I uploaded my buzztouch file to Eclipse. Then ran the project. However when I tap on the PDF link it states that my device does not know how to handle this type of file. I also added my PDF file to the BT_Docs file under assets. What am I doing wrong? Also, my splash screen does not come up. It just opens with a solid RED screen. What am I doing wrong here as well?

Hello, On Android, a "helper" app is required to open files like PDFs, DOCs, XLSs, etc. That's not the case with iOS, which processes the files automatically. You can try to install a PDF viewer app on your emulator, or run the app on a device with one. Either should work. Mark

Use the Adobe Reader app as the helper. -- Niraj

If you are making an app for distribution, it would mean the people who download your app would need to already have a 'helper app' (or download one) to display the pdf. Personally, I would say that is a good reason to not use pdf's!. On the splash screen, please provide more info & maybe a screengrab? Thanks, Alan

AlanMac has a great point. I have apps with PDFs as the primary content, and when I published them, I added a note on my app page in Google Play that a PDF-reading app is required to view certain content, and suggested the free apps out there to get (such as the Adobe Reader Niraj Shah suggests). For the Android users I've spoken with, they're used to this sort of thing. You could look into automating that part of it for them: checking if they have an app on their phone, and automatically opening it for them, or prompting them to get an app if they don't. I looked into this and plan to put something into a future version of my app, but when I learned that Android users are accustomed to moving to a different app to view PDFs, I didn't think it was worth holding off releasing my app to do.

It is a pity the pdf plugin doesn't display the pdf natively. Did it used to before BT 3.0?

It's never displayed PDF files natively on Android...that's an Android limitation, not a Buzztouch one. Apple has figured out how to do it without requiring a helper app, which is nice! Given the universal nature of PDF documents, I'd be surprised if there are many Android installs out there that don't already support them. The emulator is a different case, probably because of licensing issues. I personally don't have any problems using PDFs in my apps, and I wouldn't make the effort to change to anything else. But that's just my two cents! Mark

I don't disagree that many people would be comfortable downloading a pdf reader. I can't remember if Android comes 'out of the box' with a pdf reader or not. Regardless, I personally think there is something to be said for managing the user experience and keeping them in the BT app and not having them jump out of that navigation into a helper app. But hey, each to his own! Maybe this is an opportunity for someone to write a different pdf plugin!

GoNorthWest is correct - it's an Android OS thing. It's not Buzztouch. Any app that links to a PDF will cause the Android OS to say "hey what do you want me to do with this?" and it will show you a list of apps that can read PDFs (if you have any). iOS reads PDF files natively, so you don't see this on an iPhone. I'm as confused as anyone why Android wouldn't show a PDF out of the box, given PDF's ubiquity. Some things are nice to leverage your open-source community, this one I'm not so sure. Even the GMail app doesn't show a PDF automatically. Not bashing Android, just illustrating that it's an OS thing. Some Android OS's have a checkbox on that dialog to "always open with this app", but it's still not native, just skipping a step. For my Android users, on my apps that are 90% PDFs, they aren't complaining. I'd love to make it more automatic for them, but there's other things they'd rather I work on.

Good points, Alan! Seems that if iOS can do it seamlessly, Android should be able to as well. It would be interesting to find out why that's not the case. In any event, at least there's multiple ways of getting it done, so there are choices! Good discussion! Mark

Adobe reader has issues on Android. QuickOffice, MuPDF, OfficeSuite all work better than Adobe. Just my 2cents worth of experience with them. Tim

Amazing that the standards bearer of PDF can't do an upstanding job on Android. The Adobe Reader app works nicely on iOS for PDF Forms. I love it for that capability. What are the hang ups for Adobe Reader on Android? Thanks, -- Niraj

Mainly an annoying prompt that forces you to hit an "Open read only" or "cancel" every time a PDF is launched. This appeared last summer during an "update". No apparent work around. Tim

Thank you everyone for your feedback. How would I go about adding a PDF reader to the emulator? Also my splash screen does not work. When my app launches the emulator turns a solid red.

Check out this video I did on adding helper apps: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Ohlah9xTv0 Mark

Mine is not showing the same as yours. Is there another way to add the helper app?

I have gotten it to work. Thank you everyone.