I don't mind reading research papers, but they're really annoying to read on a phone screen. I remember a few years ago, an HN comment shared a link to some tool that could convert a PDF to single column text and make it more readable on a phone screen, but I can't find it. Anyone remember this or have the link?

> but they're really annoying to read on a phone screen.

+1. I've already read probably 100 research papers this year in search of solutions to some technical problems, mostly while lying on bed with a tablet. I won't read as much without it.

Once phones got relatively big (i.e. 'phablet' ceased to exist as a concept because that size was just 'phone' now) I switched to using a 7/8" tablet with my SIM in it as my primary portable device (Nexus 7 and now Galaxy Tab A6).

Means I have to carry it in my jacket pocket or a side pocket on my combats but the bigger phones weren't comfortable in my trousers' top pocket anyway so for me at least the trade-off is well worth it.

How big is your phone screen and what are you using to read it? A few inches makes a lot of difference. In landscape mode my phone is 6.5" wide and reading a pdf with moonreader in full screen because its wide enough to read without having to reformat anything. You can also click on figures to view only that figure.

If that isn't enough you might consider a tablet or e-reader instead of trying so hard to make existing options work.

You CAN convert to something like epub which is trivially reflowed and this is just fine for reading fiction but just isn't as pleasant and nicely formatted as a pdf.

The software KOReader [1] has a PDF reflow setting which you can try.

[1] http://koreader.rocks/

I use an android (and iOS I think) app called Xodo. The "reader mode" re-flows the PDF into a screen-width single column like an e-book. The latest update really buried the option in the menus, but it's there somewhere and works pretty well.