Re: Recommended decent freeware PDF viewer / reader for Android devices?

[Arlen Holder]

On Tue, 24 Nov 2020 16:00:02 +0000, Peter Flynn wrote:

> On 24/11/2020 07:12, Arlen Holder wrote:
>> I hadn't thought much about PDF viewers being "different" until I just
>> tested printing from Android 10 using an arbitrary PDF file as my testcase.
>> o How do you print from Android to your home networked printer on your LAN?
>
> I use the PrinterShare app, which cost some small sum but works
> perfectly...except for printing web pages, which it always prints at 10в
> normal size, and the authors claim that this is "correct".
>
> But for images and PDFs it has worked perfectly.

Hi Peter Flynn,

I had never tested Android PDF viewers/readers/converters before;
so I apologize if my questions and results below are well known already.

Thanks for that suggestion of using the payware PrinterShare app to print
a test PDF to your Ethernet'd printer on your private LAN (sans Internet)
where in all my solutions, I strive for free, ad free, gsf-free, and,
as much as possible, google free solutions.

All my solutions are cloud free also, where the "only" things that "need"
the net are things that "really" need it (e.g., email, youtube, etc.).

I also don't ever log into anything that doesn't "really" need it either,
where, for example, I can easily search, watch, subscribe, rip, etc.,
YouTube without logging into anything (or ever see a single ad ever!),
just as I can easily download Google Play apps without ever logging
into any Google servers (my phone doesn't even have a Google Account,
for example, as it's not needed even as many people think it is).

I agree it takes more intelligence and effort not to use the
tantalizingly accessible MARKETING solutions that are put out
there for us, but like a dog drinking antifreeze on the driveway,
it's easy and tastes good... at first.... but there is a
(usually privacy) penalty in the end.

The good news is I found a _lot_ of really nice PDF viewer freeware
in this process, which is the point of this thread, where I'm still
testing them out, but I'm kind of surprised that there are basically
three kinds:
a. Fully functional PDF viewers (with lots of bells/whistles)
b. Partially functional PDF viewers (with a minimum of controls)
c. Bare bones PDF viewers (with almost nothing but a view - and no print)

Interestingly, it seems, with respect to printing only...
a. Some of the tested PDF viewers have a dedicated print button
b. Other tested PDF viewers can print only via the share button
c. The bare-bones PDF viewers don't seem to have any print/share options

After having briefly tested free no-ads PDF viewers for printing...
o Aurora Adobe Acrobat Reader <com.adobe.reader>
<https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.adobe.reader>
o Aurora Foxit PDF Reader Mobile <com.foxit.mobile.pdf.lite>
<https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.foxit.mobile.pdf.lite>
o Aurora PDF Converter <com.cometdocs.pdfconverterultimate>
<https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.cometdocs.pdfconverterultimate>
o Aurora PDF Converter <swati4star.createpdf>
<https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=swati4star.createpdf>
o Aurora PDF Converter Pro <com.kmo.pdf.converter>
<https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.kmo.pdf.converter>
o Aurora PDF Viewer (blue icon, aka "pro") <com.pspdfkit.viewer>
<https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.pspdfkit.viewer>
o Aurora PDF viewer lite <com.avrapps.pdfviewer>
<https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.avrapps.pdfviewer>
o Aurora Xodo PDF Reader & Editor <com.xodo.pdf.reader>
<https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.xodo.pdf.reader>
o F-Droid APV PDF Viewer <cx.hell.android.pdfview>
<https://f-droid.org/en/packages/cx.hell.android.pdfview/>
o F-Droid CuprumPDF <org.ninthfloor.copperpdf>
<https://f-droid.org/en/packages/org.ninthfloor.copperpdf/>
o F-Droid Librera Pro <com.foobnix.pro.pdf.reader>
<https://f-droid.org/en/packages/com.foobnix.pro.pdf.reader/>
o F-Droid MuPDF Viewer <com.artifex.mupdf.viewer.app>
<https://f-droid.org/en/packages/com.artifex.mupdf.viewer.app/>
<https://f-droid.org/en/packages/com.artifex.mupdf.mini.app/>
o F-Droid PDF Reader <io.github.droidapps.pdfreader>
<https://f-droid.org/en/packages/io.github.droidapps.pdfreader/>
o F-Droid PDF Viewer Plus <com.gsnathan.pdfviewer>
<https://f-droid.org/en/packages/com.gsnathan.pdfviewer/>
o Izzysoft PDF Viewer (black icon) <org.grapheneos.pdfviewer>
<https://apt.izzysoft.de/fdroid/repo/org.grapheneos.pdfviewer>
o Izzysoft Pen&PDF <com.cgogolin.penandpdf>
<https://apt.izzysoft.de/fdroid/repo/com.cgogolin.penandpdf>

My quick single-test results for a "print menu" are tentatively:
o Aurora Adobe Acrobat Reader <com.adobe.reader> = print menu
o Aurora Foxit PDF Reader Mobile <com.foxit.mobile.pdf.lite> = print menu
o Aurora PDF Viewer (blue star icon, aka "pro") <com.pspdfkit.viewer> = share menu
o Aurora PDF viewer lite <com.avrapps.pdfviewer> = print menu
o Aurora Xodo PDF Reader & Editor <com.xodo.pdf.reader> = print menu
o F-Droid APV PDF Viewer <cx.hell.android.pdfview> = no print menu
o F-Droid CuprumPDF <org.ninthfloor.copperpdf> = no print menu
o F-Droid Librera Pro <com.foobnix.pro.pdf.reader> = send menu
o F-Droid MuPDF Viewer <com.artifex.mupdf.viewer.app> = no print menu
o F-Droid PDF Reader <io.github.droidapps.pdfreader> = crashes every time
o F-Droid PDF Viewer Plus (round green icon) <com.gsnathan.pdfviewer> = print menu
o Izzysoft PDF Viewer (round black icon) <org.grapheneos.pdfviewer> = no print menu
o Izzysoft Pen&PDF <com.cgogolin.penandpdf> = print menu
Note: I might have missed a "print" menu given it was a quick test.

Plus I tried these three converters to/from PDF (all failed to print):
o Aurora PDF Converter (round red icon) <com.cometdocs.pdfconverterultimate> = crippleware
o Aurora PDF Converter (square orange icon) <swati4star.createpdf> = no print menu
o Aurora PDF Converter Pro (square blue icon) <com.kmo.pdf.converter> = no menu

As always, please add value so all benefit from every action;
and, as always, please correct where I err so all benefit also.
--
See also:
Have you printed directly from Android to Ethernet'd printers on your LAN?
<https://groups.google.com/g/alt.comp.microsoft.windows/c/6ScU1H5Q43U>
o <https://i.postimg.cc/zD0CDJZz/printing01.jpg> Android10 ConnectionPrefs
o <https://i.postimg.cc/xdvmwQ3S/printing02.jpg> ConnectionPrefs > Printing
o <https://i.postimg.cc/PxdDh7Sv/printing03.jpg> Search > Print > Services
o <https://i.postimg.cc/pTkFdBSG/printing04.jpg> ? > Print > Documentation
o <https://i.postimg.cc/5N8c5d9T/printing05.jpg> Added free IPP print apps
o <https://i.postimg.cc/Y9TVg85t/printing06.jpg> 11 print services on
o <https://i.postimg.cc/FzmF5wYr/printing07.jpg> Shortcut to print settings
o <https://i.postimg.cc/DZJprj3b/printing08.jpg> PrintBot static printer
o <https://i.postimg.cc/wjqWfTdz/printing09.jpg> PDF > Open with PrintBot
o <https://i.postimg.cc/2530Yc6X/printing10.jpg> Drat! It uses the net :(

[Peter Flynn]

On 25/11/2020 19:51, Arlen Holder wrote:
> On Tue, 24 Nov 2020 16:00:02 +0000, Peter Flynn wrote:

[...]

>> I use the PrinterShare app, which cost some small sum but works

>> perfectly...except for printing web pages, which it always prints at 10×

>> normal size, and the authors claim that this is "correct".

Sorry for the delay. There seems to have been some kind of annual
celebration of something in the meantime :-)

> Thanks for that suggestion of using the payware PrinterShare app to print
> a test PDF to your Ethernet'd printer on your private LAN (sans Internet)
> where in all my solutions, I strive for free, ad free, gsf-free, and,
> as much as possible, google free solutions.

Me too, but I couldn't find one that worked anywhere near sensibly. In
this and one or two other apps, I felt the quality was good enough to be
worth paying for.

> The good news is I found a _lot_ of really nice PDF viewer freeware
> in this process, which is the point of this thread,

Yes, I'm afraid we wandered off-topic about printing.

> a. Fully functional PDF viewers (with lots of bells/whistles)
> b. Partially functional PDF viewers (with a minimum of controls)
> c. Bare bones PDF viewers (with almost nothing but a view - and no print)
>

> a. Some of the tested PDF viewers have a dedicated print button
> b. Other tested PDF viewers can print only via the share button
> c. The bare-bones PDF viewers don't seem to have any print/share options

That sounds like a fair summary.

A less fair one IMHO would be that most of them are rubbish.

The only one I found anywhere near usable was PDF Viewer Pro from
@pdfviewerapp which was one of the other apps good enough to be worth
paying for.

Peter