Javelin PDF Reader vs Kiosk

Javelin PDF Reader is a free app for viewing standard PDFs and files secured with Drumlin DRM. Readers are available for Windows 8/10/11, macOS 10.13 or later, Android 7 or later, and iOS or iPadOS 9 or later. Reading tools include hyperlinks, navigation trees, different page layouts, text search, annotation, and markup; offline reading also supports zoom and Read-Aloud text-to-speech. DRM-protected files can prevent copying and onward distribution, and publishers can set hard expiry dates or expiry periods that begin at first viewing. Printing is limited to desktop and laptop devices and depends on publisher permission, with controls for copies and page counts. Dynamic watermarks can show device or user details, a filename, authorization code, and date and time. Screen-capture protection varies by platform: it is optional on Windows and macOS, always set on Android, and offers a subset of facilities on iOS. Authorization records may include device details and IP address and are retained for three years. Corporate networks may require proxy configuration or web authorization.

Kiosk is a free, open-source PDF reader for web, desktop, mobile, and browser extensions. It renders PDFs and offers full-text search with highlighted results, page thumbnails, zoom, and light, dark, and night display modes. Its Chrome extension adds highlighting, underlining, strikethrough, drawing, shapes, and text annotations. The project says PDFs stay on the device, with no telemetry, cloud processing, or account requirement. Android works offline after installation, and the extension release notes also state that offline use is supported. The web app can run locally or be deployed through GitHub Pages as a self-hosted instance. Desktop apps can open PDFs directly and associate Kiosk with PDF files; the extension can intercept PDFs opened in Chrome. The extension supports Chrome 88+, Edge 88+, and Brave, but not Firefox or Safari. The project is released under the MIT License. Its Android release is an early alpha, and the macOS app is ad-hoc signed but not notarized, so Gatekeeper may warn on first launch.