Viewing PDFs on Android

Hello,

We leverage Aspose.PDF in our Web Application that works great on everything except Android. On Android, rather than presenting the PDF document, it asks the user to download the file and then open the PDF after locating the filepath.

Could someone help give a second opinion to our main developer’s feedback?

“Looks interesting, but there is no SDK for Javascript and it would add yet another layer for us to maintain. The cloud version could work, but we would have to pay per use, not sure how to pass that cost to the customer. At this point I think we will just have to rely on the PDF viewers that already on Android devices.”

Thanks,
-Kevin

@kevinuppal,

Thanks for sharing your issue with us.

We would like to inform you that forum.groupdocs.com is specific for GroupDocs products, therefore, we are forwarding your inquiry to Aspose forum to provide you the best possible solution. We shall shortly create a separate topic on your behalf on Aspose forum and respond you there. Please stay tuned with us.

Aspose feedback directed me to use GroupDocs.Viewer to resolve the viewing on Android issue

@kevinuppal,

We have created a new topic on your behalf on Aspose forum. Your inquiry will soon be entertained here: Viewing PDF on Android - Free Support Forum - aspose.com.

Hello,

The Aspose forum told me what we already know. Is GroupDocs.Viewer not the option to use so that users can view PDFs directly on Android browsers?

@kevinuppal,

Thanks for coming back to us.

Yes, GroupDocs.Viewer can serve you in order to view the PDF documents in the browser. In fact, GroupDocs.Viewer is a back-end API that provides the rendering of the document pages in the form that can be easily displayed in the front end application. The API provides the following modes to render a document.

  • HTML based rendering: In HTML based rendering, the API generates the HTML representation of each page of the source document. You can easily manipulate the HTML content of each page as a string. You can either embed the HTML content directly in your application or save it as an HTML file and display it in the browser.
  • Image-based rendering: In image-based rendering, the API converts each page of the document into an image (PNG, JPG, BMP). You can easily save the image to your desired location and display it in your application to view the content of the document.

Please share with us the platform (.NET or Java) you would like to use the API in. We shall be looking forward to hearing from you.

Thanks for the response.

Can GroupDocs.Viewer work in conjunction with Aspose.PDF or does it replace the functionality completely? Is there also a SDK available?

@kevinuppal,

Thanks for your response.

Yes, you can use GroupDocs.Viewer in combination with Aspose.PDF in the same application without any issue. Please share with us the platform (.NET or Java) in which you are interested to use the API so that we can share with you the resources to learn about the features and usage of GroupDocs.Viewer. We shall be looking forward to your response.

Hi usman.aziz,

We use Javascript and ASP .NET.

@kevinuppal,

Thanks for sharing the required details.

Following are the useful resources for you to learn about the usage of GroupDocs.Viewer for .NET:

Please note that GroupDocs.Viewer for .NET is totally a back-end API (comes as a single DLL) that provides back-end features for document rendering. You will have to create your own front end UI in order to view/display the rendered document pages.

We have also developed the open source document viewer application using GroupDocs.Viewer for .NET - GroupDocs.Viewer-for-.NET-MVC. You can use this application as well as learn from it the working of the API. In case you would have any other questions or queries, please feel free to let us know.