[Feature request] Open documents on external apps using Zotero for Android

jonathanfenile
I was unable to open my documents anywhere other than Zotero and I think it would be very useful to be able to view and edit these documents using other apps (with the option of uploading the newest version of the documents back to the server).
  • rdiaz02
    edited 17 days ago
    I'd also like to ask for this feature.

    I know there have been very clear answers by @dstillman saying this will not happen. For example, in the original "Available for beta testing: Zotero for Android", here: https://forums.zotero.org/discussion/comment/455807/#Comment_455807 : "(...) we have no plans to support opening of PDFs externally beyond exporting." In this same thread, a little bit below, see also @adamsmith 's answer, https://forums.zotero.org/discussion/comment/456067/#Comment_456067 : "What isn't going to be possible is to use a third party PDF reader on a mobile device to annotate a PDF using either of the Zotero mobile apps. In other words, if you want to use a 3rd party PDF reader on mobile, the Zotero mobile apps won't do much for you. "

    However, the inability to open PDFs in external apps on Android significantly undermines the app's usability for at least two types of uses/users:

    1. Users on certain e-ink devices who prefer apps specifically optimized for those devices (not my case).

    2. Users who read and annotate PDFs on their computers using applications other than Zotero (my case). Since annotations made in Zotero's PDF editor are not embedded in the PDF, the document opened on the computer lacks those crucial annotations.

    As far as I can tell, there is no workaround for those two issues. This severely limits the app's functionality; we could use it to read PDFs, not to annotate them.
  • stetris
    I'm also interested in this feature because I’m part of the group of users mentioned by @rdiaz02, and for now, I’m focusing solely on reading from my e-ink device until I can find a comfortable workaround if it will not be possible through the Zotero android app.

    But except for this issue, I really appreciate the Android app, so thank to the development team!
  • oyvindbs
    For the first use case:
    I know this is not the solution you're looking for, but it is possible to download the pdfs from the web library. Testing this on my boox (android), the exported pdf included the annotations I had made earlier in Zotero on the computer. Accordingly, the web library embeds the annotations when you download the pdf. You can also upload a new annotated pdf directly in the web library and delete the old one.

    For the second:
    I also tried annotating files in a different pdf-viewer. I right clicked and pressed show file. After I had created and saved a new annotation in the other pdf-viewer it showed up in Zotero after a minute or so. For use case number 2, it is thus no problem if you only use the other program to annotate. If you combine the two you have to export the annotations every time you want to see them outside Zotero:
    File -> Export PDF
  • rdiaz02
    edited yesterday at 7:09pm
    @stetris and @oyvindbs thanks for chiming in.

    Some questions/comments about @oyvindbs suggestions.

    Regarding the first use case:
    it is possible to download the pdfs from the web library. (...) You can also upload a new annotated pdf directly in the web library and delete the old one.
    I am not sure I follow.
    - Are you doing this on Android or on your computer? I think Android, as you said you tested in your boox device? So you are opening a browser to your web library and downloading the PDF?
    - How is Zotero for Android helping you there?
    - And this seems to be a fairly manual process: you need to download each PDF (not using the Android app, I guess) and then upload (how?)


    Regarding the second issue, you say
    I also tried annotating files in a different pdf-viewer. I right clicked and pressed show file.
    but where did you do that? In Zotero in the computer or in Zotero in Android? From @dstillman 's comments, it seems that opening PDFs with a different pdf-viewer in Android is just not possible.

    And when you say
    For use case number 2, it is thus no problem if you only use the other program to annotate.
    I think it is a limitation if, on Android, we can ONLY use Zotero's pdf editor. As you say, to view the annotations made on Android on a pdf editor different from Zotero's one, we would need to export the annotations (in Zotero in the computer) by exporting the PDF.

    This requires keeping track of exactly which PDFs one has been reading on Android, and obviously involves an additional step; actually, it involves many additional manual steps, one per PDF annotated in Android. Moreover, this becomes unwieldy if one, for instance, is reading on Android, annotates, then opens the PDF in the computer in a pdf-editor that is not Zotero's and wants to annotate in that very PDF. To keep things in sync, one would need to first export the PDF before opening it in the computer in another pdf viewer. This, I think, is just not feasible or worth it if one reads a fairly large number of PDFs in Android and/or one moves between Android and computer frequently.

    So I think that, except when one only annotates a small number of PDFs, annotating PDFs in the Android app also means committing oneself to using Zotero's PDF editor on the computer.
Sign In or Register to comment.