djaneb

Q: Can't view pdf attachments within mail apps

iPhone 6P / iPad Air 2

both running iOS 9.3.1

 

Previously, when I tapped on an attachment in the Mail app I could view it. Now, it only downloads an image of the first page (which means I don't even have the option of opening into a pdf reader. All other attachment types can be previewed as always (including images and spreadsheets.

 

This also occurs to some extent in other mail apps, but the behaviour differs - sometimes it is just an image, at other times the whole pdf downloads but opens with a placeholder saying "PDFReader File", with its size, on a grey background. At least I can then open into another app. The apps that behave this way are Outlook, Dispatch and Airmail.

 

Spark works as previously - I can view pdf files within Spark without opening into another reader.

 

I tried deleting Spark, in case it was the issue, but nothing changed.

 

All pdf readers are behaving normally (PDF Expert and Documents). I tried deleting Documents because it was a recent install, but it also made no difference.

 

This is occurring on both iOS devices I use, and my husband's iPhone 6 as well.

 

What I have noticed in Mail that when I tap to download the iBooks icon fleetingly appears and I'm wondering if it has something to do with that.

 

I've tried a few other things, looked in settings, rebooted etc etc, but to no avail. It only started a few weeks ago so am wondering if something was introduced in the last update.

 

Many thanks if you can offer any advice or next steps.

 

Deb

iPhone 6 Plus, iOS 9.3.1

Posted on Apr 17, 2016 2:14 PM

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Q: Can't view pdf attachments within mail apps

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  • by FoodDog,

    FoodDog FoodDog Apr 19, 2016 12:34 PM in response to djaneb
    Level 1 (11 points)
    Apr 19, 2016 12:34 PM in response to djaneb

    This has been happening on my devices also.  I seen an our with support to no avail.

  • by elcpu,Apple recommended

    elcpu elcpu Apr 19, 2016 12:56 PM in response to djaneb
    Level 6 (16,260 points)
    Photos for Mac
    Apr 19, 2016 12:56 PM in response to djaneb

    Try resetting your Mail Account on one of the devices to test it.

    First close your Mail App completely from the app switcher window by double clicking the Home button and swiping up the Mail preview pane up until it disappears from the screen. You may have to look for the Mail pane by scrawling to the left. Then go to Settings > Mail, Contacts, Calendars > locate your email provider and click on the account. On the next page Delete Account. Then do a forced restart. Hold down the Home and Wake/Sleep buttons at the same time for about 15-20 seconds until the Apple logo appears. Then go back to Settings > Mail… and add the account again

  • by FoodDog,

    FoodDog FoodDog Apr 19, 2016 1:05 PM in response to elcpu
    Level 1 (11 points)
    Apr 19, 2016 1:05 PM in response to elcpu

    The problem resides in my iCloud account.  The other accounts operate as it should.

  • by FoodDog,Apple recommended

    FoodDog FoodDog Apr 19, 2016 1:16 PM in response to FoodDog
    Level 1 (11 points)
    Apr 19, 2016 1:16 PM in response to FoodDog

    I may have figured it out.  I just turned off the "Mail" function on my iCloud settings.  Made sure it was no longer an account in my mail app.  Closed down the mail app and then turned the mail function back on.  Once the emails repopulated it started working correctly.

  • by djaneb,

    djaneb djaneb Apr 19, 2016 11:45 PM in response to elcpu
    Level 1 (14 points)
    iPhone
    Apr 19, 2016 11:45 PM in response to elcpu

    OK thanks - I'll give this a try - but I'm not sure it will solve the problem as it occurs across all email accounts and across all email apps (except Spark). I can't see how deleting one email account will fix it but it is so frustrating I'll try anything.

  • by djaneb,

    djaneb djaneb Apr 22, 2016 3:01 AM in response to elcpu
    Level 1 (14 points)
    iPhone
    Apr 22, 2016 3:01 AM in response to elcpu

    So, I have tried everything.

     

    Reset the device and restored from a back up, removed all mail applications, removed a few other apps just in case.

     

    I simply cannot view pdf files from within any mail programme whatever I do. I have to open them into a pdf reader.

     

    In Mail.app sometimes the pdf file has become an image and I can't open into a pdf reader either.

     

    So I am stumped. Being unable to read pdf files from within apps is crippling.

  • by Tiago_NL,

    Tiago_NL Tiago_NL Apr 22, 2016 10:36 PM in response to djaneb
    Level 1 (4 points)
    iPhone
    Apr 22, 2016 10:36 PM in response to djaneb

    Yesterday i "solved" my problem. I have the Bamboo Spark App and when i delete this app i can open pdf again. When i install again the problem is there again. So my problem is THE Bamboo spark app. i allready see at some forums more people got this problem.

  • by djaneb,Apple recommended

    djaneb djaneb Apr 22, 2016 10:40 PM in response to Tiago_NL
    Level 1 (14 points)
    iPhone
    Apr 22, 2016 10:40 PM in response to Tiago_NL

    Well, thanks for your contribution. I have never had that app - I had the Spark email app,which is different, but I had already deleted that.

     

    No, I just bit the bullet, restored to factory settings and reinstalled everything from the App Store and the viewer is working again in all apps. Boring but not as boring as it was not being able to view pdfs.

  • by barbara113,

    barbara113 barbara113 May 25, 2016 7:37 PM in response to djaneb
    Level 1 (4 points)
    May 25, 2016 7:37 PM in response to djaneb

    I Have this issue also. I have tried everyone's suggestions, deleted  account/rebooted/added the account back, four  times and nothing is working. This only became an issue a few weeks ago. Which update created this problem? What is Apple doing to fix it? So frustrating!!!

  • by z owner,Helpful

    z owner z owner May 28, 2016 2:09 PM in response to djaneb
    Level 1 (9 points)
    iPhone
    May 28, 2016 2:09 PM in response to djaneb

    I have three iOS devices (iPad Pro, iPad Air 2, iPhone 6s) and this problem began for me on May 20. I recall the day because I was out of the office and my assistant sent me an email with an attached multi-page PDF that I could not open or access. I am running iOS 9.3.2 on all three devices, but on May 20, I was running 9.3.1 on one of the two iPads, and all had the same issue the same day.

    Same symptoms as above on multiple mail accounts (including iCloud, Gmail account, an ATT mail account, and Exchange). After being unable to get a resolution from Apple Support after a week 9they verified the issue and have asked for some screenshots, but I have no further responses), was at the Genius bar this morning and verified the issue. On one of my iPads, we did a full erase and restore and the problem remained. I also note that PDF  attachments to my text messages also malfunction the same way. The Genius said it appears to be a known bug in iOS and to await the next update. Left the Apple Store with no resolution, unfortunately.

    I have also tried to delete mail accounts and reload after completely setting them up again.

    I have several colleagues with the same issue, i.e. PDF attachments will not open and appear as the first page of the PDF as an image that cannot be opened and I am unable to access multiple pages or open up in other apps.

    For further background, the same attachments in the same email accounts function normally on my multiple iMac desktops running  El Capitan OS10.11.5.

    Currently, my only workaround is to forward the email with the pdf attachments to my Evernote account. The PDF will open there.

    PDF functionality is critical to my work. I am open to other ideas. Help appreciated.

    Thanks for your interest.

  • by DWW1977,

    DWW1977 DWW1977 Jun 4, 2016 10:23 AM in response to djaneb
    Level 1 (8 points)
    Jun 4, 2016 10:23 AM in response to djaneb

    Same problem here. Come on Apple!! Let's get this fixed. 

  • by ScheinerLaw,

    ScheinerLaw ScheinerLaw Jun 6, 2016 1:51 PM in response to z owner
    Level 1 (4 points)
    Jun 6, 2016 1:51 PM in response to z owner

    z owner did an excellent job of summarizing the problem. I have the same issue and have been to two different, local Apple Stores a total of four times. During one visit they gave me a new iPhone 6S-plus, just on the off-chance it was a hardware issue. (No luck.) I have also tried three re-sets as new, then manually reinstalled only the apps I needed to get by. (Again, no luck.) Interestingly, the third time I tried a factory reset, it resulted in the problem being temporarily fixed. PDF attachments were viewable in my native email app (which pulls from gmail), but over the course of about a day, the downloads began slowing down, until I eventually couldn't open PDF attachments at all. All I'd get is just the first page of the PDF in the form of an image. Two different Apple reps - one at a store and the other by phone - have escalated the issue to Apple engineers, but I am honestly not optimistic. Nor am I optimistic that an update will fix the problem, since this occurred in 9.3.1 & 9.3.2 as well. I've read about this issue dating as far back as 2012. One more thing: My workaround for mail is to go the gmail website and open the pdf attachments from there. (If I use the gmail app for iOS, I can't open the attachment. Only the website works.) What I find curious is that I can't open a PDF directly from a website in Safari or Chrome (I can only save it to DropBox, then open it from there - which is something I can't do with PDF attachments in email), but if I access my gmail from Safari or Chrome browsers at gmail.com, somehow, the PDF is intact. For those of us who work with PDFs a lot, this is a real bad issue.

  • by Ricearoni ,

    Ricearoni Ricearoni Jun 19, 2016 8:34 PM in response to djaneb
    Level 1 (4 points)
    Jun 19, 2016 8:34 PM in response to djaneb

    I've had the same problem for a month now.  At wit's end.

  • by Ritetrack,

    Ritetrack Ritetrack Jun 19, 2016 8:47 PM in response to djaneb
    Level 1 (8 points)
    iPad
    Jun 19, 2016 8:47 PM in response to djaneb

    I have been experiencing similar problems.  I was wondering whether you had found a solution?  Thanks.

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