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We’re seeing more and more apps on the App Store adopting a subscription model, and I think this trend could spell trouble for many of them. Not every app can sustain a subscription-based setup. Paid updates might be understandable, but subscriptions are a different story.
I’m particularly unhappy with the subscription shift in PDF Expert 7. When I first saw the notification, I was upset, and I still am. There’s no way I’m paying $50 a year for just three features—that’s ridiculous! You can also opt to pay $12 per month, but it’s just not worth it.
Developers should consider expanding to Android and Windows platforms to increase revenue instead of relying on subscriptions, which just aren’t sustainable.
This review focuses on the free version of the PDF Expert 7 update. I’ll sign up for the trial version to explore the Pro features in a separate article. For those who previously bought PDF Expert 6 Pro, the good news is you get to keep your Pro features after updating to PDF Expert 7. PDF Expert 6 Pro was a one-time purchase of $20.
The interface has been improved; it’s cleaner and sleeker, which is expected for any app in 2019. I do like the new look. The app’s setup has slightly changed, with an option to create a PDF now available at the top of the sidebar.
However, the app seems designed to push users towards subscribing to the Pro version. It combines both available and unavailable features in a way that can be frustrating. This might be a good marketing strategy or a bad one, depending on the user. Personally, I won’t be subscribing. If I keep accidentally tapping on unavailable Pro features, I’ll just delete the app—I’ve already found a replacement for what I used PDF Expert 6 for. The app is just becoming more annoying.
What would you do out of frustration? Delete the app or subscribe?
They’ve renamed the “On my iPad” option to “My files,” which now contains all the files in your app. The “Recents” tab has been moved up, and you can now add favorite files and folders for easier access, which is quite useful.
You can also collapse the sidebar for a more minimalist look on your homepage, and there’s a new light theme available. While I usually prefer dark mode, the light theme makes the app look cleaner and more spacious.
The pop-up menu for managing files in the app has changed too. It used to have a thumbnail setup, but now it’s a list, which I find more professional. File editing options also appear as a list and replace the sidebar when you select to edit a file on the homepage.
Readdle has done a great job improving the user interface, but this doesn’t justify a subscription fee—not even an upgrade charge!
The tools in the app are now more accessible. In PDF Expert 6, the tools were difficult to navigate. You can even add or remove tabs from your toolbar now, though the only tab I don’t want is the one with favorites since it’s tied to a subscription feature.
The app now supports two pen types: a ballpoint and a fountain pen. The writing experience feels good and could make it a decent note-taking app if you enjoy inking in GoodNotes. This feature is available in the free version, so it’s worth trying if you’re looking for a free note-taking app.
Previously, the pen tool lacked variety in thickness options, but that’s been fixed. The pen and highlighter tools are now separated, which is an improvement. In the past, they were combined under one tool, and you had to adjust the thickness and opacity to get a decent highlighter. However, the marker still has 100% opacity, which kind of defeats the purpose of being a highlighter, doesn’t it?
The eraser tool now erases per stroke or per pixel, similar to Notability. I wonder if the developers are collaborating or just using similar code.
They’ve also added stickers, which I love! For images, you can now choose the quality of photos you add to your PDFs. However, you still can’t drag and drop images out of PDF Expert 7, which is a major drawback. Drag-and-drop is essential for extracting information from PDFs, so not having this feature is a significant limitation.
You can now add audio to your PDFs, and the audio record icon is cute. However, the app doesn’t yet allow you to export audio files. I say “yet” because it seems unlikely they added this feature just to keep your audio files trapped in the app. Time will tell if they improve this. Right now, the app doesn’t even give you the option to export your audio, so it feels incomplete.
These are all the changes available for free to those upgrading from PDF Expert 6 Pro to the free version of PDF Expert 7. Honestly, there’s nothing particularly impressive or exciting about this update.
