Features needed for the iPad Pro

[MOVED TO THE ACROBAT READER MOBILE DISCUSSIONS]

++ EDITED REPLY, fixed a few typos and rephrases some lines

There seems to be a confusion in how software vendors advertise their software.

Electronic signatures is the method that involves uploading an image as a signature, a wet signature( draw a signature using the touch screen of a mobile device with your finger), or by typing in  a name and a date in the blanks provided for that PDF using the mobile device's keypad.

Digital signatures, on the other hand, are different from electronic signatures because of how the type of security  mechanism that takes place during the signing action and after the signing action.

You can Use a  digital certificate in combination with uploading an image that will act as a the digital signature and appears to be very similar to how it is done with the elctronic signature method.

But it is different from signing a document with a electronic signature; specially in how the digital certificate protects and enforces the validity of such signature.

In addition, you may also choose to use a self-signed digital certificate that the user can customize at signing time (including signature creation appearance), or you may choose to use a smartcard reading device instead to sign the PDF document with the digital certificate credentials that are stored in the smart card itslef.

Therefore, It is worth noting that certificate-based digital signatures and electronic signatures are both considered a type of electronic signature (or both can also be considered a type of digital signature depending on the point of view).

The main difference, however,  is that certificate-based digital signatures employ scecurity encryption with algorithms  to encrypt/decrypt/protect the the certificate's credentialing data that is associated to the signer. Additionally, a trusted root certificate (also referred to as the certificate issuing authority), facilitates a unique digital time-stamp that seals the entire signing proces after the certicate's credentials are validated  (provided by a digital time-stamp server).

So in this context, the  feature that you're referring to  is not the electronic signature method. 

What you're inquiring about is how to employ a certificate-based digital certificate to sign a PDF from a mobile device.

However, electronic signatures is the only method that is  available with every mobile device; that is not an issue of Adobe's nor lack of a feature.

Moreover, the ability for a mobile device to employ this signing method  is also dependent on the mobile device's operating system type (and version), and the type of supported hardware.

If you're trying to employ a certificate-based digital signature to sign a PDF using a mobile device, or a smart card to access an encrypted webmail service ( or to access   a secured federated domain network), you need a few things, not just the mobile app.

See here:

• https://militarycac.com/mobile.htm#iPhone_and_iPad

In the meanwhile, you can employ Adobe Sign in this type of workflow.