The best PDF editor on iPhone and iPad

Posted by Campbell Bird on November 15th, 2015

Portable Document Format (PDF) documents seem like they should be ideal for use on phones or tablets - they have portable right in the name!

But, while PDFs are definitely readable on iPhones and iPads without an app, it isn't that easy to manipulate or create them without having to sift through a bunch of third-party software.

Fear not though! We at 148Apps have taken it upon ourselves to find the best PDF editor so you don't have to.


The best

PDF Expert - Editor & Reader

+ Universal App - Designed for iPhone and iPad
Released: 2013-12-03 :: Category: Game

FREE!

The best PDF editor has to be powerful and feature rich without feeling overwhelming or awkward, and PDF Expert 5 from Readdle achieves this with flying colors.

Almost anything you can think of doing with a PDF, PDF Expert 5 can do - from creating your own documents to having a document read back to you using text-to-speech functionality.

PDF Expert 5may be a tad expensive but it's a universal app and plays well with Readdle's suite of productivity apps, as well as others like Dropbox and Google Drive. We highly recommend it.

Honorable mentions

iAnnotate PDF

iPad App - Designed for iPad
Released: 2010-04-01 :: Category: Game

FREE!

iAnnotate PDF is the closest competitor toPDF Expert 5. It has a sleek interface and many of the same tools and connections that PDF Expert 5 offers.

It even has some more nifty features like an annotations list for quick referencing and support for more cloud service connections like OneDrive and Box.

That being said, iAnnotate PDF is for iPad only and its syncing features - while more numerous than PDF Expert's - don't seem to work as well.

GoodReader PDF Editor & Viewer

+ Universal App - Designed for iPhone and iPad
Released: 2014-05-07 :: Category: Game

$5.99

GoodReader is one of those "best-bang-for-your-buck" options, provided you want to spend any money on PDF editing at all.

While seeming more geared toward reading, GoodReader has a lot of the same functionality as its more expensive counterparts, but the UI is a bit clunky.

TinyPDF - Fill Forms, Annotate PDF with Professional Reader

+ Universal App - Designed for iPhone and iPad
Released: 2013-02-12 :: Category: Game

FREE!

TinyPDF is probably the best free PDF editor out there.

It is limited in functionality though (i.e. it's the only editor on this list that can't create its own PDFs), but it otherwise offers an experience similar to iAnnotate PDF, but for free.

Is PDF Expert 5your favorite PDF editing app on-the-go? It's not? Well recommend us a good one in the comments below!

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