A private Android alternative for merging and compressing PDFs
iLovePDF is a well-run service, and this page says so in detail. It is about the one thing an on-device app changes, and what that is worth for a tax return.
What iLovePDF does well
Being accurate about a competitor is worth more than being flattering about ourselves, so here is their side first, taken from their own published security page:
- ISO/IEC 27001:2022 certified, with the certificate published rather than merely claimed.
- Files processed through their tools are automatically and permanently deleted within two hours, and you can remove one immediately from the download screen.
- A European company, GDPR compliant, with electronic signatures issued through eIDAS qualified trust service providers.
- Encrypted in transit and at rest, behind a CDN with DDoS protection, with two-factor authentication on accounts.
The one thing on-device changes
Every item on that list describes how carefully a file is looked after once it has arrived. It is a good answer to “is this safe?”. It is not an answer to “does this leave my phone?”, because that answer is yes, and it has to be — a browser tool cannot merge a PDF it has not been given.
For a holiday photo that is a distinction without a difference. For a tax return, a bank statement, a medical letter or a photograph of a passport it is the whole question, because a file that is never uploaded has no transfer to secure, no retention window to trust and nobody’s certification to take on faith. ScanOrbit merges, splits and compresses the file where it already is.
One detail from their own policy that cuts the other way: documents signed through their service are kept for up to five years to meet legal requirements, which is a much longer window than the two hours that applies to the other tools.
| Capability | ScanOrbit | iLovePDF |
|---|---|---|
| Where merging and compressing happen | On your phone, in the app’s own storage. | On their servers, after the file has been uploaded. |
| Works without an internet connection | Yes, including in airplane mode. | No. The file has to reach them first. |
| How long your file is kept | Nothing is sent, so there is nothing to keep. | Deleted automatically within two hours of processing; signed documents kept up to five years. |
| Account needed | No, for everything except the optional Pro subscription. | Not needed for the basic browser tools; needed for their account features. |
| Platform | Android | Browser, desktop, Android and iOS |
Where these claims come from
This page compares against iLovePDF’s browser tools, which is what most people mean by the name. They also publish mobile and desktop apps, and where those process a file has not been tested here — so this page makes no claim about them either way.
Read on October 2026 from iLovePDF’s own published security and data-protection page. The quotations and figures are theirs. If something here has gone out of date, tell us and it gets corrected.
iLovePDF’s security pageQuestions people ask
Is iLovePDF safe to use?
By the usual measures, yes — the list above is all from their own security page, and it is a stronger list than most services publish. The question this page is about is a different one: whether a document needs to be uploaded at all for the job you are doing.
Can PDFs be merged without an internet connection?
Yes. Merging, splitting, compressing and reordering pages all run on the phone and work in airplane mode. That is the test worth running on any tool that claims to work offline.
What happens if I share the finished file afterwards?
It goes wherever you send it. Sharing through the share sheet is you choosing to send a file somewhere, and no app can make that private on your behalf — the claim here is about where the processing happens, not about what you do with the result.
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