Best way to annotate pdf files on android mobile?

Abohaal
Hi,

I see many different options to view libraries. But I'm more interested in annotating pdf files with my mobile phone, which then get synced to my library at home. That way I can read and mark research while commuting.
  • ssalinasfe
    i have the same question
  • Dellu
    edited October 30, 2022
    Zotfile: Dropbox: Dropsync:

    You can use Zotfile to store your pdf files in a Dropbox folder or some other cloud folder. You can then annotate them in your android phone using Acrobat reader or something else. If you use apps such as Dropsync on Android, you will have all your pdf files flat on your folder, ready to be annotated and synced to the cloud in an instant.

    That is my workflow. It works great. But, there is no easy way of making the annotations made in the Zotero visible to other apps in Android. That is why I don't use the reader in Zotero. I read my pdf files using other Acrobat compatible readers such as Pdf expert (Mac), Foxit on Windows.

    If you are annotating your pdfs within Zotero, you can try https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.mickstarify.zooforzotero app. People seem to have a good experience with it.
  • claude70
    I do something very similar to Dellu, but I use Box instead of Dropbox / Dropsync. I add a folder on Box to Zotfile's Tablet Settings, and when I want to read a PDF on my tablet I right-click on it in Zotero and choose Manage Attachments > Send To Tablet. (The Manage Attachments option in the right-click menu is where Zotfile puts its options - and you can also set up Zotfile to create subfolders based on your collections, which makes for neater organization in Box.)

    For reading PDFs I use Xodo PDF Reader. I've found that annotations made using Xodo usually (but not always) get synced back through Box when I close the PDF, but this works much less reliably with other PDF readers that I've tried. Not sure what Xodo does that others don't, but it seems to (mostly) work.

    As Dellu mentioned, annotations made with the new PDF reader in Zotero v6 won't show up in Xodo (the Zotero PDF reader uses proprietary annotation format to enable all the magic connections with notes). Annotations made in Xodo (or any other PDF editor/reader) will show up in the Zotero PDF reader, though.
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