My PDF reader REALLY HAD to add a permanent "AI assistant" button that floats on every single file i open

Is this FoxIt? What the hell, FoxIt used to be cool.

Anyway, if all you need is a .pdf reader and don't need any editing or form fill BS, just uninstall all your .pdf readers because they're totally redundant these days. Firefox and all other browsers can natively read .pdf's. If you need to mess with the content of a .pdf, Inkscape (open source) does a competent job of taking them apart and letting you edit them nowadays.

I'm of the opinion that bloated memory hog .pdf applications full of subscriptions and ads and other bullshit can just die in a fire. I haven't actually needed one for years.

I swear by SumatraPDF. The most lightweight reader I ever used. Opens in seconds, is tiny in size, comes with zero bloat.

Hey this name is familiar.... these guys sent me all their app telemetry for a couple weeks because they hardcoded AWS LB IPs into their software, and I got lucky enough to get one of those recycled IPs.

Wouldn't be surprised if their apps are still screwed up and sending large amounts of junk traffic at me, but at least now it's going into a void.

https://www.sumatrapdfreader.org/

Okular.

No ADS, FOSS, and Free (As in beer and speech!)

One of the biggest problems with this AI-spam in every app is that there is no workable business model. You can't run the AI locally on most end user computers. And running it in the cloud or via OpenAI API is expensive and won't work in the long term. So you're looking at another one of those stupid subscriptions, but who really wants to pay monthly for his PDF reader so he can ask it questions?

Maybe use Sumatra PDF instead?

Thanks for reminding me to uninstall Foxit reader. Last week at work I read an article about yet another security flaw in Foxit Reader, and I thought: "I have to uninstall that when I get home" but then I forgot about it.

Foxit Reader used to be a useful tool waaaay back in time. Now it is time for it to go.

I hate everytime anybody even mentions AI as it, to me, translates directly to "massive waste of time for gimmicks and hype." They added some kind of AI prompt button to my main browser a while back and I spent the next several hours searching how to disable it completely.

I recommend Okular

Just use Firefox.

I know it's kind of a meme to call some software bloated, but foxit reader is bloated AF

It seems like you are using Windows. I think SumatraPDF is still good on Windows.

I kinda just use Firefox's pdf editing tools. I don't need anything complicated, signatures, text editing, and highlighting is all I need.

Foxit have been a bloated mess for years now, no reason for them to change.

Acrobat also added an unclosable floating menu. It's a massive pain in my ass.

You can turn it off under Preferences > General (it's right at the bottom "Disable AI Assistant")

I'd be more interested if you can disable the forced-on tablet mode... the menu bar is huge

I’m kinda done with everyone adding an AI assistant. Like it’s cool but I don’t always need an assistant. It’s not cool or new, every has one. Just develop it if you want but don’t shove it down our throats.

Just use Firefox for reading PDFs

Only seen it (FoxIt) installed in a corporate environment, because for some reason businesses cannot stop using "Interactive editable PDFs".
I wonder if there are FOSS alternatives adressing that niche.

Linux PDF readers don't have this bullshit in the first place

I've gotten so used to being able to just use the zapper in ublock origin that I forget that in apps outside of the web browser you can't just get rid of unwanted bits of the UI. That sucks man.

Preview is pretty good.

Did nobody learn from Clippy?! At least make it a purple gorilla ffs.

Use SumatraPDF or Okular

There is no good PDF reader. All of them suck in different ways.

Another good option on Windows is PDF XChange Editor, though I'm using an old version so I can't vouch for how much or little enshitification has happened in newer versions

Adobe PDF is also good if you know where to get it for free. I esp. rely on the editing feature of Adobe PDF. Has saved me so much hassle to edit PDF files cleanly.

Hey Moonrise2473, Do you still have this issue? I opened foxit today and was reminded of your post. I figured out how to get rid of the "AI assistent" and "support centre".

go to file>preferences

image (sorry, I don't have time right now to figure out how to insert images properly)

(below the arrow in this image is the "disable support centre" button for the other floaty thing)

Then restart foxit and it's gone!!

An adblocker that allows you to select and remove elements can be critical in helping to declutter websites, including those annoying floating windows.