Comparison

Highlights vs Efficiver

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

Head to head
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

About

Efficiver

Features
Read full description

Efficiver — Efficient + Driver. Save. Drive. Live. Offline. Anytime. Anywhere. Real-time driving feedback that runs on your iPhone. No insurer dashboard. No ads. No advertising IDs. Just your drive, scored in real time, every trip. Efficiver is built for drivers who care about how they drive. The Efficiency Score updates live as you drive, blending speed, acceleration, idle time, gear use, route choice, and weather. Save a session and see exactly where the orange and red markers landed — and what to do next time. WHAT YOU GET Real-time Efficiency Score A single live score that reflects how efficient your driving is, second by second. Calibrated to your vehicle on first setup. AI-narrated insights, on-device (NEW in v1.5) Your Year in Driving and Your Patterns are written by Apple Intelligence, running entirely on your iPhone. Efficiver computes every number; the AI only puts them into words. Nothing leaves your device. Part of Efficiver Pro. Trends and patterns (NEW in v1.5) Your average efficiency at a glance, patterns that always have something to tell you, and an efficiency chart you can drag across to inspect any day. Apple Watch app Start and stop drives from your wrist, glance at your live score, distance and time mid-drive, and add the complication to your watch face. Smarter savings Wallet Watch prices your driving with a physics-based power model across your entire drive history. Every drive is priced under the fuel type you drove it with, so switching vehicles never rewrites your past savings. Live stats on your Lock Screen The Live Activity shows your score, distance and mistakes updating live through the drive — on the Lock Screen and Dynamic Island. CarPlay support Drive with your phone in your pocket. Tap Drive on your car's screen, see your live score and distance on the head unit, tap Stop to save. Voice prompts play through your car's audio. Interactive drive map Full-screen Apple Maps view that follows you as you drive, with markers showing exactly where each acceleration or braking event happened. Year Recap A shareable card with your year's driving stats — total kilometres, average efficiency, top drives, savings. Hands-free Siri voice control "Start drive in Efficiver" starts tracking in the background; "Stop drive in Efficiver" saves and speaks your score. Smart Detection (on-device ML) Efficiver learns your engine's signature with Apple's machine-learning frameworks — entirely on-device. No cloud calls. iCloud sync Sessions and your trained model sync across your devices via your own iCloud account. Join a fleet (invite only) Drives for an employer that runs Efficiver Fleet? Enter the invite code they give you. While you are on duty, those drives are shared with your fleet; off-duty drives stay on your phone. You choose when you are on duty, and you can leave the fleet at any time. ACCESSIBILITY Built accessibility-first: • Full VoiceOver support across every screen • Dynamic Type from default through AX5 • Reduce Motion, Reduce Transparency, Bold Text respected • Differentiate Without Color (every marker has a shape or text label) • Lifecycle announcements (Drive started, stopped, saved) PRIVACY Your drives are recorded and scored on your iPhone. GPS waypoints are stored locally, and on-device intelligence sends nothing off the device. iCloud sync uses your private iCloud database — no shared records, no advertising IDs, no data brokers. The one exception is fleets: if you join one with an invite code, drives you record while on duty are shared with that fleet so your employer can see them. You are told this before joining and must consent. Off-duty drives — and every drive if you never join a fleet — stay on your phone. REQUIREMENTS iPhone running iOS 26 or later. AI-narrated insights need an Apple Intelligence-capable device with the feature enabled. Apple Watch, CarPlay and iCloud optional. Save. Drive. Live. Offline. Anytime. Anywhere.

Screenshots

Highlights4 screens
Efficiver4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Efficiver at none against Highlights's 3. Highlights's advantage is device support (4 vs 2) and iOS requirement (15.0 vs 26.0). On price, update cadence and ads 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. Highlights sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $4.99 per month. Efficiver asks for nothing beyond the download.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Highlights ships an update fortnightly, Efficiver every 2 weeks. The most recent releases landed on October 12, 2026 and October 7, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard3 real differences · 7 level
Highlights versus Efficiver: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterHighlightsEfficiver
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.5 (1.6K ratings) — better—
Positive reviews53.2% of reviews—
Number of ratings1.6K — better—
Update frequencyFortnightly — betterEvery 2 weeks
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
MonetizationFreemium—
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod, Mac — betteriPhone, Apple Watch
Requires iOS15.0 — better26.0
Further details — not scored
Size37 MB23 MB
Age rating4+17+
DeveloperJonas Myren RibeDhamodharan Krishnan

Bugs and 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

Efficiver

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

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
None

Efficiver

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Highlights free?
Highlights is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Efficiver free?
Efficiver is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Do Highlights or Efficiver have ads?
Neither Highlights nor Efficiver shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Highlights or Efficiver?
Highlights ships an update fortnightly, and Efficiver every 2 weeks. Most recently, Highlights was updated on October 12, 2026 and Efficiver on October 7, 2026.

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