Android PDF reader: fast, offline, small - pick two
April 27, 2010 4:35 PM Subscribe
I'm looking for a good offline pdf reader for android (specifically, the G1 running 1.5)
It seems like there are no good options for pdf readers on android. The fast small ones need an internet connection to render in the cloud, the small offline one takes half a minute to load a single page of text, and the fast offline reader is by far the largest application I have installed, at 10MB+... it's the G1, programming space if severely limited.
I can't use the readers that render in the cloud because half the time I'm in reinforced concrete bunkers (or their basements... stupid law school) that block cell signals. I tried "android pdf viewer" which seems to be the most popular offline reader, but it takes about 30 seconds to load a single text page - that's not very useful. Another viewer loaded quickly, but couldn't render half the letters...
Is there something like an android port of sumatra? I mean, that thing is less than 2 MB and would do everything I need it to do - I just want to be able to look at pdfs on my phone....
It seems like there are no good options for pdf readers on android. The fast small ones need an internet connection to render in the cloud, the small offline one takes half a minute to load a single page of text, and the fast offline reader is by far the largest application I have installed, at 10MB+... it's the G1, programming space if severely limited.
I can't use the readers that render in the cloud because half the time I'm in reinforced concrete bunkers (or their basements... stupid law school) that block cell signals. I tried "android pdf viewer" which seems to be the most popular offline reader, but it takes about 30 seconds to load a single text page - that's not very useful. Another viewer loaded quickly, but couldn't render half the letters...
Is there something like an android port of sumatra? I mean, that thing is less than 2 MB and would do everything I need it to do - I just want to be able to look at pdfs on my phone....
Best answer: I've been very happy with Beam Reader, it's not free but it is offline and allows you to zoom as well as see more than one page at at time.
posted by Confess, Fletch at 6:41 PM on April 27, 2010
posted by Confess, Fletch at 6:41 PM on April 27, 2010
I also use Beam Reader. My Nexus One came with Quickoffice preinstalled (can be purchased for tens of dollars from the Market as well), but that one's not particularly fast, and I found the page-flipping interface and lack of search to be annoying.
posted by Vorteks at 10:47 AM on April 28, 2010
posted by Vorteks at 10:47 AM on April 28, 2010
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by KokuRyu at 4:41 PM on April 27, 2010