PDF Reader and Editor on Android

Want to not just read of your PDF file on your Android devices? perhaps I was too late to found out, Xodo and PDF Max Free could be some examples of freemium apps that could edit your files or PDF Tools, a premium apps with features that we all needed to edit a PDF files.

Picture 1. Some PDF Editor Available on Google Play Store

Well, which one of these apps that wins my heart of read, edit, annotate, or sign a PDF document. I've been tried on all of these apps for quite some time, using it, test it and (perhaps) buying it. As we noted, PDF Tools is a premium apps, but in here we use freeware tools or lite version first. 

Xodo 

The first freemium apps that I encountered and been using it is Xodo. As a freeware apps, Xodo offering a great features, almost as great as premium one. Let's we break down these features. 

In Xodo every buttons is place on top of apps, button to arranges page view, search text, share button, page view button, bookmarks button, editable features button and other menu button represent by three little box arrange vertically. Well, that's the basic and all of the buttons available in the apps.

Picture 2. Default Button in Xodo

In edit function, we'll be seen several buttons more. Comment with the text style buttons, strikethrough and underline style, signature, freehand, eraser, textbox, several shape buttons. The eraser itself only erase the freehand draw, and signature is literally we do signature on paper in these apps.

Picture 3. Edit Function Inside Edit Button in Xodo Apps, Up: when screen tilt landscape mode, Down: default potrait mode

We could add text by using textbox function and place it wherever we like to position to. We also can modify text style, the text color, font size, font type, etc. After textbox added, we could changes its styles by tap the textbox and pop up 3 buttons on top of it, also able to changes text or delete. How about sign a document? No problem, there is Sign feature in Xodo. Just hit the sign button and you just sign your document, whether using your finger to create hand signature or using smartphone stylus.

Picture 4. Xodo Hand Signature Feature

That's the things of beauty in Xodo, everything is smoothly to edit without any problems with, but we couldn't delete, extract, or insert page(s), only rotate page. Insert and extract images also unavailable in Xodo, we could draw shape or something but not place an images. The only file type that could be handled by Xodo is PDF format.

PDF Max Free

While we can't do much on pages with Xodo, in PDF Max Free we could add, extract, delete, and rotating pages. 

Picture 5. Page Editing in PDF Max Free Apps

The editing buttons is a small area place on right side of screen, but don't you worry, it hold hidden buttons when you scroll up.

Picture 6. PDF Max Free Button (break down as screen is not big enough)

There's annotation, highlight, strikethrough, underline, squilly, draw shapes, freehand tool, signing tool, stamp, and many more. Yes, more editing tools than Xodo. Little note that I feels when add textbox or posisitioning it, is not as smooth as I used Xodo. Not just positioning, resizing also made me some issues. 

The common thing with Xodo is unable to insert images in to pdf document. This is the downside with freemium apps, I hope this problem could be fixed with premium one.

PDF Tools (lite)

Well, the last tools I itch to used is PDF Tools Premium. But, unfortunately I am still afraid to bought it. I tried the lite version first, but I think it's not represent the real capabilities from the apps.

Why? Too many essential features are locked, so I wouldn't know if these apps is powerful as they said. From the features that been preview on apps, is capable to split or merge pdf, delete pages, flip or rotate pages, create pdf from text or html, and extract pages.

Picture 7. All PDF Tools (lite) Menu and Features

All the free features I've been tried, and it conclude that every features are promising. But, only the merge pages or pdf documents I still haven't hack into it in these lite version, same like the others we can't inserting an image onto pdf document.

Conclusions 

From all the three free Android apps to edit pdf document, I love the way things with Xodo, but with some features that PDF Max Free offers could covered the Xodo lost capabilities, even from lite version of PDF Tools apps.

So in the end, I end up with all those three apps just to edit some pdf. But wait, what about inserting an image to document? I still to find another Android pdf editor that worth of money. Do you have any idea what pdf editor on Android Smartphone are capable of doing that? Give me some feedback, if you have one. Thank you.


notes:
All images editing in these post are conducted on Android Smartphone Xperia Z with Lollipop using Photolayer and Image Editor

Microsoft Office for Android Smartphone (at last) on Xperia Z

Overview

Microsoft already a year ago turns their products running for mobile, but only for simple editing and compatible with Office 365 subscription.

Figure 1 Microsoft Office Mobile Apps for Android

Microsoft still try their best to reach out mobile users, especially when they already has mobile phone platform to begin with. The products update on Android users available limited only for phablet or devices comes with 7” inches and up display.

Even though Android platform is one of their market competitors, but the users is one of those opportunities to reach in. Using Microsoft Office products and Cloud Computing SaaS to strife other platforms and still able to wins their heart of using Microsoft products.

Enough said for how Microsoft gain their profits using their software plus Clouds, it’s time to see their own product for Android smartphone device, which no longer on beta version or invitation only bug finders. The Office apps is already on Android Google Play Store and comes with specifications are any smartphone that running Android Kitkat 4.4.4 or so with plenty of space on internal memory, writer recommended minimum 4GB free space, and 1GB of RAM for running one of the apps.

Another thing to keep in mind, to use most of Office apps features you'll need Microsoft account and pay the subscription to use full features. But, Office apps itself is still able to use to open and simple edit, if you don’t have Microsoft account.

Figure 2 Microsoft Office for Android Smartphone and Tablet with 4.4.4 or up Versions

We could find the apps for smartphone on Google Play Store, where before we hardly found it or can’t install without any invitation, to used and test it. Each of apps comes with different sizes and in the process of installation, we also have to download additional file first. This additional file making the apps become bloat, but these are needed to provide high performance apps and using low resources.

 

Figure 3 Comparisons File Size Before and After Installation

Microsoft Office main apps itself comes with 3 (three) major office productivity application, which are Word, Excel and PowerPoint, even though there are other apps we could found in Google Play Store like Outlook, Office Lens, and One Note. Our first initialize of those three apps, a splash screen with intro page before we need to input Microsoft Account. Then, on first screen we’d offer to start using or upgrade service with our Office 365 paid subscription account. If you want to start using it, prepare to sign in first with Microsoft Account.

 

Figure 4 First Time Initialize of Three Microsoft Office Mobile

  

After we setup and configure using Microsoft Account, we could see our files list has been arrange time modified sort. Either on cloud storage like OneDrive, Dropbox, Google Drive, etc or inside our device. The file that Word could handle, right now limited to .doc or .docx file only, because my .rtf, .txt, and odf file aren’t on the list and Word never asked me which kind of file type that need to associated and file type to be working with Word only with .docx. While Word could handle .xls or .xlsx file only and save to .xlsx, and PowerPoint handle file with .ppt and .pptx extension and save to (you could guess it, yep) .pptx extension.

Word

The first one is Word, just like Microsoft Office Word available on PC or Mac, these one is the mobile version of the original one. The main functionality is to create a document for people productivities, like making reports, journals, notes, books, letters, etc. Word provide with many kinds of template that we could be used to initialize our work without many efforts just to format it like they need to looks like.

Next on apps, the UI almost feel like using Microsoft Office 2013 Web version or online version, but condense or comprises onto single format button. Main menu button presented by three bar stacked on upper left corner, followed by format and styles button, reflow view button, save file button, share button and undo button on other end in same level. The difference between those two, beside button, there’s reflow text function. What’s this function anyway? Like the other Office apps, Word is capable to adjusted display text input to make users comfortable working with this apps.

The compliance between Office Word for Android Smartphone files and PC or computer version files is perfect. These means that if you want to continue working your documents on Computer to your Tablet or Smartphone would be no problem and even if you want to continue working with your documents seamlessly, just connected with OneDrive account.

All features on Word Online is available on Word for Android phone, but not all of these features are able to used, except insert references. Even with Microsoft account connected, you'll need paid subscription to Office 365 account. Sadly to said, features like page orientation, page break, and columns only available to paid subscription users.

Microsoft Word for Mobile is indeed a powerful apps for productivity, I’ve been tested to use these apps several days. For some reason with Sony Xperia Z resource using Lollipop, Word is always re-open the file that I’ve working on, while switching to other apps. I don’t know whether this is the default operation, but looks like Word only works with 1 (one) apps window, that happened too while I tried to opened second Word file. While inserting shape or text box isn’t a big deal to Microsoft Word, but different thing applied inserting image. I tried inserting an image, but there isn’t any result that indicate the image is inserting to Word page, I already send a feedback to Microsoft Developer to fix this.

Handling many pages or thousand characters or even thousand words is not a problem, even not made apps crash or lagging on performance. But keep in mind that only occurs with print flow text. Different if you on re-flow text you’ll find lags on typing, this occurs when document reach more than 15 pages. Not only for typing, includes insert table, shapes, and other kind of formatting.

Excel

Microsoft Excel is same with previous Microsoft Office apps, you able to use its feature with your Microsoft Account. After a few minutes to setup and login your Microsoft account, then Microsoft Excel available to used it.

Not like Word apps, on Excel apps every features are available to be used free with Microsoft Account integration. Microsoft Excel not having reflow text button, I have open many type of Excel files to test how the apps could handle everyone of it. Start with blank workbook, using the Excel template, open file with a thousand or so lines, open with more than 10 worksheets, with many pictures or charts, and even creating chart with more than two thousands line of data not even glitch or sluggish feeling.

This is incredible, really, magnificent. I had some lag with another Office apps while opening file with four thousand-ish line of data, or creating several charts with a thousand of data. But, then again same like Word, we could only work with a single file and not able to insert an image, not even smallest pixel of an image (120px x 120px).

PowerPoint

Well, now the last Microsoft Office apps, the Microsoft PowerPoint. The one that created a presentation show on line of Office application in Microsoft. Same with all, for the first time we need to sign in to Microsoft Account before using with all features.

How you using this apps is up to you, but on my opinions and I prefer using on portrait mode, why? Because on portrait mode, we still could see part of text or area that we edit or insert it. While on landscape, most of it will be covered up with keyboard.

Same with Microsoft Excel, PowerPoint does really know how to handle the job pretty well with all features and menu all could be access and used. Try to opened presentation file with 20 and more slides with pretty much of image inside it, there’s no lag on apps. Even, open a file with 4MB-ish file had no problem. The euphoria seems to be stop with unable to insert an image onto slides, I still don’t know whether still mere hardware problem or still need work to do from Microsoft itself.

Conclusions

Microsoft know their product and how to handle it, because I’m amazed with how the apps is work, and whatever we’ve been working on Mobile it’s formatted exactly on Computer. The OneDrive itself gave advantages to be able working on any devices or any platform, and save our work anytime and anywhere, convergence they said. Google drive or Dropbox is the same as cloud storage, made our work is accessible from any devices or any platform, but the compatibility could be some issues.