GoodReader PDF Editor & Viewer

I’m trying to read a book printed in columns and reflow feature routinely skips one column.

I paid for this app to be able to sync my files to iCloud between my iPad and Macbook only to find out it’s only available on the Pro version, which costs $17 a month or $79 for the one time purchase. It’s frustrating that there are two options for the app and it’s not stated which version syncs to iCloud. At least have it explicitly said or offer a trial version for the regular version.

I’ve been using this program since I got the original iPad. I’m a musician, and it was great for reading music back then. Way back then I suggested they allow page turn devices to work with their app. Eventually they added the button to allow that, but it still hasn’t worked with the Pageflip Firefly, which is the top selling device for musicians. So I continue to use this program for conducting my ensembles, but use their competitor when I actually perform and need to have my foot pedal page turn device. I check every year just in case. I’ll check again next year.

Easy to use. Technical support responsive. Would be nice if it could sync between devices.

Use it daily for organizing and referencing many file types.

This app is a scam, you pay for the App only to be locked behind a monthly membership paywall just to do simple tasks like rotating a PDF. Google “Reddit rotate pdf free” instead and download the shortcut. Hopefully this saves someone money and prevents another dollar from being spent on this app

Google Drive sync broken

So many great features and it works fantastically.

As the title states, this is the best PDF tool available. It’s better than any PC/Mac PDF editors and it’s by far the best mobile PDF editor. I’ve been using GoodReader for many years and I cannot think of a single feature it’s missing. It’s super easy to edit PDFs, transfer files to the cloud or other devices, and do whatever else you need to do with them. The built-in web server is extremely useful for quick transfers to or from my phone or iPad without having to access iCloud, Dropbox, OneDrive, or any other cloud storage service. When editing a PDF for the first time the app will alert you that it might be wise to make an annotated copy for markups without changing the master file then makes creating the copy extremely easy. Honestly, the developer has thought of everything. I chose to write this review after using the app for so many years because it occurred to me that any app that’s been with me for so long and still gets constant use is an app worth giving praise and encouraging others to try. Another fantastic feature of GoodReader is the fact that there are no subscriptions necessary to use the full version. You pay once and that’s it. I know that there is a subscription based add-on for the app but it’s not necessary to use the base app with all its features. If I’m being honest, I don’t even know what the subscription service is for. I do know that if you need a full featured PDF reader / editor there is no better option than GoodReader!

I believe I’ve used this app for nearly 10 years or more, ever since I moved from Blackberry to iPhone. At one time GoodReader set the standard for file management (far beyond what iOS Files even allows today) and has excellent reading and editing capability for documents. However, further development is sporadic and at one point I thought it was abandonware…For ~ 2 years or more the app went without an update and I suspected it was the end. Suddenly it returned and things looked promising. I was happy to purchase the upgrade with the hope of re-commercializing a valuable app. Now it appears its going dark again. The aesthetics and GUI could use an upgrade. Part of this comes from the fact that green is one of my least-favorite colors, but the display also appears it isn’t fully supporting the new jumbo-sized phones that are now the norm for most users. I’ve given the app three stars because the functionality still works for most of my use cases and I’d certainly rather have it than not. I just wish the developer would commit to the project or announce its sunset so our expectations can be set accordingly. I’ve purchased the upgrades but would buy a recurring subscription if that incentivized further development.