Protecting a PDF file put on an Android device.

[Android Central Question]

Hello and thanks in advance.

We would like to give out android tablets with our training materials on them. We want to protect that file from being printed or copied. I have been able to prevent it from printing but not from copying. I have set all the permissions via Adobe Pro and they work great on a windows system but when I move the file to my android tablet, it allows copying.

Another question is what file manager would you suggest using to move a file from a thumb drive to the home screen of the tablet. I have tried a couple of them but they are not very easy to use.

Thank you very much.

 

[Rukbat]

1. Copying is at the system level, not at the file level. You can prevent file copying on the tablets by removing the copy ability from Linux (the kernel), but then no file can be copied. There's no PDF provision for "no copying".

2. You don't. You copy (never move - if the move operation does the entire file read, then deletes the original, then writes the copy - and the operation blows up after the deletion, you've lost the file) the file to the tablet. Then you depend on a file manager to make a shortcut to the file on the home screen. (That's just how Android works.) You could, of course, develop an app that copies, then creates the shortcut. (Google Play has that ability - you can install an app and have the ability to create a shortcut just by installing the app (even though it's actually 2 separate actions, one occurring before the second one can.)