek Jacobi and Ian Mckellen reading out loud though. I mean seriously. How is this app not topping the charts. Please publish the rest of the plays ASAP. ### 5/5 — One of my all time favorites *2018-08-31, version 1.0.8* I admit that The Tempest was one of Shakespeare’s works with which I was least familiar but I had such a delightful time rediscovering and becoming MUCH better acquainted with this wonderful play. Now for God’s sake please give us the next app! ### 5/5 — Brilliant *2018-05-28, version 1.0.8* Sophisticated and feature rich. Really blown away by the multi-layer flexibility, start and stop anywhere, probe deeper into the characters when you want to, interpretations and definitions when you need them. Very well thought out and executed. ## Most praised reviews (4 highest-rated) ### 5/5 — Much needed for this generation’s students of Shakespeare *2018-01-08, version 1.0.6* Most of us have had to read one or two of Shakespeare’s plays in high school. But the problem was that Shakespeare was the last thing we were thinking about. The difficulty of language was a turn off, teachers themselves were not experts in the writing either, so what was the relevance to us? But I think Shakespeare is better appreciated when you have accumulated more personal experience meeting people and delving into some current affairs. I found Shakespeare a more pleasurable experience trying to learn it on my own free time and that is where this app really helps. It has annotations for the entire Tempest play and recorded voice work. So in addition to reading, you get to really ‘listen’ to the words and the different pronunciations. Through this app, it made me confident to say that although Shakespeare is difficult, it does not mean that it can’t be fun. If you take the time and take a leap of faith with this app, I promise that you will have a better appreciation of Shakespeare and create an approachable and optimistic view of classic literature. ### 5/5 — The best *2017-11-23, version 1.0.6* No other Shakespeare app comes close. When is the next one coming out? ### 5/5 — Magnificent App!! *2017-11-12, version 1.0.6* Words would fail even the Bard himself in praising this app. It is excellent for the average reader, the student, the actor and the experienced Shakespeare scholar. I've used it for classes in Shakespeare, preparing to act a part in the Tempest, and for just plain fun. Please do more like this. ### 5/5 — Delightful! And accessible. *2017-06-11, version 1.0.6* Truly brings The Bard to life on an iPad. This is a tremendous effort on the part of all involved. For teachers, students, and Shakespeare fans. Please create more! --- *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 2026-06-10.*