Reading PDF books on iPad Mini

[rayrex]

PDFs aren't too bad on the mini. I was just looking at one using PDF Notes and they look pretty good. One of mine I had to zoom a little bit. But it wasn't bad. I went from an iPad 2 to the mini. I also think txt looks fine on this device. I've seen the iPad 3 and yes retina is great and all but it really is not a deal breaker for the mini. The lightness and portability of this device is just awesome. When the get the full size iPad this thin that device will be astounding. I've learned over the weekend I carry the mini around more than the iPad. But maybe cause its new time will tell. So far no complaints. I find games are easier to play on the mini as well.

[karenmarrow01]

have any other app for pdf?

[gwynevans]

I'd suggest giving "Documents by Readdle" a try - not only is it both a pdf viewer but also besides displaying documents, it can store files copied via USB or Wi-Fi, connect to various network storage systems and save pages from the web. Amazingly, it's free!

[democrite]

Documents is decent. It's what I use now though there are a few features from other apps I like. Good is its iCloud support, lets you quickly sync files with other devices and a Mac. Much quicker than Dropbox which must sync the entire file.

Papers is good. It's specifically made for journals, with metadata for author, journal, and issue. Has a Windows and Mac version that lets you sync highlights too.

[Faterson]

On the iPad, I use both GoodReader and PDF Expert.

At first, I thought PDF Expert would be better than GoodReader, but I have now changed my mind and prefer GoodReader. I can't find the option to use iCloud syncing in PDF Expert -- anyone know how to do this? (Note: PDF Expert is the "advanced" counterpart to the free Documents by Readdle, discussed above.)

PDF Expert seems to be displaying PDF files quicker than GoodReader, but GoodReader's iCloud syncing seems much preferable to me. Also, the access to freehand annotation tools is easier in GoodReader than in PDF Expert.

An irritating thing about PDF Expert on the iPad is, there's no option to switch off the display of iOS's status line (with time/battery status). I love how GoodReader completely switches off the display of everything except the current page of the PDF file that you're viewing. That's how it should be.

However, possibly the biggest reason why I still prefer GoodReader over PDF Expert, is that PDF Expert for the iPhone is a complete disaster. It offers something like 30% of the functionality of the iPad version, and is completely unusable for me on the iPhone. Which is all the more outrageous, because the iPhone version of PDF Expert is priced the same as the iPad version, despite offering much, much less in terms of functionality. So, you pay double, and end up getting very little on the iPhone. I complained to Readdle customer support, and I hope they will improve the situation in future.

In contrast, GoodReader for iPhone is just as fabulous as GoodReader for iPad, which is why I think GoodReader is the no. 1 PDF app on iOS.

[johnnyb]

Documents is really the best free app that you can get on iOS...
If you're looking for the full feature set, try PDF Expert by the same developer... I use it because it allows multiple open documents in tabs (and it also has freehand drawing and form signing etc)...

In reply to Faterson's post: iCloud sync is not enabled in Goodreader anymore for new users (you're lucky because you had previously used it), and no longer supported by the developer because they had serious problems and dozens of complaints from people losing documents. The main reason is (and I found that hugely annoying) that documents not used for longer periods are being deleted automatically and have ro be redownloaded. May be fine for stuff that you read in one sitting but is hugely annoying for books, especially larger files...