OpenView: Free Offline PDF, DOCX, TXT & Code Viewer for Android

OpenView is a free, open source, offline document viewer for Android. It opens PDF, DOCX, TXT and source code files fast, with no ads, no accounts, no tracking and no internet permission.

Download the latest APK | Report a bug | Source code | Email me

Why OpenView?

Most free file openers on mobile are full of video ads, trackers and forced sign-ups. OpenView is the opposite: a small, fast, distraction-free reader that respects your privacy. If you just want to open a PDF, a Word file or a text file on your phone, this does exactly that and nothing else.

Features

• 100% offline and private. The app declares zero android.permission.INTERNET. Files are opened through Android's Storage Access Framework and never leave your phone.
• No ads, no analytics, no telemetry. No third-party ad networks, no tracking SDKs, no background data collection.
• Fast and responsive. Jetpack Compose with Material 3, and all file loading runs off the main thread with Kotlin Coroutines.
• Light and dark themes with a clean, accessible design.
• Recent files list and settings stored locally on your device.
• Opens from anywhere. Use "Open with" from your file manager, WhatsApp, Gmail or any app that shares documents.

Supported formats

Format	Extensions	What you get
PDF viewer	.pdf	Page rendering with Android's PdfRenderer, pinch zoom, double-tap zoom, jump to page, page indicator, night mode (invert colors), fit width / fit page, fast scroll bar
Word (DOCX) viewer	.docx	Headings, paragraphs with bold, italic, underline and strikethrough, bullet lists, bordered tables, pinch and double-tap zoom, in-document search
Text viewer	.txt, .log, .csv, .text	Smooth chunked loading of 50 MB+ files, automatic encoding detection (UTF-8, UTF-16, Windows-1252), word wrap toggle, font scaling, pinch zoom, in-file search
Code viewer	.py, .kt, .java, .cpp, .c, .js, .html, .css, .json, .xml, .md, .sh, .yml and more	Monospace font, line numbers, syntax highlighting, horizontal scroll, in-file search
Legacy Word	.doc	Friendly "not supported yet" screen with an option to open in another app

Privacy

OpenView is built so that privacy is enforced by design, not by promise:

• No INTERNET permission in AndroidManifest.xml, so the app is technically unable to send your data anywhere.
• No analytics, crash reporting or advertising libraries.
• All dependencies are open source (Apache 2.0). See LICENSES.md.

You can check this yourself by reading the manifest or by viewing the app's permissions in Android settings.

Install

1. GitHub Releases: download the latest signed APK from the Releases page.
2. F-Droid: submission is planned.

Requires Android 8.0 (API 26) or newer.

Build from source

git clone https://github.com/hiharis/openview.git
cd openview
./gradlew assembleDebug

The debug APK is created at app/build/outputs/apk/debug/. You need JDK 17 or newer and the Android SDK (target SDK 36).

Tech stack

• Language: Kotlin 2.2.10
• UI: Jetpack Compose with Material 3
• Architecture: MVVM with unidirectional data flow (ViewModel + StateFlow)
• Navigation: Navigation Compose
• Database: Room (KSP) for the recent files list and reading positions
• Preferences: Jetpack DataStore
• PDF: android.graphics.pdf.PdfRenderer
• DOCX: custom parser using ZipInputStream and XmlPullParser, with no heavy libraries
• Min SDK: 26 | Target SDK: 36

Project structure

app/src/main/java/io/github/hiharis/openview/
  MainActivity.kt          -> App entry point, edge-to-edge, VIEW intent handling
  navigation/              -> NavGraph and Screen route definitions
  ui/theme/                -> Color, Type, Theme, Dimens (design tokens)
  ui/components/           -> Reusable components (top bar, file card, fast scroll bar)
  ui/home/                 -> Home screen and ViewModel
  ui/settings/             -> Settings screen and ViewModel
  ui/about/                -> About screen and license credits
  viewers/
    router/                -> FileRouter (detects file type by extension, magic bytes, MIME)
    text/                  -> Text viewer
    code/                  -> Code viewer
    pdf/                   -> PDF viewer
    docx/                  -> DOCX viewer
    unsupported/           -> Unsupported format and legacy .doc screen
  data/
    settings/              -> DataStore wrapper
    recent/                -> Room entities, DAO, database, repository
  core/                    -> Utilities (FileUtils, FileType, OpenFileSession)

Roadmap

• Image viewer (JPG, PNG, WebP) with zoom and pan
• Better DOCX fidelity (images, numbered lists, alignment, styles)
• Saved reading position for every format
• F-Droid release

Have an idea? Open an issue.

FAQ

Is OpenView really free? Yes. It is free forever, with no ads, no in-app purchases and no premium tier.

Does OpenView need internet or any permissions? No. It has no internet permission and does not request storage permissions. Files are opened through the Android system file picker.

Can OpenView open .doc files? Not yet. Legacy .doc files show a friendly message. Save the file as .docx or PDF and it will open.

Why does my DOCX look different from Word? OpenView uses a lightweight reader focused on speed and readable content, so complex layouts (text boxes, columns, floating images) may not match Word exactly.

Is it an alternative to ad-supported PDF readers? Yes. If you want an ad-free, offline PDF and document viewer for Android, that is exactly what OpenView is for.

Contributing

Pull requests and bug reports are welcome. Please keep the project's core promise intact: no internet permission, no trackers, no ads.

Support the project

OpenView is free and always will be. The best way to support it is to star the repo and share it with friends and family. #SupportOpenSource

Author

Created and maintained by hiharis.

• GitHub: @hiharis
• Source code: github.com/hiharis/openview

License

Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0. Copyright 2026 hiharis.