# ExplainThisDoc: PDF & Archive — Scan & understand documents

> Scan & understand documents (iPhone/iPad app by Julian Heger.)

- Source: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/explainthisdoc-pdf-and-archive/id6758720729 (this page in markdown: same URL + `.md`)
- Developer: [Julian Heger](https://appshunter.io/developer/1874584074)
- Category: Productivity, Utilities
- Price: Free with in-app purchases
- Age rating: 12+
- Requires: iOS 26.0 · 90 MB
- Languages: American English, Arabic, Dutch, Estonian, Finnish, French (France), German (Germany), Hindi, Italian, Japanese and 11 more
- Released: 2026-03-05
- Data updated: 2026-10-24

## What is ExplainThisDoc?

A letter from an authority. An invoice. A contract. A cancellation notice. A form.

Documents mean work. What does this mean for me? Do I need to do something? By when? Do I need to pay, reply, or sign? And when I need the document again later – where was it?

ExplainThisDoc is your digital document archive with a built-in assistant. It brings paper documents and PDFs together in one place, explains what they mean, identifies deadlines, tasks, and next steps, and helps you take action.

No more piles of paper or PDFs scattered across different apps. Reading, understanding, organizing, and finding documents becomes easier: scan or import them, see what matters, edit and sign when needed – and quickly find them again later.

Everything digital. Everything at hand. With an assistant that helps you understand what matters and get things done.

UNDERSTAND WHAT MATTERS

Long letters, complicated wording, important information buried in paragraphs: ExplainThisDoc turns documents into a clear, easy-to-understand overview.

Depending on the document, the analysis can identify:
• Summaries and key points
• Tasks and next steps
• Deadlines and appointments
• Amounts and payment information
• Obligations, risks, and important conditions
• Potential cost traps
• Addresses, locations, and contacts
• Reference and case numbers
• Open questions and important details

See at a glance what a document is about, what affects you, and whether you need to take action.

DON’T JUST UNDERSTAND. TAKE ACTION.

Add recognized appointments to your calendar. Open addresses for directions and navigation. Use contact details for follow-up questions.

Need to edit or sign a form or contract? Open the original and take care of it directly in the app.

Deadlines, payments, and tasks are highlighted so important information doesn’t get overlooked.

FROM PAPER TO A DIGITAL ARCHIVE

Scan paper documents with your camera or import PDFs and other documents from Files, Mail, Downloads, and other apps. You can also add images and text from the clipboard.

Review multi-page scans, add pages, or rescan individual pages. Text recognition is performed directly on your device.

THE ORIGINAL STAYS WITH YOU

The analysis and original document stay connected. Open the document in the built-in reader, search the recognized text, and check the exact wording at any time.

Mark up or add content, edit the document, and sign it directly in the app.

FIND ANYTHING QUICKLY

Where was that invoice? Which letter contained the deadline?

Search by content, titles, and recognized information, and filter by document type, date range, and other criteria. You don’t need to remember a filename or where you saved it.

You can also link related documents such as a contract and invoice, a notice and reply, or a booking and ticket.

YOU CHOOSE HOW TO ANALYZE

Scan Only:
Digitize and archive – without AI analysis.

On-Device Analysis:
Analyze document text directly on your device without sending it to an external AI provider. Available on supported devices.

Pro Analysis:
For more detailed explanations. You choose whether Mistral in the EU or OpenAI in the USA is used.

PROTECTED AND AD-FREE

Protect your archive with Face ID. Export and import let you back up and transfer your document collection.

ExplainThisDoc contains no ads and no trackers.

Original documents, PDFs, photos, and scans are not sent to Mistral or OpenAI for AI analysis. With Pro Analysis, only the extracted text is sent to your selected AI provider. With On-Device Analysis, the text stays on your device.

AI-generated results may contain errors. Always verify important deadlines, amounts, obligations, and conditions against the original document.

ExplainThisDoc takes the work out of documents: digitize, understand, act, archive, and find – all in one place.

## Pricing and in-app purchases

Base price: Free.

**One-time purchases**

| Purchase | Price | Type |
| --- | --- | --- |
| 200 Credits | $69.99 | one-time |
| 50 Credits | $24.99 | one-time |
| 5 Credits | $2.99 | one-time |


## Is ExplainThisDoc safe?

Not enough ratings yet to assess ExplainThisDoc.

## Is ExplainThisDoc legit?

ExplainThisDoc: PDF & Archive has limited verification signals. The AppsHunter Legitimacy Score for ExplainThisDoc is 58 out of 100 points across 7 verification signals from App Store and developer data.


## Version history (last 5 releases)

### 4.1.0 — 2026-10-18

What’s new in this version:

- Review and correct text: You can now review, edit line by line, and save recognized text from previously saved PDFs and scans.
- Share text: Share the full text of all pages, including your corrections, directly from text review.
- Rotate pages: Rotate individual pages in PDFs and scans 90° left or right. The orientation is saved, and you can undo the rotation.
- Improved preview: Zoom and pan the document preview while reviewing text to compare details with the recognized text more easily.
- More reliable iCloud sync: Improved syncing across your devices. Synced changes now also appear in documents that are already open.
- Refined controls: Improved archive search and filters on iPad, clearer toolbars, and smoother transitions between documents.

You can now also rate ExplainThisDoc on the App Store directly from Options.

### 4.0.4 — 2026-10-16

This update improves the document view and makes the controls clearer:

- Linked documents appear immediately below the import date. The layout remains stable while notes load.
- Notes and links are now accessible from a shared Glass button bar.
- Tidier options menus: the duplicate search entry and the unnecessary Home entry have been removed.
- The way the sync status appears and disappears has been improved.

### 4.0.3 — 2026-10-15

This update makes ExplainThisDoc even easier to use:

- Improved full-screen transitions between explanations and original documents, with a direct return to the archive.
- Clearer dialogs that adapt better to different screen sizes and larger text.
- A smoother archive experience with more stable controls and focused status updates.
- More reliable handling of completed scans after brief interruptions, including scans added to notes.
- Improved workflows for importing, exporting, and sharing archives.

### 4.0.2 — 2026-10-13

This update improves usability, text recognition, and reliability.

- Optimized layout for iPhone Duo.
- Improved VoiceOver support.
- More reliable text recognition, selection, copying, and searching in photos.
- Corrected translations across all 21 supported languages.

### 4.0.1 — 2026-10-10

This update improves document importing, analysis, and editing.

- Fixed a crash when entering multi-selection mode after scrolling through the archive.
- Improved file importing. Selected files are retained when processing is delayed, and navigation remains available during imports.
- Improved reconnection during live analyses. Character counts remain visible, and processing resumes more reliably after temporary errors.
- Improved iCloud sync reliability. Fixed stalled operations caused by outdated changes. Completed progress counters no longer reappear as active tasks when returning to the app, and manual pauses are displayed correctly.
- Improved signature editing, including moving, resizing, and changing colors. A confirmation helps prevent accidental saving. Confirmed signatures are permanently embedded into the PDF.
- Improved PDF highlight readability in dark mode and removed distracting outlines. Your selected reader appearance is preserved when returning to the app.
- Refreshed the archive with 24 new cover patterns, more distinct colors, and clearer icons. Automatically generated document titles better reflect the original content.
- Multi-page scans for note attachments now use Apple’s document scanner.
- Improved AI explanations with clearer results, better grouping of related information, and less repetition. Calendar information and responses from different AI providers are handled more reliably.
- Improved preservation of relevant stops and transfers in travel documents. Verified locations are passed more accurately to Apple Maps.
- Improved translations across all 21 supported languages. Search result counts and save and export messages now follow your selected app language.

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*Data collected daily from the US App Store and indexed by [AppsHunter](https://appshunter.io/). User reviews are verbatim App Store reviews. Ratings, prices and chart positions refresh continuously; this snapshot is from 2026-10-24.*
