Vim Keybindings
Navigate with hjkl, jump with marks, select in visual mode, follow links with Ctrl+] and jump back with Ctrl+[. Your muscle memory, perfected for PDFs.
Avior
The vim-way to read PDFs
A native macOS PDF viewer built for keyboard-driven productivity. Navigate with vim keybindings, run any action from the command palette, and annotate without ever modifying the original file.
A native Swift app for macOS
Built for Power Users
Every feature designed to keep your hands on the keyboard and your focus on the content.
Command Palette
Press : to run any action — with fuzzy search, command-only mode (!), and annotation search (/). No mouse required.
Non-Destructive Annotations
Highlight and annotate freely. Everything is saved to JSON sidecars, so your original PDF is never modified.
Layout-Aware Analysis
Detect a document's structure — titles, paragraphs, lists, tables, and figures — for the current page or the whole document. The detection model is downloaded on demand from Settings ▸ Model Files.
Open from the Terminal
Install the avior command and open any PDF straight from your shell: avior report.pdf.
Native Performance
Built with Swift for macOS. Instant startup, smooth scrolling (or instant page jumps, if you prefer), minimal memory footprint.
Why Avior?
A different approach to reading PDFs.
Built Like a Hammer
A solid, robust tool that just works. No subscriptions, no cloud dependencies. Own it as long as your OS supports it.
Keyboard-First Philosophy
Inspired by vim's operational elegance. Designed for those who think in keyboard shortcuts, not mouse clicks.
Focused Reading Experience
Purpose-built for academic researchers and technical readers. Not a PDF editor, but a PDF reading machine.
Frequently Asked Questions
Everything you need to know about Avior.
What macOS versions are supported?
Avior requires macOS 15 (Sequoia) or later, and is fully optimized for the latest macOS 27.
Is Avior free?
Yes, Avior is completely free.
How do updates work?
Avior updates itself. Choose Check for Updates… and the new version is downloaded, cryptographically verified, and installed in place — signed and notarized, with no manual re-downloads.
Can Avior understand my document's structure?
Yes. Avior includes layout detection that identifies titles, paragraphs, lists, tables, and figures — for the current page or the whole document. The detection model (about 246 MB) is downloaded on demand from Settings ▸ Model Files, with progress, automatic resume on dropped connections, and integrity verification before install.
Can I make Avior my default PDF viewer?
Yes. Avior registers itself with macOS as a PDF viewer, so it appears in Finder's Open With menu and can be set as your system-wide default for PDFs.
Can I open PDFs from the terminal?
Yes. Install the avior command from File ▸ Install 'avior' Shell Command…, then run avior report.pdf from any shell — or just avior to launch the app.
Does Avior collect any of my data?
Your PDFs are processed entirely on your device and never uploaded. Avior offers optional anonymous diagnostics that are off by default; see our Privacy Policy for details.
How do I learn the keybindings?
Use the command palette (:) to discover available commands with their shortcuts. The help command works like the Linux man command — a handy tool to learn more about any feature.
Changelog
Track the evolution of Avior.
v1.52.0 2026-10-22
- Choose how pages move — a new Page Movement setting in Settings ▸ Navigation lets keyboard paging scroll smoothly (the default) or jump straight to the new position. Smooth scrolling also keeps up when you press or hold
Ctrl+Fquickly. - A cleaner sidebar on macOS 26 and later — a full-height column with a segmented tab control, compact page rows, centered thumbnails, and hint cards. It follows light and dark mode and your accent color.
- Links land where they point — most links in a PDF now take you to the exact spot they point to, not just their page, and
Ctrl+[brings you back to exactly where you were. - New PDF link settings in Settings ▸ Annotation — show link borders and follow links in Avior, each on its own.
- Closing a document window now frees the memory its document used, plus fixes for rapid keyboard paging, sidebar thumbnails, and page numbers typed into the command palette.