Comparison

ReflowPDF vs Foldleaf Reader

Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.

Head to head
About

ReflowPDF

Transform scanned PDFs and regular documents into easily readable text with adjustable formatting. Seamlessly switch between a reflowed reading mode and the original document for verification. Process documents privately on your device with no uploads or tracking.

Highlights
  • Reflow scanned and text-based PDFs
  • Adjust font size, typeface, and line spacing
  • Switch between Reader Mode and original PDF
  • Search text and add bookmarks
  • Export recognized text as TXT
  • Create searchable PDFs
  • On-device OCR and processing
Features
Read full description

Read scanned PDFs without zooming. Scanned pages should be as comfortable to read as any article. ReflowPDF turns scanned books, papers, archives, and regular PDFs into clean, reflowed text designed for your iPhone and iPad. Import a document, process it on device, and read without constantly zooming or panning. READER MODE FOR PDFS • Reflow scanned and text-based PDFs into adjustable text • Choose font size, typeface, line spacing, and reading theme • Keep your reading progress and return where you left off CHECK THE ORIGINAL ANY TIME • Move between Reader Mode and the source PDF • Jump from a paragraph to its original page for quick verification • Search text, add bookmarks, and navigate document headings PRIVATE BY DESIGN • OCR and document processing happen on your device • Your PDFs and recognized text are not uploaded • No account, in-app analytics, advertising, or tracking USE YOUR RESULTS • Export recognized text as TXT • Create a searchable PDF while preserving the original pages • On supported devices, generate an on-device summary with Apple Intelligence The free version includes full processing for three standard documents. An optional one-time Lifetime unlock removes document limits and unlocks full large-document processing and export. OCR and document structure accuracy depend on scan quality, language, and page layout.

About

Foldleaf Reader

Features
Read full description

Foldleaf Reader is a reader and notetaker for PDFs and EPUBs that turns pages like paper, trims the margins off every page, and lets you write and highlight with the Apple Pencil — on iPad, iPhone and iPhone Duo. PAGES THAT TURN • Page Curl: drag a page from its edge and it follows your finger, the next one waiting underneath. • Vertical Page Curl: a page hinged along its top, turned upward like a wall calendar. • Or flick through pages, scroll down one long column, or scroll across the pages side by side. • One page or two side by side, chosen for you whenever the window is wide enough. MARGINS GONE • Crop View trims every page of a PDF once — drag a rectangle round what matters, and the whole document opens that way from then on. • Most papers waste a third of each page on white space. Crop it, and every page is bigger. • Zoom Lock holds your framing from page to page; Horizontal and Vertical Zoom Lock keep a zoomed-in column steady as you scroll. WRITE AND HIGHLIGHT • Four pens — Pen, Fountain Pen, Pencil and Marker — with six colours and six nib widths, each responding to the Pencil's pressure and tilt in its own way. • Hold the pen still at the end of a line and it snaps straight. • A highlighter in five colours: select text, or simply sweep across the lines, in PDFs and EPUBs alike. • Double-tap the Apple Pencil for the rubber. Pick up the pen or highlighter just by bringing the Pencil to the page. • Share a PDF with your ink and highlights written in as standard annotations, readable in Preview, Acrobat and other apps. PAPERS AND BOOKS, BUILT IN • Browse arXiv inside the app and save a paper in one tap — it arrives named for its number, authors and title. • Project Gutenberg's tens of thousands of free books, saved as EPUBs with their illustrations. • A web browser that keeps any PDF or EPUB you tap. • Or add files from Files and iCloud Drive. Edit a PDF in place, and your annotations are saved into the original wherever it lives. A LIBRARY THAT STAYS TIDY • Folders, favourites and recents, sorted and viewed the way each folder likes. • Search titles and authors, search inside a book, and name your bookmarks. • Deleted books wait in the Bin for a week, in case you change your mind. MADE FOR READING • Controls along the top, or in a column down the side so a tall page keeps its height. • Paper colours from white to beige to black, and an appearance that follows the system or doesn't. • Fullscreen with a small corner cluster, keyboard shortcuts, and trackpad and mouse support. • Left-handed layout, Keep Screen On, and support for VoiceOver. PRIVATE BY DESIGN No account, no sign-in, no tracking and no analytics. Your library stays on your device. TRY EVERYTHING FREE Every feature is free for 14 days. After that, reading, your library, paged view and the plain backgrounds stay free — and so does everything you have already marked or cropped. Page curl, scrolling, the zoom locks, paper colours, Crop View, the pen, the highlighter, side controls and Back and Forward unlock with a single purchase: once, not a subscription, and on your iPhone and iPad alike. Questions and suggestions: foldleafreader@gmail.com

Screenshots

ReflowPDF4 screens
Foldleaf Reader4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is iOS requirement: Foldleaf Reader at 18.0 against ReflowPDF's 26.0. On price, update cadence, ads and in-app purchases 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

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Both are free to download. ReflowPDF sells 1 one-off in-app purchase and Foldleaf Reader sells 2 one-off in-app purchases. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Both ship on a similar rhythm, roughly fortnightly. The most recent releases landed on November 5, 2026 and November 6, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard1 real difference · 9 level
ReflowPDF versus Foldleaf Reader: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterReflowPDFFoldleaf Reader
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.3 (3 ratings) — better—
Positive reviews66.7% of reviews—
Number of ratings3 — better—
Update frequencyFortnightlyFortnightly
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree with in-app purchases—
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad
Requires iOS26.018.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size8 MB38 MB
Age rating4+17+
Developer亚雄 邹Tiann-Tevong You

In-app purchases

1 purchases

ReflowPDF

One-time1
  • ReflowPDF Lifetime$4.99
2 purchases

Foldleaf Reader

One-time2
  • 14-Day TrialFree
  • Unlock Foldleaf Reader$9.99

Questions

Is ReflowPDF free?
ReflowPDF is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Foldleaf Reader free?
Foldleaf Reader is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Do ReflowPDF or Foldleaf Reader have ads?
Neither ReflowPDF nor Foldleaf Reader shows ads.
Which is updated more often, ReflowPDF or Foldleaf Reader?
ReflowPDF ships an update fortnightly, and Foldleaf Reader fortnightly. Most recently, ReflowPDF was updated on November 5, 2026 and Foldleaf Reader on November 6, 2026.

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