Comparison

PDF Expert vs Magnifying Glass Reader with Light for iPhone

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

Head to head
About

PDF Expert

This app allows you to edit, annotate, fill out forms, and convert PDF documents. It offers AI-powered summarization and analysis, along with tools to merge, sign, and protect your files. Work seamlessly across Apple devices with a user-friendly interface.

Highlights
  • Edit PDF text and images
  • Annotate and highlight PDFs
  • Fill out PDF forms
  • Convert files to and from PDF
  • AI-powered summarization and analysis
  • Merge and combine PDF files
  • Sign documents with e-signatures
Features
Read full description

PDF Expert is a fast and easy PDF app to read, annotate, fill and sign PDF forms, convert files to PDF, and merge, split or compress documents – all in one intuitive app for iPhone, iPad, Mac & Vision Pro. Read PDF files with comfort, highlight and mark up text, fill out forms, sign contracts, create and convert PDFs, and summarize long documents in seconds with AI-powered tools. Unlock unlimited possibilities with PDF Expert Premium and work across all your Apple devices. "PDF Expert is one of my must-have iPad apps and a desktop-class PDF reader." – MacStories "The best app for managing, editing, and reading PDFs on your iPad." – The Sweet Setup ▶ WITH PDF EXPERT, YOU CAN: READ PDFs - PDF reader with Day, Night, and Sepia modes for comfortable reading anytime - Scroll PDFs vertically or horizontally and search text in any document - Open and view PDF files from email, web, Files, or any app via the Share menu - Read PDFs out loud with Text to Speech ANNOTATE AND MARK UP PDFs - Highlight, underline, and strike through text in your PDFs - Mark up documents with pen, shapes, text, notes, and comments - Add stamps such as Approved or Confidential - Record your voice and add audio notes to PDFs FILL AND SIGN PDF FORMS - Fill out PDF forms with text fields, checkboxes, and radio buttons - Sign PDF documents in seconds – draw your signature or add it from an image - Save your signature to sign contracts, agreements, invoices, and applications faster - Fill, sign, and send forms right from your iPhone – no printing or scanning needed - Supports all major form formats, including AcroForms and static XFA forms ***PREMIUM FEATURES*** EDIT PDFs - Edit text directly in a PDF – just as you would in a Word document - Add, replace, and resize images in your PDFs - Add links to other pages or websites - Add outlines to navigate large PDFs CREATE AND CONVERT PDFs - Create PDFs from Word files, images, and other documents - Convert Word to PDF, JPG to PDF, and PNG to PDF in seconds - Convert PDF to Word, Excel, PowerPoint, JPG, PNG, and TXT MERGE, SPLIT AND ORGANIZE PDFs - Merge and combine multiple PDF files into one - Split PDFs and extract pages into a new file - Add, delete, rotate, and reorder pages with thumbnail preview COMPRESS PDFs - Compress PDFs to reduce file size for email and sharing - Shrink large PDF files to save space on your device SUMMARIZE PDFs WITH AI – PDF COPILOT - List Main Points – get key takeaways from any PDF - Summarize – get concise summaries of entire PDFs or annotations - Ask Anything – find details with AI answers and references - Explain – get instant explanations of words or phrases PROTECT YOUR FILES - Password-protect PDF Expert - Redact – permanently black out sensitive information WORK WITH SCANNED DOCUMENTS - Open scanned PDFs to fill out, sign, annotate, and share CONSTRUCTION TOOLS - Scale and measure drawings with the Measure tab - Polygon, polyline, and redline tools MORE FEATURES - Customizable toolbar - Presentation Mode - Print and share PDFs via email or cloud ONE ACCOUNT FOR ALL YOUR APPLE DEVICES One Premium subscription covers PDF Expert on iPhone, iPad, and Mac – no need to buy versions separately. Read more about our terms and conditions here: https://pdfexpert.com/privacy https://pdfexpert.com/terms Don’t hesitate to reach out to us at http://readdle.com/contact

About

Magnifying Glass Reader with Light for iPhone

Magnify text and images with ease. This app offers a zoom function to enlarge small print on menus or tiny details on screens. It also includes a light to illuminate your subject and a freeze-frame option for steady viewing.

Highlights
  • Magnify text and images
  • Built-in illumination light
  • Freeze screen for steady viewing
  • Zoom up to 5x
Features
Read full description

Writing too small to read on the menu? Images too tiny to see on a screen? Now you can zoom in to get a better look with Magnifying Glass! The #1 Magnifying Glass app in the app store. Hands a little shaky? Freeze the screen to see it better. Leave your reading glasses at home. Turn on the light to illuminate the area. Download Magnifying Glass today!

Screenshots

PDF Expert4 screens
Magnifying Glass Reader with Light for iPhone4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is rating: PDF Expert at 4.7 against Magnifying Glass Reader with Light for iPhone's 1.6. PDF Expert also leads on review sentiment (45% vs 15%) and ratings volume (216K vs 14). Magnifying Glass Reader with Light for iPhone's advantage is iOS requirement (7.0 vs 16.0). On price, ads, in-app purchases and monetization model 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. PDF Expert sells 10 in-app purchases, starting at $9.99 per month and Magnifying Glass Reader with Light for iPhone sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

PDF Expert holds the better App Store score, 4.7 against 1.6. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: PDF Expert has 216K ratings behind it against 14, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 45% of PDF Expert's written reviews are positive against 15% of Magnifying Glass Reader with Light for iPhone's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

PDF Expert ships an update fortnightly, Magnifying Glass Reader with Light for iPhone every 3 months. The most recent releases landed on October 26, 2026 and October 24, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard6 real differences · 5 level
PDF Expert versus Magnifying Glass Reader with Light for iPhone: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterPDF ExpertMagnifying Glass Reader with Light for iPhone
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.7 (216K ratings) — better1.6 (14 ratings)
Positive reviews45.4% of reviews — better14.7% of reviews
Number of ratings216K — better14
Update frequencyFortnightly — betterEvery 3 months
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree with in-app purchases
Best chart rank#88 — better—
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPod
Requires iOS16.07.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size301 MB5 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperReaddle Technologies LimitedToto Ventures Inc.

Customer experience

PDF Expert

All ratings216,255 ratings
Positive92.4%
Neutral2.3%
Negative5.3%
Written reviews1,173 reviews
Positive45.4%
Neutral7.5%
Negative47.1%

Magnifying Glass Reader with Light for iPhone

All ratings14 ratings
Positive7.1%
Neutral14.3%
Negative78.6%
Written reviews34 reviews
Positive14.7%
Neutral8.8%
Negative76.5%

Bugs and requests

PDF Expert

Reported bugs

4 issues
  • Corrupted PDFs after editing
  • Sync issues with cloud storage providers
  • Unexpected loss of annotations and edits
  • Unreliable performance on older iPad models

Requested features

5 requests
  • Improved palm rejection for Apple Pencil
  • Customizable toolbar and annotation presets
  • Better integration with other productivity apps
  • More flexible file management and organization
  • Ability to create fillable PDF forms

Magnifying Glass Reader with Light for iPhone

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

10 purchases

PDF Expert

Subscriptions9
  • PDF Expert Premium Trial7 Days trial$9.991 Month
  • PDF Expert Premium No Trial$9.991 Month
  • PDF Expert for Education7 Days trial$39.991 Year
Show 6 more
  • PDF Expert Premium7 Days trial3 variants$49.991 Year
  • PDF Expert Premium New7 Days trial$49.991 Year
  • PDF Expert Premium Existing7 Days trial$49.991 Year
  • PDF Expert – Premium Editing1 Year trial$49.991 Year
  • PDF Expert Mac & iOS Pro7 Days trial$79.991 Year
  • PDF Expert Mac & iOS7 Days trial$79.991 Year
One-time1
  • PDF Expert Basic$9.99
1 purchases

Magnifying Glass Reader with Light for iPhone

One-time1
  • Unlock All$1.99

Questions

Is PDF Expert free?
PDF Expert is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Magnifying Glass Reader with Light for iPhone free?
Magnifying Glass Reader with Light for iPhone is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, PDF Expert or Magnifying Glass Reader with Light for iPhone?
PDF Expert is rated higher. PDF Expert averages 4.7 out of 5 from 216K ratings, while Magnifying Glass Reader with Light for iPhone averages 1.6 from 14 ratings.
Do PDF Expert or Magnifying Glass Reader with Light for iPhone have ads?
Neither PDF Expert nor Magnifying Glass Reader with Light for iPhone shows ads.
Which is updated more often, PDF Expert or Magnifying Glass Reader with Light for iPhone?
PDF Expert ships an update fortnightly, and Magnifying Glass Reader with Light for iPhone every 3 months. Most recently, PDF Expert was updated on October 26, 2026 and Magnifying Glass Reader with Light for iPhone on October 24, 2026.

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