Review Insights · App Store
Goodnotes: AI Notes, Docs, PDF
Goodnotes Limited · 431,706 ratings · ★ 4.7
4.7
★★★★★
431,706 ratings
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Top complaints - extracted from 42 negative reviews
Recurring phrases mined from 1-2★ reviews. The bigger the percentage, the more users have the same problem. Fix the top 2-3 in your version and you have product-market fit on day one.
1
"subscription"
12 negative reviews mention this · 29% of all complaints
★★★★★ "It sucks. I twirled hard for two weeks to solve couple of statistics equations and finally came to conclusion . And when I check it after two weeks all my notes are gone only bits and pieces are left , half of the notes on pages are gone , but prices…" - Smarty2134
2
"notes"
11 negative reviews mention this · 26% of all complaints
★★★★★ "It sucks. I twirled hard for two weeks to solve couple of statistics equations and finally came to conclusion . And when I check it after two weeks all my notes are gone only bits and pieces are left , half of the notes on pages are gone , but prices…" - Smarty2134
3
"money"
8 negative reviews mention this · 19% of all complaints
★★★★★ "DON’T WASTE YOUR MONEY. This app is always glitching and has terrible storage/syncing even when I set up my iCloud to it. I just cancelled my subscription and will be using another application for my notes/studies. As a doctoral student apps like this are extremel…" - Player longing to play uno
4
"already"
7 negative reviews mention this · 17% of all complaints
★★★★★ "It sucks. I twirled hard for two weeks to solve couple of statistics equations and finally came to conclusion . And when I check it after two weeks all my notes are gone only bits and pieces are left , half of the notes on pages are gone , but prices…" - Smarty2134
5
"update"
7 negative reviews mention this · 17% of all complaints
★★★★★ "Updates keep removing key usability without replacing. The latest problem in their updates removed my ability to have already open Docs in Goodnotes, and to bring up the display of all my open docs at the bottom of the screen to scroll through and find what I want, or to add a new doc to work i…" - wriotgrrl
6
"work"
6 negative reviews mention this · 14% of all complaints
★★★★★ "Updates keep removing key usability without replacing. The latest problem in their updates removed my ability to have already open Docs in Goodnotes, and to bring up the display of all my open docs at the bottom of the screen to scroll through and find what I want, or to add a new doc to work i…" - wriotgrrl
7
"another"
6 negative reviews mention this · 14% of all complaints
★★★★★ "Updates keep removing key usability without replacing. The latest problem in their updates removed my ability to have already open Docs in Goodnotes, and to bring up the display of all my open docs at the bottom of the screen to scroll through and find what I want, or to add a new doc to work i…" - wriotgrrl
8
"notebook"
6 negative reviews mention this · 14% of all complaints
★★★★★ "SO LAGGY. app has some good features like customizing notebook cover and pages, customizing toolbar, and considering palm rejection in the ways you hold your pen. BUT the program is so laggy where you write lines and it becomes dots attaching togeth…" - clenching fists in anger
9
"doesn"
5 negative reviews mention this · 12% of all complaints
★★★★★ "PowerPoint. My PowerPoint does not match my actual PowerPoint the slides are in different order with different words. Will show a picture and doesn’t match the wording or isn’t uploading the picture at all." - Whites Painting & Handyman
10
"through"
5 negative reviews mention this · 12% of all complaints
★★★★★ "Updates keep removing key usability without replacing. The latest problem in their updates removed my ability to have already open Docs in Goodnotes, and to bring up the display of all my open docs at the bottom of the screen to scroll through and find what I want, or to add a new doc to work i…" - wriotgrrl
11
"paying"
5 negative reviews mention this · 12% of all complaints
★★★★★ "The app became worse as time went on. I used it to study flash cards through my medical program. I could before scroll up and down on my flash cards with a longer explanation. As I continued to use it, this feature got harder to use and now I can’t even use this feature on my i…" - Zacouwa
12
"every"
5 negative reviews mention this · 12% of all complaints
★★★★★ "Barely does what it needs to do. Many bugs. Every update there’s a chance some of the features might not work like they should. Right now, for example, I can’t import files (ongoing issues for months)." - Asavvix
📋 All 42 negative reviews
Every 1-2★ review we fetched. Use the copy button to grab them all for your own analysis (paste into ChatGPT/Claude with a prompt like "summarize core user problems, group by theme, ignore bugs, focus on missing features").
It sucks
I twirled hard for two weeks to solve couple of statistics equations and finally came to conclusion . And when I check it after two weeks all my notes are gone only bits and pieces are left , half of the notes on pages are gone , but prices are left . Happened thrice already. I lost so much of information. They charge you $12 upfront so you can’t even cancel the subscription. This app sucks
PowerPoint
My PowerPoint does not match my actual PowerPoint the slides are in different order with different words. Will show a picture and doesn’t match the wording or isn’t uploading the picture at all.
Updates keep removing key usability without replacing
The latest problem in their updates removed my ability to have already open Docs in Goodnotes, and to bring up the display of all my open docs at the bottom of the screen to scroll through and find what I want, or to add a new doc to work in without having to close one of the open ones, or have to use their split screen, which doesn’t work with my notetaking with clients. If I use the split screen, and then close the other one, it still closes a doc that I want to keep open. So the function doesn’t work for me at all.
I have tried to find a replacement path for this usability and have emailed their support team because I am unable to locate any way to use Goodnotes in this key process of mine that is core to the way I work. I am extremely frustrated with yet another update that just changes the interface in such significant ways and dramatically slows down my workflow and process. I’m honestly looking at an alternative notetaker now. I will still have access to my current notes because I have a lifetime subscription, but it is not really usable for me without this functionality moving forward.
I have tried to find a replacement path for this usability and have emailed their support team because I am unable to locate any way to use Goodnotes in this key process of mine that is core to the way I work. I am extremely frustrated with yet another update that just changes the interface in such significant ways and dramatically slows down my workflow and process. I’m honestly looking at an alternative notetaker now. I will still have access to my current notes because I have a lifetime subscription, but it is not really usable for me without this functionality moving forward.
DON’T WASTE YOUR MONEY
This app is always glitching and has terrible storage/syncing even when I set up my iCloud to it. I just cancelled my subscription and will be using another application for my notes/studies. As a doctoral student apps like this are extremely important to me, so having one that glitches 24/7 that holds all my important documentation it is detrimental to my studies and progress in my program.
Paid for app to be forced to pay for a sub
>pay good money for app
>app introduces subscriptions retroactively
>app useless without paying for subscription
>lawsuit filed
>app introduces subscriptions retroactively
>app useless without paying for subscription
>lawsuit filed
SO LAGGY
app has some good features like customizing notebook cover and pages, customizing toolbar, and considering palm rejection in the ways you hold your pen.
BUT the program is so laggy where you write lines and it becomes dots attaching together. This happens in unlimited whiteboard AND regular notebooks when you near a "max" in how much content you put into the tab.
Laggy especially nearing an update or after an update.
I WISH i could attach a screenshot so i can show.
The app also lags on swapping between pen and eraser, so the eraser doesnt erase or erases the part you want and then some dots show back up. Im 🤏 this close from screwing my 35 dollars one time fee and finding a new app or going back to stones and a chisel.
Not to mention the palm rejection doesnt work for the common ways people hold their pens, despite 6 different kinds.
BUT the program is so laggy where you write lines and it becomes dots attaching together. This happens in unlimited whiteboard AND regular notebooks when you near a "max" in how much content you put into the tab.
Laggy especially nearing an update or after an update.
I WISH i could attach a screenshot so i can show.
The app also lags on swapping between pen and eraser, so the eraser doesnt erase or erases the part you want and then some dots show back up. Im 🤏 this close from screwing my 35 dollars one time fee and finding a new app or going back to stones and a chisel.
Not to mention the palm rejection doesnt work for the common ways people hold their pens, despite 6 different kinds.
Continual Crashing
No text support and the software continues to crash on my computer, so I can only access the data when on my phone.
App Crashes Consistently and Data Loss
I have about had it with goodnotes and am extremely frustrated. I purchased the lifetime subscription to the original goodnotes and was eventually forced to delete the program and pay to upgrade to a new subscription to goodnotes 5 because the app was incredibly glitchy, unresponsive, and crashing constantly. Despite this being extremely frustrating given that I lost all my personalization settings and already paid for the app, i moved on and up to goodnotes 5.
Goodnotes 5 initially was fine but since having purchased it a few months ago, i have already deleted and reinstalled 3 times, losing all my personalized settings each time. This last time I did it, the app never even synced, so I lost all my personalization settings data and work data. The app also keeps prompting me to delete things saying my storage is full, then doesn’t delete anything after I select delete and will freeze. Despite deleting a lot of my data that I didn’t get an opportunity to save to another storage location, the app is still freezing, glitching, crashing, and prompting me to delete more of my files. For how much this new subscription is, it is not worth the headache and data loss. I have about had it. The final straw was losing all my work data and personal data. All my notes were on goodnotes. And i lost all of it. The files are still there but all my markups are completely gone. I am heartbroken.
I have recommended goodnotes to many people over the years and consistently supported it, despite the climbing subscription costs. I really don’t know what to do at this point. I tried to contact support through the app s few times but the app keeps crashing.
Goodnotes 5 initially was fine but since having purchased it a few months ago, i have already deleted and reinstalled 3 times, losing all my personalized settings each time. This last time I did it, the app never even synced, so I lost all my personalization settings data and work data. The app also keeps prompting me to delete things saying my storage is full, then doesn’t delete anything after I select delete and will freeze. Despite deleting a lot of my data that I didn’t get an opportunity to save to another storage location, the app is still freezing, glitching, crashing, and prompting me to delete more of my files. For how much this new subscription is, it is not worth the headache and data loss. I have about had it. The final straw was losing all my work data and personal data. All my notes were on goodnotes. And i lost all of it. The files are still there but all my markups are completely gone. I am heartbroken.
I have recommended goodnotes to many people over the years and consistently supported it, despite the climbing subscription costs. I really don’t know what to do at this point. I tried to contact support through the app s few times but the app keeps crashing.
这是一个诈骗软件
我购买了goodnotes5永久，但是经常自动切换到Goodnotes6然后让我重新订阅
Downloading what?
Same glitch after updating it. A Downloading message keeps coming up as I am using the app. So distracting and what is it downloading without my approval?
Undo cache glitches and ruins notes constantly
I do not pay actual money for a subscription just for me to have to refresh this app once every five minutes due to a glitchy undo cache. The undo button will stop working for no reason despite going through every single troubleshooting suggestion. I do a lot of selecting and moving handwritten text and sometimes large bodies of text become superimposed over one another and illegible whilst In the process of moving them. This would not be a problem except for the fact that my undo cache glitches and does not allow me to undo this. There is then no way for me to move the superimposed text and I have to redo the entire section of notes. This is absolutely ridiculous and an unacceptable problem to have in a subscription based app and it needs to be fixed immediately. The issue just recently started but it has made this app near useless.
Horrible
A lot of errors have been happening,my writing gets deleted on its own lot of times,will randomly overwrite what I wrote without me intending it to. Copy and paste has extremely frustrating to use . The previous setting/version worked better and simple. It feels like the app has become overly complicated after updating. It has no longer lets me write naturally or simply,I’ve already paid for the service so I’m continuing to use it but I wish I could get a refund and stop using it.
Loving out is a nightmare
Really don’t appreciate the one account feature. It made me switch to notability. If I am willing to pay for another account because I cannot retrieve my old one I should be able to do that it is my money at the end of the day.
Subscriptions
Are you kidding me? What’s the point of purchasing apps these days if they’re going to update them and hide every features behind a paywall? Greedy.
Added AI is Gross
Such a shame to force feed us AI in every facet of life and I’m sick of it.
App just refreshed and made PDF document read only
App just refreshed saying it was making a faster experience. Then set my document to read only forcing me to enable editing on a document I was already using. It notified me that I have 2 more “enable editing” before I have to start paying money. This is absolutely shameful. This is a despicable design practice. I would happily pay a significant amount of money for this app. I will not pay for this disgusting nonsense though. Dishonest.
Frustrating OCR
I purchased this because previously I was taking down meeting notes on paper, then transferring to a Word file so I could search them later. Hoping to eliminate the dual entry. However the OCR is not very good. I have to spend way too much time editing the text. For instance, if I write down a list of companies with their payroll expense, the OCR misspells the company names and screws up the numbers. Drooping off $ and not showing the correct numbers. Very time consuming to fix.
Constant updates make it worse
The newest update makes the window for outlines and pages view come up as a small window where you can only see a few pages at a time. This makes organizing pages nearly impossible. Even on a 13” iPad. The ability to resize would be so much more helpful. Do developers even use this?
Easy of Use
The design of the writing process needs to be re-thought. Holding down on a page then selecting “Start Typing” takes too many steps for a notebook app. 2nd, this method doesn’t work on the 1st attempt. I often have to repeat it a couple times which affects my flow of writing.
No way to renew or upgrade
Will not allow you to renew or upgrade , has plenty of tabs asking you to , but when you click on them either dead ends or takes you a help page telling you to click on tab
Stuck with this app - AVOID
I have had this app for over 3 years and it started great I have noticed in the last 1 year the app has gotten VERY glitchy. Works okay on the iPad but terrible on my Mac. It never syncs (I have enabled cloud syncing) the amount of times it has ruined my flow state. This app can literally ruin your day.
What
You can not import over 5mb file WHAT 😒
Copy-paste bug destroys note content
I have been using this app for note-taking since I was a student and was pretty much satisfied with it. But recently the app started changing my notes on its own (it literally substitutes my text with repeated, broken text) whenever I copy and paste into a notebook. This happens when I am working with it on my Mac. I updated the app to the latest version but the problem persists. It's now a torture to work with, and I'm seriously considering migrating to another app.
Beware
I bought this app a few years ago, and now I have to pay again for the same features that were already included before. Do not buy.
Stop corrupting my notes
Every once in a while, my notes get corrupted. It’ll be like 5-7pgs full of important notes, and I’ll start to see blurry writing and pictures. It happened prior to the last update. And it’s happening again and it’s really pissing me off
Deleted My Notes??
I made a bunch of notes and when I opened up my file a few days later, they were all gone??
Falsely Advertised Special Edition
Double charged family for special edition
Very confusing
I do not like this
Scam
Why would i want to keep paying to an app that was a one time purchase?! I purchased Goodnotes a long time ago, and out of nowhere it’s asking me to upgrade, and pay a subscription to keep it THATS A SCAM!! It ain’t even that good to begin with. They got me trying to do all these prompts to “get my subscription back” like - NO I’m just gonna get rid of you and hope that others know NOT to ever purchase you. A lot of good, cheaper and even FREE alternatives to Goodnotes! I wont miss it! (Noteful 5bucks one time charge, notedraft completely free)
Horrible customer service
My previous review mentioned that I have a multi platform ecosystem and I need their cloud service in order to be able to sync my Windows PC to my iPhone. They responded to my review telling me to contact them to get access to it and then in the emails they decided that they were going to backtrack and they absolutely lied about getting me access.
It should not matter if I’m on the essential plan or the higher tiers. Something as crucial as device sync is a core feature. It does not give me a good impression on relying on them long-term.
I will not be renewing my subscription.
It should not matter if I’m on the essential plan or the higher tiers. Something as crucial as device sync is a core feature. It does not give me a good impression on relying on them long-term.
I will not be renewing my subscription.
Delete files
For no reason this app decided to close itself and then deleted the entire notebook I was working on
Payment
Payment is not accepted. I tried 2 different cards
Thieves
You asked me to pay for a subscription and i did. You took my money and then demanded i pay again. I sent a message thru your contact page and you never replied. Maybe a no-star rating will get your attention.
Everyone else…take heed about thieves
Everyone else…take heed about thieves
Aprenbiendor
Es la primera yes Que utilizo la app -
actual garbage
I used to love this app, and took notes through the entirety of my undergrad on good notes. Now everything that was free is behind a paywall, there’s AI involved for literally no reason, and the app just sucks. Really sad.
Not happy
Everything was good till they decided to update the tools/toolbar not it’s difficult to due certain task that were easier to do before
The app became worse as time went on
I used it to study flash cards through my medical program. I could before scroll up and down on my flash cards with a longer explanation. As I continued to use it, this feature got harder to use and now I can’t even use this feature on my iphone make me redo likely over a thousand of flash cards before my state exam. Im not paying for this app anymore or recommend it.
Barely does what it needs to do
Many bugs. Every update there’s a chance some of the features might not work like they should. Right now, for example, I can’t import files (ongoing issues for months).
② Clara
um … why can I only have one notebook . And if you open the notebook to many times u can’t use it unless u “upgrade “ i thought i could use this for a while . But u can’t because if you delete the notebook and recreate it like 3 times u have to upgrade it . Please make ur app better for people who can’t afford it
Horrible customer service
First of all, the app itself is great. Customer service is horrible. What’s is the point of paying for life time subscription when you switch device, you can not longer access all of your notes because it switch you to the free plan. Reach out to customers service and they can’t just appear to unlock my sets. SCAM. What is the point of paying a one time fee for use for life when it stops working the moment you switch device? Customer service just provides you the same 3 links that doesn’t solve anything? Will I get my money back? I paid 40 bucks for this! And I use it for 9 months only, not even the full year! GIVE ME MY MONEY BACK, respond back to supports that customer sents out!
concerned with amazon and subscription, seriously?
I have this app for 6 to 7 years and ever since this app got subscription based now I feel like I’ve just wasted a lot of money and I should have just gotten a free notebook app instead rather than getting this one cause I bought it with my own money, so why do I need a subscription base now which is all dumb. And also this app being associated with Amazon is also not a good luck as I’m trying to deAmazonize my apps
locked in only 3 notebooks?
It would be great if u could give us more than 3 notebooks for free. Not everyone can buy your subscription. Please think of some students already. Don’t know why developers are becoming this greedy. It is better not to use this app and I also won’t recommend it to others whether it’s number 1 app.
Sentiment summary
93%
Positive (4-5★)
2%
Neutral (3★)
5%
Negative (1-2★)