Cannot fill PDFs in Acrobat Reader mobile app even though security allows for filling in form fields

[christylee123]

I recently added security settings to some PDFs to prevent editing and commenting; we only want them to be able to fill the fields. (There are no signatures on these documents so signing is not required.) For some reason users can no longer fill them out in the Acrobat Reader iOS mobile app. The fields no longer appear blue and the following message appears:

These forms worked fine when there was no security applied to them. Users also have no issues filling the same forms out on the desktop app for Acrobat Reader DC and Acrobat DC.

These are the current permissions under the password security settings:
Printing Allowed: High Resolution
Changes Allowed: Filling in form fields and signing existing signature fields
Compatibility: Acrobat 7.0 and later

I also tried broadening the permissions and decreasing the compatability, however the fields could still not be filled:
Printing Allowed: High Resolution
Changes Allowed: Commenting, filling in form fields, and signing existing signature fields

Compatability: Acrobat 6.0 and later

Is this a bug or are there some additional security settings that I'm missing in order to restrict editing/commenting and enable mobile document-filling?

[Bernd Alheit]

This is not a bug.

[Harsh Vardhan Pareek]

Hi @christylee123 

Thanks for providing the details. As it is a password-protected PDF, and the reader mobile app has some limitations that actions that change the file are blocked on mobile devices, including Fill & Sign, commenting, and editing.

Here is a help document you can refer to:

https://community.adobe.com/t5/acrobat-reader-mobile-discussions/pdf-opens-as-read-only-on-i-phone/t...

Thanks,

Harsh

[christylee123]

Thanks very much for your reply @Harsh Vardhan Pareek.

So in other words, documents currently need to have no security applied in order to be filled out in the mobile app. Do you  know if Adobe is planning any future updates to the app so that it recognizes when fill-and-sign security is enabled?

[Harsh Vardhan Pareek]

Yes, with security enabled there are certain limitations on the Reader mobile app, you can refer to this help document to understand this better.

https://www.adobe.com/devnet-docs/acrobat/android/en/managingsubscriptions.html?password-protect-pdf...

Thanks,

Harsh

[S. S]

Hi @sunil_8836,

Hope you are doing well. Thanks for writing in!

This is a feature limitation with Acrobat Reader Mobile.

The file you are trying to fill is a password-protected file with basic restrictions.

If you are trying to work with this file, I suggest opening the file on the desktop version of the application.

Also, please feel free to share your feedback here: htpps://acrobat.uservoice.com/ to ensure it reaches the development team for review and future implementation.

Regards,
Souvik.