US Edition 
The Sonnets by William Shakespeare iPad app review
Performances of all 154 sonnets as well as a facsimile of the 1609 Quarto edition are among the features that make this an exceptional app.
The Sonnets by William Shakespeare
Touch Press
£9.99
Apps can feel a little disposable sometimes. Many of them are free or as cheap as 69p and it's easy to download them, play with them for a few minutes and then forget all about them. It can be easy to start thinking that anything costing more than a couple of pounds is expensive.
This new app compiles Shakespeare's 154 sonnets and costs about the same as a decent printed book. But it goes far beyond what could ever be achieved in print and after a few hours of playing with it you'll feel that £9.99 is a bargain.
Central to the app are the 154 video readings of the sonnets by the likes of David Tennant, Sir Patrick Stewart, Fiona Shaw and Sir Andrew Motion. Shakespeare read by a great actor is a wonderful thing and the readings here are a delight.
As you would expect from Touch Press, the company that made The Waste Land into a critically acclaimed app, you will also find the complete text of the sonnets here. You can follow the readings if you choose, with each line highlighted as it is spoken.
In addition, there are the full Arden notes for each sonnet as well as enjoyably frank commentary from poet Don Paterson. And if that's not enough, the app also contains a facsimile of the 1609 Quarto, the first published edition of the Sonnets.
That's a pretty impressive collection of material but what makes it worth collecting into an app, and what makes this app so good, are the things that could not be done in a book or on a DVD. You can create a list of your favourite sonnets, for example, and switch seamlessly between video, text, annotations, facsimile and back again with a tap or a swipe. It's also possible to make your own notes for each sonnet - and yes I know it's possible to annotate a printed book but I've always hated doing that.
All of this is accomplished within a smooth, simple design that is filled with clever touches, such as the animation that reorganises the performances when you choose an actor.
The Sonnets is a wonderful app that will provide hours of enjoyment.