PDF Attachments From iPhone Become Corrupt iOS 9.3

Question

Level 1

24 points

PDF Attachments From iPhone Become Corrupt iOS 9.3

We are having an issue with PDF files becoming corrupt when sent from iPhone users in our Exchange 2013 environment.

The issue is happening intermittently, and every time it happens it is determined that the corrupt PDF attachment was forwarded from an iPhone (seems to be related to iOS 9.3.x)

When a PC user attempts to open the PDF, the receive an error message "Acrobat could not open 'PDFname' because it is either not a supported file type or because the file has been damaged (for example, it was sent as an email attachment and wasn't correctly decoded.)"

The file is only readable from an iPhone, or from the Mac OSX native viewer (will not open from Adobe on Mac either).

Interestingly enough, the corrupt PDF files CAN be repaired by opening the said PDF on a Mac using the native "preview" app, and using "save As" from there. The resulting PDF can then be opened from PC, Mac, Adobe, etc...

I would really like to make sure Apple is aware of this issue and is working to patch. It appears to be an iOS issue, and not an Exchange issue.

iPhone 6, iOS 9.3.1

Posted on May 9, 2016 2:05 PM

Reply

Answer 1

adell92

Level 1

4 points

Jun 10, 2016 9:02 AM in response to Kdyko

Hello all,

I have the same problem in my company with a lot of users affected by this.

I found this little workaround, waiting for Apple to correct this.

When the PDF document is opened,

click on the suitcase icon
Select the pencil
Select the white color
Draw a little white point in a white part of the document (you can of course adapt the color depending on the document...)
Press “OK”

Then send the mail; the attachment should work now.

Reply

Answer 2

dgaliffa

Level 1

11 points

May 24, 2016 9:59 AM in response to admiralperry

We've found the answer here. It's an Adobe PDF issue with Signatures/size. Here is a link explaining the issue and what to do. We've found that removing all signatures from the forwarded email allow the PDF to go through without corrupting.

https://forums.adobe.com/docs/DOC-4621

Reply

Answer 3

May 30, 2016 6:05 AM in response to admiralperry

Has anyone heard from Apple yet?

No issues with the Android or BB on our Exchange 2010. The iPhone 6 has been updated to 9.3.2 and thats when we noticed the problem started. I've read other users' starting to see this since iOS 7 and now that we're at 9, they're still not getting it right.

It's a hit & miss and affecting 2010 or 2016 word/excel, pdf's, ppt documents. Forwarding these same documents from Android/BB devices, we're not able to replicate the problem. So no matter what Apple engineer is saying - the issue is within iOS 7 thru 9.3.2.

Reply

Answer 4

Micha@M

Level 1

4 points

Jul 11, 2016 12:38 AM in response to admiralperry

We have the same error on some devices...

Like adell92 wrote: this works also on your devices.

Some of our users have 2 devices (iPhone & iPad).

This problem occurs (until now) only on one of this devices.

Means: The PDF - File forwarded from iPhone is working, from iPad is damaged...

Installed on iPhone / iPad is 9.3.2.

Beta not tested.

Michael

Reply

Answer 5

Nallek

Level 1

9 points

Aug 5, 2016 1:34 PM in response to admiralperry

Having this issue with 2 devices. Both iPhone 6 running 9.3.3.

.doc, .docx, and .pdf files forwarded from the devices become corrupt.

Forwarding the same document from a PC or Mac running Outlook does not cause corruption.

Have wiped the device while in DFU mode and tried with a fresh device and still hit the same issue.

This does not happen with all documents.

We are using Office365 and everything for us is cloud based. No on prem.

Need this fixed badly.

Reply

Answer 6

ManSinha

Level 6

12,177 points

May 9, 2016 2:10 PM in response to admiralperry

The vast majority of us on this forum are all end users like you

Please send feedback to , if desired, at Apple - Feedback

Reply

Answer 7

admiralperry Author

Level 1

24 points

May 10, 2016 12:22 PM in response to ManSinha

Done. Thank you.

Reply

Answer 8

May 16, 2016 6:28 PM in response to admiralperry

I have many users experiencing the same issue. Has anyone found a resolution to this problem yet?

Josh

Reply

Answer 9

adell92

Level 1

4 points

May 18, 2016 3:26 AM in response to admiralperry

Hello same issue here...

The senders have iOS 9.3.1 installed.

Will try to make them update to the latest 9.3.2 to see if it gets better...

Reply

Answer 10

bigalusn

Level 1

4 points

May 27, 2016 7:07 AM in response to admiralperry

This isn't an Adobe PDF issue at all. I've removed the entire signature and still same issue.

Apple please fix.

Reply

Answer 11

bigalusn

Level 1

4 points

May 31, 2016 9:20 AM in response to admiralperry

still no word from Apple on this, and the issue remains....

Reply

Answer 12

Kdyko

Level 1

4 points

Jun 3, 2016 12:15 PM in response to admiralperry

We are having the exact same issue - appeared after the latest update. Very frustrating.

Reply

Answer 13

Jun 21, 2016 1:09 PM in response to admiralperry

I am able to get the PDFs to open in the Edge Web Browser and the Windows 10 Reader but not in IE via Adobe Reader DC.

Reply

Answer 14

TylerC66

Level 1

8 points

Aug 3, 2016 9:17 AM in response to admiralperry

We are having this same problem. We run exchange 2010 and ios 9.3.2. Could it be an issue with poor signal strength. It seems like not all pdf's have this issue.

Reply

Answer 15

Doc-Lee

Level 1

14 points

Sep 6, 2016 5:56 AM in response to admiralperry

YEs- still a problem for me 9-6-1965. Ditto on most/all comments. Calling Apple, we'll see if it's a waste of time:/

Reply