42 PDF Editor vs NexReader
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
42 PDF Editor
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42 PDF Editor is a PDF reader and editor for iPhone and iPad. Open a PDF from the Files app, iCloud Drive or any other provider, mark it up, fill it in, sign it, stamp it and rearrange its pages, then save it back to the same file or to a new copy. Everything happens on your device, with Apple's own PDFKit. There is no account and nothing is uploaded. Most of what people need to do to a PDF is small: sign a form, fill in a few fields, fix a typo, take out a page, add the scan of a receipt. 42 PDF Editor puts those jobs on the phone you already have with you, and shows every change on the page as you make it. START WITH A TASK The Home screen lists the jobs: Sign, Fill & Stamp, Scan to Text, Compress, Page Numbers, Split, Edit Text and To Images. Pick one, then the PDF, and the editor opens straight into it. MARK UP Highlight, underline and strike through text. Draw with a pen or highlighter, by finger or Apple Pencil, with smooth strokes, and add shapes, arrows and text boxes. Tap any markup to move or resize it with its corner handles, change its colour, weight or opacity, duplicate or delete it, and undo or redo every change. EDIT TEXT Tap a line and retype it. The font, size and colours are matched to the original, and the page shows the result as you type. Change it or undo it later. FILL, SIGN AND STAMP Type into a PDF's form fields, or drop a check, cross, dot, today's date or saved text (your name, email, address) onto a flat form with one tap. Draw a signature once and keep it on your device, then place and resize it on any page; it stays sharp because it is written as vector ink. Add stamps such as Approved, Paid, Received or Draft, or make your own, with an optional date. Add logos and photos too. SCAN TO TEXT Scanned pages become searchable, selectable and editable with on-device text recognition. The page looks exactly the same; its words can now be found, highlighted, copied and retyped. PAGES Drag to reorder, rotate, duplicate or delete. Select several pages to extract them as a new PDF or export them as images. Split a document into files, add page numbers, and crop pages by hand or automatically to their content. Insert blank pages, pages from another PDF or Word file, scans or photos. SCAN AND CREATE Scan paper with the camera, make a PDF from photos, start a blank PDF, or merge several PDFs into one. PDF AND WORD Turn a Word (.docx) file into a PDF, keeping its styles, lists, tables, links, pictures and page size. Turn a PDF into a Word document with editable text, with scanned pages read by on-device text recognition, or with a picture of each page when the look matters most. WATERMARKS, PASSWORDS AND FILE SIZE Add a text or image watermark with your choice of opacity, angle and position. Open password-protected PDFs, and add, change or remove a password. Make a smaller version of a PDF: pictures are compressed, text and drawings stay sharp. SAVE AND SHARE Save in place, Save a Copy, Save a Flattened Copy with the markup drawn into the pages, Share, Print, or export pages as PNG or JPEG. Open in 42 PDF Editor from the Files app and the share sheet. PRIVATE No account, no ads, no analytics and no servers. Your documents, signatures and saved text never leave your device unless you share them. Good to know: Edit Text and Whiteout cover the original content and place new content on top. The original text is still inside the file, so they are not a way to redact a document.
NexReader
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Read Markdown the way it was meant to look. NexReader turns any .md file into a clean, comfortable page. Headings, tables, code, task lists and quotes are rendered natively — no web view, no clutter, nothing between you and the words. It is made for the documents you actually receive: notes, READMEs, specs, and the long answers AI tools write for you. BEAUTIFUL RENDERING • Full GitHub-Flavored Markdown: headings, bold and italic, lists, task lists, quotes, tables and links • Code blocks with syntax highlighting for 16 languages, and one-tap copy • Tables that keep their alignment and scroll sideways instead of squashing • Images you can open full screen and pinch to zoom MAKE IT YOURS • Four reading themes: Classic White, Sepia, Midnight and AMOLED Black • Four typefaces, including New York for long reads • Text size, weight, line height, letter spacing and paragraph spacing • Three reading widths, so lines never run too long on a big screen FIND YOUR WAY • An outline of every heading, with your current section marked • Find in document, with every match highlighted • Opens exactly where you left off — even after you change the text size A LIBRARY THAT STAYS TIDY • Real folders you can create, rename and rearrange • Favorites, sorting, search, and reading progress on every document • Your documents also appear in the Files app, in the same folders GET FILES IN EASILY • Import from Files, or open .md files straight from other apps • Wi‑Fi Transfer: drop files from any computer's browser onto your iPhone or iPad. No cable, no cloud, no account GREAT ON IPAD • Your library and the page side by side • Keyboard shortcuts for find, the outline, text size and moving between sections ALSO ON MAC • Open any .md file from Finder in its own window • The same library, themes and typography, with a full menu bar NO ACCOUNT NEEDED There is nothing to sign up for, and your documents stay on your device. NexReader collects no data at all: no analytics, no tracking, no ads.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is iOS requirement: 42 PDF Editor at 17.0 against NexReader's 26.0. On price, ads, in-app purchases 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. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.
| Parameter | 42 PDF Editor | NexReader |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Update frequency | Every 2 days | — |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad | iPhone, iPad |
| Requires iOS | 17.0 — better | 26.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 3 MB | 6 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Mohammed Shehada | Phyo Myanmar Kyaw |
In-app purchases
42 PDF Editor
No in-app purchases
NexReader
No in-app purchases









