In this article, we will explore the new library introduced under AndroidX ☂️ called PdfViewer

The first alpha version of this library was published on August 7, 2024.

Current version is 1.0.0-alpha02

Major limitation : Currently it support only Android V [SDK 35]

It provides us PdfViewerFragment that we can use in our application to show/view the PDF files.

Here is one of the most common solutions used by Android applications 👇

// create intent
val pdfIntent = Intent(Intent.ACTION_VIEW).apply {
    setDataAndType(pdfUri, "application/pdf")
    setFlags(Intent.FLAG_ACTIVITY_NO_HISTORY)
}

// try to open the intent - If there is any activity that can handle it 
try {
    startActivity(pdfIntent)
} catch (activityNotFoundException: ActivityNotFoundException) {
    Log.e(TAG, "onCreate: ${activityNotFoundException.message}")
}

Implementation

• We will go through the compose-based implementation

Add dependency

// version catalog
pdf-viewer-fragment = {module = "androidx.pdf:pdf-viewer-fragment", version.ref = "pdfViewerFragment"}

// app level build.gradle
implementation(libs.pdf.viewer.fragment)

Create a launcher for ActivityResult using rememberLauncherForActivityResult

• We will use built-in ActivityResultContracts.GetContent() to pick a pdf file 🗒️

var pdfURI: Uri? by remember { mutableStateOf(null) }

val pickFileLauncher =
    rememberLauncherForActivityResult(ActivityResultContracts.GetContent()) { uri: Uri? ->
        if(uri != null) {
            pdfURI = uri
        }
    }

Compose based UI

Column(modifier = Modifier
    .safeContentPadding()
    .padding(32.dp)) {

    ElevatedButton(
        onClick = { pickFileLauncher.launch("application/pdf") },
        modifier = Modifier.fillMaxWidth()) {
        Row(verticalAlignment = Alignment.CenterVertically) {
            Icon(Icons.Default.Add, contentDescription = null)
            Spacer(modifier = Modifier.size(ButtonDefaults.IconSpacing))
            Text("Pick PDF")
        }
    }

// Show PdfFragment when pdfURI is not null
    pdfURI?.let {
        AndroidViewBinding(
            factory = PdfFragmentViewBinding::inflate,
            modifier = Modifier
                .padding(horizontal = 16.dp)
        ) {
val fragment = fragmentContainerPdfViewer.getFragment<PdfViewerFragment>()
            fragment.documentUri = uriI
        }

    }

}

• On button’s click, we launch the pickFileLauncher, and update the pdfURI based on the result

var pdfURI: Uri? by remember { mutableStateOf(null) }

• pdfURI is mutableState so whenever it gets changed it automatically updates the documentUri property of the fragment

pdfURI?.let {
        AndroidViewBinding(
            factory = PdfFragmentViewBinding::inflate,
            modifier = Modifier
                .padding(horizontal = 16.dp)
        ) {
            val fragment = fragmentContainerPdfViewer.getFragment<PdfViewerFragment>()
            fragment.documentUri = uriI
        }
        
}

We can also use the new Composable introduced in fragment version 1.8.0 called AndroidFragment

• Currently, PdfViewerFragment is not working with this composable due to API limitations, but hopefully, these issues will be resolved in future releases.

pdfURI?.let {
    Log.d(TAG, "Selected URI: $pdfURI")
    AndroidFragment<PdfViewerFragment>(
        arguments = bundleOf("documentUri" to pdfURI),
        modifier = Modifier.fillMaxSize()
    ) { pdfViewerFragment ->
        Log.d(TAG, "URI ${pdfViewerFragment.documentUri}")
    }