Please create new threads in these forums for any bug reports or feature requests. Be sure to put "Android" in your thread title so it's clear what you're referring to.
Hi @dstillman Thanks for the hint that there were more people allowed from time to time. Can you tell if there is a chance to recognize when there are more slots? Do I have to put the app on my whishlist (Play Stere / Android User) or how is it distributed?
The developpers have repeatedly said that the only way new slots are announced is here, in this thread. Check back here, and make sure you receive notifications.
Just realized others are also not able to access. Hoping that new spots will open soon? Do we have to have a certain OS to use this app? My BOOX is from 2022.
I've tried the Zotero Beta on Android and I must admit the experience is rather unsatisfying compared with the desktop version. The biggest problem, in my opinion, is the lack of feature to generate citation and bibliography from references stored in the app. Which means that one can use Zotero Beta for adding references into database, but cannot generate citation or bibliography format, and has either to use the desktop version, open Zotero by browser or using ZBib. For me personally, as frequent user of Android tablet for typing (I believe you guys understand how unreliable Windows device is in terms of battery span, particularly for ones in constant journey) this is rather inconvenient. So I hope in the subsequent update you can make the citation/bibliography generating feature available in the app. Thank you.
@Alif_ID: Yes, it will be possible to generate citations and bibliographies in a future version, as I said in the initial post. But reading and annotating are the primary things people want to do on mobile, so that's what we focused on for the initial version (as we did on iOS before, where there are now citation features).
@poettli To answer your question: Yes, I've read it. And that's exactly why I raised it. As stated by @dstillman, the citation feature is already available in every other version of Zotero (Windows, Linux, Mac, even - as stated by @dstillman - iOS), but not Android (yet). And this is the issue in my case. As a frequent user of Android tablet for doing my writing esp. when in journey (I believe you guys know how pathetic the endurance of Windows laptop battery span in comparison with a mobile tablet), the lack of this feature in Zotero app means that in order to generate citation from my Zotero database, I have to either open my Zotero account in Browser or using ZBib - which is so often time-consuming and rather unnecessarily complicated process, and not to mention, making having the app actually rather redundant. And I believe this is a problem not unique to me. That's why I raise the matter in the hope that the citation generator feature can be made available in the next update of the app - which I hope will be soon.
@dstillman maybe a stupid question, but why is there no black underline option? I use yellow for highlighting and the gray is too light and kinda hard to see on a white page .-.
@dstillman Simply wanted to celebrate how awesome the Zotero Android app is, you guys have done great work and it is incredibly useful for organizing my learning and research with an Android tablet! Truly thank you, for making things better for so many people!
I installed the android app to my tablet and no issues except my webpages highlights (which saved through the Desktop browser connector) are not syncing at all.
Also, seems I can't highlight saved webpages from within the android app (no highlight option when selecting a text section)
pdfs files and highlights are syncing fine.
Is highlighting and syncing webpages highlights not implemented yet in the android app ??
I could not get a slot in android app, whenever its beta version was released.
I think, there is functionality of booking in Google Play. Meaning, if I pre-register the app, then the app would get installed automatically upon its release by the developer. You may like to check and offer the same, please.
This is a big thread. How can I get an update on the state of Zotero on android?
I am thinking of getting a Boox or Supernote, but not if can’t use Zotero. As an aside, what are you using instead without Zotero? Is there a workflow that avoids using it on android but still uses an eink tablet? The 13” screen pdf readers would save my eyes.
@Andrew37 -- I bought a big (13") Boox tablet last summer as a PDF machine, in anticipation of the Zotero Android release.
In the meantime, I've made it work... Syncing via DropSync (an app that makes Dropbox actually sync) and more recently Nextcloud works pretty well. I connect to my Zotero via the web, I use the built-in PDF reader to annotate, and it all goes reasonably well. Just not nearly as well integrated as I'd hoped. Er, continue to hope.
In addition, the latest beta, 1.0.0-147, adds a couple big features:
- You can now save bibliographic metadata and PDFs to the app, similar to the Zotero Connector on the desktop, by sharing a URL from the browser or other apps.
- The app can now retrieve bibliographic metadata for PDFs. It will do so automatically if you save a PDF to the app from the browser or filesystem, and you can retrieve metadata for standalone PDFs from the context menu.
A couple notes:
- Unlike on iOS, the Android app doesn't have access to any login state from the browser, so sites completely behind a login won't work at all, PDFs that require subscription access won't be saved automatically, and proxied URLs will likely save the proxy login page. We're going to try to work around this limitation in future updates. If you have direct or VPN-based access to a gated site, saving should work normally. You can also download a gated PDF and open it via the app to trigger metadata retrieval.
- PDF filenames aren't yet renamed based on the parent item metadata, but they will be in an upcoming version.
Hi, I previously had Zotero for Android installed on my previous smartphone and then uninstalled it cause I reset the device and switched to a new one.
Now, when I try to install it on a new tablet/smartphone, the app indicates that there are no available slots.
I'm wondering if this is normal. Is the number of accepted slots related to store account, or does it work on a per-slot basis?
Thanks for any help, and I wish you open some extra slots!!
Thanks! Zotero on Android has come a long way. It is much more stable for me than a few months ago and I am now confident to use it. The feature that I am still missing is epub support in both Android and iOS. I would remove other ereaders from my devices in a blink. It also seems to have progressed quite a bit, at least the iOS PR.
Upgrade Storage
Hoping it gets released very soon.
It will be more visible for some e-ink devices.
Also, do you have any plans to optimize the Android version for those e-ink devices (e.g., Supernote, Boox, etc.)?
https://forums.zotero.org/discussion/110371/available-for-beta-testing-zotero-for-android/p1
Thanks for the hint that there were more people allowed from time to time. Can you tell if there is a chance to recognize when there are more slots? Do I have to put the app on my whishlist (Play Stere / Android User) or how is it distributed?
really appreciate your work.
quick question,
I installed the android app to my tablet and no issues except my webpages highlights (which saved through the Desktop browser connector) are not syncing at all.
Also, seems I can't highlight saved webpages from within the android app (no highlight option when selecting a text section)
pdfs files and highlights are syncing fine.
Is highlighting and syncing webpages highlights not implemented yet in the android app ??
I could not get a slot in android app, whenever its beta version was released.
I think, there is functionality of booking in Google Play. Meaning, if I pre-register the app, then the app would get installed automatically upon its release by the developer. You may like to check and offer the same, please.
Thanks & regards,
Chandrakant Patel
I am thinking of getting a Boox or Supernote, but not if can’t use Zotero. As an aside, what are you using instead without Zotero? Is there a workflow that avoids using it on android but still uses an eink tablet? The 13” screen pdf readers would save my eyes.
In the meantime, I've made it work... Syncing via DropSync (an app that makes Dropbox actually sync) and more recently Nextcloud works pretty well. I connect to my Zotero via the web, I use the built-in PDF reader to annotate, and it all goes reasonably well. Just not nearly as well integrated as I'd hoped. Er, continue to hope.
In addition, the latest beta, 1.0.0-147, adds a couple big features:
- You can now save bibliographic metadata and PDFs to the app, similar to the Zotero Connector on the desktop, by sharing a URL from the browser or other apps.
- The app can now retrieve bibliographic metadata for PDFs. It will do so automatically if you save a PDF to the app from the browser or filesystem, and you can retrieve metadata for standalone PDFs from the context menu.
A couple notes:
- Unlike on iOS, the Android app doesn't have access to any login state from the browser, so sites completely behind a login won't work at all, PDFs that require subscription access won't be saved automatically, and proxied URLs will likely save the proxy login page. We're going to try to work around this limitation in future updates. If you have direct or VPN-based access to a gated site, saving should work normally. You can also download a gated PDF and open it via the app to trigger metadata retrieval.
- PDF filenames aren't yet renamed based on the parent item metadata, but they will be in an upcoming version.
Now, when I try to install it on a new tablet/smartphone, the app indicates that there are no available slots.
I'm wondering if this is normal. Is the number of accepted slots related to store account, or does it work on a per-slot basis?
Thanks for any help, and I wish you open some extra slots!!