Google Drive: you can now edit your PDFs on Android

Writing annotations or highlighting passages of text on a PDF document becomes a more accessible reality on Android thanks to a new function of Google Drive.

The PDF format has become a must for text files. It has established itself as the best solution for easily sharing and consulting documents without compatibility problems. But the PDF also has its flaws, and surely you have already wanted to modify or add content to a file. This is now possible natively on an Android device thanks to the Google Drive cloud storage application.

Several annotation tools are thus made available to users. We have a pen to write or draw, as well as a highlighter to highlight text. For these two functions, it is possible to modulate the size and the color of the brush. An eraser allows you to erase a line that you have drawn. Finally, a mode gives the possibility of displaying or hiding all the annotations of the document.

How to edit a PDF document on Android?

You can annotate a PDF document on Google Drive with your finger or a stylus. On your Android device, open the Google Drive app, then the PDF you want to edit. At the bottom right, press the button Annotate. You will then switch to Preview mode: a toolbar appears, just select one to start editing the document.

Note that you can press and hold the toolbar to dock it on any side of the screen. When you have finished your work, you can save it to the original PDF file or create a copy under a new name to keep the original document without annotations.

This feature is only available on the latest version of Google Drive, install it via the Play Store if you haven’t already to take advantage of it. The ability to annotate PDFs is currently restricted to smartphones and tablets running Android 6.0 Marshmallow or later. We have no information on a possible deployment on Apple iPhones.

Source: Google