For my students I have many .pdfs that they open on my site- many open in their own browser from their computer and ipad. When it comes to seeing them on their phones it is a different story.
On my Samsung phone when I click the link for .pdf it downloads the pdf. I imagine the same on iphones.
Is there a way for when someone clicks the link for the pdf on phones to see right away or must it download?
Not sure if I can change a setting on the graphic that has the link to pdf.
Unless you have done something very deliberate on your server (set the mime-type for PDF files to be application/x-force-download or something equally heavy-handed) then the behavior is entirely up to the receiving application.
On my iPhone, I am offered a choice of a few options (based on the apps I have installed on my phone) for any PDF URL – iBooks, PDFPen, DropBox, maybe some more.
This is actually universal behavior for Web browsers, going all the way back to Netscape 1 and earlier. If a browser cannot natively display the content, it will offer the user a choice of registered “helper” applications to do so.
And finally, any form of Web content is technically “downloaded” in order to view it. The only difference is between where it gets saved – your cache, or a user-chosen storage destination.
And finally, any form of Web content is technically “downloaded” in
order to view it. The only difference is between where it gets saved
– your cache, or a user-chosen storage destination.
Although for most end users the ‘downloading into cache’ form is
distinctly different, as they don’t automatically get a file they can
store. Not unless they dig into the cache, in which case they’re not
average users.
It seems to open up immediately on iphones.
It is just on Android devices that it seems to download the file and then you have to have an app to open the .pdf.
