An easier way is Share>Save to Files>then select the location you wish to save it (On Your Phone, iCloud Drive or any other cloud drives you may have connected)(tapping on any folders that contain other folders will allow you to select any sub-folders), then tap save in the upper right corner (or select the folder icon beside that to create a new [sub-]folder). It is more a feature of Files as opposed to a Firefox feature (issue).

Thank you for the suggestion, but my issue is that this option does not exist. In the case I mentioned, and also another I recently encountered, the option Save to Files was not given under the Share menu (nor anywhere else). To be exact, the the Share menu contained as options a few apps (none of which was a way to save, so no Files, Dropbox, &c.) and Copy, Markup, and Print. I have tried to print, but that did not give a save option, and copy, then past in the Files app also did not work (only copied a few characters from the file). Some more information, which may help: in both cases I encountered, the visible URL for the displayed pdf file was blob:.

Then the issue may be with just the particular PDF. Prior to my previous reply I tested it on my phone (iPhone SE 2nd gen, iOS 14.7.1) with PDFs that I have bookmarked on Firefox, while it worked as stated earlier on two different PDFs, I did encounter one PDF that wouldn’t even give me the option to share in any manner, only ‘select all’, ‘cut’ and ‘copy’. You might try some other PDFs from other sites (something more general), the form may just have had protection settings added prior to being uploaded to keep it from being copied or downloaded. Otherwise, sorry I wasn’t of any more help than I was. ):

Although, Adobe has both a “Reader” app and a “Scan and Fax” app, both have free versions, and can save files. Might try and see if either of those would become one of your “save to” options if added to your device. Best I got(;

Thank you for the tips, I will try those. However, these are workarounds, and do not resolve the issue. In the particular case I mentioned in the original post, the express purpose of the pdf is to be saved: anyone entering the country must be able to show such a pdf upon request. Moreover, the last button to be pressed before arriving at the pdf is named something like 'Save pdf', but in FireFox only opens inside the browser without save option. I cannot just try and redo this, as the only way to access this kind of pdf is by letting Germany know I am crossing the border, which I am not, but I seem to recall from previous times that neither Safari on iPadOS nor FireFox on MacOS have this problem, so I still think this is an issue with the FireFox app, and should be resolved.

Moreover, the last button to be pressed before arriving at the pdf is named something like 'Save pdf', but in FireFox only opens inside the browser without save option.

Based on that statement, could the issue be in Firefox’s Enhanced Protection Settings? You might try switching that off prior to filling out the form. Could be that blocking the selection button. And based upon the nature of the document, try enabling your location services if not already and that you have given Firefox permission to use them.

Apple has also recently had a major security update, starting with iOS 14.7, one of the things affected is cross site/app tracking. To update those permissions go to Settings>Privacy>Tracking, turn the toggle on (if it is off), then restart the device. Once back on, just start opening all apps. Any apps that want to be able to track you is now required to ask for permission, even if previously granted. Either approve or deny, it should only matter that you approve Firefox if requested. All apps that requested permission will then have it’s own separate on/off toggle in Settings>Privacy>Tracking in addition to the master on/off toggle (you can always switch it all back off again after testing if that is your preference). Purpose being, that if there are any apps on your device that might possibly aid in the loading or saving of the document, and the document is geo-blocked, it/they may affect that selection box also,

Also, is it possible to create the PDF on your desktop/laptop then save and email it to yourself?

And I know that this would just be one more workaround, but, in reality, that is how most issues (bugs) are corrected. And I am not trying to say that the issue you are facing is not the fault of an issue within the Firefox for iOS app. And I definitely am not a expert technician, just trying to be helpful because in the past, when I had technical questions, no one was ever willing to help. If none of these suggestions are helpful, and feel strongly enough that it it a correctable issue with the app itself, you might try filing a bug report, which is different than posting in the help forum. That would be done via GitHub where the developers that actually write the code for the programs and apps collaborate.

Based on that statement, could the issue be in Firefox’s Enhanced Protection Settings? You might try switching that off prior to filling out the form. Could be that blocking the selection button. And based upon the nature of the document, try enabling your location services if not already and that you have given Firefox permission to use them. Apple has also recently had a major security update, starting with iOS 14.7, one of the things affected is cross site/app tracking. To update those permissions go to Settings>Privacy>Tracking, turn the toggle on (if it is off), then restart the device. Once back on, just start opening all apps. Any apps that want to be able to track you is now required to ask for permission, even if previously granted. Either approve or deny, it should only matter that you approve Firefox if requested. All apps that requested permission will then have it’s own separate on/off toggle in Settings>Privacy>Tracking in addition to the master on/off toggle (you can always switch it all back off again after testing if that is your preference). Purpose being, that if there are any apps on your device that might possibly aid in the loading or saving of the document, and the document is geo-blocked, it/they may affect that selection box also,

Thank you, I did not think of either of those options. I will try these next time I encounter this issue. As I stated before, I cannot quite reproduce the issue, as it would involve falsely informing Germany I am about to enter the country. As I realise this makes solving the issue very hard, I will mark your reply as a solution.

Also, is it possible to create the PDF on your desktop/laptop then save and email it to yourself?

Yes, this is basically what I did in the end.

And I know that this would just be one more workaround, but, in reality, that is how most issues (bugs) are corrected. And I am not trying to say that the issue you are facing is not the fault of an issue within the Firefox for iOS app. And I definitely am not a expert technician, just trying to be helpful because in the past, when I had technical questions, no one was ever willing to help. If none of these suggestions are helpful, and feel strongly enough that it it a correctable issue with the app itself, you might try filing a bug report, which is different than posting in the help forum. That would be done via GitHub where the developers that actually write the code for the programs and apps collaborate.

Thank you, that is good to know. If I do find in future it should be resolved within the app, this is what I will do.

Thanks again for your replies, you have been really helpful.

Sorry but the answer from lpsears63 is completely useless and should not be marked as a solution to this issue.

This is a well-known issue that has plagued FF for iOS for a long time. There are many other threads, here and on other forums about it. No actual solution in sight it seems from Mozilla.

There are workarounds.

If the PDF is given as an actual link, FF will download a temporary copy and it might be possible to copy it using native iOS functions:

• Tap the three dots in upper right corner.
• Tap 'Share' entry.
• Select 'Copy'
• Open 'Files' app, tap an empty spot in the folder of your choice, then select 'Paste'.

This is one way confirmed to work for some. For the PDF I was trying to save, it resulted in a text file that had 'blob:' inside, which was in the address bar of the document in FF. This is not helpful.

Second solution that sometimes work:

In the 'Shortcuts' app, open the gallery. One shortcut exists there called 'Download File'. Add this shortcut and enable it to be displayed on the 'Share sheet'. Then on your PDF file in FF:

• Tap the three dots in upper-right corner.
• Tap 'Share' entry.
• Select 'Download File'

In my case it again, did not work: the 'blob:' address is not a valid hostname, and the shortcut was not able to download it. That might still work in some cases though so I wanted to list this option there.

Last thing I tried that worked in my case where the PDF is a binary blob parsed by FF directly:

• Tap the three dots in upper-right corner.
• Tap 'Share' entry.
• Tap 'Print'
• Long press on 'Print' in upper-right corner.
• Now you have a 'Save to Files' entry in the share sheet proposed. Select it.
• You can now save the PDF file. In my case it was named 'blob/.pdf' by default, it can be renamed, etc.

Somehow going through 'Print' allows treating the document differently, and the share sheet is updated to offer the full, regular options for documents, such as saving to Files.