All PDF: Reader, Editor

Review by eFreeware

What sets All PDF apart is that it does not stop at reading. The developer, Shkor, built it as a small document workshop: it opens PDFs and office files, turns images and paper scans into PDFs, and lets you merge or split documents afterward. A dedicated reader would leave you hunting for a second app for those jobs.

That combination is what makes it interesting to me. Students handling lecture notes and scanned handouts, office workers dealing with forms and reports, and anyone who regularly moves between file types would get the most from it. It is free to download, it carries ads, and there are no in-app purchases to think about.

The numbers give a mixed first impression. More than 100,000 installs suggest a fair number of people have tried it, while the 3.2 average across 865 ratings is modest. I would treat that as a sign to go in with ordinary expectations rather than high ones.

Reading PDFs and office files in one place

The core of the app is a viewer that handles PDFs alongside Word, Excel and PowerPoint files. The developer describes it as opening quickly and offering smooth reading, and says it works with most mainstream document formats. That breadth is the selling point: instead of switching between a PDF reader and an office suite, you can open what you have and read it.

I would expect this to suit document review rather than heavy editing. Reading a report, checking a spreadsheet or skimming a slide deck is the kind of task the app is built around, and the developer pitches it for daily work, study and business use. For someone who mostly needs to look at files rather than rewrite them, that focus is sensible.

The developer also calls the controls simple and easy to use, and describes the interface as clean. That is the sort of claim I take with a grain of salt, since it is the kind of thing every listing says. What it tells you is the intended audience: people who want to open a file and move on, not power users who want a deep toolkit.

Turning photos and paper into PDFs

Conversion is where the app earns its keep. You can turn photos, PNGs and JPGs into PDF files, so a set of images becomes a single document you can share or store. The developer includes a camera scanning function as well, which means you can photograph a physical sheet of paper and have it come out as a PDF rather than as a loose image.

That scanning path is the one I find most useful in principle. Receipts, signed forms, handwritten notes and printed pages all end up as PDFs, which is the format most people expect when they need to send something along. The app is billed as a creator and converter, and this is the part of that description that feels most concrete.

The conversions are described as fast, which is the sort of promise you can only judge once you try it. What matters more to me is that the workflow is short: take the photo or pick the image, and end up with a document. Anyone who regularly deals with paper would likely get the most out of this section of the app.

Merging, splitting and keeping files organized

Beyond conversion, the app includes tools for managing PDFs. You can merge several files into one, or take a single PDF and split it into separate documents. Those two operations cover a lot of everyday document work, from combining scanned pages into a single report to breaking a long file into parts you can send individually.

Organization gets some attention too. There is a recent documents list and support for favorite folders, so files you return to often are easier to find again. Merging, splitting and sorting files are built-in tools for routine PDF operations.

It also finds PDFs stored on your device and gathers them in one view. That means the app can act as a home for the documents already on your phone, rather than only for files you open through it. For anyone whose downloads folder has become a graveyard of PDFs, that single view is likely to be the most quietly useful feature here.

What the app asks of you

The practical terms are simple, which makes the cost of trying it low, with the trade-off being the advertising the developer has chosen to include. Whether that trade feels fair depends on how often you would open the app.

The app runs on Android devices and works as a lightweight viewer for daily tasks. It is rated for everyone, so there is nothing in the content rating to put off a general audience.

The rating is the other thing to weigh. A 3.2 average from 865 ratings is not a ringing endorsement, and I would not pretend otherwise. It does not automatically mean the app is poor, but it does mean you should approach it as a utility to try rather than a polished product to rely on from day one.

Getting the most from it day to day

The sensible way to use an app like this is to let it handle the jobs you already do. Scan a paper form straight to PDF instead of photographing it and converting later. Merge the pages of a scanned contract into one file before sending it. Split a long report so each recipient gets only the section they need.

The favorite folders and recent documents list are worth setting up early if you handle the same files repeatedly. Rather than browsing for a document each time, you keep the ones you use most within reach. Students working through a term's worth of notes, or office workers dealing with recurring templates, would notice the difference more than someone who opens a PDF once a month.

The centralized view of local PDFs is the feature I would lean on most. It turns the app into a place where your documents live, not just a tool you pass through. If your phone already holds a scattered collection of files, having them listed together is a small convenience that adds up over time.

A modest all-rounder for everyday documents

All PDF covers a lot of ground for a free app: reading PDFs and office files, converting images and paper scans into PDFs, merging and splitting documents, and keeping local files in one view. The developer has aimed it at students, office workers and anyone who needs basic document tools, and that is exactly who it fits.

The caveats are the ads and the middling rating. Neither is a reason to avoid the app outright, but together they suggest you should expect a workmanlike tool rather than a standout one. If your needs are simple and occasional, the free download makes it easy to find out for yourself.

My recommendation is for people who want one app to read, convert and tidy up documents without paying for it. If your documents are mostly PDFs you read and occasionally reorganize, this is the kind of utility that earns a place on your home screen. Anyone expecting a full editing suite should look at what the app actually does before installing.