Review Insights · App Store
Keynote: Design Presentations
Apple · 77,166 ratings · ★ 4.4
4.4
★★★★★
77,166 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
"apple"
17 negative reviews mention this · 40% of all complaints
★★★★★ "This is NOT the APPLE company I've trusted.. Subscriptions for software? This is NOT the APPLE computer company I've trusted since buying my first Macintosh SE in the 80s. And by the way, I've purchased iPods, iPads, and iPhones too. The new CEO can show his leadership by rebundli…" - JohnLeskoDotBiz
2
"keynote"
16 negative reviews mention this · 38% of all complaints
★★★★★ "Previous Feature in Keynote Being Blocked by Paid Subscription Model. Extremely disappointed is all I can say. Apple HW costs more and previously I justified that by the SW that came with the computer, even though the SW was inferior to MS Excel and PPT. Now, your software is still not as good as MS and you a…" - KJunhappy
3
"version"
7 negative reviews mention this · 17% of all complaints
★★★★★ "Imitating Microsoft in a bad way. So iCloud real-time collaboration has been a built-in feature since 2016. Then Apple just suddenly turns it off for ALL previous versions and Keynote reports it is working in “offline mode,” even though the file is saved in iCloud. Very dis…" - neal_fan
4
"update"
7 negative reviews mention this · 17% of all complaints
★★★★★ "Stay with 14 if you can. Really shouldn’t be called Keynote anymore. Literally been using for 20 years and am truly sad about this trash. Apple intentionally leaving years old positive reviews and not giving warning that choosing to update will irreversibly delete …" - Aviris
5
"software"
6 negative reviews mention this · 14% of all complaints
★★★★★ "This is NOT the APPLE company I've trusted.. Subscriptions for software? This is NOT the APPLE computer company I've trusted since buying my first Macintosh SE in the 80s. And by the way, I've purchased iPods, iPads, and iPhones too. The new CEO can show his leadership by rebundli…" - JohnLeskoDotBiz
6
"microsoft"
6 negative reviews mention this · 14% of all complaints
★★★★★ "Imitating Microsoft in a bad way. So iCloud real-time collaboration has been a built-in feature since 2016. Then Apple just suddenly turns it off for ALL previous versions and Keynote reports it is working in “offline mode,” even though the file is saved in iCloud. Very dis…" - neal_fan
7
"presentations"
6 negative reviews mention this · 14% of all complaints
★★★★★ "Poor support for accessibility. How does Keynote still not support overlaying closed captions on videos embedded in presentations? Microsoft PowerPoint has had this feature on the Mac for quite some time now. For accessibility, we need to be able to import an srt file and…" - victorwi
8
"presentation"
6 negative reviews mention this · 14% of all complaints
★★★★★ "Poor support for accessibility. How does Keynote still not support overlaying closed captions on videos embedded in presentations? Microsoft PowerPoint has had this feature on the Mac for quite some time now. For accessibility, we need to be able to import an srt file and…" - victorwi
9
"tools"
5 negative reviews mention this · 12% of all complaints
★★★★★ "AI slop. Advertisements for AI slop tools crammed in everywhere these days." - chrislowder
10
"previous"
5 negative reviews mention this · 12% of all complaints
★★★★★ "Previous Feature in Keynote Being Blocked by Paid Subscription Model. Extremely disappointed is all I can say. Apple HW costs more and previously I justified that by the SW that came with the computer, even though the SW was inferior to MS Excel and PPT. Now, your software is still not as good as MS and you a…" - KJunhappy
11
"being"
5 negative reviews mention this · 12% of all complaints
★★★★★ "Previous Feature in Keynote Being Blocked by Paid Subscription Model. Extremely disappointed is all I can say. Apple HW costs more and previously I justified that by the SW that came with the computer, even though the SW was inferior to MS Excel and PPT. Now, your software is still not as good as MS and you a…" - KJunhappy
12
"subscription"
5 negative reviews mention this · 12% of all complaints
★★★★★ "This is NOT the APPLE company I've trusted.. Subscriptions for software? This is NOT the APPLE computer company I've trusted since buying my first Macintosh SE in the 80s. And by the way, I've purchased iPods, iPads, and iPhones too. The new CEO can show his leadership by rebundli…" - JohnLeskoDotBiz
📋 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").
AI slop
Advertisements for AI slop tools crammed in everywhere these days.
This is NOT the APPLE company I've trusted.
Subscriptions for software?
This is NOT the APPLE computer company I've trusted since buying my first Macintosh SE in the 80s. And by the way, I've purchased iPods, iPads, and iPhones too.
The new CEO can show his leadership by rebundling the built-in productivity tools with our new devices.
I look forward to hearing that APPLE will remain loyal to its base of loyal customers.
This is NOT the APPLE computer company I've trusted since buying my first Macintosh SE in the 80s. And by the way, I've purchased iPods, iPads, and iPhones too.
The new CEO can show his leadership by rebundling the built-in productivity tools with our new devices.
I look forward to hearing that APPLE will remain loyal to its base of loyal customers.
Previous Feature in Keynote Being Blocked by Paid Subscription Model
Extremely disappointed is all I can say. Apple HW costs more and previously I justified that by the SW that came with the computer, even though the SW was inferior to MS Excel and PPT. Now, your software is still not as good as MS and you are charging for the SW and charging more for HW. This will erode the trust you had built up over the years.
:(
i cant use it
I don’t like the idea
No
Imitating Microsoft in a bad way
So iCloud real-time collaboration has been a built-in feature since 2016. Then Apple just suddenly turns it off for ALL previous versions and Keynote reports it is working in “offline mode,” even though the file is saved in iCloud. Very disingenuous, Apple! Adopting upsell tactics similar to Microsoft and Adobe?
AI
Very difficult to use
Ads in Keynote? Why?
Why are there multiple icons and a displays trying to get me to subscribe to your AI Slop Creator Studio? I went to a Mac to get away from this Microsoft-like behavior but now not even the Mac is safe from it
Poor support for accessibility
How does Keynote still not support overlaying closed captions on videos embedded in presentations? Microsoft PowerPoint has had this feature on the Mac for quite some time now. For accessibility, we need to be able to import an srt file and have Keynote overlay the closed captions over the video as it is playing.
Maybe I should learn LaTeX’s "beamer" class…
I have zero interest in this AI nonsense; the "Pro" apps belong separate from these. Truly, the 14.5 versions of each of these are going to turn out to be "the last good ones".
Actively worse then previous versions
You can’t turn off the paid for options when creating a new presentation, which honestly most of them suck anyways. So bizarre Apple has gone down this route. I open the old version of Keynote when creating a new presentation just so I don’t have to sift through the awful paid versions which is also a majority of the options on this newest version.
FAIL - Your CHARGING me for Keynote?
Seriously Apple, how much money do you need to extract from your loyal users? I’ve been a Keynote user for more than a decade. I hate powerpoint. I always insist on using keynote when I give presentations at conferences, for meetings, etc. My slides always look great.
I am stunned that you’re now trying to turn Keynote into a subscription service! Did you hire Bill Gates to run product? This is absurd. We all pay substantially more to use your excellent hardware and many of us have become devotees of your software, which has been provided as a “free component of you OS for many years. Why the switch? Why not just dazzle us with additional features and tools that we could use in our computers and continue to build loyalty from your users? Instead of investing efforts in developing a subscription service offering, why not do very simple but useful things like make Keynote work with Zoom, Teams and other online meeting platforms? Why not create direct integration with Google Docs?
This is a BIG FAIL on the part of your software product team. Focus on that “concierge service” mentality that so enamored Steve Jobs when he created the Genius Bar. Resist. The urge to become like Microsoft and Adobe, who have done remarkably well at alienating their customer base with precisely this kind of rent seeking.
FAIL!
I am stunned that you’re now trying to turn Keynote into a subscription service! Did you hire Bill Gates to run product? This is absurd. We all pay substantially more to use your excellent hardware and many of us have become devotees of your software, which has been provided as a “free component of you OS for many years. Why the switch? Why not just dazzle us with additional features and tools that we could use in our computers and continue to build loyalty from your users? Instead of investing efforts in developing a subscription service offering, why not do very simple but useful things like make Keynote work with Zoom, Teams and other online meeting platforms? Why not create direct integration with Google Docs?
This is a BIG FAIL on the part of your software product team. Focus on that “concierge service” mentality that so enamored Steve Jobs when he created the Genius Bar. Resist. The urge to become like Microsoft and Adobe, who have done remarkably well at alienating their customer base with precisely this kind of rent seeking.
FAIL!
One of the least intuitive apps
Like the title says, it is an extremely finicky and non-intuitive app. Worst experience.
Lost work because of collaboration being broken in prev version.
Lost two weeks of work on a deck because of collaboration being broken, and mismanagement of files between this and the previous version of keynote. Apple you are killing my trust in your products.
Anti-Creativity
Apple has chosen to add a large, unremovable button that reads “Generate Presenter Notes - Powered by OpenAI” RIGHT IN THE PRESENTER NOTES PANEL. Even with Apple Intelligence completely disabled, there is no way to remove this tasteless intrusion, not in menu but in my direct creative space and field of view. This is an intrusion of a horrible kind on multiple levels. The Presenter Notes panel is part of the creative canvas. Writing content is just as much part of a presentation as the images. And now Apple puts what is tantamount to an Ad for their Creative Studio subscription AND for OpenAI right in my face. Right on my canvas. A sickening constant reminder that I am a target to be monetized not a human being. A reminder of the relentless creativity-destroying rampage of AI and a little billboard for OpenAI - a company that invests in hate and ecocidal warfare. Bad move, Apple.
Stay with 14 if you can
Really shouldn’t be called Keynote anymore. Literally been using for 20 years and am truly sad about this trash. Apple intentionally leaving years old positive reviews and not giving warning that choosing to update will irreversibly delete the Keynote and install this new AI app that seems to have been vibe coded by someone in the C-suite who also mandated it be subscription.
At least call it something else, because it isn’t Keynote.
A few years ago I tried out several Markdown driven presentation tools despite the rest of my workflow being Markdown, I could never give up Keynote. Too easy to make great presentations. Great interaction between Mac, iOS and iPad etc.
Well, this one gave me the kick I needed to move to iA’s markdown presentation software.
At least call it something else, because it isn’t Keynote.
A few years ago I tried out several Markdown driven presentation tools despite the rest of my workflow being Markdown, I could never give up Keynote. Too easy to make great presentations. Great interaction between Mac, iOS and iPad etc.
Well, this one gave me the kick I needed to move to iA’s markdown presentation software.
Damn
This app kills people’s sanity
Why would Apple take this away?
I really can’t express my disappointment at the walling off of this tool to be bundled with other things I’ll never use. As an Apple customer from the very beginning I have watched the company move from being invaluable to creatives to becoming a ruthless version of Dell. Can you hear me Tim? Keynote is an essential tool for my business and I will have to keep my current MBPro and current version of Keynote until you subscribe it from my cold dead hands.
Completely unusable now
I used to be able to use this app to change the aspect ratio of videos, now I can’t even add a video to a presentation it’s all ai bs now. Trash app
Unusable now
I can’t find any of the old pre-ai features now, I don’t mind having the option to generate stuff, but I really want to be able to use my own images usually! I can’t figure out how to do that suddenly with this new update. Would really like this fixed
Aesthetic Regression
Those shadows around buttons in toolbar are like worn out of Apple
Disappointing
When I got my MacBook I was looking forwards to blowing people out of the water with any Keynote presentations I do. Well not the case. Microsoft Power Point kicks Keynote out of the water. Better slides. Better tech additions, etc. It’s not even a fair fight. Keynote is a bologna sandwich and power point is a 3 course meal with all the trimmings. In the end, Keynote is very disappointing.
What a waste of an “update”
Not sure what the “improvements” are in the new version of Keynote. Just annoying to figure out the new symbols for the same old thing with NO improvements for the most part. When you decide to update stuff…make it WORTHWHILE and have it be a REAL IMPROVEMENT!
Refusing To Update To This Version
I learned long ago, read the release notes, read the reviews. This used to be free & would take some of the sting out of the high priced hardware. Now Apple is putting portions of this software behind a paywall & annoying us w/nagging ads to subscribe if you don’t. While I’m convinced that Apple would definitely posses the ability to extract blood from a turnip, why would you? Why do this to your LOYAL customers? Why force feed us yet another subscription? Y’all aren’t wealthy enough? Your office is literally a giant high tech spaceship. I don’t want to have to subscribe to Apple Creator Studio, I want to use Numbers/Pages/Keynote & know that I have access to all of it’s content & features having just shelled out over $2k on a 13” laptop or over $1,200 on a phone (a phone!) or whatever. So I will use my old version for as long as I can.
Also, the app icons are terrible. They don’t visually fit w/the rest of iOS, just like Clock & Camera (& arguably Preview), they look completely out of place on the screen. Now some are skeuomorphic, some are not. Scott Forstall would love it though.
Also, the app icons are terrible. They don’t visually fit w/the rest of iOS, just like Clock & Camera (& arguably Preview), they look completely out of place on the screen. Now some are skeuomorphic, some are not. Scott Forstall would love it though.
Fix this app
This is the hardest thing to use ever. All the tools are hidden, it took me 15 minutes to make a text box. Worst design making app ever.
NO
Y did you change it
Mean
It’s not the same
Terrible.
Hard to find anything because NOTHING is labeled. The buttons are all icons that are super non-descript. It’s impossible to find any functions.
Keynote going down
I used to love Keynote, far better than PPT, but it has gone down, with real estate on the screen wasted for pay-only items (even for free users), and everything just a bit slower and clunkier, and keeping me doing from my work.
WTF
WTF is going on with this latest update? It is just a spinning wheel now. Impossible to use.
Just frustrated
So far it has proven to not be user friendly… so far.
Worst Icon Ever
In order that I might never look at this app, it lives in the App Library and I launch via spotlight. Every icon in the creator studio suite is an embarrassment. These are the worst icons that Apple Computer has produced in its history.
All Cosmetic
no material improvement at all…
It’s honestly pathetic. Any user of Keynote for more than a day could identify basic and fundamental improvements that Apple could make that would significantly enhance the user experience. Think Microsoft PowerPoint has had since 2000. Yet as is standard with Apple, these days improvements are purely cosmetic and marketing and have zero material or substance behind them. How lost this company has become.
It’s honestly pathetic. Any user of Keynote for more than a day could identify basic and fundamental improvements that Apple could make that would significantly enhance the user experience. Think Microsoft PowerPoint has had since 2000. Yet as is standard with Apple, these days improvements are purely cosmetic and marketing and have zero material or substance behind them. How lost this company has become.
What a mess
So, I edited a presentation on my Mac. Saved it. Copied it to a new folder. Then opened that on my iPad. It shows the previous copy of the presentation. The one before I edited it. No matter how much I copy it, duplicate it, or move it around, I see the new, edited version on my Mac and the previous version on my iPad.
What has happened to Apple? They have become total screw ups. Focusing on monetizing rather than quality. Total disappointment.
What has happened to Apple? They have become total screw ups. Focusing on monetizing rather than quality. Total disappointment.
Stop removing things
I have been using this for years. Now, when I open up one of my presentations, it says I can no longer share it because its too big but I can now subscribe to something different. Also, It won’t let me edit my own slides anymore. It’s time for me to find another way to do my presentations.
No, we are not stupid
We gladly subscribed to Apple Music and Apple TV, Apple Care, Apple One and even iCloud that provided optional but very attractive features. It seems that Apple, seemingly unable to focus on innovation as before to attract new customers, now want to squeeze more money from us regular customers charging us for basic features like writing, using spreadsheets or a presentation. If there’s anyone from Apple leadership listening (as it was in the past) this is a mistake. In spite of the opinion of many Windows users most Apple customers are not stupid people who care about status. We just love a product and ecosystem that works seamlessly and this is becoming less and less so. There’s a limit to the amount of money you can squeeze from us in regular subscriptions before we jump ship and the competition is narrowing the gap and in some cases (IA anyone?) surpassing you. Regulations are forcing you to make leaving you much easier. Be wise and stop. Love can become hate quite easily.
Just looking
I gave it to one because I haven’t seen everything that he can do
Why??
Apple has royally destroyed their entire suite of applications in order to make money. They worked before, they don’t now. No feature is worth that. And, they force people to update. I’ve been with Apple since 1984. This is the worst I’ve seen it. I really need my technology to work.
Not great
Doesn’t have a wide vocabulary
Retire Craig
This is just not a product. Best thing is to make Claude compatible with Keynote. Otherwise ai type features don’t really work. Overall apple software has deteriorated significantly and it’s time for a change at the top.
Problems in new update
Photos pasted into presentations are incomplete with white or clear patches where photo has content.
Slows down machine
When I use this version of Keynote it immediately slows down my machine significantly. Unusable.
Sentiment summary
83%
Positive (4-5★)
6%
Neutral (3★)
11%
Negative (1-2★)