Comparison

PDF Highlighter vs Highlights

Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.

Head to head
About

PDF Highlighter

Easily edit and highlight text, photos, and documents directly on your phone. This app provides realistic highlighting tools and drawing functions to mark important sections of PDFs and images, allowing you to save and share your annotated files.

Highlights
  • Edit and highlight PDF files and photos
  • Use realistic highlighter pen tool
  • Freehand drawing with pen, line, arrow, rectangle, and circle tools
  • Change drawing tool colors and sizes
  • Zoom in/out PDF pages
  • Export highlighted PDFs and photos
  • Add, delete, or edit PDF pages
Features
Read full description

PDF Highlighter, Now easy to highlight important text, add notes, and annotate PDFs with ease. Customize documents using text, signatures, arrows, circles, lines, and colorful markup tools. Draw, edit, and organize your files with professional annotation features designed for work, study, and everyday productivity. Turn any PDF into an interactive and editable document in just a few taps. Easy to read & convert all image formats into PDF files with password security. The complete PDF toolkit for reading, editing, scanning, converting, and managing documents on your iPhone and iPad. Whether you're reviewing contracts, studying notes, filling forms, highlighting important sections, or creating PDFs from photos, PDF Highlighter - Read & Edit gives you everything you need in one powerful and easy-to-use app. Designed for students, professionals, teachers, business users, and anyone who works with documents every day. Now here you can edit PDF files and highlight the important and hide confidential text in PDF files easily. This will help you for protecting your privacy and ensuring confidential information stays hidden. Whether you need to redact personal details from a PDF files or colorise important information in PDF files. ** Key Features - Powerful PDF Editor • Edit and annotate existing PDF documents • Add images to PDF pages or scan to generate PDF files • Save changes as a new copy or replace the original file • Create professional documents on the go - Advanced PDF Highlighter & Annotation Tools • Highlight important text with multiple colors • Add notes and comments • Draw directly on PDF pages • Add custom text anywhere in the document • Insert signatures and initials • Undo and redo changes instantly - Smart PDF Reader • Open and read PDF files quickly • Smooth scrolling and fast page navigation • Search text inside PDFs • Jump directly to any page • Zoom in and out with ease • Recent files for quick access • Open PDF files from other apps • List and Grid view modes • Organize files by folders - Professional Markup Tools • Pen and freehand drawing tools • Multiple pen styles and colors • Adjustable font styles and sizes • Arrow tool • Line tool • Circle and filled circle tools • Shape drawing support • Precision editing with zoom controls • Blur or hide important text information - Scan to PDF • Scan documents using your camera • Create high-quality PDFs from images • Automatic document detection • Save scans in portrait or landscape mode • Perfect for receipts, notes, contracts, invoices, and forms - Image to PDF Converter • Convert photos into PDF documents • Combine multiple images into a single PDF • Rearrange pages before creating PDF • Create professional PDF files in seconds - PDF Conversion Tools • PDF to Word • Word to PDF • Image to PDF • Scan to PDF • PDF to ZIP • Fast and reliable document conversion - PDF Management Tools • Merge multiple PDF files • Compress PDF files to reduce size • Batch compress multiple PDFs • Organize and manage documents easily • Rename, move, and share files - Privacy & Security • Lock PDF files with passwords • Protect sensitive documents • Secure file management • Keep your important files private - Save & Share Anywhere • Export and share PDFs instantly • Share files via email, messaging apps, and more • Print PDF documents directly from your device - Why Choose PDF Highlighter - Read & Edit? • Fast and lightweight • Professional PDF editing tools • Powerful highlighter and annotation features • Complete document management solution • Easy-to-use interface • Perfect for work, study, business, and personal use Download now and take full control of your PDF documents anytime, anywhere. Privacy Policy: https://shadowphotovideoeditorzoneappspolicy.blogspot.com/2024/02/shadow-photo-video-editor-zone-privacy.html Terms of Use (EULA): https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/

About

Highlights

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.

Highlights
  • 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
Features
Read full description

"... an app that students, academics, and anyone who does substantial amounts of PDF-based research should try" - Macstories.net "It’s the novel approach to PDF annotation that makes this app a cut above the rest"- TapSmart.com *** "App of the Day" - App Store, US *** USE HIGHLIGHTS FOR FREE Highlights is a fast and lightweight PDF reader (under 10MB) packed with features to help you do your best research. Free users have access to standard PDF reader features including document browsing, reading and annotating. There are NO ADS, time limits or tracking. READ PDF DOCUMENTS • Open PDF documents from anywhere • Browse files using the familiar document browser • Open PDFs in Single Page or Two Page scroll mode • Double tap to Smart Zoom in on a paragraph or figure • Scrub smoothly to the desired page • Search the entire document in an instant • Navigate using any connected keyboard or mouse STORE YOUR FILES WHERE YOU WANT • Full support for "Open In Place" lets you make edits to the file where it is • Access your files from iCloud Drive, Dropbox, Google Drive, OneDrive or Box using the document browser • Or keep them privately on device only HIGHLIGHT AND ANNOTATE FASTER • Select text with your finger, Apple Pencil or mouse pointer • Highlight, underline, strikethrough text and make image selections • Add comments to annotations or as individual sticky notes • Annotate with fewer taps using context aware popovers • Default annotation colors prevents you from having to repeatedly setting the color for the same type of annotation every time TURN ANNOTATIONS INTO NOTES • As you markup text and images the contents are extracted and sorted into notes • Customize the formatting and contents of your notes • Sort the annotations chronologically or create your own color coding EXTRACT TABLE DATA AND RECOGNIZE TEXT • Convert images containing text or tables to actual text and tables using machine learning - letting you get to the underlying data with a single tap SMART COPY Copy annotations to the desired format with one tap: • Text markup as text • Image selections as images • Tables as CSV • Citations as BibTex LOOKUP CITATIONS • Highlights will fetch DOI-links and metadata • Markup any reference and tap the link icon to look it up • If you have read the work already or have it in your reference manager library, Highlights will link you to it EXPORT ANYWHERE • Save or share your notes as portable files: Markdown, TextBundle, HTML, WebArchive or PDF • Share them to your favorite notes app: Apple Notes, Bear, Craft, Evernote, DEVONThink, Keep It, MindNode, Notion, Obsidian, Roam Research or Ulysses • Or send them to a colleague via mail. It's your notes, you decide where they go MUCH MORE • Dark mode • Multi-window support on iPadOS • Keyboard shortcuts and navigation • Support for system Copy and Undo gestures • Alternative app icons • Custom accent colors • Apple Pencil double-tap gestures • Power annotation tools For a full list of features see: highlightsapp.net/features HIGHLIGHTS PRO The Highlights Pro subscription unlocks advanced features on your iPhone, iPad and Mac: • Export options for other apps and easily editable formats • Extract information using table and text recognition • Customize accent colors and alternative app icons • Power annotation tools • Citation lookups • Smart Copy Highlights Pro includes a 14-day free trial. You can cancel your subscription at any time. The subscription will automatically renew unless auto-renew is turned off within 24-hour prior to the end of of the current period. Payments will be charged to your iTunes account and your account will be charged within 24-hours prior to the end of the current period. Any unused portion of a free trial period will be forfeited when you purchase a subscription. For more information about Highlights Pro: highlightsapp.net/pro Privacy Policy: highlightsapp.net/privacy Terms of Use: highlightsapp.net/terms

Screenshots

PDF Highlighter4 screens
Highlights4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is review sentiment: Highlights at 53% against PDF Highlighter's 0%. Highlights also leads on rating (4.5 vs 3.0) and update cadence (fortnightly vs every 95 months). PDF Highlighter's advantage is monetization model (free vs freemium). On price, ads, in-app purchases and device support there is nothing between them.

Scored on Price · Rating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings · Update frequency · Ads · In-app purchases · Monetization · Best chart rank · Devices · Requires iOS

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Both are free to download. PDF Highlighter sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $2.99 per 7 days and Highlights sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $4.99 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Highlights holds the better App Store score, 4.5 against 3.0. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Highlights has 1.6K ratings behind it against 1, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 0% of PDF Highlighter's written reviews are positive against 53% of Highlights's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

PDF Highlighter ships an update every 95 months, Highlights fortnightly. The most recent releases landed on October 2, 2026 and October 18, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard6 real differences · 4 level
PDF Highlighter versus Highlights: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterPDF HighlighterHighlights
PriceFreeFree
Rating3.0 (1 ratings)4.5 (1.6K ratings) — better
Positive reviews0.0% of reviews53.3% of reviews — better
Number of ratings11.6K — better
Update frequencyEvery 95 monthsFortnightly — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree — betterFreemium
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod, Mac — better
Requires iOS17.015.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size33 MB37 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperJaydeep DhameliyaJonas Myren Ribe

Customer experience

PDF Highlighter

All ratings1 ratings
Positive0.0%
Neutral100.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews4 reviews
Positive0.0%
Neutral25.0%
Negative75.0%

Highlights

All ratings1,619 ratings
Positive88.2%
Neutral3.7%
Negative8.1%
Written reviews467 reviews
Positive53.3%
Neutral15.2%
Negative31.5%

Bugs and requests

PDF Highlighter

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

Highlights

Reported bugs

5 issues
  • Highlights and annotations randomly disappearing
  • Text selection issues, especially with footnotes
  • Compatibility problems with certain PDF files
  • Syncing issues across devices
  • Export functionality not working as expected

Requested features

5 requests
  • Add handwriting and freeform annotation support
  • Implement a table of contents or bookmarking feature
  • Allow editing of notes directly in the app
  • Provide a one-time purchase option instead of subscription
  • Improve search capabilities with visual results and navigation

In-app purchases

3 purchases

PDF Highlighter

Subscriptions3
  • PDF Highlighter Purchase Week$2.997 Days
  • PDF Highlighter Purchase Month$9.991 Month
  • PDF Highlighter Purchase Year$110.991 Year
3 purchases

Highlights

Subscriptions3
  • Highlights Pro: Monthly$4.991 Month
  • Highlights Pro14 Days trial$29.991 Year
  • Highlights Pro: Legacy Upgrade1 Year trial$29.991 Year

Questions

Is PDF Highlighter free?
PDF Highlighter is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Highlights free?
Highlights is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, PDF Highlighter or Highlights?
Highlights is rated higher. PDF Highlighter averages 3.0 out of 5 from 1 ratings, while Highlights averages 4.5 from 1.6K ratings.
Do PDF Highlighter or Highlights have ads?
Neither PDF Highlighter nor Highlights shows ads.
Which is updated more often, PDF Highlighter or Highlights?
PDF Highlighter ships an update every 95 months, and Highlights fortnightly. Most recently, PDF Highlighter was updated on October 2, 2026 and Highlights on October 18, 2026.

Other comparisons