Software Review Articles

Goodreader PDF Editor & Viewer App

Goodreader PDF Editor & Viewer App for the iPhone & iPad (Version 5.1.6)

On Goodreader's 10th anniversary, Mashable described Goodreader, first released in 2009 for the iPhone, as "a Swiss army knife of awesome". I would have to agree. Goodreader is a must have killer app which allows you to read, annotate, edit and sign robust PDF files, view pictures and maps, Microsoft Office files, Apple iWork (Pages, Numbers & Keynote) files, HTML and Safari web archives, listen to audio, view video and open ZIP and RAR archives. In addition, any documents which have been edited or annotated in Goodreader can be viewed in any other application using PDF format.

Goodreader is a full featured professional tool for reading, editing and managing files. In fact, file management is one of the most important features of the app, allowing you to edit and annotate PDF's. Here are some of the features included in Goodreader 5.1.6:

  • Highlight and markup text
  • Add text boxes and popup notes/comments
  • Add freehand drawings using your finger or Apple Pencil and eraser (for freehand drawings)
  • Toogle palm rest zone on or off
  • Add lines, arrows, rectangles, ovals
  • Underline, strikeout and text insertion & replacement marks
  • Add a outlines (Table of Contents), bookmarks and annotations to documents
  • Rearrange, delete and rotate pages
  • Crop unnecessary page margins
  • Add and extract pages as well as append pages from other PDF files
  • Lookup (Dictionary, Google, Wikipedia)
  • Find text feature
  • Print files on AirPrint-enabled printers
  • Secure login includes your choice of password protection and Touch/Face ID

The Goodreader file manager "viewing mode" can be set as single or multi-column file lists; display choices are detailed list or small or large thumbnails and files can be sorted by name, date and file size. Documents can be viewed in horizontal or vertical orientation as well as a continuous "pageless" scrolling mode. A split screen mode feature on the iPad enables viewing two different documents or different parts of the same document making this very useful for comparing documents such as drafting contracts or research projects.

Goodreader would be an invaluable tool for attorneys since it includes "secure photocopy", which is the guaranteed elimination of all redacted text and images as well as hidden and deleted pages. For those requiring the ability to export sensitive documents outside of Goodreader (where Goodreader's encryption will not apply), secuirty features include the ability to add password protection with military-grade AES-256 encryption to PDF files and ZIP archives. Security features apply to individual PDF pages, extracting or exporting pages as separate password protected files, as secured photocopies (or both) and email.

Documents can be emailed directly from Goodreader and when emailing a document you can choose to flatten PDF annotations, which disallows editing by another party; another feature which would be an invaluable tool to an attorney or business with the need to protect sensitive or copyrighted information. 

Goodreader has the ability to access, transfer or automatic syncronization with other mobile devices, computers and remote servers and folders using WiFi and USB.

  • Cloud Services
    • Dropbox
    • Google Drive
    • Box.com
    • OneDrive
    • Sugar Sync
  • Servers
    • AFP (shared Mac folders, Apple Time Capsule)
    • SMB (shared Windows folders, NAS drives)
    • FTP (File Transfer Protocol)
    • SFTP (SSH File Transfer Protocol)
    • WebDAV (World Wide Web Distributed Authoring and Versioning)
  • Download attachments directly from email servers (IMAP and POP3)

Goodreader for iPhone Screenshot
Goodreader for iPad Screenshot

A full list of Goodreader's features can be found at http://www.goodreader.com/update_history.html

GoodReader PDF Editor & Viewer can be purchased on the Apple App Store for the iPhone and the iPad for $1.99

The in-app Pro Pack app purchase features Split Screen (iPad only), Encryption, Secure Photocopy and other security enhancements. In-app purchases include:

  • Pro Pack @ $7.99
  • Pro Pack (monthly) @ $0.99
  • Pro Pack (annual) @ $6.99

I have used this application for years on both my iPhone and iPad; it has been one of my core applications which I cannot imagine being without.  If you want your files in once place on your mobile devices so that you can organize, edit and share and/or have the need to synchronize your files to another mobile device, server, computer or iCloud service, this application would be an extremely efficient, cost effective purchase.