Official Adobe PDF Reader Lands in WP8 Store

Something that I thought would never come to the WP8 marketplace finally arrived today, the official Adobe Reader PDF client; although we have found other alternatives to suite our needs it’s nice to have one more in your app drawer.

According to the WP Blog:

With the free Adobe Reader you can open and read a wide variety of PDF documents, including ones that come password protected. Built-in features include the ability to copy and paste, search the text for specific words, and zoom in on a page. Navigate docs quick with thumbnails, then read page-by-page or in continuous scroll mode. Hyperlinks and bookmarks are supported, too, so you can jump directly to a webpage or to a particular section of a PDF.

You can grab the app from the link below:

http://windowsphone.com/s?appId=134e363e-8811-44be-b1e3-d8a0c60d4692

Unfortunately the PDF experience on WP8 is nowhere near complete, even with the latest addition to PDF clients; as one of the comments mentions on the WP blog:

This is the best they could do? Besides reading a PDF, I can do a search and see the term highlighted, and step through occurrences. That may be better than MSs PDF Reader app, which lets me search, but provides results outside the document. Other than that Adobe’s does little. MSs app at least allows a kludge method for sending a PDF, and allows rotation.

Beyond the barely adequate offering from either source, the whole PDF experience is embarrassing. You can get a PDF in an email, and now you can opt for PDF Reader or Adobe Reader to open it. Either one you pick, does not put it in the other’s library, they are separate. You can of course open it with the other app, but since they are separate, you now have three copies on your device, mail attachment and each app store.  Can you see it in Office documents, heck no, that’s a different place.  Of course you can get a PDF into Office Documents three ways, sync via desktop app, copy to Documents folder from desktop via file explorer, and download from SkyDrive. Can either PDF app see stuff in the Office documents. Heck no, put if you click one from Office it will offer to let you chose which app to open it with. Then it will be in the apps directory, AND in the Office Documents. Again multiple copies. At least you can delete copies you no longer need.

How about sending one out. Well if you got it via e-mail you need to use PDF Reader (MS) as it has the load it to SkyDrive and attaché from there kludge. Adobe Reader (Adobe) has no such feature. Of course if have it in the Office Docs you can ‘share’ it from there. Remember there are a few ways to get a PDF into the Office Docs folder, but one of them is NOT save it from an email attachment.

That all clear? Sure it is.

So how about we get the option to save a PDF that comes in an e-mail to the Office Hub, and get one PDF app that combines what the two do now…..at least. I really don’t care who does it. Personally I think MS has enough of a handle on PDFs that they could do it and have a vested interest in getting it right. So far though ADobe’s has sone a better job rendering a few sample files I threw at both apps. Not sure Adobe gives a rat’s hindquarter about WP though..

Source

Category: Applications, Lumia, Nokia, Windows Phone