PDF Reader vs ApowerPDF Editor
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
PDF Reader
This app offers a superior PDF reading experience with its innovative Liquid Mode, which optimizes documents for mobile screens. It also provides robust tools for annotating, signing, managing, and sharing your PDF files, catering to both work and study needs.
- Liquid Mode for optimized mobile reading
- Annotation tools (pencil, text, highlighting)
- Handwritten signature insertion
- File management (move, merge, copy, delete)
- Cloud service integration (Wondershare, iCloud)
- Create blank PDFs and folders
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PDFelement - PDF Reader is a PDF reader using the latest technology. The newly connected Liquid Mode function allows you to enjoy the best reading experience. In addition, there are various annotation tools, file management, signature, Various functions such as cloud services can meet your PDF needs in work and study. PDF VIEWER • Liquid Mode gives you the best PDF reading experience • Star files to find them quickly • Easily locate recently accessed files in the "Recent" list. • Enter the page number to navigate to the desired page for viewing LIQUID MODE • Get the best PDF Reading experience with Liquid Mode • PDF document fully fits the mobile phone screen, no need to zoom in and out repeatedly. • Easily adjust brightness, font size,style, and spacing. ANNOTATE • Using Pencil to annotate like writing on the paper • Add text annotations, freely modify the text and background, border colors, choose the appropriate font and font size. • Supports many annotating tools like highlighting, underlining, squiggly lines, or strikethroughs. MANAGE • Move, merge, copy or delete files SIGNATURE • Enables handwritten signatures to be inserted anywhere within the document, while also offering the ability to zoom in and out for greater flexibility. • Built-in commonly used stamps CREATE • Quickly create completely blank PDF documents • Creat blank folders. SHARE • Sharing document content with others is just a click away with capture feature. • Select sentence(s) or pragraph(s) to share CLOUD SERVICE • PDF Reader supports uploading or downloading docs via computer, Wondershare document cloud and iCloud. Please note that this app only supports editing native PDF files. It does not support editing scanned or raster PDF. If you find you cannot edit text in PDF, please check if it is scanned PDF. Thank you! ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Need HELP? Please contact us! We'll feedback to you ASAP. Email: pdfelement@wondershare.com Support Center: http://support.wondershare.com Forum: http://forum.pdf.wondershare.com Official Website: https://pdf.wondershare.com If you think this App helps you, your positive review in the App Store would be much appreciated.
ApowerPDF Editor
Easily modify PDF documents on your mobile device. Edit text, change fonts, manage images, and organize pages. Save your work to the cloud for access across devices.
- Edit PDF text and fonts
- Add, rotate, and resize images
- Manage PDF pages (add, delete, reorder)
- Save documents to cloud storage
- View PDF content with thumbnail navigation
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ApowerPDF Editor is exactly what you need to modify PDF documents on the go and improve productivity for your study and work. With ApowerPDF Editor you can: Modify PDF without Hassle - Tap anywhere to edit PDF text. - Change PDF font and color. - Cut, copy, paste and delete text in a PDF. - Add, rotate, replace, and delete PDF images. - Adjust PDF image size with pinch-to-zoom gesture. Manage PDF Pages with One Tap - Add blank PDF pages to a PDF document. - Rotate and delete PDF pages. - Drag and drop to move PDF pages. Save PDF to Cloud With this PDF editor’s VIP account, you can not only save the document to your iOS devices, but also store it to our cloud service. It allows you to log in to your account on any mobile device to get the saved document and continue to work on it. View PDF Content Using this PDF reader, you can browse through your PDF documents, and also jump to a specified page by tapping the thumbnail. This PDF editor currently only supports editing native PDF documents, so if your files are scanned PDF or created from images, the content in the PDF cannot be modified. Thank you! If you need any help or have any advice for us, please contact us! We'll feedback to you ASAP. Support: https://www.apowersoft.com/support/ Forum: https://www.apowersoft.com/community/ Feedback: https://www.apowersoft.com/support/submit-ticket/ Terms of Use: https://www.apowersoft.com/terms If you think this app helps you, your positive a review would be much appreciated. Follow us on social media: Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/apowersoft Twitter: https://twitter.com/apowersoft YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCokXyc9VxEx1KvbJlrcp6zw
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is review sentiment: PDF Reader at 77% against ApowerPDF Editor's 31%. PDF Reader also leads on rating (4.3 vs 1.8) and in-app purchases (none vs 4). ApowerPDF Editor's advantage is update cadence (every 4 weeks vs every 2 months) and iOS requirement (11.0 vs 15.0). On price, ads and device support there is nothing between them.
Scored on Price · Rating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings · Update frequency · Ads · In-app purchases · Monetization · Best chart rank · Devices · Requires iOS
Both are free to download. ApowerPDF Editor sells 4 in-app purchases, starting at $2.99 per month. PDF Reader asks for nothing beyond the download.
PDF Reader holds the better App Store score, 4.3 against 1.8. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: PDF Reader has 3.9K ratings behind it against 5, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 77% of PDF Reader's written reviews are positive against 31% of ApowerPDF Editor's.
PDF Reader ships an update every 2 months, ApowerPDF Editor every 4 weeks. The most recent releases landed on October 11, 2026 and October 10, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | PDF Reader | ApowerPDF Editor |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.3 (3.9K ratings) — better | 1.8 (5 ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 76.7% of reviews — better | 31.3% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 3.9K — better | 5 |
| Update frequency | Every 2 months | Every 4 weeks — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No — better | Yes |
| Monetization | Free — better | Free with in-app purchases |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better | iPhone, iPod |
| Requires iOS | 15.0 | 11.0 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 173 MB | 82 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Wondershare Technology (Hunan) Co.,Ltd. | Wangxu Technology Co., Ltd |
Customer experience
PDF Reader
ApowerPDF Editor
Bugs and requests
PDF Reader
Reported bugs
4 issues- Text boxes appearing randomly
- Inability to select/edit text in some PDFs
- Scrolling issues and page loading delays
- Incompatibility with certain PDF formats
Requested features
5 requests- Ability to edit text formatting (font, size, color)
- Support for multiple open documents
- Improved Apple Pencil integration
- Bookmark/favorite feature for frequently used PDFs
- Expanded cloud storage integration (OneDrive, Google Drive, etc.)
ApowerPDF Editor
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
In-app purchases
PDF Reader
No in-app purchases
ApowerPDF Editor
- PDF Editor Monthly Bundle Plan$2.991 Month
- PDF Editor Yearly Bundle Plan$6.991 Year
- PDF Editor (Monthly)$3.99
- PDF Editor (Yearly)$9.99
Questions
Is PDF Reader free?
Is ApowerPDF Editor free?
Which has better reviews, PDF Reader or ApowerPDF Editor?
Do PDF Reader or ApowerPDF Editor have ads?
Which is updated more often, PDF Reader or ApowerPDF Editor?
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