MarginNote is the PDF study tool for deep readers. One excerpt is a PDF highlight, a mind map node, and a flashcard — one capture, three places. This is the Card Axis architecture, so you stop ferrying content between a PDF reader, a notes app, and a flashcard tool. A decade of iteration. 188K+ App Store ratings.
【Four Featured Mechanics】
▸ Card Axis — One excerpt, three renders. Document highlight, mind map node, and flashcard are the same card seen from three angles.
▸ Title Link — Old notes auto-surface in new documents. When a familiar concept appears in what you're reading, your past annotation lights up on the page.
▸ Extended Note — Long-press anywhere on a PDF to open writing space. No anchored text required; three display modes (inline / margin / collapsed).
▸ Immersive Mode (4.4) — Three-state toggle: Read / Write / Recall. UI folds away. Recall blurs excerpts with Gaussian blur — tap to reveal only after you've actually recalled.
【AI Capabilities (introduced in 4.2)】
AI book breakdown · AI OCR templates · AI translation · AI Q&A · AI flashcard generation
Our stance is AI as assistant, not replacement — every suggestion can be saved as your own thinking node, never thinking for you.
【Apple Intelligence (iOS 26+)】
Recall Mode hints can run on-device via Apple Intelligence — pick "Apple AI" or "cloud LLM" in Settings. With Apple AI selected, three tiers of help — Neighbor Coordinate · Reasoning Prompt · Key Distinction — are generated by Apple Foundation Models right on your device: no network calls, no AI credits used, your notes never leave your device. Even if you've selected cloud LLM, going offline auto-falls back to Apple Intelligence (provided your device supports it) — so libraries, planes, and exam-day silent rooms never break your hint loop.
【Full Workflow】
Fast OCR · Study Sets (PDF / EPUB / video / audio) · direct read from Zotero / cloud drives / USB · 10 mind map styles · book recomposition · dual-document compare · concept maps · handwriting layers
【FSRS Spaced Repetition】
Built on the open-spaced-repetition project's algorithm (paper accepted by ACM SIGKDD; Anki has used FSRS as its default scheduler since v23.10). Push short-term memory into long-term.
【Built For】
Anyone re-reading a single document until it sticks — med school (USMLE / MCAT) · law school (LSAT / bar exam) · grad prep (GRE / GMAT / CFA) · researchers · language learners (IELTS / TOEFL) · serious readers.
【All Apple Platforms】
iPhone + iPad + Mac under one Apple ID. iCloud syncs Study Sets, notes, and review progress. Native Apple Pencil support on iPad.
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Questions? Email service@marginnote.com
Terms: https://dist.marginnote.com/MarginNote_Terms_and_Conditions.pdf
Privacy: https://dist.marginnote.com/MarginNote_Privacy_Policy.pdf
I rarely post reviews, but MarginNote is probably the most important app in my toolbox. AT THIS TIME, I would just caution people with older computers or huge study sets to realize that MN has its limitations when interacting and updating. The app works fine on my iPad 11" Pro and iPhone 15 Pro Max, but it’s too slow and/or glitchy on my MacBook Air M1 with 16GB of memory and 1TB of storage. No idea why this app is so slow other than the fact that I have some massive medical textbooks and pictures. I have also been bogged down by a really really slow interface, despite other apps zipping by. I have lost work. I have been frustrated studying really boring topics that otherwise MN is great in helping me stay on top of, and it’s made my ADHD worse as I go down the rabbit hole looking for alternatives, I start pulling out physical note cards (impossible given the amount of things I’m studying), and counting my pennies to see what I can afford. Heptabase is sleek and useful, but it doesn’t have a review section like MN, and MN is better for students at the moment. Unfortunately, it has become unusable for now on my mac, which has something to do with the computer’s ability to run my study sets. I typically run many apps simultaneously to switch back and forth while learning and looking up things, but it’s only since updating to Sequoia that I have been having issues with MN. I am debating moving over to something else like LiquidText although I really don’t want toooo :(
Best app for research and annotating PDF’s
gianbortion
I have been using MarginNote 4 for macOS and iPad for some of my classes that have me downloading lots PDF’s of journal articles for various assignments and research projects, and every feature in this app makes reading and annotating easier and more productive. I really like the mind map flowcharts and how easy it is to have all the important information I highlight all in one place, especially when there are several documents pertaining to the research topic. The workspace is highly customizable so you can put different things “away” when you aren’t using them, like the extend space, notebook, or mind map. Overall it’s a really solid PDF annotator, and works with other document formats as well. There is only one thing I wish the app would implement: handwriting/line smoothing. The apple pencil pressure/tilt support is nice, but I wish there were some sort of line smoothing option available to make handwriting look just a little nicer.
This app saved / is saving my life
JJRainwater
I have severe adult adhd inattentive type with an incredibly hyper active non-linear thinking style. Margin note has helped me cope more than any other app to help me organize all of these thoughts and information I am constantly taking in and trying to create sense of / integrate. My brain works so hard and is always on 5 topics at once. Things click for me at random times, not when they would for typical people and not linearly. If I don’t capture that in that moment and put it into a web of other knowledge, it will be lost forever and I will have to return to the same scenario repeating mistakes without having learned. Margin note lets me keep sources and context with my ideas while also organizing them into hierarchies and defining relations later when I have time so my momentary awareness can stick and nothing is lost. My data and information input is more likely to become Learning. Rather than it disappearing into the disorganized inbox of my mind.
A complete PDF study tool
MN4 user
Marginnote 4 is not beginner friendly and has a very steep learning curve. But it is surprisingly the best tool for studying multiple documents i have come accross. You can take notes and keeping track of sources for all information. ONCE MASTERED it changes how you study fundamentally allowing you to think more and organize more efficiently. I LOVE THE APP. It is what i have been looking for, for a long long time. That being said it still needs a good manual. Showing the capability of marginnote by simple workflow videos for multiple recommended study styles may make it more appealing to beginners.
This update introduces PDF Condense and Block Selection, along with a new External Agent Book Breakdown feature. It also upgrades Immersive Mode and the AI chat panel, while continuing to improve Backup & Sync, text box editing, Markdown rendering, and the in-app feedback experience.
New PDF Condense
• After selecting PDF content, you can condense the original text into a short summary displayed in a collapsed form at the original location, making it easier to recall and review.
• Condense settings support condensation granularity, output language, font, and font size. You can also choose between cloud AI and on-device offline AI. On-device offline AI requires Apple Intelligence support and does not consume MarginNote built-in AI credits.
New PDF Block Selection
• After enabling Assistive Excerpt, you can select one or multiple text blocks and then perform Excerpt or Condense.
• This mode is designed for more precise selection and organization by paragraph or content block, making PDF excerpting and condensing more flexible.
New External Agent Book Breakdown
• Chapter content can be exported as a breakdown task package and saved to iCloud, the app directory, or another location accessible to external agents such as Claude Code, Codex, or OpenClaw.
• After processing, the package can be imported back into MarginNote to generate source-linked mind map cards.
• External Agent Book Breakdown does not consume MarginNote built-in AI credits.
Immersive Mode Improvements
• Document-only view now also supports Immersive Mode.
• The document menu in Immersive Mode now includes Show Document Notebook Bar, Dual-Document Comparison, Table of Contents, Import Document, and Linked Documents, allowing you to browse and jump through the table of contents, import documents, compare documents side by side, and manage linked documents while staying immersed.
• The AI chat window in Immersive Mode has been upgraded to a floating window.
• Floating windows, including AI Chat and Research Browser, now support dragging, resizing, and minimizing to a bubble. They also remember their last position and size to reduce obstruction of reading content.
Text Box Editing Improvements
• Improved text box editing, including cursor positioning, text selection, keyboard avoidance, and content clipping. Also fixed an issue where the background color could be lost when remembering text box styles.
• Newly created text boxes are now constrained within the page by default to avoid overflow.
Customer Support Upgrade
• In-app Feedback & Support now supports directly attaching files such as images, documents, logs, crash files, archives, and videos, with a single attachment limit of 20 MB.
• Users can now like support replies, helping us continuously improve support quality.
Other Improvements and Fixes
• Optimized PDF selection, Markdown formula rendering, and web import experience, reducing menu anomalies, rendering issues, and import freezes.
• Optimized backup and import processes for WebDAV, Google Drive, and other services, improving transfer and login compatibility.
• Optimized the large-file upload process for Baidu Netdisk, reducing memory usage during uploads and improving backup stability for large files.
• Optimized the restore purchase process, improving the accuracy of restoring entitlements such as Max and Pro-to-Max upgrades, and providing clearer prompts when restoration fails.
• Fixed multiple display issues in Immersive Mode, including toolbar residue, invisible top navigation, mind map covering documents, and icon flickering.
• Added multilingual text and fixed some localization issues.
• Reduced the frequency of in-app rating prompts to minimize interruptions during learning.
• Continued improvements to overall experience and stability.
Version 4.4.2
Subscriptions
MarginNote Max Annual
Full Max access with yearly billing
Free Trial
The developer, Beijing Yunsi Software Technology Co., Ltd, indicated that the app’s privacy practices may include handling of data as described below. For more information, see the developer’s privacy policy .
Data Used to Track You
The following data may be used to track you across apps and websites owned by other companies:
Identifiers
Data Not Linked to You
The following data may be collected but it is not linked to your identity:
Identifiers
Usage Data
Diagnostics
Privacy practices may vary, for example, based on the features you use or your age. Learn More
Accessibility
The developer has not yet indicated which accessibility features this app supports. Learn More
Information
Seller
Beijing Yunsi Software Technology Co., Ltd
Size
340.7 MB
Category
Productivity
Compatibility
Requires iOS 17.0 or later.
iPhone Requires iOS 17.0 or later.
iPad Requires iPadOS 17.0 or later.
Mac Requires macOS 14.0 or later.
Apple Vision Requires visionOS 1.0 or later.
Languages
English and 4 more
English, Japanese, Korean, Simplified Chinese, Traditional Chinese