Zotero cloud document sync integrated into Boox library app?

Hi there,

Just wondering if anybody has experience with accessing Zotero cloud documents with their Boox tablets. Today I noticed after a firmware update that the built-in Boox library app can access content on the cloud (from several services like Dropbox, evernote, onedrive, webdav, and zotero). I was able to bind my zotero account and see my library (by tapping the little cloud icon), with each citation taking you to a screen with three tabs: Information (where you see the basic citation info and the abstract), Notes (where you can see your notes that you wrote in the desktop app... I tried to create a new one for a particular citation, and it showed up on the Boox interface quicky), and finally the Attachment tab.

The kicker is that the Attachment tab is blank, but I think this is where I am supposed to access the pdf. Has anybody had any luck making the pdf show up? I confirmed that the document I was trying to access is viewable in the zotero cloud library.
  • I'm able to access my (stored on zotero) pdfs via Attachments tab.
    Attachments tab is empty for linked files (as expected).

    I can read and annotate no problem.

    Maybe unbind and bind again and make sure you didn't uncheck some setting?
  • I don't see an update or Zotero option in cloud settings on my Tab Ultra. Can you share the firmware version of yours? I am very excited for a Boox native workflow.
  • Build Number: 2024-06-21_06-12_3.5.3_899f4030

    Annotations are embedded into pdf, and since Zotero annotations aren't embedded; they don't show up in Neo Reader.
    Reading wise, perfect. Workflow wise, not even close to native Zotero app.
  • Well, I have to disagree. Native Android app still has many problems. And I find NeoReader to be best PDF reading tool I have ever used. If I could natively open PDFs in my Zotero storage with NeoReader, I wouldn't be using Zoo for Zotero now. I know Zotero for Android is a huge improvement but its pdf reader is far from perfect. (navigation is hard, annotations is sometimes buggy and palm rejection is not so perfect etc.)
  • edited July 22, 2024
    I was not clear that my comparison assumed if native android app was not buggy on Boox. If it was optimized, I'd use it instead - since iPad app is sufficient for my workflow.
    Being able to do some work on desktop and switching to tablet back to back without losing highlights are more important than other pdf reader features, for me.

    I see your point though, they can totally borrow some features from neo reader.
  • I have the same issue as OP. I was wondering if anyone has made any progress with this?

    Thanks
  • I tried it now on my Boox note air 2 plus and the pdf showed up in the attachment tab. I managed to both draw, underline and highlight with neo reader and it synced as it should to zotero. However, the underline did not show up as an annotation so I guess that became underlined text rather than annotated text (possibly a bug).

    Did you select all the options when you connected it?
  • So, I've unbound my account and reconnected it, making sure to tick all options. I've also checked that the Zotero authorisation key is set correctly.

    Interestingly, I've found that there seems to be some inconsistency in which pdf attachments are visible on my Boox. I use Zotero storage, and almost all of my entries have been added via the Chrome extension. These have pdf files in the Zotero desktop app, and in the Android app, but not on the Boox.

    However, just to experiment, I manually added a pdf to my Zotero desktop app (not via the Chrome extension) and this one was visible on the Boox.

    Then, I manually added a pdf file to an existing Zotero entry (which already had a pdf attachment, but I couldn't see that on the Boox). Now there are two pdf attachments, according to both the desktop and android apps. However, only the newly added pdf attachment is visible on Boox, despite being the same file!

    This leads to wonder if the issue might have something to do with entries that have been added via the Zotero web browser extension?
  • I've got the exact same issue as @christopherjwilson

    Attachments don't show up when they're labeled as "Full Paper PDF" drawn from the browser extension. If it's a manually added pdf, things are fine.

    Anyone found a solution to this?
  • Same issue of attachments not showing up in the 3rd tab. Continuing to use Syncthing till a solution is found or an update fixes this!
  • Folks, we don't have anything to do with Boox. If you're having trouble with Boox software, you need to report it to them.
  • Thanks, that's clear. Just trying to find others with similar problems and perhaps someone with a solution :)
  • Regarding annotations - they are saved separately from the pfd both in NeoReader https://help.boox.com/hc/en-us/community/posts/6874236323348-Neoreader-and-third-party-synchronizing-apps) and Zotero https://www.zotero.org/support/kb/annotations_in_database, so is possible to set up both apps to save the annotations in PDF files
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