SwifDoo PDF for Mac review: a PDF viewer with more drawbacks than advantages

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PDF editors are essential for Mac users who lead a paperless life. Although macOS can view, annotate, and sign PDFs natively, the operating system offers little control over the primary content of the files. So, those who want to modify the text or images of a certain PDF document will have to rely on third-party solutions. However, with so many apps available, finding the right choice can be difficult. SwifDoo PDF for Mac is one of the options you may come across when looking for an editor. But is it good?

Pricing and availability

SwifDoo PDF supports macOS, iOS, iPadOS, Windows and Android. However, the feature sets differ depending on the platform you are using. So, for example, the Windows app offers distinct features not available on macOS or mobile clients. Likewise, the price differs depending on the operating system you run it on. In this review, we will specifically evaluate SwifDoo PDF for macOS. The rating, pros, cons and overall specifications apply only to this particular customer.

SwifDoo PDF for Mac is free to install and use, and there is no premium tier to unlock additional features. To get started, you can go to the company's website, where you can download the installer.

Check out our roundup of the best PDF editors for Mac and our best free PDF editors for Mac.

First impressions

Foundry

Before installing SwifDoo PDF on my Mac, I checked the iOS/iPadOS client listing on the Apple App Store. I was shocked to discover in the privacy disclosure section that the app collects users' location data and uses it to track them. There is absolutely no excuse for a PDF editing app to collect and use this type of information, especially when iPhone and iPad users have to pay recurring fees to unlock full features.

I then asked ChatGPT to read and analyze its website's privacy policy and compare it to those of some reputable PDF editors. Unsurprisingly, SwifDoo PDF appears to collect a wider range of data than some other solid options. In short, I would not trust this PDF editor with my data, especially very sensitive documents. This, however, depends on your personal preferences.

Features

Foundry

Although SwifDoo PDF was designed for Intel Macs and apparently wasn't optimized for Apple silicon chips, it works pretty well on my M2 MacBook Air. It features a clutter-free main page where you can interact with recently viewed files or open another PDF via Finder.

Once you upload a document, you can edit it using standard annotation tools. These include highlighting, inserting notes, underlining, deleting, drawing, adding text boxes and shapes, stamping, etc. While the user interface is generally modern and the app runs smoothly, using the annotation tools can be a little wonky. For example, I would have to press the highlight tool and select text multiple times to make it work. Otherwise, SwifDoo PDF for Mac generally does not lag or misbehave.

Other benefits of SwifDoo PDF include page turning, printing, and an automatically generated index that lets you quickly move from one document section to another based on their headings. Although these utilities are all excellent, the Mac client does not offer text or image editing. So you can't add or remove sentences or manipulate the document itself beyond basic annotations.

Should you use SwifDoo?

Apple's built-in Preview app performs most of the tasks offered by SwifDoo PDF for macOS. Although third-party Mac software is free to download and use, it does not support proper PDF editing. So, if you're not happy with Apple Preview, SwifDoo PDF probably won't meet your needs either. For basic annotation, I recommend using the native tools provided by the operating system. To actually edit your PDF files, consider relying on a premium offering from a reputable company. Anyway, I advise you to stay away from SwifDoo PDF for Mac.