Zotero launches Android app with PDF annotations, library sync, and barcode scanning

Research assistant Zotero has launched an official Android app, enabling researchers to access and manage their Zotero data from Android mobile devices. The app allows users to sync both personal and group libraries, an essential feature for continuity across platforms. Users can view and edit item details, organize research into collections, and take notes directly within the app.

A standout addition is PDF reading with support for highlights, notes, images, and ink annotations. While EPUB and web snapshot annotation features are not yet available, they are in development and should be released soon. Researchers can save journal articles, books, and webpages by sharing links from the browser or other apps. Furthermore, the app supports both barcode scanning, which lets users quickly add physical books using the device camera, and manual input of identifiers like DOI, ISBN, or PMID to streamline capturing new references.

PDF files accessible without a login can be downloaded automatically, though Android technical limits prevent login-based retrieval for now. When users save PDFs to the app, Zotero automatically extracts bibliographic details. Annotations made in the Android app can then be imported to Zotero notes on the desktop, which can later be inserted into word processor documents with active citations or exported to Markdown.