# Penbook: Paper Planner & Notes

> Journal, Notebook & Study

Canonical page: [https://chrome-stats.com/d/id1473064295](https://chrome-stats.com/d/id1473064295)

## Overview

- **ID:** `id1473064295`
- **Platform:** Apple
- **Type:** Apple app
- **Status:** Available
- **Publisher:** Pencil Research
- **Category:** Productivity
- **Rating:** 4.60 / 5 (45,196 ratings)
- **Version:** 8.0.3
- **Last updated:** 2026-09-17
- **First published:** 2019-09-24
- **Size:** 135 MB
- **Data as of:** 2026-09-18
- **Store listing:** [Apple App Store](https://apps.apple.com/us/app/penbook-paper-planner-notes/id1473064295)
- **Website:** [https://penbook.app](https://penbook.app/)
- **Privacy policy:** [https://penbook.app/privacy-policy](https://penbook.app/privacy-policy)

## Description

**Penbook: Paper Planner & Notes** turns your iPad or iPhone into a flexible digital notebook for journaling, planning, studying, sketching, and everyday organization. Write naturally with Apple Pencil, a stylus, or your finger on Live Paper that adapts to dates, timelines, calendars, and other planning needs.

Choose from more than 400 stationery styles, including ruled, graph, Cornell, habit tracker, day planner, weekly and monthly planner, engineering, chemistry, music, storyboard, and developer paper. Import PDFs for annotation, search handwritten notes, recognize shapes, customize notebook covers, and share your work. The free version supports one notebook, while Penbook Premium unlocks unlimited notebooks, exports, new stationery, covers, and ongoing updates through a subscription or lifetime purchase.

## Rankings

- #6,846 — Overall
- #11 — Paths to Productivity
- #12 — Neat Notetakers
- #19 — Level Up Your Life
- #39 — Great Apps Updated for iOS 27
- #11 — author

## Review summary

Users praise Penbook for a natural Apple Pencil writing experience, a wide range of templates, and organizing multiple notebooks. However, recurring issues include iCloud sync failures and data loss, crashes after updates, limited page management, and weak PDF handling. Some users love the pens and design, but stability and data risk significantly dampen overall value.

### Pros

- Smooth writing experience with Apple Pencil and a natural feel
- Wide range of templates and easy creation of multiple notebooks
- Feels like writing on paper and serves as a strong replacement for traditional notebooks
- Excellent pens and color options with an intuitive overall design

### Cons

- iCloud sync failures across devices (red cloud icon) and risk of data loss
- Crashes and stability issues after updates (e.g., long-pressing tools can crash the app)
- Poor page management (inability to delete pages/notebooks or rename books)
- Weak PDF handling (crashes when adding large PDFs; no OCR or easy text copying)

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Source: [Chrome-Stats](https://chrome-stats.com/d/id1473064295)