PDF Reader vs BibKit
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.
BibKit
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BibKit is a focused, modern citation manager designed for iPad. FREE PLAN Use every citation tool with a library of up to 10 references. No subscription is required to try BibKit. A BibKit Yearly subscription unlocks an unlimited library across iPad and Mac. IMPORT REFERENCES Import PDF and BibTeX files directly from the Files app. BibKit extracts available citation information and lets you review the result before adding it to your library. LOOK UP PAPERS Add a reference by entering any of the following: • A DOI, such as 10.1016/j.mechmat.2019.103215 • An arXiv identifier, such as 2503.12692v1 • An arXiv abstract or PDF URL • A HAL identifier, such as hal-01234567 • A HAL URL, such as https://hal.science/hal-01234567 • A ScienceDirect article URL containing a recognizable article identifier For publisher pages other than supported ScienceDirect links, enter the publication's DOI instead. When an arXiv preprint has a published version, BibKit can present both records so you can choose the version that belongs in your library. REVIEW AND EDIT Inspect extracted metadata before saving. Edit titles, authors, publication years, journals, volume and issue information, page ranges, publishers, DOI values, arXiv identifiers, URLs, and citation keys. ORGANIZE YOUR LIBRARY Search your references, mark favorites, apply labels, detect duplicates, retain source information, and undo accidental deletions. FORMAT AND EXPORT Generate consistent citation keys, normalize BibTeX formatting, abbreviate journal names, format author initials, and export selected references or your complete library. CREATE FORMATTED REFERENCES Copy references in APA, MLA, or Chicago style when you need a formatted citation instead of BibTeX. BUILT FOR IPAD BibKit provides a native split-view interface designed for reviewing and managing citations on a larger screen. On supported devices, Apple's on-device language model can assist with extracting citation metadata from PDFs. SUBSCRIPTION INFORMATION BibKit Yearly removes the 10-reference library limit on both iPad and Mac. The subscription costs US$2.99 per year in the United States. Prices may vary by country or region, and the applicable localized price is displayed before purchase. An introductory one-month free trial may be available to eligible new subscribers. Payment is charged to your Apple Account upon confirmation of purchase. The subscription renews automatically unless canceled at least 24 hours before the end of the current subscription period. You can manage or cancel your subscription in your App Store account settings. Existing references remain accessible if the subscription ends. Privacy Policy: https://siliconsuite.app/BibKit/privacy.html Terms of Use (EULA): https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is in-app purchases: PDF Reader at none against BibKit's 2. PDF Reader also leads on iOS requirement (15.0 vs 17.0). BibKit's advantage is update cadence (every 9 days vs every 2 months). 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. BibKit sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $2.99 per year. PDF Reader asks for nothing beyond the download.
PDF Reader ships an update every 2 months, BibKit every 9 days. The most recent releases landed on November 3, 2026 and October 25, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | PDF Reader | BibKit |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.3 (3.9K ratings) — better | — |
| Positive reviews | 76.7% of reviews | — |
| Number of ratings | 3.9K — better | — |
| Update frequency | Every 2 months | Every 9 days — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No — better | Yes |
| Monetization | Free | — |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod | iPhone, iPad, Mac |
| Requires iOS | 15.0 — better | 17.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 173 MB | 7 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Wondershare Technology (Hunan) Co.,Ltd. | Lale Taneri |
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.)
BibKit
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
In-app purchases
PDF Reader
No in-app purchases
BibKit
- BibKit Yearly3 Days trial$2.991 Year
- BibKit Lifetime$9.99









