PDF Reader vs Dark Reader
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.
Dark Reader
Easily read PDF documents in a comfortable dark mode to reduce eye strain and save battery. This app automatically converts any PDF into a dark theme for a better reading experience on your devices.
- PDF dark mode conversion
- Automatic dark mode application
- All-in-one PDF viewer
- Eye comfort focus
- Supports iPhone, iPad, macOS
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Dark Reader: PDF Viewer is the best way to read and manage PDF files in dark mode or night mode. Reduce eye strain, save battery, and enjoy a more comfortable reading experience by instantly converting your PDF documents into dark mode. Why choose DarkPDF? ► PDF Dark Mode & Night Mode – Instantly switch any PDF into dark mode for easier reading at night. ► Works Automatically – Open any PDF and DarkPDF applies dark mode right away. ► All-in-One PDF Viewer – A clean and simple PDF viewer with dark mode support for iPad, iPhone and macOS. ► Convert PDF into Dark Mode – Turn your documents into a dark theme view with one tap. ► Perfect for Eye Comfort – Ideal for students, professionals, and night readers who want to protect their eyes. DarkPDF is the best PDF viewer with dark mode extension for iOS. Whether it’s reports, eBooks, contracts, lecture notes, or presentations, DarkPDF adds a dark reading experience to every PDF. Download DarkPDF: PDF Night Mode Viewer today and enjoy a smarter, more comfortable way to read PDFs on your iPhone, iPad and macOS. Privacy Policy: https://www.freeprivacypolicy.com/live/17cd28ef-f6e3-42ae-b053-1a317183d906 Terms of Use: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula
Screenshots
Verdict
PDF Reader and Dark Reader both sit at 4.3 stars, but that hides the real split: 77% of PDF Reader's written reviews are positive against 30% of Dark Reader's. PDF Reader also leads on in-app purchases (none vs 2) and ratings volume (3.9K vs 7). Dark Reader's advantage is iOS requirement (13.0 vs 15.0). On price, rating, update cadence and ads 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. Dark Reader sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $4.99 per year. PDF Reader asks for nothing beyond the download.
On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.3 for PDF Reader against 4.4 for Dark Reader. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: PDF Reader has 3.9K ratings behind it against 7, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews are what separate them: 77% of PDF Reader's written reviews are positive against 30% of Dark Reader's.
Both ship on a similar rhythm, roughly every 2 months. The most recent releases landed on October 21, 2026 and September 28, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | PDF Reader | Dark Reader |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.3 (3.9K ratings) | 4.4 (7 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 76.7% of reviews — better | 30.0% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 3.9K — better | 7 |
| Update frequency | Every 2 months | Every 2 months |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No — better | Yes |
| Monetization | Free — better | Free with in-app purchases |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod | iPhone, iPad, iPod |
| Requires iOS | 15.0 | 13.0 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 173 MB | 67 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Wondershare Technology (Hunan) Co.,Ltd. | Utsav Mangla |
Customer experience
PDF Reader
Dark Reader
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.)
Dark Reader
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
In-app purchases
PDF Reader
No in-app purchases
Dark Reader
- Annual$4.991 Year
- Lifetime: Buy once Use forever$5.99
