GoodReader for iPad Review: GoodApp

App Name:	GoodReader
Platforms:	iPad
Publisher(s):	Yuri Selukoff
Version Reviewed:	Good.iWare
Genre(s):	productivity
Release Date:	April 23, 2010 (version reviewed)
Price:	4+

When I first bought my iPad, a friend of mine told me that I absolutely needed GoodReader from Good.iWare. It was sound advice, because I have since found GoodReader to be a robust and versatile addition to my iPad.

GoodReader is built to be a one-stop document reader for the iPad, and it really does deliver. The program is casually referred to as a PDF reader, and it excels in that regard. I was able to load a PDF file of over 150 pages with no problem and not a single flaw in decoding. GoodReader comes with complete PDF navigation functions–in addition to page turning, there’s text searching, bookmarking, fast scrolling, and a go-to-page function. GoodReader also offers in-app contrast and orientation lock functions, very convenient to have at the bottom of the page.

It does everything my PC’s Acrobat Reader does, and more. Since the chances are slim of Adobe releasing an official Acrobat Reader app anytime soon, having GoodReader there to fill the gap is, in and of itself, worth downloading this app.

But PDFs are only a part of its function. GoodReader actually reads a multitude of formats, including PDF, DOC, TXT, iPhone-compatible audio and video, and pretty much any file format that can be viewed through the iPad’s native Safari browser. All of this can be done in-program, and document reading generally works well. The PDF functionality (searching, bookmarking, etc) is ported to most document types, of course. Tht makes GoodReader an excellent central depository for document files on your iPad.

More importantly to me, however, is that GoodReader can be set up to download stored documents from popular cloud programs, like Google Docs and Dropbox; most e-mail programs, from Hotmail to Yahoo!; and even FTP servers. Virtually anywhere you might need to grab a document from for reading on the iPad, GoodReader can grab it for you. It’s a cloud-friendly program that works well in that regard.

Good reader has so much functionality built into it as a document consumption device that one can’t help but wonder why such functionality isn’t native to the OS. But then, that’s been the way with the iPhone OS so far—Apple builds the core structure, but then lets the third party developers figure all this stuff out. Still, to have GoodReader’s functionality across the OS system would be a boon to the iPad.

Good Reader isn’t perfect, of course. It still doesn’t connect directly with the iWork apps,  but I think Apple is the culprit there. One can, however, e-mail files from, say, Pages and then download them from e-mail into GoodReader, and from GoodReader into Google Docs (and visa versa). It’s a bit obnoxious, but it’s the best workaround I have found so far to the inconvenient way iWork moves files on the iPad.

GoodReader makes viewing any sort of document a piece of cake. For anyone who wants to make the iPad a functional documents device, GoodReader is a must. It even helps out with some of the productivity issues that iPad suffers, in that it allows for a much less bothersome way to share files to and from the most popular cloud applications. Highly recommended for any iPad owner who needs to carry, view, or manage documents on the go.

Our Score: 5 out of 5.

GoodReader is currently available for .99 cents in the App Store. (App Store Link)

About the Author

Writer@Large Brian P. Hudson is an educator and freelance writer currently living in Dearborn, MI.

 

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