Which is better iannotate or goodreader

This isn't a tool that's focused on filling in forms or editing PDFs. Yes, it has basic editing functions, and you can annotate or sign pages, but that's more a way of adding your own notes to an existing document, the electronic equivalent of writing in the margins of a book, or when you want to review a document and share your thoughts with colleagues. While there are tools that can be used to, for example, type into forms, they don't integrate with modern PDF workflows.

As you can't work with embedded scripts, you're left using PDFs as if they were paper forms, missing out on many modern PDF features. GoodReader is designed to sync documents to a local file store, so you have everything with you, wherever you are. There's support for a lot of different sync endpoints, from cloud services to local drives on PCs and Macs. GoodReader's sync model does make working with cloud services a little harder; files need to be copied to your device before you can open them.

Connections don't need to be permanent, as you're able to use wireless connections to link to a device running GoodReader, so you don't have to connect to a network to transfer files.

PDF tools normally don't make good e-readers, but GoodReader is an exception to the rule. For times when you need to care about the original layout of the page -- for example, if you're proofreading a book and need to be aware of the original page order -- then using GoodReader on a large-screen phone makes sense, as it gives you a full page view rather than reflowing PDF content to fit mobile screens.

However, if you a tool for all but the most basic editing, you may need to look elsewhere. Left: iAnnotate 4 has a variety of toolboxes, each with its own set of tools. Right: In order to save a signature, you create it as a stamp. There's an excellent range of annotation tools -- in addition to the usual pen, highlighter, comments, shapes and arrows, strikethrough, underline, stamps and text boxes which can include today's date , you can insert photos and sound clips.

There's a really wide range of stamps, including grades ideal for teachers marking essays and signature lines, and you can make your own. If you want to choose your own pen colors, iAnnotate gives you a full color mixer, similar to those offered by Photoshop and other graphics software.

There are nice touches like an optional "wrist guard" that grays out the bottom of the screen and keeps it from accepting input. Tapping on the four box grid button in the top right brings you to a thumbnail view where you can move pages around and reorganize the PDF. It took us about 15 minutes of tapping around to discover if the feature existed. PDF Expert simply provides more tools for free and has better stability and performance across the app.

This helps PDFpen feel much more native to the iPad than other options we tested. There is a standard set of items like those found in other apps: comments, text, arrows, boxes, lines, and camera roll. There is also a massive set of proofing markup icons for proofreading documents and there are a range of great stamps for processing documentation for office workflows. As noted above, the list of PDF apps we tested for this review was extensive.

Here is a quick summary of our findings for each app. However, where iAnnotate 4 falls short is in design and organization. The app has extra small touch targets scattered throughout, specifically in the right tool sidebar. At best, the app is a PDF reader right now, with an exorbitantly expensive subscription that hides the ability to merge PDFs.

Acrobat does have Liquid Mode though, which is great for reading and jumping around a PDF when researching. On the left side, you can see an outline of the document and you can scroll through the document with your thumb.

Liquid Mode highlights exactly what Acrobat is good for: reading and previewing, but nothing more. GoodReader has strong Apple Pencil support, with some of the best handwriting features of any app tested here. The Apple Pencil sensitivity is a little on the sensitive side and there are numerous extra taps to delete, undo, or change an Apple Pencil annotation. All Books features are baked right into the share sheet, making importing into Books a breeze. Where Books falls short is, among other things, its markup tools.

PDF Pro 4 has a lot going for it once you get past the measly one-day free trial. If you do opt to pay for PDF Pro 4 though, the app has some solid features. The app can merge files nearly instantly — faster than nearly all other apps tested. There are good annotation tools for quick markup and you can fill PDFs right within the app however, our testing yielded some heavy bugs in fillable PDFs, mainly in invisible text.

Most PDF apps on the iPad use a top header bar to navigate and choose tools. However, PDF Hero opts for a left sidebar for housing tools, which is a great workflow for right-handed writers with the Apple Pencil.

The app is also easy to navigate and understand thanks to its reliance on text-based buttons rather than glyphs. There are still other PDF apps for the iPad that have very specific use-cases. Highlights does one thing very, very well: showcase your PDF highlights.

As you highlight and underline items in the PDF, Highlights takes those highlights and creates a split-screen view showcasing all the most important bits of information in the PDF. Overall, Highlights is likely best used by researchers or students who find themselves scouring through PDFs as they build a thesis or dissertation. LiquidText is another researcher-specific PDF app which provides you a very unique two-paned view for taking blurbs out of a PDF, taking notes on that specific blurb, and synthesizing your notes to other notes in other PDFs.

High level active reading often requires the need to jump from page to page or document to document to find connections. Just as the name suggests, this software is a good PDF reading utility. GoodReader allows you to open different files at a time and supports horizontal scrolling of files. It is also built with bars that allow you to navigate through pages effortlessly.

This iOS application is incorporated with an outstanding feature known as freehand drawing, which allows you to draw shapes with your finger.

When you want simple changes you can use GoodReader since it has simple editing options and annotations. With iAnnotate you will have a chance to explore its editing options such as annotate, comment, highlight, underline, edit texts and stamp PDF. I hope you like it. Email Address:. Skip to content. Home About me. Related posts on this blog: iAnnotate: a Swiss Army knife for marking up articles, paper drafts and data.

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