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julianl21557442
julianl21557442
Participant
December 5, 2019
Question

PDF viewer usage stats

  • December 5, 2019
  • 2 replies
  • 1452 views

Does anyone have a link to any usage stats for different PDF viewers. I can find lots for PDFs creators, but nothing for readers. If I'm creating a PDF that will be put on a website, I assume I'll have to check that it works smoothly for Acrobat Reader, Chrome/Firefox/Safari's internal PDF viewers, iOS/Android readers, etc. - but are there any figures for relative mainstream usage? Is Acrobat Reader still the default option or should I consider it a minority interest now besides built-in browser/OS alternatives? And how is the picture different for emailed PDFs? Thanks!

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2 replies

Joel Geraci
Community Expert
Joel GeraciCommunity Expert
Community Expert
December 5, 2019

If you are in control of the website that the PDF will be loaded from, consider using the new View SDK from Adobe. It will create an HTML viewer and provide a consistent experience across all browsers. For emailed PDFs, send a link to the View SDK enabled site in the email rather than an attachment.

 

https://www.adobe.io/apis/documentcloud/dcsdk/viewsdk.html

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    December 5, 2019

    I don't think you can consider it a default any more. Many people don't install it, or install it and assume their browsing uses it when it doesn't. According to audience as many as half users will be on iOS/Android, where Adobe's reader can't even be made default. Emailed PDFs - just don't email them, they are often damaged by mailing, and email previewing of PDF is even flakier.

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