As the iPhone continues to grow in popularity, business applications for the iPhone OS are proliferating. Inevitably, a number of these applications focus on electronic documents, which is another way of saying (whether their developers recognize it or not) that they focus on PDF files.
This article surveys a few of the current crop of PDF-aware applications for the iPhone. I selected the features that seemed significant based on what I found, then rated each implementation for concept and execution. All software was current as of October 5, 2009. I focused on PDF-handling features, with relatively less attention paid to connectivity, support for non-PDF formats, and so on. By way of disclosure, Appligent Document Solutions has not released iPhone software, so we don’t have a dog in this fight.
Generally speaking, all PDF apps for the iPhone are simply viewers. Before you go looking, rest assured that none yet offer form-filling, submission, digital signatures, support for Acrobat JavaScript, etc. There are MANY PDF handling and manipulation features I can think of that none of these apps can (yet) manage, but instead of kvetching about what’s lacking, this is a review of what’s on offer today.
All testing was conducted on an iPhone 3GS (black, of course). Ratings given are from 0 to 5, with 5 being the highest score, 1 meaning minimal effort and 0 indicating that no attempt was made to offer the feature at all.
One final note: If you are selling a PDF app, you need to demonstrate that you have a clue as to the appropriate use of PDF. Most vendors surveyed here provide their product documentation in PDF form. That’s not a bad thing per se, but none of these bothered to ask themselves whether an 8.5×11 inch page format is really ideal for users reading the manual on the iPhone. Accordingly, all vendors providing documentation in this format got an automatic score of “1” for thoughtlessness in this area.
iPhone default, OS 3.1 by Apple
Verdict: Minimum baseline for PDF handling performance on the iPhone. If you want to charge money for a PDF viewing application, it better outperform the basic iPhone itself.
Price: Free with iPhone
| Feature | Rating | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Downloads PDFs to iPhone | 1 | View in Safari only |
| Swipe to turn pages | 3 | Duh. Momentum in the swipe is well handled |
| Maintain files/folders on iPhone | 0 | None attempted |
| Pan & zoom controls | 2 | 1 level of tap-zoom/unzoom. No panning, no closeup |
| PDF Reflow | 0 | None attempted |
| Address right-to-left languages | 0 | None attempted |
| Use links | 0 | None attempted |
| Find text | 0 | None attempted |
| Manage display orientation | 1 | No controls provided |
| Use PDF bookmarks | 0 | None attempted |
| Goto page number | 0 | No way to navigate except by flipping |
| Copy text to clipboard | 0 | None attempted |
| Document Information | 0 | No access to PDF document information |
| Documentation | 0 | None provided |
GoodReader 2.3, by Good iWare
Verdict: Excellent, full-featured PDF viewing plus on-phone storage, PDF reflow and other features.
Price: $4.99 (I paid $0.99 before October 1)
| Feature | Rating | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Downloads PDFs to iPhone | 3 | A variety of options are provided, but NOT Bluetooth or support for email attachments. |
| Swipe to turn pages | 4 | Vertical only, no horizontal option |
| Maintain folders on iPhone | 5 | Excellent, lots of options |
| Pan & zoom controls | 4 | Supports multiple zoom levels, panning “zones” |
| PDF Reflow | 4 | Uses PDF structure if available (yay!), otherwise it imputes a structure. This feature is great, and would get a 5 if the application supported tagged PDF) |
| Text search | 4 | Includes “next” and “previous” options |
| Flip search string | 3 | Intended to address right-to-left languages (clumsy) |
| Use links | 5 | Includes “show links” and “link priority” features |
| Search right-to-left languages | 3 | Works by “flipping” the search string. Clunky, but at least they are thinking about the problem. |
| Manage display orientation | 5 | Supports reading in any position |
| Use PDF bookmarks | 5 | Supports child bookmarks, uses existing or create new iPhone-specific bookmarks. |
| Goto page number | 4 | Standard numeric keypad, reports total page count |
| Copy text to clipboard | 1 | Copies a whole page of text while in reflow mode |
| Document Information | 0 | No access to PDF document information |
| Documentation | 5 | Excellent, text-based documentation, optimized for the iPhone (hint, hint) and just a click away from any document. |
LOOK:SEE 2.0, by Kristof Kowalski
Verdict: Useless
Price: $0.99
| Feature | Rating | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Downloads PDFs to iPhone | 2 | Bluetooth and WiFi, no web downloads |
| Swipe to turn pages | 3 | As iPhone default |
| Maintain folders on iPhone | 1 | File list only |
| Pan & zoom controls | 0 | None beyond iPhone defaults |
| PDF Reflow | 0 | None attempted |
| Search right-to-left languages | 0 | None attempted |
| Use links | 0 | None attempted |
| Find text | 0 | None attempted |
| Manage display orientation | 1 | None beyond iPhone defaults |
| Use PDF bookmarks | 0 | Allows addition of iPhone specific bookmarks |
| Goto page number | 1 | Offers standard keypad, does not report total pages |
| Copy text to clipboard | 0 | None attempted |
| Document Information | 0 | No access to PDF document information |
| Documentation | 1 | Documentation in PDF, but in US letter page-size only serves to highlight the lameness of the application’s PDF handling. |
PDF Expert 1.2.1, by Readdle
Verdict: This app offers a (clunky) solution for getting emailed PDFs into the viewer, but it’s no PDF expert.
Price: $4.99
| Feature | Rating | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Downloads PDFs to iPhone | 3 | WiFi only, no direct download from the web. “Readdle storage” (an online service) provided for access to pdfs in email. |
| Swipe to turn pages | 1 | Yes, but no “momentum”, which seems to reduce efficient scrolling. |
| Maintain files/folders on iPhone | 3 | File list and folders on iPhone. Files may be stored on Readdle’s server, new files may be added via email |
| Pan & zoom controls | 1 | Like iPhone, but no panning “momentum” when zoomed |
| PDF Reflow | 0 | None attempted |
| Address right-to-left languages | 0 | None attempted |
| Use links | 0 | None attempted |
| Find text | 4 | Provides on-screen highlight |
| Manage display orientation | 3 | Allows lock to portrait orientation |
| Use PDF bookmarks | 2 | One level only, allows iPhone-specific bookmarks |
| Goto page number | 1 | Offers standard keypad, does not report total pages |
| Copy text to clipboard | 2 | Provides vertical selection zone |
| Document Information | 0 | No access to PDF document information |
| Documentation | 1 | Documentation in PDF, but in US letter page-size |
PDF+ 1.10, by mBrain Software
Verdict: A solid PDF viewer, PDF+ offers local storage and a few extras.
Price: $2.99
| Feature | Rating | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Downloads PDFs to iPhone | 3 | Download from the web, share via WiFi |
| Swipe to turn pages | 2 | As iPhone default |
| File storage | 4 | Files may be downloaded and stored locally. |
| Maintain files/folders on iPhone | 3 | Store files or folders, rename option |
| Pan & zoom controls | 2 | No tap to unzoom, worse than plain iPhone |
| PDF Reflow | 0 | None attempted |
| Address right-to-left languages | 0 | None attempted |
| Use links | 5 | Highlights, follows links to URLs and other pages |
| Find text | 2 | Simple search, no “next”, “previous” etc. |
| Manage display orientation | 0 | None attempted |
| Use PDF bookmarks | 2 | One level only |
| Goto page number | 4 | Offers standard keypad, reports total pages |
| Copy text to clipboard | 0 | None attempted |
| Document Information | 4 | Read-only access |
| Documentation | 1 | Documentation in PDF, but in US letter page-sizee. |
PDFReader 1.1, by iTech Development Systems
Verdict: For all the fake Adobe graphics, this application sure doesn’t work like Adobe Reader.
Price: $1.99
| Feature | Rating | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Downloads PDFs to iPhone | 3 | Downloads from the web, uploads via WiFi |
| Swipe to turn pages | 2 | As iPhone default |
| File storage | 4 | Files may be downloaded and stored locally. |
| Maintain files/folders on iPhone | 2 | Store files or in folders, lame interface |
| Pan & zoom controls | 3 | About the same as the iPhone |
| PDF Reflow | 0 | None attempted |
| Address right-to-left languages | 0 | None attempted |
| Use links | 0 | None attempted |
| Find text | 1 | Simple search, no “next”, “previous” etc. No highlight, extra clicks involved |
| Manage display orientation | 0 | As iPhone |
| Use PDF bookmarks | 0 | Can create iPhone bookmarks |
| Goto page number | 1 | Offers standard keypad in portrait only, no page total |
| Copy text to clipboard | 0 | None attempted |
| Document Information | 0 | None attempted |
| Documentation | 0 | None provided |
Conclusion
Good iWare’s Good Reader is head and shoulders above the other applications in this survey. A few more pdf-handling iPhone apps have shown up on the AppStore since I blew $20 buying the above-mentioned crop, and I’ll be testing the Good Reader against them in a forthcoming article.
Clearly, there’s a lot of scope for PDF applications on the iPhone. Some features that offer real potential for business (such as the ability to digitally sign a PDF) simply aren’t available yet. Of course, digital signatures have yet to take the world by storm in any event, so perhaps iPhone developers don’t yet feel the call. I see it differently – if users could fill forms and approve final PDF documents from their iPhones, I tend to think that would offer more value than the price of a (cheap) cup of coffee.
All applications surveyed may be downloaded from Apple’s AppStore.
By Duff Johnson