PDF reader not really a PDF reader :(
I was hoping for a built in PDF reader, not a way to store the pdf and pass it off to Adobe reader.
There are 2 MAJOR issues with this...
First if you are depending on Ad income you will not have an Ad displayed while the user is reading the PDF using Adobe reader
Secondly, the user can now grab your PDF (ie save it in Adobe reader) and bypass your application altogether or possible share it.
There are apps out that take PDFs and make applications out of them without using 3rd party applications such as Adobe reader so I know making a native reader is possible and has been done.
Is there any chance Andromo will get real integrated PDF reader capability?
Comments
I concur with Straybullet....
This "activity" is no different that if you were to include a "link" to download your PDF elsewhere and read it "outside" de App. I'd like the ability to keep the user "inside" the app when reading the PDF, otherwise the user can do whatever he/she wants with the PDF, something that I think we all would like to avoid with our content.
We're not avoid this topic like the plague, we're just busy working on Andromo that's all.
I understand your feelings about the new PDF Activity not being as integrated as you might have liked. This was done for a variety of reasons:
Writing a PDF reader is difficult, and currently there are no libraries on Android that provide this functionality in any meaningful way. Most options currently just convert the pages of the PDF document into JPG files and are very slow, which really isn't what anyone wants
Making use of Intents (one of the core ways to extend your applications in Android http://developer.android.com/guide/components/intents-filters.html) allowed us to take advantage of the Adobe reader app, which is one of the best PDF apps available for free.
This meant that we could create the PDF activity and provide the current functionality in a reasonable timeframe. Otherwise something different and more integrated would have taken much more time, and might not have been worth it to us financially.
If you are relying on ads to monetize your apps, the best advice I can give you is to create a good app. If it’s good you’ll make money on ads. If all you want to monetize is your PDF document, then I would suggest selling your app for a reasonable price.
You might also want to look at converting your PDF document into HTML and then using an HTML archive. The result won’t work as well as the Adobe Reader app, but you will have a bit more of the control you want.
Mark Mruss
No worries, you're free to share your opinions and disagree with what I said.
The current reality of the situation is that there was no financially feasible way for us to implement a fully integrated PDF viewer, without converting to the PDF to images or HTML (both of which we viewed as inferior solutions with performance issues). As a result we followed standard Android design practices and made use of another app for these features via an Intent.
Mark Mruss