How to create our own PDF viewer for Android?

Question

I want to build a PDF reader/viewer that could be used in my Android application, but I can't use Google docs to read my content. I can't use any PDF reader already installed in my device. It should be within my app and do not expose my secure content over the Internet.

What could I possibly use? Do I have to use the Android native dev kit to create my own viewer?

Answer 1

I'd recommend considering MuPDF which has already been ported for use on Android several times without reliance on Java. MuPDF is optimized for lightweight on-screen PDF rendering, making it perfect for mobile use.

Please note that MuPDF and all the derived projects are not suitable for the commercial use and you should consider alternatives if you are not developing an open source GPL project.

Answer 2

There are opensource code available code.google.com/p/apv , andpdf.sourceforge.net/

You have to integrate this in your app there is no other direct way for do that.

Answer 3

There is an api in java, not sure if it is supported in android, but if possible. You can use iText Api to read and write pdf documents in your application, and it does not require a pdf viewer is installed on the device.

Answer 4

You will need pdf parsing libraries in JAVA... Parse the document, and display content in android. Below are some useful links :

http://java-source.net/open-source/pdf-libraries

http://itextpdf.com/

http://itextpdf.com/examples/iia.php?id=275

Advanced PDF parser for Java

Answer 5

I think you can use iText library to read the PDF in android.

Here are the few links for that

How to read a pdf using itext library in android

Not able to run simple program of iText library in android