# On iPhone and iPad

> Using Niraqua DjVu on iPhone and iPad - open, read, search, recognize text, export to PDF, print, and share.

Source: https://niraqua.com/djvu/help/ios/

Reading, text recognition, and PDF conversion run on your device. Download cloud files before opening them. Cloud storage and sharing use the services you choose.

**Requires iOS 26 or iPadOS 26 or later.** Niraqua DjVu is a universal
purchase: buy it once and use it on Mac, iPhone, and iPad.

## Open a document

- The app opens into the standard document browser, showing the same locations
  as the Files app: On My iPhone (or iPad), iCloud Drive, and any other storage
  providers you have set up. Tap a `.djvu` file to open it.
- Tapping a `.djvu` file in the **Files** app opens it in Niraqua DjVu too.
- Documents open in place: the app reads the file where it is, without making
  a copy, so you always see the current version.
- On first launch a sample document is placed in **On My iPhone (or iPad) >
  Niraqua DjVu**, so you can try the app right away. Delete it like any other
  file if you do not need it.

## Read and zoom

- Pages scroll vertically as one continuous document, and the page indicator
  near the bottom shows where you are.
- A document opens fitted to the screen width. **Pinch** to zoom in and out,
  or **double-tap** to zoom in on a spot and double-tap again to go back to
  the fitted view.
- The view re-fits automatically when you rotate the device or resize the app
  in Split View on iPad.

## Pages

The page thumbnails appear differently on the two idioms, matching how Preview
behaves:

- **iPhone** (and iPad in a narrow Split View): tap **Pages** in the **...**
  menu, or tap the page indicator at the bottom left, to open a sheet of page
  thumbnails. Tap a thumbnail and the sheet closes on the page you picked.
- **iPad** at full width: use **Show Sidebar** at the top left, or tap the page
  indicator, for a thumbnail column beside the page. It stays open until you
  hide it again, and each window remembers its own setting.

The same sheet or sidebar also holds the document's outline and your saved
pages. See [Contents and bookmarks](https://niraqua.com/djvu/help/contents-bookmarks/).

## Search

1. Tap the magnifying glass at the bottom right. The find row is at the
   **bottom of the screen on both iPhone and iPad**, above the keyboard.
2. Type your term. Matches are highlighted on the page, and the counter inside
   the field ("1 of 6") shows your position. Use the chevrons to the right of
   the field to step between matches. With no matches the counter reads `0`.
3. While a search is active, the page thumbnails are replaced by the
   **Results** list - in the sheet on iPhone, in the sidebar on iPad. Tap a
   result to jump to it.
4. Tap the blue checkmark to close the find row. Your query is kept and
   re-run the next time you open search.

If the document has no text layer there is nothing to find, so a **Text
Recognition** capsule appears above the find row instead - see below.

## Select and copy text

Press and hold a word to select it, then drag to extend the selection. Lift
your finger and the standard **Copy** menu appears; tap it to put the text on
the clipboard, ready to paste into any other app.

With a hardware keyboard, `⌘` `C` copies the selection and
`⌘` `A` selects all the text on the current page.

Pages that were scanned as images have no text to select until you run text
recognition on them.

## Text recognition (OCR)

Scanned documents often have no text layer, so search has nothing to find.
Just like on the Mac, the app can recognize the text on-device:

1. Tap **Text Recognition** - in the toolbar on iPad, in the **...** menu on
   iPhone.
2. Pick the language of the document. Recognition handles one language at a
   time, so choose the one that matches most of the text.
3. Choose a quality: **Fast** suits most documents, **Accurate** takes longer
   and can read difficult scans better.
4. Tap **Start**. Progress is shown in a banner while the pages are processed;
   you can stop at any time, and pages already recognized stay searchable. Leave
   the app and the run keeps going - see
   [Progress on the Lock Screen](https://niraqua.com/djvu/help/ios/#progress-on-the-lock-screen).

Recognized text is cached and reused when available. You can run recognition again to change the language or quality, or to replace an incorrect result.

The sheet carries the same two switches as on the Mac: **Remember for this
document** reuses your language and quality next time, and **Replace existing
text layer** (shown once a document has recognized text) decides whether a
re-run reads every page again or only the pages still without text. The same
15 languages are supported, and the same six can use **Fast** - see
[Text recognition](https://niraqua.com/djvu/help/text-recognition/#languages) for the list.

## Export to PDF

1. Tap **Export as PDF...** in the toolbar (on iPhone it is in the **...**
   menu).
2. Under **Pages**, pick **All Pages**, **Current Page**, or **Page Range**.
   **Page Range** shows **From** and **To** fields; tap one and the number pad
   appears. Both ends are included.
3. Choose a **Quality** preset and, optionally, turn on **Enable OCR** to add
   a searchable text layer. The options are the same as on the Mac - see
   [Saving and exporting](https://niraqua.com/djvu/help/exporting/).
4. Tap **Export**, then choose where to save the PDF in the Files dialog.

## Progress on the Lock Screen

Text recognition and PDF export keep running when you leave the app, and a Live
Activity follows them:

- The Lock Screen shows the document, what is happening - **Recognizing Text**,
  **Exporting Searchable PDF**, or **Exporting PDF** - and a progress bar with
  the page it has reached.
- On iPhone models with the Dynamic Island the same progress appears there as a
  ring; touch and hold it to expand.
- Tap it to return to the app, right where you left it.
- Quick jobs never post one: the activity only appears once the work has been
  running for about a second.

If iOS suspends the app while it is in the background, the activity reads
**Paused - open to continue**, and the work resumes exactly where it stopped as
soon as you come back. Nothing already recognized or exported is lost.

To turn this off, go to **Settings > Niraqua DjVu > Live Activities**. The app
behaves the same without it; only the progress display outside the app goes
away.

## Print and share

- **Print...** opens the standard iOS print panel, so you can print to any
  AirPrint printer.
- **Share Original** sends the original `.djvu` file - not a copy or a
  conversion - by AirDrop, Mail, Messages, or any other destination in the
  share sheet.

## Quick Look and thumbnails in Files

- `.djvu` files show a thumbnail of their first page in the Files app.
- Files and other apps can preview DjVu documents with Quick Look without
  opening Niraqua DjVu - for example, long-press a file in Files and choose
  **Quick Look**.

## About this app

**About** - in the toolbar on iPad, in the **...** menu on iPhone - shows the
version and build number you are running, and links to the
[privacy policy](https://niraqua.com/djvu/privacy/) and to this help page. Quote the version if
you write to support.

## Hardware keyboard shortcuts

With a hardware keyboard connected (for example on iPad):

| Action | Shortcut |
| --- | --- |
| Previous / Next Page | `↑` / `↓` (or `←` / `→`) |
| Copy selection | `⌘` `C` |
| Select all text on the page | `⌘` `A` |
| Find Next | `⌘` `G` |
| Find Previous | `⌘` `⇧` `G` |
| Zoom In | `⌘` `+` |
| Zoom Out | `⌘` `-` |
| Actual Size | `⌘` `0` |

## If something does not work

- **Search finds nothing**: A DjVu page can display readable words without containing searchable text. Search needs embedded text or an OCR result. No matches can also mean recognition errors, a different spelling, or an incomplete text layer. [Search DjVu files and recognize scanned text](https://niraqua.com/djvu/search-djvu/)
- **A file will not open**: confirm it is a valid `.djvu` document and fully
  downloaded (files in iCloud Drive may need a moment to download first).
- Anything else: see [Troubleshooting](https://niraqua.com/djvu/help/troubleshooting/) or email
  [support@niraqua.com](mailto:support@niraqua.com).