Skip to content
SPECIFICTION
Get listed

Evince vs HFSExplorer

Evince

apps.gnome.org

HFSExplorer

catacombae.org

Side by side

FigureEvinceHFSExplorer
Price fromFreeFree
Free planYesYes
Free trial——
Open source——
Windows—Yes
macOS—Yes
LinuxYesYes
Plans published11
Spec score · File Viewer Software8.6 (#3)7.8 (#13)
PurposeEvince is a document viewer for multiple formats, intended to replace multiple GNOME desktop viewers with one simple application.HFSExplorer reads Mac-formatted hard disks and disk images.
SupportThe Evince help site explains how to file a bug against the application.The page directs bug reports to GitHub issue tracking and discussions to GitHub discussion forums.

Plans

Evince

  • EvinceFree

Evince pricing →

HFSExplorer

  • HFSExplorerFree

HFSExplorer pricing →

In their own words

Evince

Evince is a free document viewer for Linux desktop users. It opens PDF, PostScript, DjVu, DVI, XPS, OXPS, and Comic Book Archive files, and can display supported documents as full-screen presentations. Interactive forms can be completed, including text fields and scrollable list boxes. For PDFs, Evince can add notes and text highlights; these annotations are limited to PDF files. SyncTeX synchronizes a TeX source file with its resulting PDF. Printing is documented for DVI, DjVu, PDF, PostScript, and TIFF. When opening a password-protected PDF, Evince prompts for its password. It is not a file editor. Some Linux distributions may need the relevant backend package to support every listed format. The project wiki recommends obtaining Evince through the user's Linux distribution and points to packages or source for other download options. The help site includes user documentation and directions for reporting application bugs.

Visit apps.gnome.org

HFSExplorer

HFSExplorer is a free, read-only desktop program for browsing Mac-formatted hard disks and disk images on Linux, macOS, and Windows. It supports HFS, HFS+, and HFSX file systems. Its graphical browser can show volume information and extract files, and the program can create disk images. It reads most Mac.dmg and.sparsebundle images, including zlib- or bzip2-compressed images and AES-128- or AES-256-encrypted images. Supported partition schemes are Master Boot Record, GUID Partition Table, and Apple Partition Map. The listed price is free, and the software is released under GPL version 3 with no warranties. HFSExplorer requires Java SE Runtime Environment version 5.0 or later; its page says OpenJDK works. Accessing physical disks requires administrator or equivalent privileges. The page also describes a separate minimal text-mode program as unmaintained and limited to HFS+. Bug reports and discussion are directed to GitHub. The listed latest version is 2026.4.9, dated April 9, 2026.

Visit catacombae.org