Name: PDF Expert - Editor and Reader
Rating: 4.68451 (195329 reviews)

User Reviews for PDF Expert - Editor and Reader

4.68 out of 5

195.3K Ratings

5 years ago, Logan Pendragon

Great support service team

I was made aware of PDF Expert recently before the update to version 7, and took a while to decide to make use of it, especially the pro tools, since my needs are those of a college student. I'm very glad I made the choice to acquire the app and its pro features however. Its the only app that actually lets to modify and work with or create pdf documents with all their features (like hyperlinks - which was my key interest for note taking). The app has a simple and hands on interface and works very well for me. My key uses for it are for organizing information ive collected from other sources and class notes, hyperlinking between my notes to improve my studies and learning, as well as, when possible with the pdfs I use, edit the pdf file itself to select elements to keep. While screenshots are wonderful and useful, and incorporating them into note apps are easy and useful, when working with pdfs, being able to use the image quality and format of the pdf books i own allows me to work with the content as is, rather than an image of it, which really appeals to me. I had a few issues with my acquisition with regards to its update to version 7, and through this learned how attentive and thoughtful Readdle is to their user base, including new users. They made me feel like they really wanted me to make the best use of their software and feel like it should have a place in my workflow. I'm grateful to the quick responses and attention to my needs and uses.

1 month ago, Magnet HD

Great App

Update June 2024, this is still the king of PDFs. I have no other words for this and for this company. Update: this’s still today the best PDF app you’ll find in the market. They update ir continuously and it works flawlessly. I’ve bee a user for a decade now and I’m still impressed at the quality of the app and seriousness of the developers. Now, you can even present with this app if you happen to be a student. I even use it every day in my daily work and have ZERO complaints. They offer a paid subscription and you can also buy it as a one time purchase. I thank them for giving that opportunity to its customers. I’m even willing to pay for some updates if it must be the case since you don’t live for nothing. Thanks, Readle. The last update for 2019 is great in most of its features. I use this app to read and annotate PDFs, there’s no other app out there that can complete with PDF Expert. I use it literally every day. The reason I didn’t give 5 stars is bc I have to keep hitting the highlighting button multiple times if I want to use a different color to highlight something important, which didn’t happen before the update. However, I still recommend this app for everyone who enjoys reading and annotating PDFs. It’s still an excellent App, and I know they will fix this problem. Thanks, Readdle.

6 years ago, BookGirl4Ever

Indispensable App & Superior Customer Service!

For over 6 years I’ve been using this app & it has been a fantastic experience. There was a learning curve in the beginning but after that I’ve had nothing but positive experiences. Originally I bought PDF Expert to study & archive periodicals but it has become an integral part of my iPad life: keeping all of my scanned bits of paper & recipes organized, filling out online forms, even doing creative projects. And talk about customer service! If only all companies had their finesse! I’ve had to contact them 3 or 4 times with questions & not only do they write back promptly but the tone of the response is thoughtful & friendly. And I don’t know if it was just a coincidence but early on there was only a deep purple highlighter so dark to be almost unusable so I submitted a request for lilac. On the next update lilac was there! Now, of course, there are plenty of color options. Another time I wrote them because I couldn’t figure out how to do something & they wrote me back as if they had nothing better to do than help me. So impressed. With every update PDF Expert only gets better. Bravo to the Readdle team! Congratulations on many excellent products backed by a superior customer experience! Keep up the good work!

3 years ago, Sean Kennedy Santos

THIS IS THE BEST. BETTER THAN ADOBE

For years I’ve had nothing but issues with Adobe, Apple Pages, Word Doc. Nothing would ever work under one umbrella. In two simple words absolutely dysfunctional. This App by PDF Expert allows you every kind of access to exit, create and multitask all PDF & word documents easily and add components you cloud not in other software. There is nothing it cannot do. FORGET ADOBE & stop paying monthly fees & get this all in one APP that will change the way you work. Thank you for creating an App that never fails & performs in a way that leading expectations are met by the standards you’ve given in an APP. Most recently there was a corrupted important document - sent it to support. FIXED within a day & returned. In today’s world it is extremely difficult to have a company give such satisfying customer support. Apple, Google, Microsoft, Adobe- ALL FAIL miserably where READDLE succeed. We are very grateful & wish READDLE as a company much continued success. This is why I left Adobe years ago & switched to READDLE. Product & customer support. It’s the backbone of any customer relationship & READLE recognise this at every turn.

3 years ago, 93cheshire

love it, BUT

I use the pro version of this application on my iPad with an apple pencil. Perfect software and device combination for my court case brief annotations, and digital textbooks for school. Currently providing a rating of 4 stars because I want more custom interface personalizations. for an example a custom color palette that consisted of more colors, like 10-12, palette to be locked and saved on my toolbar instead of changing back to default. Instead of having it layer under more that two clicks (or touches of my pen). Yes I have a half a dozen options now two clicks away. Personally I would prefer a dozen. I do see the favorite tab and that is okay. The annotation feature is my favorite, I enjoy how easy it is to make a paired down outlines for studying. Love the option to have a couple documents up at once. Love the bookmark feature! This is a great tool. Looking forward to more collections of stickers, specifically stickers that I can insert text into. Please take me back to 90s Word graphics. Another factor, wish this application had the ability to create or edit fillable forms. I was disappointed when I found fillable form creation was not a feature. Very essential during these pandemic times. This application is the primary reason I purchased an iPad. Thank You!

4 years ago, َٰ

No way to purchase app, can only be ‘rented’ for $50/year

I would gladly pay whatever you feel your software to be worth to own it. However, this “subscription” model where you are essentially only renting out the app, is exceedingly unfair with the customer. I’ve been using Goodreader, for example, for years and years. By 5 years, your app has cost 250USD, and by 10 years, 500 dollars. Please add an option to purchase the full version of the app outright, rather than a subscription-only model, to which I, and many like me, would never agree, no matter how good the app itself. Don’t give in to this unfair concept of software as a service, instead of a product, which it is. It’s being pushed currently as it’s more profitable, but exploitative to customers, don’t encourage it. UPDATE-REPLY TO DEVELOPER COMMENT: Thank you for your reply; what I’m requesting is the ability to purchase the app outright and permanently, for whatever it’s price is, and NOT to purchase a subscription in order to be able to use it, no matter how flexible. My request is for a purchase option, whereas you currently only allow subscription-based option, which I, and I imagine many like me, would never do, although I would be willing to pay a considerable amount to purchase the app, it’s currently not an option for any amount. A “more flexible” subscription plan doesn’t help, as I will not purchase a subscription.

1 year ago, djeverson21

Almost perfect!

This app has been vital to my routine as a graduate student for the last year and a half. It serves me well overall, especially the ability to easily sync my bookmarks, outlines, and annotations across devices (iPad and MacBook). Two issues that have come up for me: (1) It would be great if the iPad version had a sort of “zoom lock,” so that I could more easily rest my palm on the screen while making annotations with Apple Pencil. The app can be a bit hypersensitive to the palm, so that when I go to make an annotation, the page zooms or scrolls, and I have to readjust the page before writing. Sometimes this happens multiple times before I am able to make a single annotation. It would be easily fixed if I could lock the zoom at “page width” or similar. (2) If I make a bunch of annotations on my iPad, then immediately go to rename the document, the annotations are lost. I’ve learned not to do that. I simply have to back out of the document, i.e. return to the folder where it is located, and allow my changes to sync. Then I can safely rename the document. But this process is not intuitive, and it has cost me some important annotations in the past.

3 years ago, ypetrik

Converted to a Subscription service after I Paid $80 and used twice

Edit: so just to be clear… According to the developer the app for the Mac did not change to subscription? That was a one time purchase that remained? The iPad only version is a subscription? If so that explains it but honestly I find it ridiculous that I have to pay three times to get the app across all three of my platforms. I would even pay a one time fee but not doing the subscription. Adobe acrobat pro is a monthly fee and you get it across all the different devices. Why would I pay $80 for the Mac version and then monthly subscription for the iPad version and then he knows what you’re demanding for the iPhone version. Just like the title says. I paid $80 for this app which is already quite a lot of money and how do use that maybe twice. Every now and then I need to merge or split PDF documents. Very light works. I was told this is the best app. I came back to it to do some PDF editing and it’s telling me I need to pay $50 a year. I already did a one time purchase of $80. Completely dishonest and unfair business practices. At least grandfather and the people that already purchased the app for a one time price or credit them the $80 they spent towards a subscription. Now you’re expecting you to pay 50 bucks a year? So I paid $80 to use the app twice?

3 years ago, Onestartogo

Moving password feature to Pro is very disappointing

EDIT: Thank you to Readdle for responding to my review with information. HIGHLY APPRECIATED. They are correct in that to access the password protect file feature, even in the non-Pro version, you would do so from within the individual file rather than from the file navigation view as I had assumed would be consistent. I missed this. To comment on the non-Pro version of the app overall, I think it’s fantastic, believe it will easily handle day to day PDF needs of most users, and I wholeheartedly recommend it. Updated review from 1 stars >> 5 stars. ORIGINAL: The app was able to password protect files previously. After a recent update, it became a Pro feature, apparently. Taking a previously included feature and moving it behind an additional paywall is incredibly disappointing to say the least. The review is not for features included, but for practices of the company. Password protecting is not a “Pro” feature. It should remain a standard feature as our digital information is increasingly at risk. Pretty shameful stance.

6 years ago, BGH40

Do everything PDF application for iOS

Essential application for me. I get several faxes a week (via eFax) these are PDF files and I can send directly to PDF expert, mark them, physically sign them (on screen) and re fax. I get PDF reports that I need to fill out, and this application makes it easy. Type or draw on the PDF document, then email the edited copy. It allows me to move pages in a PDF document (sometimes page 1 needs to be page 3 - easy to move). I can rotate pages, delete or add pages. I have merged up to 4 PDF documents into one new document. Removed, edited and sorted pages. Delete pages you don’t need. I can fill out PDF forms. (Have not made a form that has to be filled out - never had the need, so I can’t comment on this capability). I can fill out any form by entering text on the appropriate line even if it was not originally meant to be filled out online. [NOTE: I am a real user and have never been contacted by Readdle. I don’t rate many applications, but this one has been so useful to me, I wan’t others to use it so Readdle will continue to support this excellent program.]

4 years ago, MinikinPawWalker

Good, but sometimes freezes

This app is great with the Ipad Pro 2020. I downloaded it for school so that I could take notes in my online readings for class and research. I have the Apple Pencil 2 and smart keyboard, which work very well with this app. I love that this app also automatically syncs with my Google Drive account. I store all my class files and online articles I’ve researched in my Drive. I can easily access the PDFs stored in my Drive through this app to read and take notes. Then, the PDF I took notes on automatically updates in my Drive. It cuts out a few extra steps and keeps things organized. There’s no extra downloads or transferring files between apps needed! The only thing I would complain about is that every once in awhile, the app freezes. I always have a few files open at once, so I don’t typically just click on a different file and it unfreezes. I am willing to take an occasional freeze from time to time in exchange for this app’s efficiency.

5 years ago, HollyOllyOlly

Re-paying for features we already purchased once

When I originally purchased this app before the newest updates (downgrades, for those of us who originally paid money for the app, which suddenly lost all capability, unless we were willing to fork over an additional $50!) I would have said it was a great app. I work as a paralegal, and this app used to be awesome for on-the-go creating/editing of all the court documents we work with which must be submitted as pdfs. I especially used to love the signature feature, as it meant I sometimes no longer even had to travel in order to get client signatures for continuance forms. I was so disappointed to discover, as of a couple days ago, that my paid for, super awesome app no longer provided me access to any of the useful features I had come to love. Apparently if I wanted to continue using the app as I had for the past year, I was now expected to pay an additional $50. I’ve never had a company pull such a bait and switch, and I’m incredibly disappointed at how transparent a money grab this ploy is. Shame on you guys, this app used to be a great product and a fair price, but I’m not going to keep repaying for things that I, the consumer, was lead to believe would be a one time purchase to unlock price. Bummed!

5 years ago, Remaxastar

Upselling

I have used this program for years and own it for both my computer and my iPad. They came out with a professional version and now all the functions that I had in the ones that I bought are gone. I know that I had them because I used one of them every day to redact information on PDFs. I sent information into the company saying that after the professional version came out I lost the ability to do redactions. The function still works on the computer version that I bought but not on the iOS version to get that I must upgrade to the new professional version. If you buy this program be aware you may be required to upgrade to get features that you use every day. I sent him proof of purchase and they still don’t have an answer for me they keep telling me that there is a version for iOS and there’s a version for windows operating systems. I Purchased for both and I know that already my only question is why didn’t the way up teacher that I already owned.

2 years ago, 枫263

Great App, Hope the “scroll to top” could be disabled

I have great experience in reading books and papers with this app. It is the best PDF app I have used on both tablet and Mac. Except for the “scroll to top” option. I wonder who actually need that function ever? Like using the slide bar isn’t easy and fast enough, they need to click on the top area to get to the beginning of document instantly. I couldn’t imagine a single realistic scenario this could be useful. Instead, once in a while, I accidentally touched the top area and goes to the cover of my book. Then I need to find the page I was reading and reconnect. It feels more like a bug rather than a feature. I know this is an “feature” that from Apple. But it doesn’t look like they have any intention of fixing this. So this really becomes an annoying thing when I enjoy reading with PDFExpert. I will be very appreciated if there could be anyway to fix this from the app’s side.

3 years ago, sensimiola

Another Subscription

Almost every app from the worthwhile app to even the piss-poor one's require subscriptions in order to use them. It's enough to make you go bankrupt! This has gotten way out of hand, and is simply not fair to the consumer. Many apps even conceal costs and info regarding purchases required to get anything of value from an app. Then, there is of course, the text which lays out "the terms". Most average people cannot understand or even read the content which is written in profuse legalese. I've shown some of these "terms" documents to attorneys,and even some of them were scratching their heads. In reality, the way these things are constructed, it would probably be wise to retain an attorney just to review these terms before you agree to use any application. Some of the lawyers I spoke with said they'd never agree to having their clients sign on to any number of apps with these terms. That is especially true with regard to issues of privacy which always seem to appear in the very smallest of print. While this app does look very capable and would be a welcome addition, you add up the costs of 10, 20 or 30 subscriptions, you suddenly realize why you're running a deficit at bill time. Offer a purchase option for people!

3 years ago, Cenon415

Honestly, the best PDF reader ever!

For the past couple of months, I have been solely relying on PDF readers for school work since the Pandemic has really taken over. It is very difficult for me to visit my local library for physical books, forcing me to turn towards electronic books instead. I’ve used various PDF readers in the past but have always been very uncomfortable with the limited features they offered until I discovered PDF Expert. This app has every feature I can ever ask for. One BASIC feature that most PDF readers did not have (from my experience) was the ability to change the PDF file into dark mode. The background of each page change into the color black and the fonts to the color white, making it easier to view at night. This feature has greatly improved my health. I no longer suffer from migraines and eye strains. Thank you Readdle! You guys are truly a blessing.

5 years ago, njpljkett

Misleading update

While this has always been the best pdf app for school textbooks, the new update has ruined what set it apart from competitors in terms of workflow. It used to have all the tools in one toolbar with four customizable pens/highlighters so you could quickly switch between different colors and pens. Now the most useful tools are scattered between different toolbars and there is only one pen and one highlighter in the toolbar. And instead of using a long-press to customize your tools like in the previous versions, you must now tap extra times to open an expandable toolbar, thereby adding a step to the process. This is a serious step back as it negates the strengths of a tablet and diminishes efficiency. It seems like a confused philosophy that prioritizes aesthetics over functionality. And now if you want the same toolbar that was in the previous version, you will have to pay for the “pro features” in order to access the customizable “favorites” toolbar. So while the update description states that it only adds to functionality of the previous version and doesn’t take away anything, this is simply untrue (in my case, at any rate).

2 years ago, StupidGreedyCorporateDroid

Works well for the limited number of things I do with pdfs.

Don’t do much editing. Do lots of annotating and Pdf Expert is solid with enough options to make it adaptable to most every document. I suspect if I did I might find PDF Expert app a pretty good note-taking tool. What I really enjoy is the overall reading and annotating experience. The Readdle file management is probably my favorite so far as well (meaning I like it better than Adobe Reader if your looking for comparisons). The Readdle apps seem to do a good job (better than others at least) of having options available in the “Share” menu(s)... Okay, been using PDF Expert non-$80/year subscription extortion mode for a few years now. Here is a fact: the search function within the app file/folder system has not worked for years. So you can't search even the document titles within a single folder. All you every see is a blank white screen with a rotating circle of spokes. I've adapted and rely on careful naming of folders. The search within a single open pdf doc is fine. Anyway, this sort of $80/yr for a pdf editor/reader nonsense/greed is going to kill this golden goose ... the sooner the better.

6 years ago, e-BookReader

Unparalleled Excellence!

If you are looking for a PDF editor / file manager and more, you will not find one that equals or surpasses the excellence of this app. I have been using iOS pdf apps for years and I tried PDF Expert when it first hit the App Store. At that time, it was good, but not the best. But I continued to follow the progress of the development team over the years, and about 18 months ago they reached the top of the performance and functionality charts in my estimation. I have a PDF library of around 4,000 volumes, and I use this app exclusively to manage and view those files. (I also recently used it to proofread and mark up a PhD dissertation for a colleague, and the annotation tools couldn’t have been better designed.) And there is more to come as the development team continues to listen to users (and respond to their emails!) and add more functionality. Buy it now before the price goes up to what it is worth!

4 years ago, Hokietrax

Correcting myself — I was wrong and tech support was excellent

Frustrating experience outlined below; my tone was not nice. When I reached out direct to Readdle, it turned out even though i only actively installed the app on the iPad, the app was on both iphone and ipad, thus I couldn’t delete the PDF Expert folder until app was deleted on both devices. Readdle support was professional, and responded in a reasonable time. They were so good and pleasant the review goes from 1* to an easy 5*. Maybe the app wasn’t for me for now, but customer support that listens is worth a great rating. I. Was. Wrong. Thank you Readdle. ==== Old review ==== When I tried out the app, everything worked okay, but it just wasn’t what I was looking for. It created a folder for PDF Expert files in my iCloud folder, which created one in my iCloud for Windows. I uninstalled the app from the iPad, and removed the file and folder from the iPad just fine...BUT THE PDF EXPERT FOLDER CANNOT BE REMOVED FROM WINDOWS. I have tried a number of ways to change the folder’s Read-Only permissions on Windows in order to remove it (it’s empty). I CANNOT change permissions (access denied) via command prompt, Windows powershell, the GUI, or anything. Don’t point at Windows as the problem—nothing else installs a read-only directory other than PDF Expert. Not LiquidText, not the Downloads folder, just this one. Wretched programming on the iCloud synchronization.

4 years ago, Aregey2

They expect you to pay 50 dollars A YEAR.

Are you kidding me? I’m going to sink hundreds of dollars into this? No way. One time would be bad enough but that adds up quick to hundreds of dollars, and when you inevitably cancel what are you left with... nothing. This subscription model trash has gotten completely out of hand and is completely unacceptable in my opinion. Either charge a big one time fee up front or just admit you’re a bunch of con artists on the tin. Because that’s all this subscription crap is, an extortionist con job if you ask me. I don’t like it. It just gets under my skin and reeks and stinks of the worst kind of greedy nonsense, it’s my pet peeve and it’s why I left Photoshop. If it was a good deal that would be one thing but dude it’s a PDF editor. I paid 40 bucks for 3 top notch Affinity apps in one go. I would be using much more colorful language about this “subscription pricing model” newspeak (imagine an expletive or several of your choosing) but I guess I can’t do that. Just fill in the blanks. Don’t listen to their customer service crap, absolutely nobody likes this behavior. It’s not an issue, it’s greedy corporate money grubbing, keep your money out of their hands.

1 year ago, KCM,

One of the Best

I must say, by far this is one of the greatest apps I have ever used that I just had to write a review. Finally, there is an app the includes everything you could want to do on a pdf: make underlines with a variety of colors, highlight, also ADD NOTES to an underlined portion or highlighted text, type out notes even using different fonts, handwritten notes and so much more. This is such a wonderful tool to use for studying that I just cannot imagine a better way of doing things. I love the filing system with folders, linked to files app, to photos. Everything in one place is such a wonderful solution to so many problems. And thank you development team for putting forth the effort to make so many different widgets. You all have done a great job and makes me want to buy the app just to ensure you all are fully supported financially for the fine work done.

3 years ago, yujiewu

Great but needs improvement

1. Now iPads are powerful and we can open many files at the same time, but scrolling over long thin file tabs is a bad way to switch between them... Xodo/ Notability has the option of see these tabs as a pop up window and navigation over there is easier. 2. Gives an option to fix the tools area, to disable the auto-hiding mode. Goodnotes has a fixed tool area and it can be good when auto-hiding is annoying to some people since it can be often triggered accidentally. 3.Double tab to jump from different modes, fit to page, zoomed in, fit to width. I like this part of Goodnotes. 4. A great app but needs improvement and definitely does not justify the yearly subscription price tag so far from my trial period experience. Hyperlink would be a very great tool for me sometimes but I don't like to pay 50 dollars every year when I could find other methods to replace this function to some extent.

6 years ago, Gus2259

Get it

I’m frugal when it comes to buying apps. Ok, I’m a cheapskate. Why should I pay for a pdf editor with so many free ones out there? Well, if all you do is open and email pdfs’s then you don’t need this app. If you do more than that, anything more, then this is well worth it. This apps features are already listed so I won’t repeat them. I didn’t see the page combining and removal feature listed which is exactly what I needed. This app has that. So for that alone I bought it. I do historical research and use a lot of PDFs. This apps organizational abilities for not just combining pages but copying, pasting, removing or adding photos and text is outstanding. Of course it has the features like the other editors have but none of the others have all the features this app has. It’s intuitiveness is excellent. It makes what I do so much better and easier that I’m honestly happy I paid for it. And that’s coming from a Scrooge😳

3 years ago, The Builder....

Great for Annotating and Highlighting

For the past year, I've been using the free version of PDF Expert to annotate PDF documents at work, and I must say that it has proven itself to be reliable and trustworthy in terms of its build quality. Writing digitally is the same as writing on a piece of paper, which is good by me. Although I have not tried out the premium features (as I have no need for them), the free version is great, which shows me that their premium feature should just as good, if not better. Lastly, I definitely like the fact that PDF Expert syncs seamlessly with iCloud, Dropbox and OneDrive, without me having to create a copy of the file on the iPad separately, make edits, then save the edited copy back to the respective cloud source. Again, it's proven itself to be quite reliable, and should be something to consider if you regularly annotate PDFs either personally or professionally.

4 years ago, overitforreal

Loved it, now my files are held hostage

I’ve used this app for almost three years to save and organize scholarly research articles for graduate school. I loved everything about it. Now I’m completing my capstone project and I can no longer upload anything new unless I pay 50 dollars a year for services I already had access to before. I cannot even highlight passages. No warning was given to me prior to this change. On top of that, several of my most important files are now unretrievable due to being corrupted when I decided to save them to the cloud so I could pick them up on other devices. I intended to keep this essential library of research into my professional career, and now the only way for me to do that (and complete my capstone project) is to painstakingly re download each article onto a new app. This would not be so infuriating if I had been given notice of the upcoming changes.

5 years ago, Sarandipityg

Update is SO BUGGY please fix it or revert it ASAP

I use this app all day every day. And now I’m in a hang up because of its issues. I mark-up pdf documents, and i also am now using a stylus with the iPad Pro. This buggy update is going to cost me my job. It’s caused the pdf to crash the app, and when I emailed it to my old iPad with the non-updated version of the app this new pdf crashed that app too. It’s not a corrupt pdf, it’s corrupt because of this new updates bugs. The marks I put in the pdf using this app literally corrupted the pdf file. Other issues include the page moving, instead of staying still, so it’s not allowing the pen to write or copy. That is frustrating. And often I find that I can’t swipe thru the pages anymore, which makes this app very difficult to be patient with or useful. Considering you now want to charge more money to use this app you better fix it!

2 years ago, jmayetagz

Surprising amount of free very useful features.

Needed to scan a document to send to court and opened this app I’ve had on my phone for a while that I was only using as a pdf viewer/converter and was pleasantly surprised when scanning an image and saving as a pdf file was so simple and most of all, a free feature. My experience in the past is whenever I need to use an app for something important, it’s a paid version and I have to spend 5 minutes searching the App Store for a free option that is also going to watermark or make me sit through ads to use. This app made it simple enough and pleasant enough that I actually felt the need to go open the App Store, find this app, and write a review; that’s saying something! So- thanks PDF Expert for making an app that has free features that are actually incredibly useful and simple.

5 years ago, Sir Chispas

Dishonest reviewers

These negative reviews are extremely dishonest. Readdle is an amazing company—always super responsive to its customers. If you upgraded to PRO in a previous version, then you still have the same functionality. Tap restore purchases and stop badmouthing one of the best developers in the App Store. The new subscription is geared toward professionals (read: businesses) and is a bargain compared to an Adobe subscription. Honestly, I prefer Readdle’s UI to Adobe’s hands down. If you’re not a business, then just be grateful for the free updates and keep on freeloading for as long as you can. Software is a service, not a tool. It takes a lot of time and energy to build and maintain. To those users who deleted the app because they can’t have 15 colors of highlighters or whatever— good luck finding an app that can even nips at the heels of PDF Expert in terms of functionality.

2 years ago, Cobak

STILL DOESN’T WORK on iPhone 13 Pro

I feel awful that I finally had to lower my review to one star after submitting numerous reviews over the last six months that I still kept within the 3 to 4 star range because I was hoping they would work out whatever bugs were causing the problem and the issue would be resolved. I’ve been using Readdle’s products (Calendars 5, PDF Converter, etc) for a very long time and like them as a company. However, the last six months I have not been able to get PDF expert to open on my iPhone 13 Pro, despite installing numerous updates for the app. Every time it just opens to the white start-up screen with the logo on it, but never continues on to the main home page like it used to (my phone’s iOS is updated to the newest version). I’ve even tried deleting and reinstalling the app a few times, yet the problem persists. I’ve left a number of reviews about this issue, but it has never been resolved and I would like a clear answer as to why it is no longer working after all of this time. Thank you, Carver

10 months ago, Ben Bederson

So, so good

There are so few apps that bring me joy every time I use them, but PDF Expert is one of them. It provides all the functionality I need - but plenty of apps do that. This one is special because it works *just* right. No extra taps. Whenever I guess how something should work, it does! And I spend a LOT of time with PDFs, so being efficient is crucial. Plus, I totally live out of Dropbox, and its connection is completely reliable. And finally, I go back and forth between iPad and MacOS and PDF Expert works appropriately and efficiently on each. I’m spending the time to write this review because I depend on PDF Expert every day and want to make sure it continues to live for a long time. I see people using Acrobat and see how much they tap and click and what a mess it is. Yeah for the simplicity and reliability of PDF Expert!

5 years ago, kmc121084

This is a great app

I use this app for my lectures in vet school (which move extremely quickly, as you could imagine). The only drawbacks I have had involve the overall flexibility in functionality. I would, for example, like to be able to make certain parts of the text box bold, italicized, different font sizes, for emphasis of certain topics. This is only available in the sticky notes part. I would also find it useful to be able to have a blank sheet on one side, as one would use for Cornell notes. My lecture slides do not always have a lot of free room - I understand this is not the fault of the app, just a suggestion for people with PDFs that are a bit crowded, but would still like annotations side-by-side, or overhanging on the side, to be able keep everything in view as much as possible. Otherwise, this is the ONLY app I use for my slides as I am the most satisfied with its functions and general ease of use.

5 years ago, Baraa Modallal

Lost features

This is undoubtedly the best pdf app out there, too bad that recent update made it go backwards instead of forwards. First of all, The option of three pencils was very efficient and quick, as well as the “zoom in pencil” function, which is now buried deep inside the color selector of the only available pencil, which is nothing but a slowdown. As i used to have multiple colored and sized pencils ready to go, now i have to change it every single time. Secondly, ive had this app for about 2 years, ive had about 1000 books inside of it, but it’s all gone after the update, I can’t seem to be able to find it anywhere after the lastest update, even though they’re still taking space in my ipad “3.3gb is the storage taken by this app” which means they’re still there somewhere, i just can’t seem to find them anywhere. Luckily I could re-download those books, but i just can’t get over the fact that all my highlights are gone now.

6 years ago, Karneson0321

Grad Student

Almost all my classmates use Notability, which I had and used for the first part of my program. I switched to this app, and have fallen in love. It allows me to organize my files multiple folders deep and they stay in my iCloud Drive which allows me to access my notes on any computer since it’s just saved as a PDF. It allows you to select to highlight the text vs. just using the highlighter so my notes look much neater. You Can also strike through and underline the text. You still have the ability to hand write notes and such on top of just doing the changes to the text. It gives ability to view the outline format, and if you purchase the upgrade you can build the outline (which has been a lifesaver for 120 slide class PowerPoints), also with the upgrade you can also make links within the text.

2 years ago, A Akhlaghi

Reopening, and two identical pages in separate windows

Thanks for providing this great app, probably the best free option on iOS. Yet from my point of view there’s are two major problems which are annoying. First, sometimes, recently most of the times the app reopens Every single time when I switch between apps, for example, whenever I’m reading something I frequently use my dictionary app so I have to switch apps a lot, and when the pdf app restarts and some times with a distorted page setup then it’s irritating. The second problem is that, when I want to open two distinct pages from the same pdf file, say, in one window I want to open chapter 1 and in the other window I like to open notes section of the book, but when I do this the other window shows exactly the same page, for example both windows show chapter one.

4 years ago, theVRs

New version crippled my favorite app

I loved PDF Expert for the first 2 years that I used it. An incredible tool — to synch across all my cloud services (Google, OneDrive, Dropbox), and to easily mark up and edit PDFs. Then, last year, they “improved” it with a major update. Some changes were mildly annoying (like hiding commonly used tools several clicks down). But the real problem is basic performance. Documents now constantly lag. Handwriting with the pencil fails to appear on screen for 5 seconds after you write it — leaving you waiting, like an idiot, wondering whether to write it again or just wait or shut the app. It has made it almost unusable, which is a tragedy. I really wish I could “downgrade” to the 2018 version of the app, which was a jewel. When this first happened, I assumed it was growing pains with a major rewrite, and that they would de-but it within a few weeks. But nothing has happened. More than 6 months have gone by... I have the latest version of the app, running on the most powerful iPad Pro on the market... and it continue to freeze, freeze, freeze. Readdle: where is your development team?? Are they on vacation? Is no one tracking usage data on how the app is actually working for users?

6 years ago, Fortunate 500

Does what you want it to do

I use this app every day on an iPad Pro with an Apple Pencil to mark up, grade, and return online homework submissions that students submit either as PDF or phone camera photos of handwritten work. Exceedingly helpful for adding comments to first drafts of papers (including in type of students can’t read my handwriting) and theses. I also use it in committee meetings almost daily to refer to and add comments to documents as they are being discussed. It is also a great app for adding doodles during the boring parts :) In my opinion, the only things missing are (1) the ability to add an extra blank page when you need to create a summary page of notes and (2) the ability to take a snapshot of a section that includes drawings / images/ equations for pasting into another app (such as an email).

9 months ago, SecretCreeper(Ryan)

It’s wonderful! (If you’re only using iOS)

It’s an amazing app! Don’t get me wrong! I love this pdf editor, I use it all the time and the features mixed with the layout makes it incredible. The biggest issue/grievance is that I’ve been waiting to see if it would ever make a way for me to use this on windows. The one huge feature this app has over adobe is the ability for me to let my OCD organize all my files and do dats. But at the end of the day, My computer is where I go to do all my work, so I need an pdf editor on my computer too. Hence adobe’s accessibility outmatches; and in the end of the day when it comes to subscriptions, I only want to pay for one of them. After 3 years of waiting, I’m giving up on it. If you’re an iOS die hard fan, this company is for you. But if you’re diversified at all, don’t get the subscription. Just get adobe and I promise you it’ll save you money.

5 years ago, Zubbit

Don’t Update to Version 7!

If you have version 6 beware, the version 7 upgrades are minimal but what you lose in simplicity for your daily annotations and edits is significant: Annotations: In version 7, you lose most of your color presets for highlights/underlines/drawing (you only get to keep 5 color presets in version 7, while in version 6 you had about 15 color presets). In version 7 you’ll have to open a color wheel button to manually select a color every time you want to use something other than those 5 colors (this takes 3-4 clicks every time you want a new color, which quickly becomes frustrating if you use the app for what it was designed for: significant PDF annotating). Or, you can pay $45 per year if you want to “favorite” certain tools for quicker access in version 7. Edits: In version 6, you could buy PDF editing for a one-time $10 fee, but in version 7 you will have to shell out $45 recurring per year to get PDF editing (unless you were smart enough to buy it in version 6, in which case it comes with you to version 7). It’s not all bad, version 7 makes it a bit easier to use the search and bookmark/outline features. However, I have found the “outline” feature to be a bit buggy in version 7 when adding new chapters to the overall outline. It seems to insert them in strange spots, rather than keeping the outline automatically organized by page number as version 6 did.

6 years ago, GreenDoomGuy

Performance dip

I am giving the three-star rating based on past experience as well as present. If I were only rating this on the last few months, it would be a 1-star review. This has been one of the most indispensable apps for me, as a teacher who uses an iPad pro to teach from. The efficiency with which I was able to store, organize, and edit documents was beyond comparison. Lately, however, there have been major slow-down issues and often I find myself staring at all of my documents stored on the cloud, unable to download them. I have wasted 30-plus minutes trying in futility to pull up a file I needed on the cloud without success. Incredibly frustrating. More recently, even trying to transfer a file from an app like notability to this one has caused PDF expert to just close without actually receiving the file. I hope they fix these issues because it would be a pain to find a new app to use.

1 year ago, isbell

Great App, Beats Competition, but…

Functionality not consistent across all platforms. (Tools and cloud files). Merging files is wonky. I love so much about it, in many ways it’s the best PDF tools out there. Which is shocking in 2023. PDFs aren’t as specialized as the were 20 years ago, literally everyone uses them. Why don’t we have all the tools for the most ubiquitous and flexible file type on the planet? Bluebeam is powerful but garbage interface, actually makes working with PDFs slower. Acrobat has long been the industry standard, and although it’s the most powerful, true to Adobe ethos, it’s with very restrictive and greedy paywall, and it’s geological slowness to adapt and modernize allows startups like PDF Expert to give us what we need. Please keep it up, guys! (and support and love to you and your country)

5 years ago, Foolio

Good, mostly.

Pretty good pdf editor overall, but some issues. Big one for me - for date fields it only allows their custom date-picker keyboard UI, but the output doesn’t seem to be compatible with that space in the pdf I’m trying to fill, and it doesn’t let you over-ride the date-picker keyboard for a standard keyboard....incredibly frustrating, please fix! Furthermore, it seems there’s an issue in both this app and documents app while editing a pdf field that if it says ‘only enter spaces, letters, etc’, and the modal dialog for this pops up, you can’t then dismiss it without force quitting the app. Incredibly annoying and frustrating. Also, the file structure of the various readdle apps with relation to your device and iCloud is frustrating, not very convenient to use them together even bough I’ve paid for every single in app purchase and every one of their apps.

1 year ago, jeffba3

Best PDF reader, editor and document manager

I have used PDF Expert for my business to organize all my documents from companies I used to represent. Merge documents to prepare for customer meetings. So easy to quickly prepare information upon request for customers no matter where I was from my office to my car in between my appointments. Now that I am retired I still have need for PDF Expert for information from my reading and personal research I do online. Form editing is important for managing my investment and medical PDFs. I will keep using PDF Expert because I continue to find need for it going forward. The updates just keep making the app better and better. It is obvious that the PDF Expert team is dedicated to keep making this app the best in its product category.

2 years ago, DSY21

Has some major limitations

This App is OK for a mobile app if all you want to do is fill in existing PDF files, but for truly editing documents it falls short. There’s no way to add enterable fields such as text fields, check boxes, signature fields, to be able to send to others and have them fill out. Additionally there are formatting issues any time I try to edit text, you can’t make text bold (what the heck??) and can only underline, and when I do try to underline text is screws up the formatting. Adobe Acrobat DC reigns supreme when it comes to editing PDF’s, however because I use my iPad as my work computer, this means I’m out of luck. Would love for the devs to add some of these features, or at the least, clean up the formatting issues. EDIT: I am currently trying to edit a pdf and there are SO MANY GLITCHES that it is more trouble than it is worth. Formatting issues, even hitting a number key and a different number being added (typing 4 creates 6’s in one field). This app is a buggy mess.

4 years ago, False ad Please read

READ False Advertisement All Day READ

The product is mediocre compared to things you can get for free anyways but here was the kicker for me. I started using this software for the editor to pdf invoicing. I use a MacBook, IPad, and iPhone Pro as many cross reference these devices as Apple has been notorious in setting up there devices to be used this way. So I started off on my computer downloaded the software, then connected them and used the app. It was a free trial for a week and then was 50/year. I make a couple invoices and my trial ends and I’m charged for the year and get on my Mac which is now telling me my trial has ended? I contact support who informs me that each platform has its own license fee? Ha, gimmick all day. So you pay 90 for the Mac a year 50 for the iPhone and I don’t even wanna see what the iPad says. So you need 3 different licenses to make this actually work! Let’s talk about a company that has a clue shall we? Microsoft 365, you purchase a license and it can be used on each device! It’s 100 / year and it’s clear as day for a license that can be used on iPad iPhone and a Mac. Nothing about it is a secret. This company is false advertisement all day deceiving you to think it is a one time subscription fee without informing you there is a subscription fee for each device used so at the end of the day you pay what 300/year for a pdf editor? Got my laugh for the day when these are free all over the place.

5 years ago, Tariqaa2001

Long time user upgrading from version 6

I’m a long time user who purchased the full app capabilities along time ago and i use this app on a daily basis & i wouldn't know what to do without it, i held on upgrading to the new version for a while until things settled down because i use this app for my studying and i cannot afford any mistakes. Version 7 is great Upgrading is alone worth it just for the dark mode Editing tools have changed in position which was annoying the first few days but you get used to it and its fine now, i can’t tell what else is new and if you’re thinking that you’ll miss new things if you stay on ver.6, you’re not missing anything major other than a facelift for the app itself. There is a bit of delay when switching to another app and going back -the pdf is blurry for a couple of seconds- which i hope is a bug As for pdf editing if you purchased the capability before i can confirm that its still in the app without a subscription I don’t know if the subscription strategy will work but honestly i liked buying a new version every couple of years and i was fine with that, but i wouldn't pay 50$/yr, but if there was a cheaper tip jar or lower priced level, i will in-fact purchase the full version if it becomes available on the store

6 years ago, Kmnjsn

Needs a little tweeking

I normally would give it 5 star but since IOS updated to 11, i have noticed it frequently freezes and crashes when importing files from another app. Forces you to kill the app more than once because of how it freezes before a crash. Sometimes when you reopen it, the file you were importing is still there and sometimes you have to go find it. It is integrated with multiple cloud accounts and works with safari as well as other file manager apps. I was lucky to have first downloaded it on a promo day when it was free and i have used it ever since. I strongly recommend for Ipad users. It actually offers more than adobe does and (for me it is free) but for those who purchase the app i assume the features would also be free. Also works very well on the iphone. Must have for PDFs hands down. This is my go to.

3 years ago, Ba Vahidy

Great App

This is one of the best apps I have had the pleasure of using. I am using it on my ipad air Gen 4. I am getting personal use out of it for language learning. I have the pdf in here and take all kinds of notes about pronunciation and things. I also use this for work. I have all kinds of engineering documents I need to read and edit. I like doing my drawing and editing by hand at first, and this app is great for that. I used to print out documents and draw on them, and this has that feel without wasting and carrying around a bunch of paper. I also love the fun colors and stickers you can use. I use them to the max. I pretty much put the avocado sticker on every page. It makes me feel like a kid who is having fun when I am doing an otherwise tedious task.

6 years ago, mrsockie

If only I can split the view within the app

The product is wonderful. It is very easy to manage files, all nice selections of turning pages(vertical/horizontal), writing notes; it is a great app to read papers and books for students. If there is any bit of part that is lacking, then i would like to say the split view. Of course with this app, you can multi-task. However if i want to read two books at the same time, especially when one is for reference, I have to export one of the books to another pdf reading app and multi-task these two apps to have two books in my sight simultaneously. This is a bit of a hassle. As a owner of a 12.9” ipad - with a large screen, in-app split view would be a great option. Anyways, other than this small issue, everything is perfect.

2 years ago, Fairfax14

Lost Files and Poor Pencil Support in an App I Used to Love

I used to love this app—and have for years, but lately I’ve been let down by it again and again. First and foremost, I had half of my files in the iCloud folder disappear on me. I couldn’t find them anywhere—then discovered that on a random Sunday when I never interacted with my device they were deleted. Luckily, I found them within the iCloud recovery window and could restore these files. THEN - I started using my Apple Pencil and have been driven mad by the awful palm rejection, slow response times, and marks that just don’t appear. It’s hard to write a single sentence on a PDF without missing a letter or a line. None of these problems are evident in the Apple Notes App—where the Pencil works perfectly. I’m going to look for another App for notation but I’m just disappointed that PDF Expert has let me down so much.

Description

Unlock your potential with a fast and easy PDF Expert app with all the features you need in a well-designed and intuitive user interface. BEST FOR iPHONE, iPAD, MAC & VISION PRO Read PDF files easily, highlight and annotate PDFs, fill out forms, convert any file to PDF, merge several files into one, add notes, summarize and navigate PDF documents in seconds with AI-powered tools. Unlock unlimited possibilities with PDF Expert Premium features and work across all your Apple devices, effortlessly letting you complete any PDF task on the go. “PDF Expert is one of my must-have iPad apps and a desktop-class PDF reader.” – MacStories “The best app for managing, editing, and reading PDFs on your iPad.” – The Sweet Setup ▶ WITH PDF EXPERT, YOU CAN: READ PDFs WITH JOY • Pick Day, Night, or Sepia mode and enjoy reading anytime, anywhere. • Enjoy both vertical and horizontal scrolling. • Export PDF files from email, web, or any app that supports the Apple system-wide Share menu • Use Text to Speech to hear the selected text read out loud HIGHLIGHT AND ANNOTATE PDFs • Mark important info in books using colors, text, or stickers • Add stamps such as Approved, Confidential, etc. • Record your voice and add it to the doc FILL OUT FORMS • Fill out PDF forms using interactive text fields, checkboxes, and radio buttons • All the major form formats support, including acro forms and static XFA forms ***PREMIUM FEATURES *** EDIT PDFs DOCS EASILY • Edit or modify existing text directly in a PDF – just as you would in a Word document • Add links: link any part of the text or image to a different page or website • Add outlines to big PDFs to simplify navigation for hundreds of pages • Easily add, replace, and resize images in your PDFs MERGE AND COMBINE PDFs • Merge and combine multiple PDF files into one • Add, delete, and rearrange pages with a thumbnail preview • Rotate and reorder pages in PDFs GET BENEFITS FROM AI-POWERED PDF CHAT * Generate a concise summary based on the most important information * List main points of the content without reading the whole PDF * Generate Keywords * Create Hashtags * Ask any question you want, and AI Chat will respond with an answer you can copy or share EDIT SCANNED DOCUMENTS • Access the scanned PDFs that you’ve created using PDF Expert • Open your scans to fill out, sign, comment, and share CONVERT FROM AND TO PDF • Convert PDFs to Word, Excel, PPT, JPG/PNG, TXT, and vice versa • Converts any file in seconds SIGN DOCUMENTS • Use e-signatures to sign contracts on the go • Create custom stamps or import one from the images PROTECT YOUR FILES • Restrict access to PDF Expert with a password • Permanently blackout or erase sensitive information like credit card numbers • Secure and Safe trusted brand software COMPRESS PDFs • Compress large PDF files to save space on your device • Merge several files into one and compress it to reduce the file size CONSTRUCTION TOOLS • Scale and measure drawings using our Measure tab • Polygon and polyline shapes • Redline tools COLLABORATE ON THE GO PDF Expert provides the best platform for paperless collaboration between team members. Annotate and add notes in project materials, fill and sign contracts and invoices, and exchange files via email or cloud on the go. OTHER AMAZING FEATURES: • Fully customizable toolbar • Create a Link (drag and add a landing page or a Web) • Presentation Mode • Print and Share ONE ACCOUNT FOR ALL YOUR APPLE DEVICES Now, you don’t need to purchase Mac and iPhone & iPad versions separately. PDF Expert introduces a single Premium subscription for all your Apple devices at $79.99/year. Get a 7-DAY PREMIUM FREE TRIAL before deciding on the plan. If you don’t purchase PDF Expert Premium, you can continue using PDF Expert for free with fewer features. Read more about our terms and conditions here: https://pdfexpert.com/privacy https://pdfexpert.com/terms Don’t hesitate to reach out to us at http://readdle.com/contact