There have been multiple accounts created with the sole purpose of posting advertisement posts or replies containing unsolicited advertising.

Accounts which solely post advertisements, or persistently post them may be terminated.

How come Android doesn't have a built in PDF viewer?

Forgive me for this stupid question. I just transitioned from iPhone to Pixel (GrapheneOS) and I’m curious why there isn’t a built in PDF viewer like on iPhone? It feels like you have to open things externally pretty often, but I figure there’s a reason for that. I haven’t used Android in many years and I recently developed an interest for the technical aspects of things, so again, do forgive this beginners question.

Cheers y’all!

mp3 ,
@mp3@lemmy.ca avatar

Easier to maintain and update when the reader is an app not part of the core OS.

hotpot8toe ,

Firefox can open pdfs. If you prefer a browser does it

Reverendender ,

I’m very interested in your reasons for switching, and I would love to read periodic updates on your experience.

clark OP ,
@clark@midwest.social avatar

You mean switching from iPhone to GOS? I can return to your comment after a while of using GOS to update you on my experience.

electricprism ,

I long for the day PDF can just be replaced by SVG since its basically just vector anyways.

dogsnest ,
@dogsnest@lemmy.world avatar

It was a long and expensive battle just to keep “pdf” as “open” (lol) as it already is.

There are a million legacy reasons why Adobe, MS, IBM, Meta, Alphabet, are loathed, but here we are…

mp3 ,
@mp3@lemmy.ca avatar

And SVG can be quite readable if the text isn’t converted to path.

RustyHeater , (edited )

The good news is anyone can grab the GrapheneOS PDF viewer. github.com/GrapheneOS/PdfViewerOr from the Google Play store play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=app.graphen…

henchman2019 ,

You really should ask this in

https://lemmy.ml/c/grapheneos.

It’s a very helpful community. Someone will either explain why or point you to a FAQ. I bet it has something to do with the built in reader being insecure.

CommunityLinkFixer Bot ,

Hi there! Looks like you linked to a Lemmy community using a URL instead of its name, which doesn’t work well for people on different instances. Try fixing it like this: !grapheneos

clark OP ,
@clark@midwest.social avatar

Thanks for letting me know! (:

woelkchen ,
@woelkchen@lemmy.world avatar

Retail Android ships with Google’s proprietary PDF viewer. GrapheneOS isn’t the default experience.

db2 ,

GrapheneOS has an actively maintained PDF viewer app though.

github.com/GrapheneOS/PdfViewer

electro1 ,
@electro1@infosec.pub avatar

It’s a secure PDF designed to sandbox the file before launching it, but unfortunately it’s painful to use: no page scrolling, and no dark content view…

db2 ,

Page scrolling works fine and dark mode doesn’t make sense…

WIPocket ,
@WIPocket@lemmy.world avatar

I have a built-in “PDF Viewer” app in my GrapheneOS. (app.grapheneos.pdfviewer)

ililiililiililiilili ,

GrapheneOS actually has a built in PDF reader. Open the “Apps” app if it isn’t installed. Look for “PDF Reader” and make sure its installed.

clark OP ,
@clark@midwest.social avatar

I think I might be using the wrong terminology, forgive me. What I mean is, in my case, why does the PDF have to open in PDF reader instead of directly in the browser (like on iPhone)? That’s what I mean when I say “opening things externally.”

viking ,
@viking@infosec.pub avatar

I think it’s a fundamental design question. Apple wants users to do everything within their ecosystem, so they internalize as many functions as possible, whereas Android was designed to be lightweight and modular. Everything you don’t absolutely need in a browser just clutters it up.

Personally I like the flexibility of using exactly the app I want for functions rather than having my OS enforce a default.

ozymandias117 ,

It doesn’t have to, but GrapheneOS is designed around security first, privacy second, and usability third

If you install Fennec browser on it and open, e.g., learningcontainer.com/…/sample-pdf-file-for-testi…

The PDF will display inside Firefox

The default web browser on GrapheneOS, Vanadium, doesn’t parse PDF’s (they’re an incredibly insecure format) and passes them off to a sandboxed, hardened app specifically for that usecase

This allows rejecting more permissions than doing it in the same process

Jako301 ,

Apple is a bit like Microsoft in that regard. Their browser (safari) is so tightly integrated into their operating system that removing it is basically impossible. Due to that, they can use/abuse it for basic functionality like a pdf reader instead of creating a separate app for it.

Android, on the other hand, doesn’t even have a real default browser. While Chrome ships as the default since android 4, it’s basically just the app tacked on top. Since PDF readers on android existed before Chrome became the default, Google was never really bothered with including a build in PDF reader in their browser. It simply wasn’t necessary. And since most browser depend on chromium, which lacks this functionality, they don’t have it either.

Firefox on Android has the option to open PDFs, so if you want it, that would be an option. It isn’t a limitation of the operating system, Google simply couldn’t be bothered and most others just use copy + past on Chrome.

clark OP ,
@clark@midwest.social avatar

That makes total sense, now I get it. So all in all, it’s more secure to have separate apps doing the job instead of jamming it all into an ecosystem?

Azzu ,

My Android /e/os, a fork of lineage os, also has a built-in one.

So yeah OP, I guess the question is, why does your phone not have a built-in PDF reader, not why android doesn’t have one :D

  • All
  • Subscribed
  • Moderated
  • Favorites
  • •
  • [email protected]
  • random
  • lifeLocal
  • goranko
  • All magazines
    •