Will jailbreaking allow me to have PDFs read allowed and opened in a different app?

[mlevin77]

I'm wondering: if I jailbreak my iPad, will this allow me to

1) get an app that reads PDFs aloud to me (without turning on Voiceover, which changes how my phone swipes work etc.)

and/or

2) have PDFs attached to various apps open in a different PDF viewer (one which allows markups, which I already bought) than the default Apple PDF viewer?

thanks in advance!

Mike

 

[Demandarin]

Even without being jail broken, u should be able to open/ read PDF file in 3rd party app. U have to have a 3rd party app that supports PDF files though. For example good reader. If u go in safari and go to a PDF file page, u have the option to open it up in good reader or iBooks or any other app that supports PDF like pages, officeHD2, or docstogo.
I'm not sure about the read aloud thing but jail braking does open up endless possibilities that couldn't be done on iPad otherwise!

 

[biobunny]

You don't need to jailbreak at all!!!

 

[mlevin77]

Even without being jail broken, u should be able to open/ read PDF file in 3rd party app. U have to have a 3rd party app that supports PDF files though. For example good reader. If u go in safari and go to a PDF file page, u have the option to open it up in good reader or iBooks or any other app that supports PDF like pages, officeHD2, or docstogo.

sorry, how do I see this option? I already have the 3rd party app for opening PDFs. And, I have a bunch of PDFs attached inside the OmniFocus app. So when I double-tap these, it automatically opens them in the default Apple PDF viewer app. How do I get it to open them in the 3rd party app instead??

thanks,

Mike

 

[Demandarin]

I only know of the way thru Safari. For ex. Let's say u go to a site that has a PDF manual u want. U click on it, and safari will go to and open the PDF with in the browser. Once opened, if u tap the screen u will see some tabs appear under the URL address box. It will say open in. Then when u click open in, it'll have listed the apple or 3rd party apps that the PDF file can be opened it. Then when u choose one, it kicks u outta safari and takes u to the app u chose.
Same thing, sorta, for email attachments of PDF files. Instead of just tapping the file, which would take u to default way of opening it, press and hold it down. It will bring up a menu which has Open in.

 

[mlevin77]

hmmm. I need it to work for PDF attachments in another app (OmniFocus). How about this: if I rename the attachments to something else, like ".xyz", can I assign (on a jailbroken iPad) that .xyz files are always to be opened by my 3rd party PDF-editing app?

Mike

 

[Demandarin]

hmmm. I need it to work for PDF attachments in another app (OmniFocus). How about this: if I rename the attachments to something else, like ".xyz", can I assign (on a jailbroken iPad) that .xyz files are always to be opened by my 3rd party PDF-editing app?

Mike

I'm nor sure about what u said. But that third party app, Omnifocus should show up in the "open in" menu. Instead of quick tapping on PDF file, u could just hold it down to bring up, open in, and then choose Omnifocus if its in the menu. Thats all I can think of. Does is show up in open in menu?

 

[mlevin77]

Sorry, I didn't make myself clear. Omnifocus is an app that contains attachments within it (sort of like Mail). But Mail opens PDFs in a reader where there's a right-top corner button that allows me to open it in other apps. Omnifocus opens PDFs in some sort of reader that doesn't allow this. I'm wondering if jailbreaking will let me associate PDFs with another third-party app (a better PDF reader that lets me draw on the PDF and modify it) so that it would automatically open in this app when tapped where-ever the PDF might live (in Mail, in OmniFocus, or whatever). Does that make sense? I just want to associate the .pdf file type with an app of my choosing or if that's impossible, define my own file type (.xyz) and associate that with an app of my choosing, like I could on a Mac.

 

[twerppoet]

I'm understanding what you want, but the iPad's lack of a common file system makes it close to impossible. Even if you app supported Open in, this would only copy the file to the new app. Getting the file back to Omnifocus would mean using Open In in that app too, creating yet another file.

About the only way to work with the same file across multiple apps is to put it all into the cloud. Then you need both apps to be able to sync with that server.

Jailbreaking might be able to help. Hard to say, but I don't offer much hope there. Unless they've come up with a way of not only creating a common file system (which I believe they have) but also a way to make apps not designed for a common files system work with it, that's doubtful.

 

[mlevin77]

Ah, I see... Well, I do have Dropbox, so I have URLs to files in the cloud which can certainly be kept in OmniFocus. Is there any way to have these URLs passed to other apps - is there any way to right-click on a link and do open-in?

 

[twerppoet]

Ah, I see... Well, I do have Dropbox, so I have URLs to files in the cloud which can certainly be kept in OmniFocus. Is there any way to have these URLs passed to other apps - is there any way to right-click on a link and do open-in?

Not that I know of.

GoodReader and a few other PDF apps can access DropBox directly. You can also copy the link and then paste it into Goodreader's URL download option. Saving files back from these apps might break the share link. You would have to experiment and find out.