Is PDFExtract Private? What Runs on the Device and What Doesn't

TL;DR

Text extraction, OCR (Apple Vision), layout analysis and table recognition run on the device with models bundled in the app. PDFs are never uploaded. The app contacts Apple for purchases and, if you use it, our feedback service. There are no ads or analytics SDKs.

The problem

The PDFs worth extracting are often the sensitive ones: contracts, statements, medical and legal papers. A tool that sends them to a server for OCR or “AI” processing is the thing you’re trying to avoid.

What runs on your device

  • PDF parsing and reading the text layer.
  • OCR, using Apple’s Vision text recognition built into iOS.
  • Layout analysis: headings, lists, columns, reading order.
  • Table recognition (Pro): a layout-detection model and a table-structure model, both shipped inside the app (a few tens of MB).
  • Image extraction, Markdown and ZIP creation.

No document, page image or text is uploaded.

What the app does contact

WhatWhy
Apple (App Store)Purchases, subscriptions, restoring Pro
Rating and feedback service (rate.mzjpg.com)Only when you submit a rating or feedback in the app

It has no ads, no analytics SDKs and no account.

Your files

Projects are stored in the app’s storage on your device. Passwords for locked PDFs are used to open the file and are not sent anywhere. Exporting or sharing is always your action.

Good habits

  • Delete projects after use if the content is sensitive.
  • Remember that exported Markdown and ZIP files aren’t protected.
  • Keep iOS updated: the OCR engine is part of the system.

FAQ

Does it work in airplane mode? Yes for extraction. Purchases and restore need a connection.

Are there ads or analytics? No ads. No analytics SDK. A rating/feedback service is used when you choose to send feedback.

Where are my documents stored? In the app’s own storage as projects. Delete a project to remove it.

Is the AI model downloaded later? No. The layout and table models are included in the app; the text recogniser is part of iOS.

The app PDFExtract →