Embedded PDFs in mobile safari broken since ios8

hi there,

I just tested it on iPadOS 14 - issue remains:

Mobile safari started rendering embedded PDFs as images. This is problematic both when viewing and printing:

  • when viewing, only the first page of the PDF is displayed

  • when printing, the picture gets printed, leading to incomplete and blurred printing

In both cases the user does not understand the problem is on mobile safari and either does not see/ print the remaining pages or complains about broken PDFs.

The only workaround currently known to me is to provide a download-link that will show the PDF as full page (no embedding). This way the PDF is rendered with multiple pages and printed correctly.

The problem with this workaround is: if the user places the webapplication on the home screen (so it is opened in fullscreen), downloading the PDF as described in the workaround puts the user in a navigation dead-end, as he will not be able to navigate back.

This is an awful situation. The platform is powerful enough to simply embed PDFs in the page. Safari is obviously capable of handling PDFs, as shown with the workaround.

Please fix this. Or do not show PDFs embedded at all, at least user will direct its complaints at Apple and not to us web developers.



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Posted by
pgtaboada
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  • I have the same problem.

    —
    FilipErni

  • Any solution to this yet? Stop working on new things until you fix things that should work on current versions.

    —
    dononyx

  • Yes, I am also in need for this resolution.

    —
    Catherine221

Accepted Reply

I created a test page to illustrate the problem:

//lemniscus.de/pdfprinttest.html

I had to omit the "https:" in the link as it would not allow me to add a link.


If you open the page on the desktop safari you will see multiple pages and will be able to print it correctly using the "PRINT" link on the top of the page.

If you open it on the ipad, you will only see the first page (it is an image) and not be able to print the whole document.


Posted by
pgtaboada
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Replies

I created a test page to illustrate the problem:

//lemniscus.de/pdfprinttest.html

I had to omit the "https:" in the link as it would not allow me to add a link.


If you open the page on the desktop safari you will see multiple pages and will be able to print it correctly using the "PRINT" link on the top of the page.

If you open it on the ipad, you will only see the first page (it is an image) and not be able to print the whole document.


Posted by
pgtaboada
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Can we please get some form of response here, its ridiculous that apple renders PDFs differently on mobile vs desktop.
Posted by
stewberticus
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Same problem here. Any news on feature request roadmap?

Posted by
secrecys
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Hello is there a fix for this issue?

Posted by
TattooTroy
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Exact same problem. I don't find any solution that is compatible for safari to download or see pdf without javascript.....

Posted by
ladytronlal
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Same issue. No way to embed PDFs natively whatsoever. Seems almost purposeful at this point.

Posted by
homestar12
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OMG, this is so stupid. I've just realized this issue exists. It's in no way possible Apple can't handle PDFs on iOS.

Posted by
vromaniv
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Has there been any progress on this?

Posted by
NRoss1
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  • Issue still persists 🤦‍♂️

    —
    Amiraslan
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How do we raise this issue with Apple more? My team and I really need this to work properly and display embedded pdfs in a platform/app we are building. It is literally the only thing we CANNOT get to work yet. Extremely frustrating. Please fix this Apple!! Jeez.

Posted by
BrentB
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