Best Highlighter Apps

178+ iOS apps curated and reviewed

4.3 avg rating
16 free apps
Updated May 2026

Out of 178+ highlighter apps on iOS, 16 are free and the rest sit in the paid tier. This page sorts them so you can compare both sides before you commit.

Top Picks for Highlighter

CiteLighter#1

CiteLighter by Evan Gould

Highlight Text in Images!
Editor's Choice
📚 Books
4.2(29 ratings)
Free
CiteLighter screenshot 1
CiteLighter screenshot 2
CiteLighter screenshot 3
CiteLighter screenshot 4

Easily highlight text from images of books or articles. Capture text from photos or screenshots and emphasize key passages by blurring the surrounding content.

Image to text - Highlighted#2

Image to text - Highlighted by Damir Stuhec

Book highlighter
Strong Contender
📚 Books
4.8😊(249 ratings)
FreeIn-App Purchases
Image to text - Highlighted screenshot 1
Image to text - Highlighted screenshot 2
Image to text - Highlighted screenshot 3
Image to text - Highlighted screenshot 4
Image to text - Highlighted screenshot 5
Image to text - Highlighted screenshot 6

Capture, organize, and revisit key passages from your books with advanced text recognition. Create collections, add tags and notes, and easily export your highlights. Stop forgetting what you read and make your reading more impactful.

What We Love

  • 👍 Simple and easy to use
  • 🚀 Accurate text recognition
  • 💡 Useful for readers and students
  • 🔖 Allows organizing highlights by book and tags

Room to Improve

  • 🐛 Issues with text ordering and formatting
  • 🔍 Limited search and filtering options
  • 📱 Needs offline support and sync capabilities
Highlights: PDF Reader & Notes#3

Highlights: PDF Reader & Notes by Jonas Myren Ribe

Edit Research Documents/Books
Worth Considering
📊 Productivity
4.5😐(1.6K ratings)
FreeIn-App Purchases
Highlights: PDF Reader & Notes screenshot 1
Highlights: PDF Reader & Notes screenshot 2
Highlights: PDF Reader & Notes screenshot 3
Highlights: PDF Reader & Notes screenshot 4
Highlights: PDF Reader & Notes screenshot 5
Highlights: PDF Reader & Notes screenshot 6

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.

What We Love

  • 🚀 Great for highlighting and annotating PDFs
  • 🔍 Effective for research and note-taking
  • 📚 Useful for academic and professional work
  • 👍 Clean and intuitive user interface

Room to Improve

  • 💰 Subscription model is too expensive
  • 🐛 Frequent crashes and bugs
  • 🔍 Limited search functionality

More Highlighter apps to explore

4
Noteful: Notes & PDF Markup
Noteful: Notes & PDF Markup
Noteful: Notes & PDF Markup
Highlight. Write. Learn.
Free

This app revolutionizes paperless note-taking on iPad, allowing for handwritten notes, document annotation, and knowledge organization. It offers a fluid writing experience, PDF markup, powerful tagging, and audio recording synced with notes.

Handwritten notes with Apple PencilPDF and document annotationOrganize notes with tags
📊 Productivity
(22K)
freemium
5
Black Highlighter: Redact Text
Black Highlighter: Redact Text
Black Highlighter: Redact Text
Censor & secure screenshots
Free

Easily hide sensitive information in photos and screenshots. The Magic Highlighter automatically detects text and covers it perfectly, ensuring no details are missed. Advanced features allow for automatic redaction of specific information and custom shortcuts for streamlined workflows.

Magic Highlighter for automatic text detectionMultiple color options for redactionImport images from Photos
📷 Photo & Video
(86)
free with in-app purchases
6
LiquidText
LiquidText
LiquidText
Annotate & review documents
Free

This app provides a dynamic workspace for reviewing and organizing information from documents and webpages. It allows users to extract key facts, connect ideas across different sources, and annotate content for research, writing, or study.

Import documents and webpagesExtract and organize excerptsConnect ideas with ink links
📊 Productivity
(6.3K)
free with in-app purchases
7
Excerpt - The Book Highlighter
Excerpt - The Book Highlighter
Excerpt - The Book Highlighter
Scan books and compile notes
Free

Capture and organize quotes and images from physical books using your device's camera. Add notes, customize highlighter colors, and share your findings. Export your compiled excerpts into a PDF for easy reference.

Scan book pages with cameraCapture quotes and imagesAdd notes to excerpts
📊 Productivity
(36)
free with in-app purchases
8
Notability: AI Notes & PDF app
Notability: AI Notes & PDF app
Notability: AI Notes & PDF app
Write, type, annotate, draw
Free

Capture, organize, and enhance your thoughts with a versatile digital notebook. Seamlessly blend handwriting, typing, and multimedia to annotate documents, record lectures, and generate summaries. Ideal for students and professionals seeking to boost productivity and learning.

Handwritten and typed notesPDF and document annotationAudio recording and transcription
📊 Productivity
(450K)
freemium
9
PDF Highlighter - Read & Edit
PDF Highlighter - Read & Edit
PDF Highlighter - Read & Edit
by Jaydeep Dhameliya
Free

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.

Edit and highlight PDF files and photosUse realistic highlighter pen toolFreehand drawing with pen, line, arrow, rectangle, and circle tools
📊 Productivity
(1)
free
10
Marker & Highlighter Stickers
Marker & Highlighter Stickers
Marker & Highlighter Stickers
Fun scribbles for everyday use
Free

Enhance your messages with over 120 colorful marker and highlighter stickers. Perfect for correcting text, decorating photos, expressing emotions, and adding quick reactions to your conversations.

Over 120 stickersMarker and highlighter stylesMultiple colors
💌 Stickers
(2)
free with in-app purchases
11
Goodnotes: AI Notes, Docs, PDF
Goodnotes: AI Notes, Docs, PDF
Goodnotes: AI Notes, Docs, PDF
Note taking, canvas & work app
Free

Capture ideas, enhance productivity, and unlock insights with advanced AI features. This app offers tools for professionals, students, and creatives, including infinite whiteboards, AI-powered transcription and summarization, and customizable digital notebooks.

AI-powered transcription and summarizationInfinite whiteboard canvasDigital notebooks with customizable templates
📊 Productivity
(431K)
free with in-app purchases
12
The Magic Highlighter
The Magic Highlighter
The Magic Highlighter
Your search engine assistant.
$1.99

This Safari extension automatically highlights your search terms on search result pages across popular engines. It offers a private, on-device solution to quickly find the information you need, replacing traditional find-in-page functions with enhanced capabilities.

Highlights search terms automaticallySupports popular search engines100% private, on-device processing
📊 Productivity
(20)
free
13
Actions: To Do List Organizer
Actions: To Do List Organizer
Actions: To Do List Organizer
Daily Task and Weekly Agenda
Free

Organize your thoughts and tasks with a digital card-based system. Easily create, schedule, and manage to-dos using natural language input and receive timely reminders. Syncs across devices for seamless productivity.

Create Action Cards for remindersNatural language schedulingDrag and drop organization
📊 Productivity
(9.7K)
subscription
14
Highlighter for Safari
Highlighter for Safari
Highlighter for Safari
Annotate & take notes on pages
$2.99

Annotate webpages directly within your Safari browser. Highlight text, add notes, and permanently save your edits for future review. All data is stored locally for simplicity and privacy.

Highlight text with multiple colorsAdd notes to webpagesPermanently save annotations
🔧 Utilities
(14)
free
15
PDF Highlighter - Annotate PDF
PDF Highlighter - Annotate PDF
PDF Highlighter - Annotate PDF
mark important text in PDF
Free
🔧 Utilities
(0)
16
Notes Writer: PDF, Voice, AI
Notes Writer: PDF, Voice, AI
Notes Writer: PDF, Voice, AI
PDF Editor, Pens, Notepad, AI
Free

This app is a comprehensive note-taking and PDF editing solution for mobile devices. It allows users to write, format, and organize notes, annotate PDFs, fill forms, and scan documents. The app offers advanced editing tools, powerful search, and seamless sharing and export options.

Write and format notesAnnotate PDFs and fill formsOrganize with unlimited notebooks
📊 Productivity
(7.2K)
free with in-app purchases
17
hivelighter: highlight & learn
hivelighter: highlight & learn
hivelighter: highlight & learn
you know lots—show it off
Free

Easily highlight important passages in articles, save them for later, and share precise information with others. Never lose context or your train of thought again. Discover new content by browsing highlights from across the web.

Highlight passages in articlesSave highlights for laterShare precise information
🌐 Social Networking
(162)
free
18
Glasp: AI Summary & Highlight
Glasp: AI Summary & Highlight
Glasp: AI Summary & Highlight
Collect Ideas Worth Sharing
Free

Capture and organize online content with customizable highlighting tools. Easily tag, search, and share your collected ideas across multiple platforms and devices with a single click.

Online content capturingColored highlighting optionsAutomatic curation to homepage
📊 Productivity
(14)
free
19
Highlighter - Focus on detail
Highlighter - Focus on detail
Highlighter - Focus on detail
Highlight content on browser
$0.99

This tool allows you to highlight text and important excerpts directly on web pages within the Safari browser. It remembers your annotations, making it easier to revisit and learn from content effectively and selectively.

Highlight text on web pagesSave annotationsWorks within Safari browser
📚 Education
(5)
paid
20
Highlighter Pen Line Strokes
Highlighter Pen Line Strokes
Highlighter Pen Line Strokes
Skip CAPS Lock, Draw Emotion!
$2.99
$4.49 | 33% OFF

Add emphasis to your messages with bold, transparent stickers. Highlight important parts of conversations with animated strokes in various sizes. Perfect for drawing attention to memes, typos, or anything that matters.

Bold, transparent stickersAnimated line strokesThree stroke sizes
💌 Stickers
(1)
paid

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