# iPads and PDF docs - how to read them? how inconvenient? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [January 28, 2012, 1:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ipads-and-pdf-docs-how-to-read-them-how-inconvenient/610936 "2012-01-28T01:23:37Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Pork\_Rind](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pork_rind/32/111_2.png) [@Pork\_Rind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pork_Rind)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2012, 5:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ipads-and-pdf-docs-how-to-read-them-how-inconvenient/610936/21 "2012-01-29T17:53:33Z")
> [@chrisk](#): > > Hmm… where were you clicking on them from? A web page? It’s possible. Both Safari and the email app will display PDFs without passing them off to another app. ---
**Author:** ![scr4](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/59ef9b/32.png) [@scr4](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scr4)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2012, 6:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ipads-and-pdf-docs-how-to-read-them-how-inconvenient/610936/22 "2012-01-29T18:00:46Z")
> [@KarlGauss](#): > > Interestingly, the iPads they had on display showed pdf docs just by clicking on them (and I was told that no apps had been loaded onto the iPads to allow that feature). Maybe we misunderstood what you meant by this. Certainly on an iPad, you can click on a PDF link on a web page, or an attachment on an e-mail, and have it open the appropriate viewer. What you cannot do is browse through the files stored on the iPad using a generic file manager (equivalent of Explorer on Windows, or Finder on Mac), click on a file and have it open an appropriate browser. ---
**Author:** ![Garfield226](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Garfield226](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Garfield226)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2012, 6:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ipads-and-pdf-docs-how-to-read-them-how-inconvenient/610936/23 "2012-01-29T18:08:04Z")
> [@Pork\_Rind](#): > > That’s… just bizarre. I use an iPad for about 90% of my web browsing and use sites with drop down menus all the time. Not mobile versions, not iPad specific versions, just the regular site. The only thing I can think of that might be a problem is sites that use JavaScript rollovers, given that you’re not actively driving a cursor around. > > ETA: on second read, maybe that’s what he was suggesting, that your specific site was using some code that was dependent on rollover triggers or something. Certainly there’s no general case that drop downs don’t work. This, pretty much. Though I do see where **KarlGauss** is coming from. I wouldn’t be able to do my (Website based) job primarily from an iPad either — it involves updating a Web site using a WYSIWYG editor written in something my iPad can’t handle. All I can see is the HTML code, which means I can get into the code and fix errors or add small bits, but I wouldn’t be able to primarily work that way. (it also means I can’t use the WYSIWYG to do things like upload photos, though I have kludged my way through on the iPad when it was my only option by using a photo editing app to crop and resize, then the aforementioned Goodreader to connect to the FTP server and upload to the proper folder. Textexpander for writing the HTML helps too. It’s a pain and I couldn’t do it all the time, but I always feel like MacGyver when I do get it to work.) ---
**Author:** ![lazybratsche](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ba8739/32.png) [@lazybratsche](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lazybratsche)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2012, 11:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ipads-and-pdf-docs-how-to-read-them-how-inconvenient/610936/24 "2012-01-29T23:42:16Z")
> [@md2000](#): > > The pain with iPad PDF reading is- its a format that defines paper size. If you have a document sized for letter size on an iPad screen which is about half the size, then the type will be relatively small and hard to read. If you zoom, most readers need the page resized and recentered each page. Kindle app for one has limited zoom (unless it’s been updated) so its a pain either 100% and scroll or 50% and squint. > > Sometimes I wish they’d make an 8.5x11 iPad. God yes. I ended up printing over a thousand pages for last semester’s reading. I think I might even be happy with 6.8 x 9 (a “12 inch” tablet). ---
**Author:** ![KarlGauss](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/karlgauss/32/3713_2.png) [@KarlGauss](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KarlGauss)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2012, 12:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ipads-and-pdf-docs-how-to-read-them-how-inconvenient/610936/25 "2012-01-30T00:05:46Z")
I appreciate your patience (and for finding ways of interpreting what I’ve said that so that it makes sense!) To clarify, the PDF docs I opened were e-mail attachments (I had opened my Yahoo mail on Safari a few moments earlier). And regarding the need for webpages to have been modified in order to be accessible by the iPad, I was shocked to be told that was the case. I was so surprised by that, in fact, that I asked the same question in different ways (“You mean that unless a site has been modified in a certain way, you can’t access it through the iPad?” “Yes.” “So you’re saying that there will be sites that I won’t be able to use on the iPad and not just because they’re Flash based - that I understand; the iPad doesn’t support Flash - but, nothing to do with Flash, sites need to be specially modified to be viewable through and iPad?” “Exactly”) I even mentioned that requiring websites to have another version for iPad viewing was probably not a big deal for commercial sites, but could be a major problem for small, privately created sites and pages. The sales guy agreed but said words to the effect that in time it would be less of a problem as iPads became more and more popular and site creators adjusted. Thank you all - I will go back . . . to a different store (and now with more focused questions). Much obliged! ---
**Author:** ![Dog80](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/6bbea6/32.png) [@Dog80](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dog80)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2012, 12:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ipads-and-pdf-docs-how-to-read-them-how-inconvenient/610936/26 "2012-01-30T00:08:27Z")
As others mentioned, in iPads and Iphones, each app has it’s own allocated space for files. That means that if you have a file that you want to open with two different apps, you’ll have to import it twice, one for each app. This also means that if you make changes with one app, these will not be readable with the other app. Email and/or dropbox is a way to circumvent this, but if you deal with large files it might not be very practical. Android on the other hand works exactly like a computer in that respect. The file is saved in the internal storage of the device and is readable and editable by any application. ---
**Author:** ![Garfield226](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Garfield226](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Garfield226)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2012, 12:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ipads-and-pdf-docs-how-to-read-them-how-inconvenient/610936/27 "2012-01-30T00:23:47Z")
> [@Dog80](#): > > That means that if you have a file that you want to open with two different apps, you’ll have to import it twice, one for each app. This also means that if you make changes with one app, these will not be readable with the other app. Depends what you mean by “import”. For example, the aforementioned Goodreader has an “Open in…” button that lets me take a PDF I brought into Goodreader and send it to another capable app. Additionally, I can annotate a PDF in Goodreader, save it, and ship it over to another app (or of course export it with email and the like) in the same way. Safari and Mail work the same way, with an “Open in…” button that lets you choose where you’d like to open the file. ---
**Author:** ![Pork\_Rind](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pork_rind/32/111_2.png) [@Pork\_Rind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pork_Rind)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2012, 12:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ipads-and-pdf-docs-how-to-read-them-how-inconvenient/610936/28 "2012-01-30T00:37:48Z")
> [@Dog80](#): > > As others mentioned, in iPads and Iphones, each app has it’s own allocated space for files. That means that if you have a file that you want to open with two different apps, you’ll have to import it twice, one for each app. This also means that if you make changes with one app, these will not be readable with the other app. > > Email and/or dropbox is a way to circumvent this, but if you deal with large files it might not be very practical. Not exactly. Dropbox works well in this situation, but some apps (Goodreader comes to mind) will let you send your files to any other appropriate app if you decide that you’d rather look at the file with different tools. That said, I think the iPad works best if you choose which app you’d like to use for what filetype and stick with it. This is what I do, but I break it into further subtypes. PDFs for work that may require markup (proofs, documentation, presentations) go to Goodreader, but books in PDF format go to iBooks. Graphic novel PDFs got to Comic Zeal. I almost never have reason to view a PDF in more than one app. ---
**Author:** ![Pork\_Rind](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pork_rind/32/111_2.png) [@Pork\_Rind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pork_Rind)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2012, 12:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ipads-and-pdf-docs-how-to-read-them-how-inconvenient/610936/29 "2012-01-30T00:41:00Z")
> [@scr4](#): > > Maybe we misunderstood what you meant by this. Certainly on an iPad, you can click on a PDF link on a web page, or an attachment on an e-mail, and have it open the appropriate viewer. What you cannot do is browse through the files stored on the iPad using a generic file manager (equivalent of Explorer on Windows, or Finder on Mac), click on a file and have it open an appropriate browser. True, but what I think the OP was describing is opening a PDF from email or a weblink without a separate app. You can do this because all the default apps can view PDF natively. That is to say, I can view a PDF inline in an email, or as a page in Safari. It’s only when you want to save/edit that PDF that you need to hand it off to a separate app. ---
**Author:** ![tellyworth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/977dab/32.png) [@tellyworth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tellyworth)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2012, 12:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ipads-and-pdf-docs-how-to-read-them-how-inconvenient/610936/30 "2012-01-30T00:42:26Z")
> [@KarlGauss](#): > > And regarding the need for webpages to have been modified in order to be accessible by the iPad, I was shocked to be told that was the case. Whoever told you that is wrong. Web designers don’t have to modify their sites to make them accessible on an ipad. It’s the other way around: they have to avoid modifying their sites in ways that make them inaccessible on the ipad (and other mobile devices, and screen readers for the blind, and people who can’t or won’t install Flash, and so on). ---
**Author:** ![Leo\_Bloom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leo_bloom/32/10377_2.png) [@Leo\_Bloom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leo_Bloom)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2012, 12:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ipads-and-pdf-docs-how-to-read-them-how-inconvenient/610936/31 "2012-01-30T00:44:19Z")
> [@Garfield226](#): > > I use [Goodreader](http://www.goodiware.com/goodreader.html) which is pretty fantastic… Agree. ---
**Author:** ![BillJJ](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/77aa72/32.png) [@BillJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BillJJ)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2012, 1:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ipads-and-pdf-docs-how-to-read-them-how-inconvenient/610936/32 "2012-01-30T01:22:59Z")
> [@KarlGauss](#): > > Once more, thanks for your input. > > \*i.e. that any web site creator wanting to make his/her work accessible by iPad must create a modified version of the site in addition to the ‘usual’ one. Can that possibly be true? Seems like a major liability to me (i.e. many smaller sites probably don’t have the wherewithal to do so. If that’s the case, it means that they will be forever inaccessible by iPads) As others pointed out. No, this isn’t the case. However, site creators do have to optimize their page for any specific brand or version of browser. The goal, of course, is to make the site run smoothly in all environments. But in practice, the most popular browsers are the logical main focus. There is nothing special about drop down menus that would make them all not work on the iPad. Depending on how the menus are coded they can work differently in different browser environments, or they can work wonderfully in all the popular browsers. Depends on what people coding the site did. But the main point here is that this is certainly not an iPad specific problem. This is something that website programmers have to consider with every update of Safari, IE, and Firefox. How to make sure their site still functions properly with any “improvements” of the browser environment. For what it’s worth. I’ve seen different platforms mentioned, but not the Nook tablet. I thought I would mention it as a newer viable option for those who just want a simple tool. It works wonderfully for everything I need. A lot of people don’t like that they’ve locked down the Nook Tablet and taken away the ability to install third party apps. I personally like this. I don’t want to hack into the code to make my convenience tool do what I need. And I’m tired of dealing with third party apps, always wondering if I can trust what this person has done, enough to put it on my personal property. The lack of downloading third party apps also means the lack of viruses and spyware. The Android platform is bombarded with attacks. And with the relative newness of this mobile technology, successful attackers will take much longer to be discovered and dealt with. So what my Nook Tablet does perfectly fine for me… Locked down platform to avoid malicious apps or just plain poorly coded apps from messing up my machine. Pdf documents displayed beautifully. This is most of what I read on it, as scientific journal publications all come to me in Pdf format. Every file that I put on it is organized in folders so I can go straight to it, instead of trying to remember which app needs to open it. My web browsing hasn’t seen any road blocks. Books, newspapers, and magazines from B&N. A pretty hefty resource for those. Ability to import all of the free book sources, including google books etc. Watch a movie on netflix or play a mindless game if I’m bored. Play music. Email from all of my accounts synced to it. All of the handy organization tools. Contacts, note taking, etc. Reliable viewing of word, excel, and powerpoint docs. It’s not for everyone. Certainly not for someone who likes spending as much time tinkering with a gadget to make it work differently, as they do using it for it’s functionality. And it doesn’t replace the functionality of a laptop, but none of the tablets do. It’s a locked down, relatively safer, environment for someone who just wants an intuitive, easy convenience tool. I have enough other things to tinker with, without having to worry about hacking and manipulating my convenience tool to make it do the simple things that I need. Just throwing it out there as an option if it fits your needs. ---
**Author:** ![Leo\_Bloom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leo_bloom/32/10377_2.png) [@Leo\_Bloom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leo_Bloom)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2012, 2:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ipads-and-pdf-docs-how-to-read-them-how-inconvenient/610936/33 "2012-01-30T02:21:23Z")
> [@Garfield226](#): > > …but I always feel like MacGyver when I do get it to work.) 😃 Great line. Now I’m too old for the stuff I used to do, which used to give me that feeling – repinning parallel ports, monkeying around inside the machine, kludging workarounds for software. I just pay some kids to do it. ---
**Author:** ![lazybratsche](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ba8739/32.png) [@lazybratsche](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lazybratsche)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2012, 2:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ipads-and-pdf-docs-how-to-read-them-how-inconvenient/610936/34 "2012-01-30T02:57:59Z")
> [@BillJJ](#): > > Pdf documents displayed beautifully. This is most of what I read on it, as scientific journal publications all come to me in Pdf format. If I may be permitted a small hijack, how well does this work for you? A 7" screen seems awfully small for something like this. I suppose it could substitute for the targeted or lighter reading I already do on my computer – studying a key figure or two, skimming the intro and conclusions, or finding a key experimental detail. But it seems like it would be an awfully painful way to do more in-depth reading (i.e. “by tomorrow be ready to discuss every detail of four papers on an unfamiliar topic”). ---
**Author:** ![BillJJ](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/77aa72/32.png) [@BillJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BillJJ)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2012, 5:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ipads-and-pdf-docs-how-to-read-them-how-inconvenient/610936/35 "2012-01-30T05:11:05Z")
> [@lazybratsche](#): > > If I may be permitted a small hijack, how well does this work for you? A 7" screen seems awfully small for something like this. I suppose it could substitute for the targeted or lighter reading I already do on my computer – studying a key figure or two, skimming the intro and conclusions, or finding a key experimental detail. But it seems like it would be an awfully painful way to do more in-depth reading (i.e. “by tomorrow be ready to discuss every detail of four papers on an unfamiliar topic”). I don’t use it for all of the reading, but it’s been great for having the papers on a small portable device to take pretty much everywhere I go. The screen orientation flips, so you can view it horizontally if you want. Then touch screen to magnify to a comfortable reading size and just scroll down as you read. Viewing an entire page on the screen at once makes the font way too small, but the width of a page works out perfectly for me when viewing horizontally and scrolling down. It comes with two options for readers. One views one page at a time, and you flip to the next page. The other simply scrolls down the entire length of the document. By touching the bottom of the screen, you get thumbnails of all the pages for scrolling and jumping to a page. It has a function to search the document which I don’t really use. Highlighting text is a bit annoying, bookmarking works fine. I find it to be a comfortable read. I like to give most papers a once over anyway before picking them apart, this has been working great for that. You’re right, while picking papers apart and taking extensive notes, I still use the computer. It’s nice not to have to pull out a laptop to go over documents on the fly though. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ipads-and-pdf-docs-how-to-read-them-how-inconvenient/610936.md?page=1)