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Drafts App Complaints & User Negative Comments 2024
Drafts app received 45 complaints, negative comments and reviews by users. Have you ever had a bad experience using Drafts? Can you share your negative thoughts about drafts?
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Drafts for Negative User Reviews
✓ What was once brilliant is now confoundingI want to like Drafts 5, but, good grief, after over a year of working with it I’ve concluded it is a mess. Non-centralised menus, often unintuitive iconography, promiscuous customisability that multiples confusion and muddies reliability, a UI that grows uglier and more unbalanced in its design. Drafts used to be the go to for cross platform quick text entry, processing, and then archival. Now, it’s just a bloated app that feels more like a Lego airplane assembled by a five year old than a serious tool. I’m breaking up with Drafts. It’s time..Version: 20.1
✓ Spoiled by subscriptionI was excited to see a new version and ready to pay for the upgrade; however, subscription model means that I'll have to stick with v4.Version: 5.2.0
✓ Disappointed the devs went the way of subscription.Im disappointed with the subscription model dev seem to be taking up nowadays and i will be keeping with Drafts 4. I hope the devs remember their loyal customers who got them off the ground and keep the drafts 4 app working with future IOS updates..Version: 5.0.2
✓ “No” to subscription model!“No” to subscription model!.Version: 5.1.1
✓ Downgrade for casuals and going off brand?The app lost some features I use regularly (including deleting drafts after action) and couldn’t migrate some very useful keyboard commands. Quality of life for me is lower with just a prettier UI. And really a sub is a bit surprising. It’s a great app but not really the right kind of app for a sub, especially not at the current price point. I pay enough subs already and I get suspicious about what features may be kept from us in future just to try and force a sub. It’s not the greatest way to foster consumer trust in a company that previously had a bit of a cool open source feel to it..Version: 5.1.1
✓ Great, But Too ExpensiveThe app is great, the usability is great and the programming is great. But the pricing just isn’t realistic for an occasional user, even as the free version isn’t configurable enough to be useful. I’ll be sticking to Drafts 4, but I’ll be sorry about that..Version: 5.0.2
✓ The start of the downfallDrafts 4 was good. The developers seem to have gotten greedy, disabled a few key features in Drafts 5 which were operational in Drafts 4 and are offering these under an expensive subscription. Poor show! 👎🏼.Version: 5.0.3
✓ FrustratingDrafts 5 doesn’t offer this simple user anything useful, other than placing the usefulness of the old version on life support. I’ve used Drafts 4 for the past couple of years and felt it was one of the best iOS purchases I’ve ever made. I don’t really make use of much of the fancy stuff; it’s just a wonderful place to begin with text. I like to set up custom actions to what to do with that text, and love to tie the app into OmniFocus, Workflow, and other apps. I don’t store things in Drafts at all; for me it is purely a quick-access starting place for text. What is frustrating about this new version is the pricing model. I would have happily paid for a new version of the app. The subscription model is $20/year and the only pro feature I would ever use is the ability to customize actions. And I can’t wrap my head around paying on a continual basis to do so. Near as I can tell, the built-in actions to add a draft to a Reminders list cannot be directed to anything but the system default Reminders list without paying for a subscription. That just doesn’t sit right with me. It’s super clunky, but I feel that I’m going to be using “Share > Run Workflow” quite a bit going forward..Version: 5.0.2
✓ Feel ripped offDraft 4 is a fully featured application that was fully paid for and now looks like at will no longer get updates. The update to Draft 5 has had the power features of Draft 4 ripped out and now the developer demands an exorbitant subscription fee to reintroduce them back into the app. As an individual who has already paid for the original app, I feel exploited and disappointed in the direction being adopted. Why, oh why didn’t the developer add the new features that were introduced, i.e. dark mode and alike as an in-app purchase instead of removing previously existing functionality. I for one will not or never pay the requested amount as it’s too expensive. Please remember the best customer you have is the one you already had - very, very disappointing........Version: 5.0.3
✓ Not all that much better than Drafts 4Drafts 5 has some extra features and I like the focus mode. The dark theme is also much darker than Drafts 4. On the focus mode, I’d like a third option to have the app open straight to the inbox screen. I use and continuously modify existing notes more than I create new ones, so this would be a feature I’d really like. Also, the “hide” the extended keyboard option doesn’t actually remove the keyboard row, just hides the icons. This makes my visible screen space for editing very small. The keyboard extras take up a bit too much real estate on my screen. Drafts 4 actually gave you back that screen space when you chose to hide the extended keyboard. Overall I’m debating whether Drafts 5 with its subscription fees is that much better than Drafts 4 to make it worth paying on an ongoing basis. I’m just not sure yet. I’ll give it a month and see. A shame though when the one feature I most need and paid $5 for in Drafts 4, the dark mode, is now $2 every month..Version: 5.2.0
✓ Downgrade from version 4Very disappointing to have purchased version 4 only to find I have to subscribe in order to get back features I already paid for. For me the main reason for buying was the custom actions, which are no longer available without the subscription. Fortunately I can recreate those using the Apple Shortcuts app, so no need to subscribe. Very annoying nonetheless to have my purchase downgraded in this later version..Version: 14.1
✓ Drafts works, but not well enough to use regularlyI tried using Drafts to take notes with on my iPhone and Apple Watch. Chiefly voice notes, transcribed to text, Drafts does this well enough. But... A) I often lack a wireless connection. Drafts can’t do voice recognition without. B) even with wireless and transcription, I find that having to correct speech to text errors right away is a pain. The app that I finally choose as my main voice note taking app allows speech to be recorded, even when offline, and transcribed later. It also allows both the recorded voice sound file and the text to be saved. Even when online, this allows me to correct errors in transcription later. Drafts has nice features, like the many, many, ways it can connect to other apps. Apparently customizable. I have some hope that I could program Drafts to automatically provide the time of recording when transferring to another app like OneNote. Many other note taking apps provide the date of transfer, not the date of recording. If Drafts could record offline, transcribe online, and transfer both voice and text to OneNote I would buy Drafts. But it does not, so I will not..Version: 11.0
✓ Another app to jump on the subscription train...I have been buying different versions of this app for years, and I'm fine with that. I think I have bought three of the four different versions, all for between $8-$10. Now the new one comes out and costs as much as buying three of the previous apps PER YEAR. $28 a year may not be much in the scheme of things, but when every app under the sun is doing this, you'll be spending a lot of money very quickly. Let's say you want a good to do list, that would be another $30 a year. How about Argus for tracking activity. $22 a month or $47 a year. Say, I would love to have a nice journal, that will set you back a similar amount per year. Maybe a budgeting app for another $40 a year. Currently, in this situation I would be spending close to $200 a year for just four apps. Where their previous versions would cost you $30-$50 for all four. There's no real need for these incessant subscription services, other than the hope that people will forget/not realise they have subscribed and the company will make some money out of them each year until they remember. I'll be going back to a writing app that doesn't extort money out of you..Version: 5.0.3
✓ Constant crash on app switchAs titled. Every time I switch to another app, drafts crap out on me..Version: 15.2
✓ Subscription reallyAs others have said I would pay £5.00 a year to update this app but nearly £20 I’ll just carry on using Drafts 4 until the app doesn’t support the iOS any more then I have to stop using it. I really hope the developer in the next version goes away from subscriptions.Version: 5.2.2
✓ Very nice iPhone app, but one major feature missing....The iPhone app is perfect with nothing wrong but the Apple Watch app has a glitch which is very annoying. I have found when you have used the app for a day, something happens and you can no longer delete a note just after making it. This is very annoying because if you suddenly want to delete something, you can’t. Once this is fixed, this will by far be the best note taking app both on the phone and on the watch..Version: 14.2
✓ Subscription? GoodbyeReally hate subscriptions. If apple made it easy to get out of them but they hide the cancellations so no thanks. And this app makes no sense as a subscription anyhow....Version: 5.7
✓ Yet another app author abusing their customer baseI liked Drafts. I did. However I didn’t like it enough to pay for it for the rest of my life. Neither will you. I paid for Drafts 4. I paid for Drafts 5. Then the app was crippled with a subscription option. I can’t include the words that the author deserves as my review would not be published but I’m confident you can fill in the blanks. I’m deleting this overpriced **** and moving on to a NGA - non-gouging app..Version: 15.2
✓ No subscription!I understand developers need to make money but come on - I would have paid for the upgrade, I love Drafts, it’s one of the best apps out there. But it’s not appropriate for a subscription model. You simply can’t add that much value to an app which is about taking and making notes quickly and easily..Version: 5.0.2
✓ Widgets stopped working in iOS 14.4First of all, this app is absolutely perfect for someone with an ADD/scattered mine like me. It's the number one uses app on my phone. I only have one issue... All three types of the Drafts widgets were working just fine until about a week or so ago. It started with just one widget type not working/being slow when trying to edit the widget on the home screen. Now, none of the three widgets will allow me to edit them or show any content. I have deleted and reinstalled the app multiple times, triple-checked that everything was update and all of the other troubleshooting things I could think of. Nothing I have done has fixed the problem..Version: 25.1
✓ What have you done?Last major “update” has turned what was an intuitive app into a mess. Updating for the sake of updating is idiotic. Please stop. There’s an old saying that goes “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.”.Version: 30.1
✓ Long-time user, now moving onHave been using Drafts since the first version. It has been an excellent app, but since the subscription version landed – not to mention other small interface changes, I have to say goodbye. Caveat: I am not a power user, but I write a lot. I had access to a small portion of features for a long time as an early adopter of the app, but now they are behind a subscription, and for the limited use of those features I cannot justify a monthly fee that can get me the same or more elsewhere for a single, one-time cost. There are a lot of great reviews – all justified – by actual power users who know and use OSX and iOS in tandem impressively. They have impressive workflows that rely on knowing the ins and outs of their devices. Drafts offers tremendous flexibility for those users. But most of us aren’t power users. Most of us want to jot notes for later use, maybe export notes to another app, file, or post for permanent rest, if that much. If you are one of those persons, and you use a Mac as well, then Byword will fulfill your needs just fine..Version: 14.2
✓ No subscription hereI too am a long time Drafts 4 user. I have also recommended the app to many friends and know for a fact that four of them have purchased the app. I will no longer be doing so. Like many others have stated, I do not mind paying a one time fee. I am not a fan of the subscription-based model which I know many apps and programs are moving towards. I will look for alternatives and other solutions Whenever possible. I probably would’ve considered subscribing if the subscription fee was more reasonable. Someone else has done the math- the cost jump from the life cycle cost of Drafts 4 compared to the subscription fee for Drafts 5 is astronomically ridiculous. Like several others I did not take full advantage of all that was available in Drafts 4, but would have happily paid a one time fee for D5 to support continued growth. I hope in time this business model will be reevaluated and changed. And like others have said the freemium version of D5 is not an option without dark mode..Version: 5.0.4
✓ Subscription model on iOS == no dealI was a paid user of the previous version. As a Family user (with two other Drafts users in the household), the price was okay. The monthly pricing for Drafts 5, when considering that Apple refuse to make in-app purchases shareable, has become unreasonable. There’s no way in hell I’m paying C$75.00 *per year* for a glorified text editor. I’ve started moving my family to a similar text editor that doesn’t charge an arm and a leg..Version: 5.7
✓ Drafts 5 is greatAs was Drafts 4. But, to me it isn’t, worth £20 per year. I’m sad another developer has decided to go this way. I’m sure the usual arguments will come up but personally this isn’t the way to go from a customers point of view. I am happy that the developer hasn’t shafted us in the same way as Ulysses did and I’ll stick with Drafts 4, for now. I might need to go elsewhere in the future. Disappointing times for iOS app development..Version: 5.0.2
✓ DisappointedSo asked for help on Twitter, didn’t get what I was looking for. Mentioned in a comment and got rudely told that to go see the community! No problems with that but when app makers start valuing the subscription customers more and don’t give the new clients a chance to try and be comfortable, guess what you lost! And word of mouth: well we all know! I was excited to use the app but since uninstalled and not going back due to the lack of concern and sheer rudeness! There’s plenty out there for me to waste my money on!.Version: 5.5.1
✓ Subscription. No thanks.Was so excited for this new version. But subscription? No thanks. I’ll continue to check in occasionally but this type of app is unsuitable for a subscription model. Raise the prices from the previous version if you must, or charge for each capability of the app (as an add-on), but the subscription model is just not suitable for an app of this nature. Hopefully this changes, and if so, I’ll be back to purchase the app..Version: 5.0.2
✓ Too expensiveYep, $30 a year is too expensive for me. Editorial has far more options for automation and scripting, and is way more reasonably priced..Version: 5.0.3
✓ Drafts on Apple WatchI have drafts on my Apple Watch series 3, but for some reason, I can’t delete drafts from my Apple Watch. However, drafts is still very easy to use, and it is also very useful..Version: 16.1
✓ Already excellent app got even better!Drafts keeps delivering top notch functionality, great automation and delightful interface. If you have known and used the previous versions you will love this new incarnation. As to those who vocally oppose subscription mode, please note that it is optional. I think that vast majority of the users will be perfectly happy with the non-pro version available completely for free (you had to buy the app to use it in the past). Subscription is optional for those power users who really need advanced functionality. BTW, you may want to subscribe anyway, as I heard that the profit earned by the developer from pro subscription will go a long way to help create desktop version of Drafts for Mac (wich would be great!)..Version: 5.0.2
✓ Back to drafts 4 for meI find this app very useful in my day to day; really like the design - simple but powerful... that subscription tho..Version: 5.2.2
✓ Why a subscription?I understand the point of subscriptions. You pay monthly for something that has a constant cost. Electricity, food, printed magazines, water, etc. In those cases, the consumer uses a product and the company must create new product and therefore the consumer must pay again. I don’t understand this new trend of paying for a subscription just to use software. Why would I continue to pay for this app over and over again? And once I stop paying, it’s not mine anymore. This makes no sense. Why would I “subscribe” to my computer, allowing Mac to own it, and the second I’m done, they come take it away? Why would I subscribe to use my sunglasses and then turn them in once I’m done paying a monthly fee for them? Why would I subscribe to a digital download of the avengers movie and keep paying monthly so that I can keep it? I wouldn’t. In all these cases I would pay once for the product then it is mine. So why would I pay for this app once, then continue to give the developer money just to use it. I’m not wanting to RENT the app. I want to BUY IT! Develop your app, sell the app, and fix bugs as you go for free because the buyer paid for a working app that should be free of bugs. Don’t fall victim to this practice. Don’t subscribe to this. Think of all the things in your life you wouldn’t have if you had to keep paying for them or you lose them..Version: 5.3.1
✓ Pretty app, pretty over pricedI’m a long time Drafts user. Happily paid for Drafts 3, and happily upgraded to Drafts 4. I use it daily, it’s in my dock, and it is a very valuable part of my iPhone workflow. I don’t reject a subscription model, but with so many apps and even content providers moving to subscription models, these nickels and dimes are starting to give me pause. I use Drafts for recording quick thoughts, errands lists and text messages. That’s all included in the free version. But for me the most power is in adding notes to Evernote in specific notebooks and appending or prepending designated notes. This requires $20 per year. I guess I paid $6 for Drafts 4 two years ago, which is $3 per year. With Drafts 5, the same functionality is ~7 times more expensive. For that, I’m happy to open Evernote and suffer the extra seconds. That said, I would pay more than I did for Drafts 4. I’d like pay $7-10 per year for it. I will keep using Drafts 4 until it becomes unsupported and is rendered obsolete by some future iOS upgrade, or until Drafts 5 is available for a reasonable price, or until a competitor takes advantage of this opportunity..Version: 5.0.3
✓ RentwareI'm new to Drafts. At first, I couldn't figure out why it existed. I normally use Notes for what Drafts means to me. However, now I use Drafts to craft all my online posts, including this one. I'm sure there are more exciting uses for it, but for me, it's like scrap paper. I went to the App Store to see if this was a universal purchase (1 purchase to work on Mac & mobile). Much to my disappointment, I found the dreadful subscription model. I'm a developer myself and know how miserable it is trying to make money. Everyone thinks they're entitled to free upgrades for life. The App Store doesn't accommodate major release upgrade fees, new versions of the os require constant changes to your app that you can't charge for, and the list goes on. Having said all that, I still wouldn't use the subscription model on an app like this. We just don't need you to invent fancier ways to edit simple text. Yes, we need you to adopt new technologies when they come along, and we'll pay up when that happens. I only use this app a few times a week. Like I said, I went to the store to buy today to support the developers for a useful app. There's no option for me to pay once, so I won't buy. The free version suits my needs, for now. When I need more, I guess I'll have to look elsewhere..Version: 19.1
✓ Interrupts my text editing to prompt for a reviewLiterally in the middle of typing i get a review prompt. STOP.Version: 25.1
✓ Sorry the pricing is now ridiculousJust went to change from monthly to yearly subscription only to find the price has almost doubled!! Don’t get me wrong, Drafts is impressive app. However, so much value is created by users who develop actions. The new pricing feels like paying for the privilege of taking part in that. In this part of the world it now costs $55 a year to be part of the process. Some of this is on Apple for their greedy developer tax, but the exchange rate means users outside the U.S get taxed much worse. I have been developing actions and sharing them for years, not to mention promoting the app. Where’s the incentive to keep doing this now? The previous price point was steep, but almost worth it. This is just too much. Perhaps it has something to do with the macOS app? Where does that leave iOS only users. Time to go all in on Shortcuts and Scriptable..Version: 25.1
✓ Boooooooo!Love love love drafts! But another 💥⚡️🔥🌶✨☀️☄️ app that wants to jump on the subscription bandwagon? NO!.Version: 5.0.2
✓ Originally loved this appMy review reflects an opinion similar to that of the last person. Tired of paying good money for an app only for them to retire it, rip the features out and move to an overpriced subscription model. Plenty of other good apps providing similar functionality..Version: 5.3.1
✓ Appaulling cash grab.Sticking with the legacy paid version. Pro subscription required now for old features standard in Drafts 4. I understand the legacy version is supported, for now, but eventually support for that will be dropped. I object to the only payment model being recurring subscription based when the features I want are static features not reliant on a cloud backend..Version: 5.3.1
✓ SadI can’t afford all these subscriptions and I guess the support & community will move off of previous versions. Looks like it’s time to delete even previous Drafts and go back to iOS notes so I don’t get stuck like this in the future..Version: 5.2.2
✓ No to subscriptionI am happy to pay for this app but not happy to subscribe I have bought tons of apps but I don’t think subscriptions are the way to go. I would recommend Apple either ban subscription or put them in a different App Store category so we can more easily avoid them..Version: 5.0.2
✓ New version too slowDrafts was one of my most used apps. snappy and multifunctional. Unfortunately, I updated to the new version and removed the old one. Theoretically, it is an upgrade. In reality, it is too slow to start on my few years old iPad Air 2. I will be switching to something else, possibly even Notes itself, after years of depending on Drafts. Even when I upgrade my ipad at some point, I am no longer sure it is worth it anymore. Another fantastic product ruined by bloating....Version: 15.2
✓ Subscription, no wayThis should not be a subscription based app..Version: 15.1
✓ Subscription model discouragingI would consider a one time purchase but in my opinion the app is not useful enough to justify paying for it repeatedly..Version: 5.4.1
✓ Awesome even without the subscriptionThere are many features and things to rave about, but I’ll leave that to other reviews. The reason I gave this three stars is because the way markdown is rendered is a little buggy. For example, when I use the GitHub flavored processor I lose my lists and checklists, and there is a strange phenomenon where trying to escape a tilde doesn’t appear as a lone tilde, but includes the slash when rendered. MultiMarkdown processor gives me back my lists and checklists, but for some reason it completely screws up my paragraphs, and tildes don’t have the crossout effect they have under GitHub flavored. Seems a little odd to me that I can’t have my lists and my tildes..Version: 22.0
🙂 Drafts Positive Reviews
Drafts works most of the time. If it is not working for you, we recommend you excersise some patience and retry later or contact Drafts.
⛔ Drafts Problems
