# Top Hat - Better Learning — user reviews > 191 indexed App Store user reviews of Top Hat by Top Hat Monocle, rated 4.60/5 from 22,765 ratings. - Source: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/top-hat-better-learning/id674069291/reviews - App overview in markdown: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/top-hat-better-learning/id674069291.md - Rating breakdown: 5★ 17,557 · 4★ 3,607 · 3★ 746 · 2★ 157 · 1★ 698 ## What do users think of Top Hat? Overall sentiment: negative **Pros** - 🚀 Smooth and intuitive interface - 👍 Useful for attendance and in-class quizzes - 💡 Potential for interactive learning **Cons** - 🐛 Frequent crashes and bugs - 🔋 High battery consumption - 💰 Expensive subscription fees - 🔒 Privacy concerns with location tracking **Commonly reported bugs** - Answers not registering correctly - Slides not loading properly on mobile devices - Inconsistent performance across platforms **Most requested features** - Add page numbers and search functionality to ebooks - Improve syncing between mobile and web versions - Allow more flexible location settings for attendance ## Newest reviews (19 of 191) ### 3/5 — Good but needs improvement *2026-07-23* How am I paying for an app to learn but the questions don’t work.. I’m unable to choose my answers. Other than that, it is pretty efficient **Developer response:** Thank you for bringing up an issue to our attention! Please contact us at https://support.tophat.com/contact so we can troubleshoot the issue and ensure everything else stays efficient. ### 2/5 — Botched *2026-06-18* I would rate this app higher if it worked consistently. What an amazing concept, executed poorly. I feel so bad for the instructors who have to fumble around with it just to make it work. Usually they just give up. Doesn’t work that great for me either. :( ### 1/5 — Awful *2025-10-09, version 8.90.0* I’m always loosing points because the app keeps shutting down and kicking me off, or it just doesn’t load ### 1/5 — my 3 year old could write a better chem textbook *2025-10-08, version 8.90.0* imagine making content this terrible and then having the audacity to charge STUDENTS exorbitant prices for some of the most poorly written slop known to man. not only is it sometimes inaccurate, it’s riddled with typos and shows a clear lack of care and understanding of the subject. you even had to buy fake 5 star reviews on the app store because no one would say a single good thing about your program. you genuinely make me mad ### 1/5 — “Failed to load” *2025-10-08, version 8.90.0* Thanks for costing me points in class. Internet connection’s fine, every other app works fine. It’s only this one that pulled out the excuse of a slow connection. “Failed to load” “Failed to load” “Failed to load” “Failed to load”. Fix your app. ### 1/5 — Broken *2025-10-02* As a uni student, this app is the most miserable piece of junk I’ve ever had to use, i cannot believe i was forced to pay for this digital car wreck. It’s excruciatingly slow and is not easy to navigate at all, you open a menu? The app scrolls and you lose your place. I have been waiting for this app to load for 30+ mins now and I’m on a time crunch, if i wanted to waste my time NOT STUDYING i would do literally anything else that’s less infuriating. If your prof makes you use this app, run. It’s not worth the struggle, let alone the money **Developer response:** Sorry to hear about your less than ideal experience with the Top Hat app. Waiting for an app to load is frustrating, especially when you're on a time crunch. If you tried to access the app on October 2nd, then you were likely impacted by platform latency and service degradation. To resolve the issue, we completed a database migration that evening to restore service. If you are experiencing any other issues outside of this window, then please contact our support team https://support.tophat.com/contact with further details for investigation ### 1/5 — Spying *2025-09-23, version 8.89.0* I love when professors force student to download and allow access to sensitive location tracking data. No care for their users, and they aren’t open about how that data is processed. ### 1/5 — So many bugs *2025-09-17, version 8.89.0* Hiring someone who knows how to code ### 1/5 — Spazzes out and kicks me out of quizzes *2025-09-09, version 8.88.0* Tophat has an epileptic seizure when I open up a class and randomly kicks me out of my quizzes. Fix the app ### 1/5 — Horrifically buggy slopware, unethical manipulation of ratings on App Store *2025-07-14, version 8.84.0* The software is so laughably unusable for the reasons mentioned ad nauseam in the reviews here that it’s inconceivable that the ratings aren’t being manipulated ### 1/5 — Worst Reading App *2025-06-12* In comparison to other apps I’ve used, this one is absolutely terrible. As a busy individual trying to squeeze as much efficiency out of my day as possible, I don’t always have time to sit and actually read my text books. Read aloud is my best friend and this app doesn’t have it. Today, I was hoping to read my textbook in flight and downloaded the book I had bought and now I can’t even open the app. **Developer response:** We're sorry to hear about your recent experience and how the lack of read-aloud feature has impacted you. That's definitely not the seamless experience we want for our users. We're happy to let you know that we're actively working on implementing a text-to-speech feature to enhance accessibility and convenience for users like yourself. We anticipate this feature will be available before the end of summer. Regarding the issue with opening the app, please let us know if you're still experiencing issue and we'd be happy to investigate further at https://support.tophat.com/contact ### 1/5 — Recent Update made it so definitions are properly shown *2025-04-08* I updated with the latest update and now I can’t read the definitions that pop up on the Side even when its expanded. It read as a long sentence it doesn’t adjust to screen size. Please fix! **Developer response:** We're really sorry to hear you've been having trouble with reading your course material. That's definitely not the experience we want our users to have. We're happy to confirm we've resolved the readability issue you mentioned in a previous app update. Please ensure you have the latest version of the app installed to benefit from this fix. We appreciate you taking the time to share your feedback. It helps us immensely in our efforts to deliver a seamless experience for all our users. ### 1/5 — Horribly glitchy *2025-03-17, version 8.77.4* I have to restart the app CONSTANTLY while doing assignments, it’s glitchy in pretty much every way imaginable, it makes it incredibly hard to do assignments, it even duplicates and leaves out sections so that you don’t know you’re missing content and questions! So fed up ### 1/5 — Updated now all it does is crash *2025-03-12, version 8.77.0* I updated the app and now all it does it crash when I use it! I have homework due and it keeps messing up!!! ### 2/5 — New update *2025-03-11* I love top Hat, its really helped me Excel in my courses, but this new updates dosent Even let me access the class material before crashing **Developer response:** We're sorry to hear about your recent experience. We're working on resolving this as soon as possible and have released an update that dramatically improves the current experience (v8.77.2). Please let us know if you're still experiencing issues after upgrading to the latest version, and our team would love to investigate this further. Please feel free to contact us at support@tophatmonocle.com ### 1/5 — Keeps crashing *2025-03-10, version 8.77.0* This app can’t handle a photo on my iPhone 16 Pro 😭😭 ### 1/5 — Crashing *2025-03-08* This app crashes almost continuously. **Developer response:** We're sorry to hear about your recent experience. We're working on resolving this as soon as possible and have released an update that dramatically improves the current experience (v8.77.2). Please let us know if you're still experiencing issues after upgrading to the latest version, and our team would love to investigate this further. Please feel free to contact us at support@tophatmonocle.com ### 1/5 — This app is not bio friendly *2025-03-07, version 8.77.0* My professor uses this app and it’s so unorganized and confusing. If you are a professor I urge you to find a different solution to create homework or labs. It is an app difficult for professors and students. I hope they change this app because it does not deserve a 4 star rating. I’m not allowed to submit my homework because it disappears but my professor expects us to study using our homework… save you’re,f and students some time and don’t use it. ### 1/5 — Useless to me since updated *2025-03-05* After using this app for several months now, I was prompted that I need to update so I did. Now the function that allows me to answer questions on the material no longer works. This was the only reason I got the app in the first place because I bought the e-text online which also doesn’t let me answer the questions in the text and this app was the workaround. It helped me to prepare for quizzes and ensure that I understood the material. Now this app is useless. I am not sure how taking away this functionality was considered a performance improvement. If I purchase a textbook that asks questions on the material, there’s going to be an answer key included somewhere. This is like selling me a textbook with the answer key torn out. Thanks for nothing Top Hat. **Developer response:** We're sorry to hear about your recent experience. We're working on resolving this as soon as possible and will be releasing an update early this week. Please let us know if you're still experiencing issues afterwards, and our team would love to investigate this further. Please feel free to contact us at support@tophatmonocle.com ## Most critical reviews (10 lowest-rated) ### 1/5 — Bad for exams *2026-07-14, version 8.107.0* I was taking a FINAL EXAM on my ipad and it bugged out and froze my ipad, my ipad has never done this before, except during my Midterm where other classmates around me and me included were taken out of the exam multiple times this happened within the last 2-3 weeks of each other bc it’s summer courses rn. Not to mention when you’re doing work it clicks you out of the assignment for just pressing the back button or ‘Done’ instead of the X, like keep up ### 1/5 — Mandatory update during a test *2026-04-02* Was writing a test on tophat when all of a sudden i was unable to use anymore **Developer response:** We’re sorry to hear you ran into trouble during your test. This typically happens if the app version becomes outdated. To prevent this in the future, we recommend manually checking for updates before starting any assessment. If you’re still having trouble, please reach out to our support team at https://support.tophat.com/contact for further investigation. ### 1/5 — App is buggy and customer service is so unhelpful *2026-03-25* This isn’t the first time that the app doesn’t keep up with presentation. I tried everything, from reinstalling, updating and even clearing cache. I spoke to customer service agent Ederlyn Q, whose only suggestion was to use the website as I am trying to troubleshoot the app. Leaves me on read and then ends the chat like the issue was solved. Spoiler, it wasn’t. I am not the only person that has had issues with the app on both my phone and tablet, I thought that because most of the negative reviews came from a few years back they would have fixed the lagging issue , but nope. The app bugs, lags and will have a stroke mid presentation **Developer response:** It’s incredibly frustrating to do all the troubleshooting steps, and to not have a solution. We want to investigate exactly what happened during that interaction and, more importantly, get to the bottom of your app experience. Please contact us with your case number or username/account information, and reference to this review, so we can investigate further. ### 1/5 — Absolutely menace of an app *2026-03-02, version 8.98.0* Every time I open my iPad and open the app, it says there is an error. I have to logout the app and login once again everyday to use it. Not only that the connection is just incredibly slow and I have missed a lot of questions from this. One of the worst apps humanly possible. Even iClicker is better than you. ### 1/5 — Mobile app sucks *2026-02-17, version 8.98.0* App is essentially useless if you are not connected to WiFi, loads about half of questions in time and the missed ones load the moment they close. ### 1/5 — Doesn’t work *2026-01-07* Tried to put in my school and it kept switching and would not let me access anything. Stupid thing, I had to delete it and restart multiple times and still nothing. App is complete garbage. **Developer response:** Thank you for bringing this issue to our attention. Sorry for the frustration caused by the login issue you were experiencing. The good news is, we have identified the bug and released a fix in our latest update. Please update the app to the latest version, and you should be good to go! If you are experiencing any further issues, please contact our support team at https://support.tophat.com/contact with further details for investigation. ### 1/5 — Frustrating App to Use *2025-12-05* Being able to view your textbook on your mobile device with a read aloud feature is amazing. But upon resetting my password to get pc access I have indirectly locked myself out of TopHat on my phone because whenever I input my York University as my institution, it always changes it to Farmdale state college. And I have tried resetting my phone and reinstalling the app and there seems to be no fix. This is especially frustrating considering the fact that I am trying to study for finals and don’t have this access. Overall, just negative experience with this application as a whole. **Developer response:** This is an extremely frustrating situation, especially when you're trying to study for finals. Thank you for taking the time to share your experience, as the read-aloud feature is something we want to ensure everyone can access reliably. Please contact our support team at https://support.tophat.com/contact so we can look into this further ### 1/5 — Fix the dang connection *2025-11-07, version 8.92.0* Everything but the question loads and can’t even see it after ### 1/5 — Should be free *2025-10-27, version 8.91.2* Idk why this costs money. ### 1/5 — Don’t use *2025-10-15, version 8.91.0* It keeps asking for a review and it will not let you answer any questions. Then it closes the app and makes you miss out on points. Dumbest app ever ## Most praised reviews (10 highest-rated) ### 5/5 — Does crash anymore! *2025-03-15, version 8.77.4* Great app! Doesn’t care anymore :) ### 5/5 — Well done, chef *2022-01-26, version 8.15.0* It’s not like canvas, but I’m grateful for the mobile accessibility and ease. Sure, not all my classes are on here but, for the ones that are, the assignments, textbook, and grades are all easy to see and with little to no technical issues, I can read and do all of my assignments from anywhere. ### 5/5 — Simple to Navigate *2021-05-11* Little differences between the online version and the app. I appreciate the app saving my location from where I left off. Its never really cause too much of an issue. Well, except that the answers don’t vary too much unless the teacher allows (inputs the variation of answers lol, but normally the written answers are given so the teacher knows if your actually reading the text lol).. Its good for tho ### 5/5 — Excellent if the professor knows how to use it *2020-02-25* I am lucky when I have professors who know how to properly use this app in a way that facilitates learning and retention of material. When the professor doesn’t know how to utilize the app, and uses it in a distracting way or cannot use the interface, that takes time out of the class and frustrates me and other learners. This app is pretty solid for students as it provides a good learning platform to assess learned facts as well as a source of review questions. I can’t imagine what it must be like to be a professor and write hundreds of questions per semester for this app, though. Thankfully, I’m not a professor! ### 5/5 — Top Hat *2020-01-21, version 5.81.0* The app is very smooth and fluent and have not experienced any issues with it at all whatsoever. I highly recommend teachers and professors to use this application. Attendance is tracked and small quizzes can be created. I’m a student and I honestly wish more professors used this and involved more of their work and quizzes in them. ### 5/5 — Feedback *2020-01-10, version 5.80.0* awesome !! ### 5/5 — Love it for school but *2019-10-03, version 5.73.2* I use this app nearly everyday for professional school and its layout is clean and easy to use; however, it desperately needs Apple Watch compatibility. It would save me login time and fumbling with multiple devices, especially when I need to login in a clinical setting. ### 5/5 — Location abuse *2019-10-01, version 5.73.2* This app requires that you have location services set to always when a teacher has the setting on to verify that your physically in the classroom when taking attendance. “While using” should suffice but it doesn’t. ### 5/5 — Life changing! *2019-03-30, version 5.61.0* I love this app, has completely changed college. ### 5/5 — 4 stars ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ app, but can't reply to discussion on iPhone *2018-12-03, version 5.54.0* Can't reply to discussion on iPhone --- *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 2026-08-28.*