PDF Beacon: Quick Search

Search PDFs in seconds, jump to every match, tap highlights for translations, add page notes, and annotate with Apple Pencil — private and on device.

PDF Beacon is an offline-first PDF library built for fast text search — now with a built-in study and language-learning companion.

Import PDFs into your on-device library, organize them in folders, and search across your documents. Open a match and PDF Beacon jumps straight to the page, highlights the occurrence, and lets you move through every result with previous/next navigation. Full-line search results show the surrounding sentence so you pick the right hit fast. A draggable page scrubber makes long PDFs quick to navigate.

Scanned PDFs are supported with on-device OCR. Search works after OCR completes — your document images and extracted text stay on your device.

LEARN WHILE YOU READ • Highlight all occurrences of a word and attach one translation and note to the whole group • Tap a saved highlight to instantly see its translation and your note • Remove many matching highlights at once, undo the change, or keep the learning note • Add typed notes on PDF pages • Draw, highlight, and erase with Apple Pencil on iPad • Translate words and short phrases using Apple's system Translation framework on supported iOS versions • Look up definitions with the system dictionary (Define) • Save terms to your Vocabulary notebook and review them in Study mode flashcards

Translation uses Apple's system Translation framework on supported iOS versions and devices; older devices keep reading, search, notes and Vocabulary.

PRIVACY-FIRST • PDFs, notes, vocabulary and study data stay on your device • No account required • No ads • No tracking • PDF Beacon runs no translation server and no developer backend

PDF Beacon Premium is an optional monthly auto-renewable subscription that unlocks higher library limits, Highlight All, saved translations and notes, Vocabulary and Study. Eligible customers may receive a 3-day free introductory trial when Apple offers it. Prices are shown by the App Store in your local currency. Restore Purchases and Manage Subscription are available in Settings.

Core library access to your imported PDFs remains available even after a subscription ends.

Terms of Use (EULA): https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/

Privacy Policy: https://aerologx.net/legal/pdf-beacon-privacy