GlyphGlance Help
GlyphGlance lets you read Markdown documents, Mermaid diagrams, and Fountain screenplays on iPhone and iPad. Your original files stay unchanged.
Open a document
Use the document browser to choose a file from On My iPhone, On My iPad, iCloud Drive, or another location available in Files. You can also open a supported document from Files with GlyphGlance.
A file stored in the cloud may need to download first. To read without a connection, make the file available offline in Files before you leave. GlyphGlance's document formatting, diagrams, and mathematics work on your device.
In the document browser, choose Explore a Sample to try the reader without adding a file to your documents. Open GlyphGlance Help from the document browser or the reader’s question-mark button. When toolbar space is limited, Help is available in More.
Files can also show GlyphGlance previews and thumbnails for supported documents. A system preview is separate from opening the full reader.
Show local images
If a document refers to images stored beside it, choose Allow Images from Folder… from the reader's More menu and select the folder containing the document and its images. Opening one document does not give GlyphGlance access to the other files in its folder.
GlyphGlance remembers the selected folder on this device. Choose Forget Image Folder to remove that permission. Remote images are not downloaded automatically.
Read comfortably
Choose Reading Appearance to adjust the font, text size, spacing, margins, alignment, colors, and reading layout. The document and controls also respond to your device’s text-size setting.
- Continuous lets you scroll through the document.
- Book divides the document into pages. Swipe left to go forward or right to go back, or use the Previous Page and Next Page buttons. Swipes on links, selected text, or horizontally scrollable tables and code keep their normal behavior.
- Automatic chooses one page or a two-page spread according to the available space. Two Pages shows a spread when the pages can fit comfortably.
Appearance changes apply to the current document. Choose Use as Default to use those choices for documents opened later, Use Saved Defaults to restore your saved choices, or Reset Appearance to start from GlyphGlance's standard appearance.
GlyphGlance remembers your reading position on this device. Each document window keeps its own position, even when the same file is open in another window. Opening a new window resumes the most recently read position. If the file changes, its position may need to be adjusted. Reading positions are not synchronized between devices.
For a quieter view, choose Enter Reading Mode (the book icon). If it is not visible in the toolbar, choose it from More. Exit Reading Mode, Table of Contents, Reading Appearance, Document Info, and Document Overview remain available. If Document Info is open, you can close it with Done or leave it open when exiting Reading Mode.
iPad and iPhone Duo
On a wide display, Contents and other reading controls open beside your document. In a smaller window or at accessibility text sizes, they open in a sheet. You can rotate the device or resize the window while reading.
On iPhone Duo, Book layout adapts to the available reading areas. A vertical fold can separate the two pages. With a horizontal fold and enough space, the page appears above a separate area with a page-position slider, navigation buttons, Contents, Overview, Appearance, Find, and Read Aloud. A smaller area uses one page. Continuous reading remains a continuous document. Opening or folding iPhone Duo does not change your chosen reading layout.
Move around a document
Table of Contents lists the document's headings. Select a heading to jump to it. The hierarchy matches the headings used when you export the document.
Document Overview shows page thumbnails in Book layout; select one to move there. In Continuous layout it shows a minimap with an outline of the visible passage. Tap or drag the map to move through the document. The map scrolls with the outline, and both reach the end together. With VoiceOver, adjust the overview to move forward or backward.
Use the sidebar button in the toolbar to show or hide Document Overview. Its accent color indicates that the strip is open. On iPhone Duo, the toolbar may move to the side as the available space changes.
In a narrow window, including the outer display of iPhone Duo, the overview slides in from the right without resizing the document. Drag the minimap or select a page thumbnail to move through the document; the strip stays open. You can keep scrolling or turning pages. Tap the document text or the toolbar button to slide it away.
In a wide window, the strip opens beside the document and can be resized. The presentation follows the space available to your window, including when you open or close iPhone Duo or use another app beside GlyphGlance.
Choose Find in the toolbar, or in More when space is limited, to search the document. Use Previous and Next to move between matches, or enable Match Case when capitalization matters. Your search text and Match Case choice remain when you close and reopen Find or use another reading panel.
With a hardware keyboard, Command-F opens Find. Command-G and Shift-Command-G move between matches while Find is open, and Escape dismisses the panel. The left and right arrow keys turn pages when no reading panel is open.
On narrow screens, wide tables with column headings may appear as labeled rows. This keeps the full contents readable without horizontal scrolling. Compact numeric tables keep their columns; complex tables may still scroll.
Use the Copy icon above a table to copy the whole table for pasting into Microsoft Excel or Apple Numbers. The copy keeps rows and columns, even when the preview uses labeled rows. Code blocks use the same Copy icon and copy only the code.
Inspect diagrams
Use a diagram's enlarge control to open it separately. Pinch to zoom and drag to inspect its details. Share or copy the diagram as PDF or SVG, then close it to return to the same place in the document.
A diagram is shared on its own; sharing the entire original document is a separate action.
Share, export, and print
Choose More in the toolbar. Then choose Share and Export.
- Share Original shares the source file without converting it. It is available for a document opened from a file.
- Export as PDF creates a PDF for reading and sharing.
- Export as Word creates an editable Word document with headings, lists, and tables.
- Print… prepares a document and opens the system print options. Choose a printer and confirm there to print.
PDF and Word export ask you where to save the new file. They do not replace your source document. You can cancel while GlyphGlance prepares an export or dismiss the save dialog without saving.
Choose Page Settings… before exporting or printing to set the paper size, orientation, margins, and scale. Apply keeps the changes for this document window; Cancel discards the draft. Page Settings affects the exported or printed pages, independently of the reader's on-screen layout.
Document information
In the toolbar, choose Document Info, immediately beside Document Overview, to see the title, filename, size, dates, text statistics, and detected format and language.
Markdown Variant controls how GlyphGlance interprets Markdown. Automatic detects the variant from the document. Choose a specific variant if its formatting needs a different interpretation.
Content Language describes the document's text. It is separate from the language of GlyphGlance's controls. Choose Automatic, a listed language, or Other Language and enter a language tag, then choose Apply. These choices are remembered locally for this document and do not change the original file.
On supported devices and languages, Generate Summary creates a summary using Apple Intelligence. Review the result before using it. Page Settings can include a generated summary in PDF or Word metadata. Export does not generate a summary automatically.
Listen to a document
Choose the Read Aloud speaker icon to open its menu. When toolbar space is limited, choose Read Aloud in More instead. Start reading from the menu. If text is selected, GlyphGlance reads that selection; otherwise it reads the document’s text.
Use Pause, Resume, and Stop in the reading controls. Only one document is read aloud at a time. Starting another reading replaces the previous one, and closing the document stops it. Playback can continue while GlyphGlance is in the background, with controls available through the system's media controls.
Shortcuts
GlyphGlance provides Preview File, Export as PDF, Export as Word, and Get Document Information actions in Shortcuts. Choose the document to pass into the action. After an export, add Shortcuts' Save File action to choose where the result goes. Preview File opens a temporary, read-only copy; close it when you finish. Changes to the original after opening that copy do not update the preview.
Shortcuts exports can include a subject and summary generated on your device with Apple Intelligence, when available. They use their own export settings, independently of any document you have open in GlyphGlance.
If something goes wrong
If the reader cannot finish opening a document, choose Try Again. If a file is unavailable, check its location in Files and whether its provider needs a connection or sign-in.
If an image is missing, check the image reference and the folder permission. A permission for one folder does not grant access to unrelated folders.
If a diagram reports an error, check its Mermaid source. The rest of the document remains available.
If a summary is unavailable, you can still read, share, print, and export the document.
Language and privacy
GlyphGlance's interface, Help, and sample are available in English, German, French, Spanish, Hindi, and Simplified Chinese. Use the app's language option in Settings to choose your preferred language, then reopen GlyphGlance.
Documents are read-only. Reading preferences, positions, and remembered folder permissions stay on this device. GlyphGlance does not upload document contents to a translation service or a remote summarization service. Sharing, saving an export, and printing happen only when you choose those actions.
Copy code
Choose Copy above a code block to place the displayed code on the clipboard for reuse in another app. The copied text preserves spaces and line breaks, without Markdown fences or syntax colors.
About Markdown
Markdown was created in 2004 by John Gruber in collaboration with Aaron Swartz.
Gruber, J. (2004). *Markdown*. Daring Fireball.
About Sascha Losko
GlyphGlance is developed by Sascha Losko, an independent software developer in Munich, Germany. He creates native apps with a focus on chemistry, documents and everyday workflows, and offers his apps on the App Store under his registered trademark Obscure Essentials®.
Learn more about Sascha and his apps at Obscure Essentials®. For support, contact [support@losko.de](mailto:support@losko.de).
About GlyphGlance
Choose About GlyphGlance from the document browser or the reader’s More menu to see the app version and build, developer and trademark credits, support and privacy links, Markdown attribution, and third-party notices.