EU rules now favor exactly this
Electronic instructions for professional-use medical devices aren't a workaround. They're explicitly provided for, and recently expanded.
Implementing Regulation (EU) 2021/2226 sets the rules for electronic instructions for use (eIFU) under the EU Medical Devices Regulation. In 2025, it was expanded by Implementing Regulation (EU) 2025/1234, widening eIFU to cover all MDR devices and accessories intended for professional use, specifically because regulators found healthcare professionals prefer electronic instructions and need faster, more reliable access to device information.
The scope that matters for you
This applies to professional users, clinicians and technicians using the device in the course of their work, not general consumers. A device used by both professionals and lay users still needs a paper IFU option. Standalone software devices are the exception, those can extend eIFU to lay users directly.
In practice
If your device is professional-use, or has a professional-use pathway, the regulatory door for exactly what SIMPI does is already open. Most manufacturers haven't walked through it yet, they're still shipping a PDF or a printed manual because that's what's always been done, not because it's what's required.