Feature Request Zotero Beta (Windows) + iOS Beta (iPad): ePUB reading

Hi zotero devs!

Loving the Zotero and iOS Betas. I have quite a few ePUB files in my bibliographies, however, and would love if the PDF reader also read and annotated ePUB files, if possible! Thanks
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  • I would also like to see this, since many eBooks are just available as EPub and even if you’re able to convert some into PDF, these are in a worse format than a Book published as PDF.

    Some publishers, e.g. springer if you’re in pleasure of a university subscription, are delivering their scientific books in both ways. While reading (drm freed) EPUBs is a general pleasure, it breaks my workflow with Zotero if I read & annotate them them in restrictive closed source applications like iBooks.

    I appreciate the work the devs are putting into integrating the main functions in one app, and think this is a big step forward! Thank you and I hope the subscription partly pays the bill's.
  • This would be a useful feature, as many of the monographs in my library are ePUBs.
  • Thank you @axre and @whuber; I'm glad you also think it'll be a useful feature! @dstillman would this be possible for future iterations of Zotero?
  • +1
    Being able to effectively grab epub info, including annotations, would be very helpful. I read/annotate epub mainly in Google Play Books and ProQuest through my university library.
  • This would be an immensely valuable addition to Zotero, in part because the epub reader market is a bit of a mess in terms of academic use. There are a variety of readers, but they are variously inelegant, inefficient, don't allow annotations, and/or hold your annotations hostage in a proprietary format.
  • +1

    I am also missing this feature.
  • +1 for that one.

    Since the new PDF reader is based on pdf.js and since there exists ePub.js as well (https://github.com/futurepress/epub.js) I have the small hope that it might be possible to conceive ePub support in a similar way, including annotations. Probably something for a time when the new PDF reader has been officially rolled out?
  • +1
    This would be an very useful feature and make my workflow very efficient!
  • +1

    It would be a huge upgrade to my workflow if I could read and annotate epubs in Zotero.
  • +1
    This will be very helpful and will add an extra value to the new reader mode in the Beta version.
  • Reviving this as a suggestion: getting closer to doing all my reading and annotation in Zotero, but I do have a lot of .epubs (and .mobis).
  • I'd also use epub function a lot, it'd be a huge feature for me
  • +1
    I second that. This is the only situation that I can't use Zotero. Or if I want to, I would convert epub files into pdf using Calibre.
  • + 1 to EPUB in-app reader. I know it's not a small ask, but it would make the app much more accessible, and allow users to read comfortably on smaller devices.
  • I actually lament that Zotero doesn't deal with digital book designs (epub, mobi,...) better - for example showing their symbol like pdf; ordering them, and so forth, however the Zotero biological system actually has so many more pluses than minuses that it's an easy decision for me
  • edited April 11, 2022
    It seems that a reader for other digital formats (such as epubs) is much requested, also in another discussion: https://forums.zotero.org/discussion/70860/epub-annotation-extraction

    Are there any plans to implement? how can we get this into reality? @dstillman
  • +1 it would be so useful
  • Great idea, +1 vote
  • +1 that would be realy hepful
  • +1
    that would be much appreciated
  • If provide an e-book reader for reading epub and other formats, we will be able to take notes while reading books, which sounds quite good. Zotero will be more and more perfect. Excuse me, is there any development progress?
  • Same here. Reading epubs in Zotero will be a huge feature. Thanks
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