Comparison

PDF Viewer vs Reader Ink

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

Head to head
About

PDF Viewer

Features
Read full description

PDF Viewer opens your documents instantly and gives you real tools to work with them β€” highlight, draw, sign, fill in forms, reorganize pages, and listen to any page read aloud. No account. No sign-up. No waiting. FAST, LIGHTWEIGHT READING β€’ Opens straight from Files, Mail, or the share sheet β€’ Smooth continuous scrolling, even in long documents β€’ Vertical or horizontal reading modes β€’ Adjustable page tint and light/dark themes for comfortable reading β€’ Search inside any document β€’ Outline, thumbnails, and bookmarks for fast navigation A COMPLETE ANNOTATION TOOLBAR β€’ Highlight text in any color β€’ Draw freehand with the pen tool β€’ Add text notes anywhere on the page β€’ Draw shapes β€” rectangles, circles, arrows, lines β€’ Erase and undo/redo every change β€’ Annotations are saved automatically as you work SIGN AND FILL β€’ Draw your signature once and place it on any page β€’ Fill in PDF form fields directly β€’ Reuse saved signatures across documents PAGE TOOLS β€’ Reorganize, reorder, and rotate pages β€’ Extract a page range into a new document β€’ Merge several PDFs into one β€’ Print any document LISTEN TO YOUR DOCUMENTS β€’ Read-aloud narrates any page out loud β€’ Great for proofreading, studying, or reading hands-free EXPORT AND SHARE β€’ Flatten annotations permanently into the PDF β€’ Save a copy or share annotations on their own β€’ Exports are true vector burn-in β€” your markup stays sharp at any zoom PRIVATE BY DESIGN Your documents never leave your device. There is no account to create, nothing to upload, and no tracking. Files you open stay in your own storage. BUILT FOR Students marking up textbooks and papers, professionals reviewing contracts and proposals, engineers reading plans and drawings, and anyone who just wants a PDF to open quickly and work properly. Questions or feedback? We read every message.

About

Reader Ink

Features
Read full description

Reader Ink is a fast, focused PDF app for iPhone and iPad. Read comfortably, mark up with Apple Pencil, fill and sign forms, and listen to any document β€” all in one calm, native app. READING THAT FEELS RIGHT β€’ Three reading tones β€” light, warm sepia, and a true dark mode that inverts the page while keeping photos, charts, and colored diagrams intact. β€’ Full-width pages, fluid scrolling, and instant open even for very large documents. β€’ Continuous or single-page layouts, pinch to zoom, and fit-to-width in one tap. β€’ Move fast with a thumbnail grid, the document outline (table of contents), and your own bookmarks. β€’ Open several documents at once as tabs, and keep your place across sessions. FIND ANYTHING INSTANTLY β€’ One fast search with results grouped by page and the current match clearly emphasized. β€’ Match case and whole-words options; full keyboard shortcuts on iPad and Mac. MARK UP WITH APPLE PENCIL β€” OR YOUR FINGER β€’ Apple’s own tool palette floats right on the live page: pen, highlighter, marker, eraser, and ruler. β€’ Highlight, underline, and strike through text that snaps to the lines. β€’ Add shapes, stamps (Approved, Confidential, Draft, date), and sticky notes. β€’ Everything is written as standard PDF annotations, so your work opens correctly in Preview, Acrobat, and everywhere else. β€’ See every highlight and note in one list β€” search it, filter by type and color, tap to jump, edit in place. β€’ Share a flattened copy or a clean, unmarked copy; your original is never changed. FILL & SIGN β€’ Tap form fields and type; move through them with next and previous. β€’ Create your signature once β€” draw it, type it, or capture it from a photo β€” store it securely on device, and reuse it anytime. β€’ Add a date stamp, then share a flattened, signed copy. The original document stays untouched. LISTEN TO ANY DOCUMENT β€’ Read aloud sentence by sentence, with the spoken sentence highlighted on the page. β€’ Choose the voice and speed; the page language is detected automatically. β€’ Control playback from the Lock Screen and headphones. LOOK UP & TRANSLATE β€’ Select text to look up definitions, translate, or search the web β€” right from the page. NEVER LOSE YOUR WORK β€’ Local version history keeps earlier versions of every document; go back anytime without losing anything. β€’ Automatic recovery restores your document if the app is interrupted. WORKS WITH YOUR FILES β€’ Edit documents in place in the Files app and iCloud Drive β€” no importing, no separate library. DESIGNED FOR EVERYONE β€’ Built with VoiceOver document structure, Dynamic Type, Reduce Transparency, Reduce Motion, and Differentiate Without Color. β€’ Fully localized in 23 languages. Reader Ink brings reading, annotation, forms, signatures, and read-aloud together in one place β€” precise, quiet, and right at home on Apple devices. PDF viewer, PDF editor, PDF converter and PDF scanner β€” all in one app. Convert PDF to Word, PDF to Excel, PDF to PowerPoint and PDF to JPG. Scan to PDF with OCR. Merge PDF, split PDF and compress PDF. Sign PDF and fill PDF forms. As your PDF viewer and PDF editor, Reader Ink lets you annotate PDF, highlight PDF and read PDF aloud. PDF reader, PDF editor, PDF converter, PDF scanner, PDF signer β€” Reader Ink. Ready for Apple Duo, Apple's foldable phone β€” more room to read PDF, annotate PDF and sign PDF. Privacy Policy: https://60studio.net/apps/reader-ink/privacy Terms of Use (EULA): https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/

Screenshots

PDF Viewer4 screens
Reader Ink4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: PDF Viewer at none against Reader Ink's 3. PDF Viewer also leads on iOS requirement (16.4 vs 18.0). Reader Ink's advantage is update cadence (every 11 days vs every 6 weeks). On price, ads and device support there is nothing between them.

Scored on Price Β· Rating Β· Positive reviews Β· Number of ratings Β· Update frequency Β· Ads Β· In-app purchases Β· Monetization Β· Best chart rank Β· Devices Β· Requires iOS

CostPrice Β· In-app purchases Β· Ads Β· Monetization

Both are free to download. Reader Ink sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $1.99 per month. PDF Viewer asks for nothing beyond the download.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

PDF Viewer ships an update every 6 weeks, Reader Ink every 11 days. The most recent releases landed on October 25, 2026 and October 24, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard3 real differences Β· 3 level
PDF Viewer versus Reader Ink: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterPDF ViewerReader Ink
PriceFreeFree
Update frequencyEvery 6 weeksEvery 11 days β€” better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNo β€” betterYes
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad
Requires iOS16.4 β€” better18.0
Further details β€” not scored
Size45 MB23 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperMohamed NagyILKER YILDIRIM

In-app purchases

None

PDF Viewer

No in-app purchases

3 purchases

Reader Ink

Subscriptions2
  • Reader Ink Pro (Monthly)$1.991 Month
  • Reader Ink Pro (Yearly)$14.991 Year
One-time1
  • Lifetime$29.99

Questions

Is PDF Viewer free?
PDF Viewer is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is Reader Ink free?
Reader Ink is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Do PDF Viewer or Reader Ink have ads?
Neither PDF Viewer nor Reader Ink shows ads.
Which is updated more often, PDF Viewer or Reader Ink?
PDF Viewer ships an update every 6 weeks, and Reader Ink every 11 days. Most recently, PDF Viewer was updated on October 25, 2026 and Reader Ink on October 24, 2026.

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