PDF reader not really a PDF reader :(

licemeatlicemeat
edited August 2012 in General Discussion
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

  • centrodeportivocentrodeportivo
    Hi:

    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.
  • licemeatlicemeat
    edited August 2012
    Ok I guess I need to give an example of a product that can make an Android app out of a PDF...


    This takes a PDF and lets you insert audio, table of contents, thumbnails and has page flip if you want it. This is what I would love to see Andromo do instead of just launching Adobe reader.

    It also puts your Admob ads on the pages of the PDF
  • elmit2015elmit2015
    Nice program, ... that would be good to have within Andromo!
  • licemeatlicemeat
    I see this topic is being avoid like the plague from Andromo,....

    I just want to know if we will see a real PDF built in reader?


  • andromoappmakerandromoappmaker
    Hi,

    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

  • licemeatlicemeat
    edited August 2012
    Mark not to banter with you, but what I feel are valid points that I think you missed...

    To quote you... "If you are relying on ads to monetize your apps, the best advice I can give you is to create a good app."

    I could go the same and say to make money with Andromo you should make a really good app maker and not rely on intents and trust me I know what intents are.

    I have close to 100 apps on 3 different Google Play dev accounts using Basic4Android, Shiva 3D, Andromo and a few other IDES. 

    Also would you want to instant Microsoft Word only to find out you need Word Perfect installed (or Lotus  123) in order to run it, I doubt you would.

    And to say to make money we should sell the PDFs instead of using the built in ads due to the fact Andromo doesn't have a built in PDF reader is in my mind bad reasoning. Yes PDF to html is possible and i have done it, but its not the way to go.

    I can tell you from my personal experience and a few other people I know you make more on Android with free apps with ads than selling apps, now on Apple it's the reverse, but unless you guys are making Andromo for Apple I don't think this applies.


    Please don't make anymore "activities" that just launch 3rd party apps, built in functions like SMS, Phone etc are fine but requiring a user to install another app use to run mine is not what the end users want I promise.

    I like Andromo, just I hope this isn't a sign of things to come.
  • andromoappmakerandromoappmaker
    Hello straybullet,

    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


  • centrodeportivocentrodeportivo
    Hi Straybullet...

    I am trying another option for PDF reader because that is a feature I really need. Don't know if it will work as intendend, but it looks interesting,


    Good luck.
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