Comparison

Highlights vs Pilot

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

Pilot

Features
Read full description

Your logbook is your career. It should belong to you. Pilot is a pilot logbook built the way Apple apps should be: fast, fully offline, and yours. No account to create, no server holding your hours hostage, no subscription required to keep reading your own flight time. ONE FLIGHT, TWO RULEBOOKS EASA and FAA don't log the same PIC time. Pilot keeps both on every flight: log once, and switch authority any time — columns, totals and currency rules follow, and nothing is ever lost. PICUS, multi-pilot time and the EASA "Name of PIC" column are built in. NIGHT TIME, COMPUTED Enter your off-block and on-block times and Pilot derives night time from the position of the sun along your actual route — sampled minute by minute, on device, offline. It knows the difference between logbook night and FAA night-landing currency. CURRENCY AND EXPIRY DATES, WATCHED Passenger currency (14 CFR 61.57 / FCL.060) per category and class, tailwheel full-stop rules, instrument approaches and holds, flight review deduced from your logbook, EASA SEP revalidation-by-experience progress, medical and licence expiry alerts — 30 days before they bite. YOUR DATA IS NEVER LOCKED IN Import your existing logbook from a CSV export — columns are matched automatically, duplicates skipped, and a full backup is taken before anything is written. Export everything back to CSV at any time, or print a regulator-ready PDF logbook with page totals, carry-forward and a signature line on every page — the format airline recruiters ask for. BUILT-IN SAFETY NET Deleted flights go to a trash you can restore from for 30 days. A complete backup of your logbook is saved on device every day and before any destructive action, and you can share or restore any of the last 14 copies. WORKS EVERYWHERE YOU FLY More than 72,000 airfields on board — search by ICAO, IATA, name or city with no connection. iPhone, iPad and Mac. FREE, WITH AN OPTIONAL ONE-TIME UNLOCK Log up to 25 flights for free, with every calculation included. Imported flights never count toward that allowance, and export is never restricted. Pilot Pro unlocks unlimited logging for a single purchase — no subscription, ever. Pilot provides information to help you track your own currency; checking your legal currency and eligibility remains the pilot's responsibility.

Screenshots

Highlights4 screens
Pilot4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is update cadence: Pilot at every 4 days against Highlights's fortnightly. Highlights's advantage is iOS requirement (15.0 vs 18.0). 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. Highlights sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $4.99 per month and Pilot sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Highlights ships an update fortnightly, Pilot every 4 days. The most recent releases landed on October 14, 2026 and September 28, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard2 real differences · 8 level
Highlights versus Pilot: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterHighlightsPilot
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.5 (1.6K ratings) — better—
Positive reviews53.2% of reviews—
Number of ratings1.6K — better—
Update frequencyFortnightlyEvery 4 days — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFreemium—
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod, Mac — betteriPhone, iPad, Mac
Requires iOS15.0 — better18.0
Further details — not scored
Size37 MB8 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperJonas Myren RibeRija Ratinahirana

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

Pilot

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
1 purchases

Pilot

One-time1
  • Pilot Pro$29.99

Questions

Is Highlights free?
Highlights is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Pilot free?
Pilot is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Do Highlights or Pilot have ads?
Neither Highlights nor Pilot shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Highlights or Pilot?
Highlights ships an update fortnightly, and Pilot every 4 days. Most recently, Highlights was updated on October 14, 2026 and Pilot on September 28, 2026.

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