PDFnano vs ObsiKO
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
PDFnano
Edit, translate, and manage PDF documents with a focus on on-device privacy. This app offers tools for scanning, converting, annotating, and organizing your files locally.
- Read, organize, and manage PDFs
- Offline PDF translation with layout preservation
- Scan documents and create PDFs
- Convert PDFs to Word, Excel, or images
- OCR for Arabic and English text
- Add signatures and annotations
- Remove hidden metadata for privacy
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PDFnano is a comprehensive, privacy first PDF workstation engineered for iOS. It combines the power of fully offline document processing with the advanced analytical intelligence of Apple Private Cloud Compute PCC. Whether managing contracts, financial reports, academic research, or scanned archives, PDFnano delivers reliable productivity in one unified workspace. Core Capabilities: 1. Document AI Assistant (Beta): • Executive summaries for lengthy reports and dense documentation. • Instant extraction of decisions, next steps, and action items. • Detection and structured review of contractual obligations and legal risks. • Custom interactive inquiries grounded in verifiable verbatim citations. • Private and encrypted processing: Utilizes Apple Intelligence and Apple Private Cloud Compute PCC for complex reasoning, ensuring your document content is never stored, never logged, and inaccessible even to Apple. *Note: AI Assistant features require devices supporting Apple Intelligence and are currently in Beta. 2. Offline Document Translation (Beta): • Translate entire PDF files locally while strictly preserving fonts, layout, tables, and graphic elements. • One tap batch approval for documents up to 100 pages. • Granular paragraph level editing and translation review. *Note: Translation operates locally on device and is currently in Beta. Machine translation may contain errors. 3. High Performance Reading and Navigation: • Vertical fast page scrubber for instantaneous navigation across hundreds of pages with live page bubble indicator. • Seamless alignment with the Dynamic Island, status bar, and notch areas. • Instant viewport settling returning immediately to your exact reading location. • Double tap smart zoom and floating capsule for effortless navigation while zoomed in. • Visual OCR search on scanned documents and images with multi word phrase matching and typo tolerance. 4. Conversion and Document Scanning: • High fidelity PDF to Word docx conversion maintaining structure and typography. • Extract tables into Excel xlsx spreadsheets with automated data type recognition. • Integrated document scanner with perspective correction and edge detection. • Convert images to PDF and export PDF pages as high resolution images. 5. Editing, Signing, and Organization: • Create, place, and verify digital signatures on agreements and official forms. • Markup toolkit: pen, highlighter, sticky notes, and text annotations. • Reorder, rotate, delete, and extract individual pages. • Merge multiple PDF documents or split pages into independent files. • Smart file size compression for seamless sharing. 6. Uncompromising Privacy Architecture: • True local processing: Core reading, editing, translation, OCR, and file conversions execute entirely on device without an internet connection. • Cryptographically secure cloud intelligence: Any internet connectivity required by the AI assistant connects exclusively to Apple Private Cloud Compute PCC with cryptographic privacy guarantees. • Face blurring and visual redaction to shield confidential areas. • Metadata sanitization to strip author, GPS, and creation timestamps. • Document password encryption, AirPrint support, and interactive home screen widgets. Certain tools include daily usage limits in the free version. Unlimited access and pro features can be unlocked through an in app purchase. Standard Terms of Use: https://www.apple.com/legal/sla/
ObsiKO
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Tired of converting files or picking plugins? Spent the day on settings and never wrote a line? Plenty of features, none of them talking to each other? Everyday writing, LLM wikis, ontologies, Zettelkasten, mindmaps, reading logs, codices, schedules, file conversion — one app, no account or subscription. Obsidian vaults (.md/.canvas/.base) open as-is. (AI runs on your own API key; with Apple Intelligence on, it can run on the device with no key.) ■ You see it first, before anything changes · AI rewrites arrive as a suggestion card — nothing changes until you press Replace · The AI agent works on a copy; only what you pick reaches your notes · Before the first send to an outside AI, it shows what goes where and sends only if you allow ■ Share to the web, sync between devices (GitHub) · "Share to the web" publishes a note at one address — theme, tables and images intact, comments too · The text lives only in your GitHub account, never on our servers; "Stop sharing" takes it down · Sync runs through your own repository and only ever deletes to the trash ■ Write once, it connects itself · A "color" property colors the tab, header, tree icon, .base and codex cards. Define your own types and relations too · Type "book" pops a search that fills the rest; "project" adds start/due to the calendar · Highlight a PDF and quotes collect into a note of the same name, searchable and on the graph · Wiki links, types, relations and PARA form one constellation — more links, brighter star ■ Infinite mindmap canvas (.canvas) · Apple Pencil drawing — turn a sketch into an AI image. Have AI build an editable mindmap, or hand it yours · Auto-build from a note's links, auto-layout, embeds, groups, relations. 5 styles, 10+ presets. Drop a URL or file to add a card ■ .base files and search · Projects, kanban, cards, charts, a library (book/paper search), PARA, a budget that pastes receipts. Dataview queries become tables · Filenames, full text, Korean jamo, semantic search — pin results, bookmark a query, or ask Siri ■ A dashboard and themes you arrange · 50+ widgets plus query and embed boards — calendars, to-dos, habit trackers, stats. 20+ themes, your own fonts ■ Markdown and a writing helper · Calm editing tuned for Korean. Format bar and cheat sheet, Mermaid, 20+ charts, inline drawing, video in a note · 70+ structures across 13 genres (Hero's Journey, Save the Cat, SCQA, character sheets), Socratic questions and style polish · Spell check, dictionaries, device TTS, a saved assistant role, on-device translation ■ Schedules and viewers · A date in any file lands on the calendar (Obsidian Tasks compatible) — year/month/week/day, timeline, widget, reminders · One frontmatter line switches the viewer: book, web novel, messenger, visual novel, codex ■ Clipping and conversion · The article body and photos become a note, not just the URL — share button or RSS · One-click Markdown for doc/docx, PDF, hwp/hwpx — one file or a folder; a read-only panel opens dozens more · Import from Apple Notes, Notion, Evernote, Bear or Logseq — always into a new folder · Highlight PDFs and Markdown to insert or quote. AI OCR and transcription (labelled by speaker) ■ AI agent · Add an API key and go (Claude, Gemini, GPT) — the app is complete without one · Builds mindmaps and .base tables on your phone and reads existing ones. Read-aloud and images in the editor · File creation, automatic memory, LLM wikis, ontology and Zettelkasten design, MCP. Bulk work is desktop-only ■ Export, images, and everything else · Marp properties make a deck. Export to PDF, HWPX, DOCX, EPUB, HTML, ZIP, wiki markup · Dictate on iPhone (on device), Control Center, Lock Screen and Home widgets, Watch quick notes · Ready for iOS 27 — Markdown round-trips with Apple Notes, the new Siri can add to a note, 4×6 widget · Image editing, free image search, colors panel, routines, palette, focus timer, screen lock All of it is free. No account, no payment, a small download.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is in-app purchases: ObsiKO at none against PDFnano's 1. ObsiKO also leads on device support (4 vs 2) and iOS requirement (15.1 vs 18.6). PDFnano's advantage is update cadence (every 2 days vs every 6 days). On price 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. PDFnano sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. ObsiKO asks for nothing beyond the download.
PDFnano ships an update every 2 days, ObsiKO every 6 days. The most recent releases landed on September 25, 2026 and October 10, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | PDFnano | ObsiKO |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 5.0 (1 ratings) — better | — |
| Number of ratings | 1 — better | — |
| Update frequency | Every 2 days — better | Every 6 days |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | Yes | No — better |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | — |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad | iPhone, iPad, iPod, Apple Watch — better |
| Requires iOS | 18.6 | 15.1 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 20 MB | 75 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Thamer Mohammed | Hyojin Kim |
In-app purchases
PDFnano
- PDFnano Pro Lifetime$1.99
ObsiKO
No in-app purchases









