why is Adobe trying to force me to buy Pro?

I'm having this issue as well.  I tried the pro version and canceled.  Everytime, I'm forced to pay up or it shuts down.  I'm looking for 3rd party solution.

I JUST started having the same problem on April 3, 2024 on my Samsung phone. I deiinstalled and reinstalled it.  Interestingly, if you open by itself you have the ability to click "not now" but if you open it from another app like a Gmail attachment, that button isn't there. This is completely predatory.  I think we should boycott Adobe until they stop this grift. I don't want to hear that I have to go through complicated machinations to bypass the issue. This is squarely on Adobe's shoulders. 

Also had this very annoying problem on my Samsung S24 phone.   The only way around it was to totally uninstall Adobe Acrobat Reader and install a 3rd party PDF reader.  Great strategy , Adobe!

getting the same thing and i work in IT so I know what i'm doing. adobe is forcing this crap. no wonder these big companies are getting sued all the time for deceptive practices

I think you downloaded the wrong one, acrobat pro, which is not free. The only free reader is this

https://get.adobe.com/reader/

which do not require sign in also.

when u installing it, it should appear this:

Mine is doing the same.

Could you post a screenshot of the Acrobat open with the popup message? That may help us identify something to help resolve this.

I'd sugegst that you log into Adobe account, as you did to get into this forum. Then click on your icon in the top right and choose Adobe Account. Then click on Plans and payment < Plans from the top. See if any you have anything listed there. Report of you see anything. This is just to check if some plan was initiated and so Adobe is trying to get you to continue.

If you do not want to use the paid version, you can click on the "Quit" option in the pop-up window to continue using the free version of Acrobat Reader.

If the pop-up window continues to appear every time you open a PDF, you may want to check your settings to ensure you have not accidentally enabled any notifications or promotions from Adobe. You can also try reinstalling Acrobat Reader to see if that resolves the issue.