DEVONthink To Go 3 Reviews

by Vogelmeister

This release is so buggy. CloudKit sync is a piece of junk. The developers really should have waited to release this instead of making all of us be their Beta Testers. The sad part is their forums are full of comments from their devs like “we can’t replicate the issue you are experience” yet there are hundreds of people saying they are getting CloudKit errors and invalid encryption key errors. Really worrisome, but I have hope that they fix things soon. It kind of reminds me when they released devonthink 3 for the Mac. There were a bunch of features missing from version 2, finally after about 6 months everything was back to normal. It has gotten slightly better since then.

by AmericanBatman

I really wish I could get this to work. Syncing seems impossible. I regularly spend 30+ minutes trying to figure it out. Solution never lasts.

I can’t for the life of me figure out how to get this to work. It’s as though I’m learning to fly a kite, I look around and everyone seems to love the experience. With a bit of dedication I can usually get it going, but soon after it stops and I have to try again. Maybe it gets easier with practice, but I don’t think it should be this difficult to get it working and syncing up with my computer in the first place. Far from seamless.

by GreggyP00

Syncing has been broken for a long time. Please fix it. Please place automatic syncing in the background that pushes changes to the cloud storage option that is being used. Many times, I have added a document on one device, SYNCED it, and later found out that it never completed the sync because even after pulling to refresh and waiting until ALL of the syncing messages scrolled by at the bottom of the screen. Revamp syncing PLEASE

by Pkjabond

I have used Devonthink on all my devices for 4 years. In the past I utilized the database to organize my files, not just documents. I have 30 years of purchased software to organize, yet, Devonthink has chosen to prevent me from using the database to organize these files. I use Devonthink to organize everything since I can compartmentalize my files however limits on file types prevent me from organizing my diverse datasets and wastes my precious time. Please open up to more diverse files!

by Bradleythegeek

After waiting a long, long time for a significant update to DTTG 2.x, we got this.

UI is still terrible. What’s up with the tiny text entry area when creating a new note? Take a clue from, I dunno, every single note-taking app out there and give me a full screen note area with a proper formatting bar.

Still imposes bizarre artificial constraints on files. Ex: a 900kb RTFD file that displays fine in DT3 on my Mac won’t even download in DTTG3.x. It isn’t an iOS limitation, because Keep-It and Notebooks can display it just fine.

Write a lot in Markdown? The default markdown style sheet that you select in DT3 doesn’t transfer to DTTG.

So, once again the mobile app is a 3rd class citizen. That’s fine if mobile is an afterthought for you too but if you do a lot of work on an iPad or iPhone, there are better choices out there.

by SteveU75

Powerful App but how to set it up so that it sync’s across your devices I find to be extremely difficult. It’s not like the Drafts app where you install it and it just works. Right now in the pain part of learning a new app. The price you have to pay when learning an app as powerful as this one. It would be great if the install process would ask you a few questions and set up a set of databases for you to use while getting started.

by Jamie!!!!!!!!!!iiiiiiiiiiii

Just like an untested beta product. DEVONthinkToGo3 swallowed 30% of the power in less than two hours (1h 19m on screen and 39m in the background) with lags and heating during operation, just like playing a 3d game. Besides, the display of none-English formatted text file is all garbled only on mobile. Also，the navigation bar text and the title always get overlapped. As I am using my private webdav for sync, the toast errors that the document cannot be downloaded are ordinary, this rarely happened in the previous version.

by Modug

I’ve really loved DEVONthink. I consider it the Wiki to my brain. The Mac and iOS versions feel pretty complete for their platforms. The iPadOS version needs some work though. I’d like to see it become a more like the Mac version for power users. At minimum, better drag and drop, keyboard shortcuts, and a third column view for metadata would go a long way. Lastly, a more robust extension for capturing 1 page PDFs would be amazing if possible.

by Masomenos

UPDATE: The problem noted below has been mostly fixed, so upping review from 1 to 4 stars. There is still a slight delay in opening Markdown files, but no more crashes or long delays. And the new iCloud sync is fast and reliable!

Version 2 of DEVONthinkToGo3 worked great for viewing stuff on my iPhone and iPad, and for adding materials found while browsing online on on those devices. Most of my files have been saved in Markdown (using the Devonthink share extension while in Safari). The problem is version 3 freezes anytime I click on a Markdown file to view it. If it doesn't freeze, it takes forever to display my Markdown file. No problems with other file formats like plain text or PDFs, but this Markdown file issue has broken DEVONthinkToGo3 for me.

by GraceXemplified

I am long time DT user on my Mac and iOS devices. After the initial investment of purchasing DT Server($499) for my Mac and DTTG ($4.99)for my other devices initially I was taken aback looking at the price for this upgrade. I see there is a discount for DTTG2 users but you should offer a further discount for those who support your desktop environment as well.

However, I’m glad I made the purchase. Local sync is soooo much more stable (not as many time outs or hangs during syncing) and it’s super fast. It’s an excellent upgrade from DTTG2. Dark mode looks excellent and the entire app is more fluid.

In the future please consider an additional discount when having a major upgrade for those who support you on all platforms.

by Manuelalonso54

With DT3 and the iOS companion DTTG, the company has taken a big leap and now offers a better solution to document management and research platform than Obsidian, Roam, Notion, Craft and all others. With new Markdown features (still need improvement), backlinks, better iCloud Kit syncing (syncing across devices it was one of the issues before the latest upgrades), tags, groups and a host of features, it does a great job for people with large amounts of reference documents to manage and edit. The PDF editor in the iPad is really great.

Even if syncing works a lot better, and I have learned that breaking my document base in many smaller databases is the way to go (not to throw everything into a single database), it still depends on iCloud (it also supports Dropbox and others, which I have not tried), and when the volume is large, is still not agile enough to see all documents in sync in several devices, say iMac, MBA and iPad. We need more speed there but I suppose that is Apple’s fault.

by Ejp995

I am an inveterate collector of snippets of information, URLs, and articles of interest. DEVONthink To Go integrates perfectly with DEVONThink for the Mac and syncs all of my files perfectly and seamlessly. I love DEVONthinkToGo3 for the AI features that help uncover unexpected (to me, at least) relationships among the many pieces of information. The organization and search functions are deep and effective.

But perhaps more important than the usefulness of the applications is the truly awesome customer service. From time to time I have had some issues, and the DT customer service people have always responded quickly (I mean really fast!) even on holidays and weekends. They don’t just give canned answers and move on. They take the time to understand, and they follow up.

These apps and the developers and customer service people are uniformly great. Highly highly recommend DEVONThink!

by Mbarton98

V3 is much faster with the iCloud sync. I use it to capture emails that require action and also websites that I need to refer to later. I use Scanner Pro to share receipts to DEVONthink and do the inbox processing on the Mac. I can then add DEVONthink links in my task manager to bring up files items or groups right from the task on either iOS or macOS. This has been a complete game changer for me since 2017.

by Harringg

Been a long time user of the Desktop app (DT Pro Office, now DT 3). Early adopter to the mobile app, and it was not as polished. This current version is a must have if you have the desktop app. iCloud sync works great and my records are always on my phone if I’m away from the laptop and need to look something up.

by SBCpp

I have been using the Mac app for really long time, and I am not sure what I would do without. The iOS version struggled when it first came out, but now it is perfect. Although the developers don’t sell the Mac version on DEVONthinkToGo3 Store and they could have easily chosen to force users to a proprietary server, they chose to support iCloud sync and with CloudKit and allow users to also encrypt the databases on top of that. This commitment to protecting user privacy is very much appreciated. Their customer support is has been consistently top notch. I just hope the developers bring the Mac version to the Mac App Store as a subscription; I would also give it 5 stars.

by Sean&Devon

Not a better app in terms of scope and ability. In all honesty, although good by itself, it shows its true power when paired with its MacOS counterpart. (If you don’t have a Mac or are planning to get one, then it’s not worth it to get one just to get DEVONthink, visualize that you have a lac first, and you are using it purposefully for your own business, and that you are wealthy. Visualize constantly, and let it go, don’t expect anything. One day when you are rich and have a Max, you’ll remember to get DEVONthink.

by Tinindian1955

I love the product but always some sort of sync issue. Have be sure to keep info in Evernote so I can find on all my devices. Tried to work with support but always confusing issues to resolve. Wish I could give 5 stars and would if this wasn’t such a big issue.

by SloobiDoo

Hands down, continues to be the best software for organizing my digital life. It’s been a powerful piece of software that I use for note-taking, file management, and generally storing most of everything that is useful to me. While so many praise whatever app du jour as their writing app, DEVONthink has already been doing what works for years.

by Dezotl

Happy to have this powerful tool at my fingertips. Still unpacking the best ways to get things into it without having to handle things more than once. I like that there are options for tagging, priority and so on.

I’m just getting everything fully setup and workflows figured out. I’m really enjoying having a more organized database to put everything and that I can more easily search. This will come in very handy for my work, personal and theocratic life.

by Home $$ Guy

I use DTTG off and on, depending on the ebb and flow of projects that come my way. I find it so darn useful to gather and organize information from a wide variety of sources. I especially like being able to use the Apple Pencil to jot down thoughts in the margins of PDF documents that I read. Syncing between my iPad and Mac is a must, and unfortunately I can’t make the iCloud sync options work. However, the local sync does work well, which I do when my Mac and iPad are on the same network.

by Bilbo.Bagels

I have used iPhones since 2007. This is my first review, because I think the developers of DEVONthinkToGo3 have earned it. I’ve used a he desktop version of DT for a little over a year with the previous DTTG version. This update is ROBUST. Far exceeded my expectations in terms of new features. I use DEVONthinkToGo3 everyday—its an integral part of my workflow.

My only wish, which might also be operator error, is to be able to create a new group DURING move-to or replicate-to. (I do go nuts navigating up a huge hierarchy then down a different one, only to discover I never created the group I intended to move or replicate an item to).

This is a five star app however—no question about it. The developers should be proud.

by Ddmckay

I’m a long time user of DEVONthink and am really pleased with this update. The improvements to syncing are outstanding, easily 2x faster than the previous version.

The lightning fast search feature lets me find documents across several large databases easily and quickly on the go. Finding an old email, purchase record or meeting note quickly makes this a killer application.

by DavieMustard

I originally found DEVONthinkToGo3 when i was trying to find something that essentially was a form of cloud storage with deep linking to specific pdf pages that works across devices. And it does that task flawlessly.

However, i hadn’t realised that the devonthink platform is based around a proprietary searching function, and how useful it is for the storage and management of groups of data. This is more than just tags and other metadata. And although “AI” is now a buzzword, devonthink has been doing this type of large language indexing for quite some time.

I have been tremendously happy with this platform and it has quickly become central to my work and research. Some highlights:

- flexibility with databases and filtering
- best in class search and document retrieval (this is not simply a replacement for existing “files” app; in fact, i use it with icloud drive)
- deep linking
- can store offline websites
- frequent updates
- compatibility with other pdf software
- fast “native” feel
- lifetime subscription!

And many others.

Note: i don’t use devonthink for notes, and can attest that it is worth it even without using this feature set.

by Da-wdc

Not sure where the hate is coming from. V2 wasn’t so awesome, but v3 is the real deal. CloudKit is totally reliable in my experience. Love the markdown support. Complete with preview. I hope the new pricing options (talk about customer friendly choices!) provide a predictable enough revenue stream that we see more frequent updates. Nice job folks at Devontech!

by Pchama03

I love this company’s excellent apps. Since I found DevonThink, I am a big fan.

I use DEVONthinkToGo3 every day for managing my daily tasks to businesses ideas. If you are creative, the way you use DEVONthinkToGo3 is unlimited. You never know how much DEVONthinkToGo3 would provide your life easier and organized.

by Punk_Rock_Dad

I have used the DEVONThink iOS apps since the beginning and I really appreciate the dedication to continuous improvement and adding needed features. DEVONthinkToGo3 makes it easy to access my DB when on the go.