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djdelarosa25

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Nov 29, 2021
10
6
Philippines
I've tried using Notability but it's borderline unusable if you don't pay for it. I don't see myself taking notes on my iPad anytime soon so I'd rather not spend money on an app like GoodNotes (yet). I'm just looking for a free app that lets me annotate PDFs and make comments and all that, preferably with a good UI and tab support, since I find myself jumping between various files. I've tried using the built-in one in OneDrive but it doesn't have tab support and the handwriting kind of feels off. Thanks in advance!
 

chabig

macrumors G4
Sep 6, 2002
11,449
9,321
My apologies. I failed to note that we are in the iOS forum. For pdf annotations on iPhone and iPad, I really like GoodNotes, which you said you weren't ready for.
 

GerritV

macrumors 68020
May 11, 2012
2,264
2,729
You can drag-and-drop your .pdf document into a Note (Apple Notes app).
From within the Notes app, tap-to-open the file, next tap on the Pencil icon at the top right corner of your screen to enter Annotation mode.
The familiar Notes Toolbar will pop up, including a "+" button at the right where you can select Text and a few other options.

Perhaps not the most advanced way to annotate .pdf, but at least it's free.
 
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Hunter5117

macrumors 6502a
Mar 17, 2010
569
401
Perhaps not the most advanced way to annotate .pdf, but at least it's free.
I use this all the time. I use Notes for keeping record of research I do in the stock market, and then use my Apple pencil to annotate, highlight, etc. Pretty much anything can be exported into Notes it works great for me.
 

djdelarosa25

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Nov 29, 2021
10
6
Philippines
You can drag-and-drop your .pdf document into a Note (Apple Notes app).
From within the Notes app, tap-to-open the file, next tap on the Pencil icon at the top right corner of your screen to enter Annotation mode.
The familiar Notes Toolbar will pop up, including a "+" button at the right where you can select Text and a few other options.

Perhaps not the most advanced way to annotate .pdf, but at least it's free.
I just tried it and navigating between pages is difficult, especially with files with lots of pages since the scroll bar and the thumbnails have no page indicator. Also, switching between multiple files is a hassle because of the swiping gesture, I'd prefer tabs. I did some looking today and found PDF Expert. The free version of it seems to be pretty good (clean UI, good handwriting engine, and tabs) but I'm still open for suggestions. Thank you for suggesting!
 

GerritV

macrumors 68020
May 11, 2012
2,264
2,729
I just tried it and navigating between pages is difficult, especially with files with lots of pages since the scroll bar and the thumbnails have no page indicator. Also, switching between multiple files is a hassle because of the swiping gesture, I'd prefer tabs. I did some looking today and found PDF Expert. The free version of it seems to be pretty good (clean UI, good handwriting engine, and tabs) but I'm still open for suggestions. Thank you for suggesting!
Sorry, I didn't know there was a free version of PDF Expert. Hard to beat that one I guess :)
 
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