2018-01-16:
Greetings Tariq & fellow Acrobat users,
WARNING-- LONG POST
(BUT NO HARSH LANGUAGE!)
I've found this topic just now via web search (not using Google though!).
I really appreciate what you've shared Tariq. At least it now seems clear that iPads are feasible. Any idea which model(s) and generation(s) of iPad actually work well, or at all?
I believe you are an honourable rep for Adobe, Tariq. I can also very much understand Jeromen's disappointment. If the website wording is what Mark shared, I would definitely agree it is misleading about what you can do with either subscription (Acrobat DC or PDFPack) on a particular mobile device.
I'm going to assume this outcome is not deliberate on Adobe's part. After all, what good does it do to upset paying customers the way Jaromen is? It would be great to learn that he and any other Android users received a partial or complete refund of their subscriptions. And I think it's worth pointing out that Adobe's decision to offer month-to-month subs at least with DC nicely limits the liability and the damage, making such refunds much simpler and I really hope much easier.
Full disclosure: I don't work for Adobe or own any Adobe stock. Presently I use Acrobat XI standalone on Windows, and have used earlier versions dating back to 4.0 if memory serves me correctly. I actually don't like the programming directions Acrobat DC moved towards in the last couple of years, but since version XI recently lost its official security updates support, I imagine I'll be forced to come along into the DC subscription world shortly.
Anyway... This happens to be a momentous day for me. Yesterday on ML King Day in the USA, Microsoft techs using the latest remote computing techniques tried for hours (again) to clean up various corruptions in my Windows 10 OS. They failed. So after 35 years(!) of endless struggles with bugs in successive versions of DOS and Windows (except for periods of blessed relief in the XP era), I'm putting my eyes on a different prize (a little Civil Rights Era talk, that!), or to put it another way I'm filling for a divorce from MS. No more Windows PCs, laptops or other devices in my future, if I have anything to say about it!
This seems a feasible step to take because I have increasingly come to appreciate and rely on Android phones and pads. Now that Android N (Nougat, aka version 7.x) is appearing on many more devices, true windowing of apps has at last reached the masses, so to speak. This resembled the key moment for Windows back in 1991 when Bill Gates finally managed to roll out a somewhat stable version (the famous 3.11) that could more or less reliably switch dynamically between programmes without closing anything down (or crashing more than just some of the time!). It wasn't particularly robust, but despite lingering problems it revolutionised user experience at a price point far below that of Apple machines, while offering far greater diversity of hardware and accessories. I believe we have just now reached a similar breakout point for Android N+, the difference being some version of Android is already deployed on literally billions of devices, most of them smartphones. That's a whole lot better situation than Bill Gates and MS faced 25+ years ago, both economically and otherwise for Windows and independent software developers like Adobe!
Why didn't I just drop MS for its old sparring partner Apple? Well, I did get an iPod Touch awhile ago just to keep abreast of iOS and its users, but can't say I'm personally attracted in that direction. Apple at its core (sorry about the pun) is just too directive, even authoritarian for my sensibilities. It was always thus under founder Steve Jobs, and still remains so. I made a choice way back in 1983 to go PC rather than Mac. I don't regret my choice, and nothing has happened in the Apple universe to convince me to jump back on that track now -- if only because of the high costs Apple imposes for the honour of being in their hard.
Despite the current ascendancy of the iPhone (and to a much lesser extent the iPad), I sincerely believe humanity will outgrow them fairly quickly as it enters more deeply into its collective adolescence and its relationship with tech continues to mature.
So, having said all this (and thank you all -- or perhaps any! -- for your patience if you've read this far), I find myself needing precisely what Jeromen and perhaps Mark as well are asking for or even demanding: the ability to edit text and graphics in existing PDFs on Android devices. Once I can do this, plus get reliable optical character recognition (OCR) of scans, and robust video and audio editing tools on Android, I can finalise my MS divorce.
I figured Adobe would play a key role with my needs involving PDF editing, despite the proliferation of Acrobat knockoffs. I imagine Adobe will maintain proprietary licensing control over certain key features for some years to come. I have no problem with that at all, as long as you prove reasonably responsive to user needs.
Adobe obviously has not completely ignored Android, for which I am grateful. I'm not so sure the same can be said for Chrome OS, which now shows definite signs of converging with Android into a single platform (check out the latest Chromebook laptop offerings that included Google Play Store access). In any case, what I believe is needed is serious PDF editing capacity built into one or more apps running on Android, Chrome OS, or both. Not only is the installed base of Android close to DOUBLE that of iOS, but there are real signs that Android or perhaps Chrome OS could make dramatic inroads into the Windows installed base in the next little while.
I imagine that is what Jeromen and perhaps Mark as well sought by subscribing. I would certainly join them in that wish!
It's early doors, I'm sure, but it would be very welcome news to hear Adobe is hard at work developing programming in the Android/Chrome fields. Can you help people like us learn more, possibly help with beta testing if it is needed, and the like?
You can reach me as needed on Facebook Messenger (Keith Schlesinger) or LINE (keith-schlesinger). I don't recommend using email at all if you really want to reach me!
Cheers!
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