Lucid Note vs Reader Ink
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side β with what reviewers say about each.
Lucid Note
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Lucid Note is a simple note-taking app that lets you annotate any PDF with Apple Pencil. β Write on Password-Protected PDFs Open and annotate PDFs protected with edit restrictions β company documents, study materials, and more β without any extra steps. Files that other apps can't open work seamlessly in Lucid Note. β Intuitive Writing β’ Handwriting on PDFs β Write notes and draw diagrams directly on any PDF using Apple Pencil. Adjust pen width and color freely with the tool palette. β’ Smooth zoom β Pinch to zoom in and out, two-finger scroll to pan. Write comfortably even in the finest details. β’ Easy page navigation β Tap the left or right edge of the screen to flip pages. β’ Stamps β Press date frames, daily schedule frames, and task checkbox frames as stamps onto your pages. Drag with a finger to reposition them anywhere. β Note and Page Management β’ Create new notes β Choose a background style (blank, lined, grid, dot grid, legal pad) and paper size (A4 / A5 / US Letter) to start a fresh notebook. β’ Add, delete, and reorder pages β Freely add pages to a note, or rearrange them by dragging in the thumbnail grid. β’ Tag-based file management β Create custom tags to organize your files. Filter by tag instantly from the sidebar. β’ Simple file management β Rename or delete files right from the list. β Sharing and Productivity β’ Export annotated PDFs β Export a PDF with your handwriting, backgrounds, and stamps all merged in, ready to share. β’ Handwriting recognition and search (experimental) β Using Apple's handwriting recognition technology, your notes are converted to text so you can search by keyword. Accuracy may vary by handwriting style and language. β’ iCloud backup β Your imported PDFs and annotations are backed up automatically. Open a PDF and start writing β it's that simple.
Reader Ink
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Reader Ink is a fast, focused PDF app for iPhone and iPad. Read comfortably, mark up with Apple Pencil, fill and sign forms, and listen to any document β all in one calm, native app. READING THAT FEELS RIGHT β’ Three reading tones β light, warm sepia, and a true dark mode that inverts the page while keeping photos, charts, and colored diagrams intact. β’ Full-width pages, fluid scrolling, and instant open even for very large documents. β’ Continuous or single-page layouts, pinch to zoom, and fit-to-width in one tap. β’ Move fast with a thumbnail grid, the document outline (table of contents), and your own bookmarks. β’ Open several documents at once as tabs, and keep your place across sessions. FIND ANYTHING INSTANTLY β’ One fast search with results grouped by page and the current match clearly emphasized. β’ Match case and whole-words options; full keyboard shortcuts on iPad and Mac. MARK UP WITH APPLE PENCIL β OR YOUR FINGER β’ Appleβs own tool palette floats right on the live page: pen, highlighter, marker, eraser, and ruler. β’ Highlight, underline, and strike through text that snaps to the lines. β’ Add shapes, stamps (Approved, Confidential, Draft, date), and sticky notes. β’ Everything is written as standard PDF annotations, so your work opens correctly in Preview, Acrobat, and everywhere else. β’ See every highlight and note in one list β search it, filter by type and color, tap to jump, edit in place. β’ Share a flattened copy or a clean, unmarked copy; your original is never changed. FILL & SIGN β’ Tap form fields and type; move through them with next and previous. β’ Create your signature once β draw it, type it, or capture it from a photo β store it securely on device, and reuse it anytime. β’ Add a date stamp, then share a flattened, signed copy. The original document stays untouched. LISTEN TO ANY DOCUMENT β’ Read aloud sentence by sentence, with the spoken sentence highlighted on the page. β’ Choose the voice and speed; the page language is detected automatically. β’ Control playback from the Lock Screen and headphones. LOOK UP & TRANSLATE β’ Select text to look up definitions, translate, or search the web β right from the page. NEVER LOSE YOUR WORK β’ Local version history keeps earlier versions of every document; go back anytime without losing anything. β’ Automatic recovery restores your document if the app is interrupted. WORKS WITH YOUR FILES β’ Edit documents in place in the Files app and iCloud Drive β no importing, no separate library. DESIGNED FOR EVERYONE β’ Built with VoiceOver document structure, Dynamic Type, Reduce Transparency, Reduce Motion, and Differentiate Without Color. β’ Fully localized in 23 languages. Reader Ink brings reading, annotation, forms, signatures, and read-aloud together in one place β precise, quiet, and right at home on Apple devices. PDF viewer, PDF editor, PDF converter and PDF scanner β all in one app. Convert PDF to Word, PDF to Excel, PDF to PowerPoint and PDF to JPG. Scan to PDF with OCR. Merge PDF, split PDF and compress PDF. Sign PDF and fill PDF forms. As your PDF viewer and PDF editor, Reader Ink lets you annotate PDF, highlight PDF and read PDF aloud. PDF reader, PDF editor, PDF converter, PDF scanner, PDF signer β Reader Ink. Ready for Apple Duo, Apple's foldable phone β more room to read PDF, annotate PDF and sign PDF. Privacy Policy: https://60studio.net/apps/reader-ink/privacy Terms of Use (EULA): https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Lucid Note at none against Reader Ink's 3. Lucid Note also leads on update cadence (daily vs every 11 days). On price, ads, device support and iOS requirement there is nothing between them.
Scored on Price Β· Rating Β· Positive reviews Β· Number of ratings Β· Update frequency Β· Ads Β· In-app purchases Β· Monetization Β· Best chart rank Β· Devices Β· Requires iOS
Both are free to download. Reader Ink sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $1.99 per month. Lucid Note asks for nothing beyond the download.
Lucid Note ships an update daily, Reader Ink every 11 days. The most recent releases landed on October 11, 2026 and October 8, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Lucid Note | Reader Ink |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Update frequency | Daily β better | Every 11 days |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No β better | Yes |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad | iPhone, iPad |
| Requires iOS | 17.0 β better | 18.0 |
| Further details β not scored | ||
| Size | 7 MB | 23 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Satoshi Takezawa | ILKER YILDIRIM |
In-app purchases
Lucid Note
No in-app purchases
Reader Ink
- Reader Ink Pro (Monthly)$1.991 Month
- Reader Ink Pro (Yearly)$14.991 Year
- Lifetime$29.99





