Open a .md file on your phone

On iPhone and iPad

iOS has no app that opens .md by default. Tap the file in the Files app and you get plain text through Quick Look. To see headings, tables and lists, open it in a browser.

1. Open Safari and go to MDFrame.
2. Tap Open file and pick the file from the Files app: iCloud Drive, On My iPhone or Google Drive all work.
3. Read the formatted document. For a PDF, tap the printer button in the toolbar, then choose Save to Files in the iOS print sheet.

To skip those steps next time, add MDFrame to your Home Screen: tap Safari's Share button, then Add to Home Screen. The icon sits with your other apps and opens full screen, without the address bar.

On Android

1. Open Chrome and go to MDFrame.
2. Tap Open file and choose the file from Files, Downloads or Google Drive.
3. To use it like an app: open the ⋮ menu, then Add to Home screen.

Android's Files app also opens .md as plain text, the same way Quick Look does on iOS.

Files that arrive by email, WhatsApp, Telegram or Drive

Those apps rarely render Markdown. The fix is the same on both platforms:

1. Download the file with the Download or Save to Files button.
2. Open MDFrame in the browser.
3. Tap Open file and pick the downloaded file, usually in Downloads.

On iPhone, choosing Share → Save to Files keeps documents in one folder you can find again, instead of leaving them buried in a chat app.

Limits worth knowing

Mobile browsers are not allowed to pick a folder, so images sitting next to the .md file will not load. Embedded images still work. Web images stay blocked until you select Load external images. Loading them contacts their hosts; permission applies only to the current document and resets when its text changes or the app reloads.

Wide tables are painful on a portrait screen. Rotate the phone to landscape and they get easier.

Files of several MB are slow. Save those for a computer.

Reading history lives in the browser. Clearing site data erases it, and a different browser starts with an empty list.

When a dedicated app is worth installing

If you need to write, link notes together, or sync across devices, consider:

• Obsidian (iOS, Android): the strongest Markdown note system, though it takes some learning.
• Markor (Android): light, open source, handles both editing and preview.
• Bear and iA Writer (iOS): polished writing and export, aimed at writers more than engineers.

If all you need is to read a .md file someone sent you, the browser is enough and costs no storage.