What's New

Minor bug fixes

App Description

A masterly app...As accessible as it is scholarly, it’s an extraordinary achievement, that brings the sonnets bracingly to life and definitively sets the bar for the future of digital reading.'
– Robert Collins, London Sunday Times

The Sonnets presents William Shakespeare’s immortal collection of love poems in an interactive digital edition that allows you to explore, appreciate and understand this great work of literature as never before.

All 154 sonnets are performed to camera by a star-studded cast including Sir Patrick Stewart (Star Trek, X-Men, Royal Shakespeare Company), David Tennant (Dr Who, Hamlet), Kim Cattrall (Sex and the City), Fiona Shaw (The Waste Land, Harry Potter), Stephen Fry (The Hobbit) and Dominic West (The Wire). These performances – all specially filmed for the app – are synchronised to the text, which highlights line by line as each sonnet is spoken.

The performance videos, running over two and a half hours, are just the beginning. Also included are the complete Notes and Introduction from the Arden Shakespeare, offering unsurpassed scholarly commentary and insight. Touch a mysterious line or difficult word in any of the poems and the corresponding Arden Note highlights to provide comprehensive explanation. An alternative commentary on every sonnet comes from poet and musician Don Paterson, whose humorous and accessible style complements the academic rigour of the Arden Notes.


Features include:

• Beautiful filmed performances of all 154 sonnets by an incredible cast of Shakespearian actors and experts
• The complete Arden edition text of The Sonnets plus A Lover’s Complaint
• The complete Arden Shakespeare notes and introduction fully integrated
• New commentary on The Sonnets by Don Paterson
• Facility to add your own notes on any sonnet
• High resolution facsimile of the original 1609 Quarto showing Shakespeare’s Sonnets as originally published
• Forty interviews with scholars and experts discussing the meaning of The Sonnets and their author
• Share-a-Sonnet allows you to send a sonnet to friends by email, Twitter or Facebook
• Second generation interface based on the acclaimed Faber / Touch Press literary app The Waste Land
• AirPlay enabled allowing the performances to be streamed full screen to AppleTV


The Sonnets are published by RGB, the people behind the best-selling iPad titles The Elements and The Waste Land. The Sonnets was produced and published in partnership with Faber and Faber, Illuminations and the Arden Shakespeare.

iPad Screenshots

(click to enlarge)

Shakespeare’s Sonnets screenshot 1 Shakespeare’s Sonnets screenshot 2 Shakespeare’s Sonnets screenshot 3 Shakespeare’s Sonnets screenshot 4 Shakespeare’s Sonnets screenshot 5

App Changes

  • June 28, 2012 Initial release
  • November 23, 2012 Price decrease: $13.99 -> $9.99
  • November 27, 2012 Price increase: $9.99 -> $13.99
  • April 21, 2013 Price decrease: $13.99 -> $6.99
  • April 28, 2013 Price increase: $6.99 -> $13.99
  • July 12, 2013 Price decrease: $13.99 -> $3.99
  • July 19, 2013 Price increase: $3.99 -> $13.99
  • October 08, 2013 New version 1.0.1
  • November 29, 2013 Price decrease: $13.99 -> $8.99
  • November 30, 2013 Price increase: $8.99 -> $13.99
  • February 13, 2014 Price decrease: $13.99 -> $6.99
  • February 15, 2014 New version 1.0.2
  • February 15, 2014 Price increase: $6.99 -> $13.99
  • March 16, 2014 Price decrease: $13.99 -> $4.99
  • March 31, 2014 New version 1.0.3
  • March 31, 2014 Price increase: $4.99 -> $13.99
  • October 22, 2014 New version 1.0.4
  • February 13, 2015 Price decrease: $13.99 -> $6.99
  • February 15, 2015 Price increase: $6.99 -> $13.99
  • July 26, 2015 Price decrease: $13.99 -> $2.99
  • August 01, 2015 Price increase: $2.99 -> $13.99
  • August 13, 2015 New version 1.0.5
  • November 28, 2015 Price decrease: $13.99 -> $2.99
  • December 01, 2015 Price increase: $2.99 -> $13.99
  • November 06, 2016 New version 1.0.6
  • June 13, 2019 New version 1.0.7
  • June 13, 2019 Price decrease: $13.99 -> $9.99
  • June 13, 2019 Price decrease: $13.99 -> $9.99
  • June 14, 2019 Price decrease: $13.99 -> $9.99
  • June 15, 2019 Price decrease: $13.99 -> $9.99
  • June 15, 2019 Price decrease: $13.99 -> $9.99
  • June 15, 2019 Price decrease: $13.99 -> $9.99
  • June 16, 2019 Price decrease: $13.99 -> $9.99
  • September 16, 2023 New version 1.0.10