Michal Ždanský Although the iPhone can natively open a wide variety of file types, it does not itself offer any storage where you can save your documents or download email attachments. Fortunately, a number of applications with many advanced functions have been created for this purpose. ReaddleDocs is one of them, it excels in its category and leaves behind even a popular application goodreader.
This is a very versatile application with many features, so I will try to break them down into individual paragraphs to cover most of them clearly.
Reading PDF
Viewing PDF files is one of the main domains of ReaddleDocs, but also of competitor Goodreader. This advantage is mainly based on its own browsing engine, which replaces the native one, but it can be switched at any time. ReaddleDocs' own engine is as fast and smooth as the pre-installed one, its advantage is better processing of large files of several tens to hundreds of megabytes.
In browsing, ReaddleDocs goes even further. It offers pleasant navigation in the document, the scroll bar tells you which page you are on, and you can quickly go to the specified page with the first icon at the bottom left. With the next button on the left, you can lock the orientation of the document, thus preventing distracting filming if, for example, you are reading in bed.
Searching for words is also key, which the application handles perfectly, the found words are marked in yellow and you can go through them step by step. As soon as you know that you will be returning to a certain place in the document, then the option to create your own bookmarks, which you can find under the upper "+" button, comes in handy.
During normal viewing, it is not possible to mark individual sections of text for saving to the clipboard. This is done by the "Text Reflow" function, which breaks down the entire document into plain text, from which the necessary excerpt can then be copied. During this process, however, the formatting of the document will change, which must be taken into account. Therefore, the author at least implemented the possibility of changing the font size, since the expanded text cannot be zoomed in the classic way.
"Print" is also an interesting option, however, the application itself cannot print, it only passes the print job to another application, specifically Print n Share. Maybe AirPrint will be added with the next update.
Manage and share
Probably the first important thing will be to get the files into the application. Today, this can be done using classic methods – USB transfer via iTunes, Wi-Fi transfer, from an email attachment, from another application that supports sending files between applications and even via mobile data. You can also get files from the Internet, but more on that later.
So now we have the files in the documents folder, which is the basic storage location. You can organize it as you like by sorting it into folders. Don't worry, you can do this operation with files in bulk. You can also mass delete, send by e-mail or archive. The application supports the ZIP format and, in addition to packing files into an archive, can also unzip them. If you work with individual files, you can rename them, copy them, or possibly send them to another application.
As for the types of files that ReaddleDocs can open, there are no big surprises among them, they are generally those that the iPhone can open natively, i.e. all possible types of text files and other documents from the Office or iWork family, audio, supported video, there is also the ePub book format.
After all, the application has its own engine for reading, which it calls Raddle Bookreader. It's a kind of simplified book reader where you scroll through the pages by clicking on the left or right side. The text file is thus scrolled across the pages horizontally like in a book, not vertically like a document. You can then choose the font size and font in the settings.
If you would like to store sensitive documents or other files in any way, you can set a password in Settings to prevent unauthorized access to your files.
Web Storage & Mail
One of the big pluses of ReaddleDocs is the ability to connect to various web repositories, so you can de facto eliminate the need to upload files directly from your computer. In addition to downloading, files can also be uploaded, so this is an almost full-fledged interaction with these services. From the supported repositories and services we can find here:
- dropbox
- GoogleDocs
- iDisk
- WebDAV servers
- Box.Net
- MyDisk.se
- filesanywhere.com
In addition to these repositories, ReaddleDocs offers its own, so with the application you get your personal cloud space of 512 MB.
The application can also browse your mailboxes in the same way as web storage, and download files or text in TXT or HTML format from them. In the basic menu you will find from well-known providers GMail, Hotmail, MobileMe, but of course you can configure your own mailbox from other providers if it supports POP3 or IMAP protocol.
Gallery
Internet browser
To make connectivity completely complete, ReaddleDocs also has an integrated Internet browser. It can automatically detect when a file should be downloaded. As soon as it records such a file, the application will ask you where you want to save the file and, if necessary, you can also change its name. After clicking “Done” the download will start. If you would like to save the given page or direct link, use the "Save" button at the bottom.
Among other things, it supports bookmark browser and remembers which page you last visited. Back and forward buttons are a given. You can then leave the browser by pressing "Exit"
ReaddleDocs vs. Goodreader
The biggest competitor of ReaddleDocs is without a doubt Goodreader (hereinafter referred to as GR), which has a long tradition on the App Store and is popular among many users. I myself used it for a long time. So which app seems better?
Where GR fails in PDF viewing, ReaddleDocs excels. All zooming or movement in the document is very smooth, but unpleasantly jerky in the competing application. I have experienced this problem with both PDFs and images. It is strange that the application referred to primarily as a PDF reader has the most problems in this activity.
As for other formats. both applications are on the same page. It cannot be denied that GR is capable of a lot of other useful functions, such as file encryption, but in the main one, its functionality lags considerably. At least it makes up for the various annotation, highlighting, and drawing options directly into the PDF that ReaddleDocs might be missing a bit.
In terms of user experience, ReaddleDocs has an interesting and imaginative design, the application environment is perfectly coordinated, including the web browser. In contrast, the GR offers a very austere, purposeful design. As for the price, GR raised the price to €2,39, but for that he made available for free all the services that were previously only available as an In-App Purchase. ReaddleDocs will cost you about €1,6 more.
But I personally think that the investment of less than two dollars more is worth it, and you get a first-class document reader, file storage, web storage manager and Internet file downloader all under one roof.
ReaddleDocs - €3,99
I firmly stand behind everything that was written. on the iPad, it's the most important app. Integration with multiple DropBox accounts, attachments from gmail and self-synchronization in both directions with mack is an absolutely genius combination of features in one application for me. $5 well invested or whatever it was back then…
I need better iFILES. This application must not (?) be able to create its own folders in "Documents". Or if I want to open a file in another application, I must first click on the icon in the upper right corner, then click on the "i" icon next to the given file and then select the "Open in Other App" option. The iFiles application has it simpler - there I simply swipe right on the required file. A window pops up and I choose "Open in", i.e. it's much faster and more practical.
On the other hand, in terms of appearance, ReaddleDocs is much nicer than iFiles.
Ah, I know folders ;-) I've already figured it out :))
I think none of these NEMA applications on iFiles
Or iCab…. and you download the file directly in the browser and upload it directly to dropbox... so one step less... everyone needs something different...
iCab is a browser. As a file manager and file viewer, I personally wouldn't dare tag it…
It was free about a month ago, so I downloaded it and I have to say, it's really perfect.
Thanks for the nice article. Personally, I used to use Files in the lite version (I didn't mind the 200 MB limit), then after various reviews in the appstore I switched to GoodReader and I've stayed with that. In between I tried FileApp for a while (I got the Pro version for free) but ended up sticking with GoodReader. After a while, I got a good deal on ReaddleDocs again (free or for a dollar, I don't know anymore), but somehow I didn't find time to test it, and GoodReader could do everything I needed at that moment (and was still improving, adding new functions). So now I'm going to try the ReaddleDocs one. It is true that I have one PDF file (Computer magazine 29,4 MB) that I could not open in anything. GoodReader always crashed when opening it. I think ReaddleDocs might be able to handle it, so I'll see.