Work on a PDF from WhatsApp
A PDF arrives in a chat, and it is too big to forward, or it is four files that should be one, or it carries a number you would rather not pass on. Add this to your home screen and it joins the Share list on your phone: tap Share on the file, pick GoSmart PDF, and the job is done on the device the file is already sitting on.
- The file never leaves your phone. There is no upload step to wait on, and nothing to delete from a server afterwards.
- Works offline once the page has loaded, because the work is done by the browser rather than by a server.
- The finished file can go back to the chat through the same share sheet it came from, without a trip through the downloads folder.
Why it has to be added to your home screen first
Android offers installed apps in its share sheet and does not offer open tabs. So a site, however capable, is invisible at the moment somebody taps Share on a PDF. Adding this to the home screen is what puts it in that list, and it is the only step that cannot be skipped.
It is the browser that does the adding, not us: a button here asks Chrome to show its own prompt, and it appears only where the browser supports it. On an iPhone the equivalent is Share, then Add to Home Screen, in Safari.
A share is not an upload, and the difference is the whole point
When the phone hands a file to a web app, the browser posts it to the address the app declared. Left alone, that post would go to a server, which is exactly what this product exists not to do.
So the post never reaches the network. A small piece of code registered by this site intercepts it on the device, puts the file in the browser's own storage, and redirects to a page that reads it back. The bytes travel from the chat app to this page and no further.
The file is taken out of that storage the moment the page reads it, rather than left sitting there. A document waiting in storage is a document the next person to pick up the phone can open.
What people usually want done to one
Most often it is size: a form or a portal refuses anything over a limit, and the Compress tool aims at the number rather than at a preset, keeping the most readable file that still fits. It draws page one on screen before anything is saved, because compression is destructive and only you can say whether the print is still legible.
After that it is joining several files into one, pulling a few pages out of a long one, and blacking out a number before forwarding it. The redaction removes the text from the file rather than drawing a box over it, and says afterwards whether anything was still findable.
Does the file get uploaded to your server?
No. There is no server to upload it to. The share is caught on your phone and the work is done by the browser, which is why it keeps working with the network off.
Why does GoSmart PDF not appear when I tap Share?
It appears once the app has been added to your home screen. Android lists installed apps in the share sheet and does not list open tabs.
Can I send the finished file back to the chat?
Yes, where the phone supports it: the result has a send button that opens the same share sheet, so the file can go straight back without being saved first.
Support and billing: support@gosmartpdf.com. Operated by Mrityunjay Kumar, India. Payments by Dodo Payments, our merchant of record.
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