# Zotero — Your research assistant

> Free research assistant for collecting, organizing, annotating, citing, and sharing work. (iPhone/iPad app by Corporation for Digital Scholarship.)

- Source: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/zotero/id1513554812 (this page in markdown: same URL + `.md`)
- Developer: [Corporation for Digital Scholarship](https://appshunter.io/developer/1513554811)
- Category: Productivity, Education
- Price: Free
- Rating: 4.63/5 from 420 App Store ratings · 255 written reviews indexed
- Age rating: 4+
- Requires: iOS 16.6 · 197 MB
- Languages: Afrikaans, Albanian, Amharic, Arabic, Armenian, Basque, Bangla, Breton, Bulgarian, Khmer and 48 more
- Released: 2022-03-17
- Data updated: 2026-08-25
- Monetization: free
- User reviews in markdown: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/zotero/id1513554812/reviews.md

## What is Zotero?

Zotero is a free, easy-to-use research tool that helps you collect, organize, annotate, cite, and share your work.

COLLECT
• Save journal articles, newspaper articles, books, webpages, and more via the Share button in Safari and other apps
• Automatically download article PDFs to read
• Quickly add physical books and articles to your Zotero library by scanning book barcodes or article DOIs with your iPhone or iPad camera

ORGANIZE
• Use collections and tags to organize your research
• View and edit bibliographic information for your research items

ANNOTATE
• Read PDFs, EPUBs, and webpage snapshots and add highlights and notes, or use an Apple Pencil to make freehand annotations

CITE
• Instantly generate citations and bibliographies in over 10,000 formats and journal styles including APA, Chicago, IEEE, MLA, Turabian, and Vancouver

SHARE
• Collaboratively collect sources and mark up PDFs in group libraries with your colleagues
• Synchronize your personal and group research libraries to access them via Zotero’s desktop app and the Zotero website
• Use the Zotero desktop app to insert your annotations into Word, LibreOffice, and Google Docs documents and automatically generate bibliographies from the sources you used

Visit zotero.org to learn more about everything you can do with Zotero.

Having trouble? Have an idea? Post bug reports and feature requests to the Zotero Forums at forums.zotero.org to talk directly to Zotero developers.

ZOTERO AND PRIVACY
Since 2006, the Zotero team has been committed to creating the best research software, and we believe that includes putting you in full control of your own work. We’re an independent, nonprofit organization, and we’ll never sell your data.

## Key features

- Collect research from various sources
- Organize with collections and tags
- Annotate PDFs and webpages
- Generate citations and bibliographies
- Collaborate in group libraries
- Sync across devices

## What do users think of Zotero?

Overall sentiment: positive

**Pros**

- 👍 Simple and powerful
- 🚀 Convenient and useful
- 🚀 Seamless syncing across devices
- 🚀 Excellent reference management
- 👍 Great annotation and PDF reading experience
- 👍 Intuitive and easy to use

**Cons**

- 🐛 Crashes frequently
- 🐛 Syncing issues with WebDAV
- 🐛 Metadata not automatically extracted from PDFs
- 🐛 Annotation tools could be improved
- 🐛 Limited sorting and filtering options

**Commonly reported bugs**

- Unable to unzip PDF snapshots
- Annotations disappearing or moving unexpectedly
- Dark mode not working as expected
- Inability to add citations directly from the app

**Most requested features**

- Eraser tool for annotations
- More color options for pen and highlighter
- Ability to open PDFs in external apps
- Bookmarking and table of contents support
- Improved search functionality
- Offline access to downloaded PDFs

## Recent user reviews (10 of 255)

All indexed reviews: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/zotero/id1513554812/reviews.md

### 5/5 — Need more themes

*2026-08-17, version 2.0.7*

Sepia is still too bright, but the dark theme's contrast is too high. All three burn my eyes...Need customizable themes just like the laptop version

### 1/5 — No confirmation email

*2026-06-17, version 2.0.6*

Gave valid email. Insists on two factor authentication, but never sends the code. Unusable.

### 5/5 — Should be a paid app.

*2026-06-12, version 2.0.6*

Very impressed by this apps features. Remaining files using meta data is genius!

### 5/5 — Constantly surprised

*2026-05-17, version 2.0.6*

I’m constantly amazed at the capabilities this app has

### 2/5 — Buggy

*2026-05-11, version 2.0.6*

Buggy for large pdfs.

### 3/5 — Doesn’t sync consistently with iPad

*2026-04-29, version 1.0.17*

I love Zotero, so my frustration really comes with not being able to use it. I pay for storage, and recently files have been syncing inconsistently between my computer (windows) and my iPad. The documents are in the web app just fine.

Fantastic app otherwise!

### 1/5 — There is one problem

*2026-04-27, version 2.0.5*

I just downloaded the app for my exams and it cannot verify my email. It is getting frustrating.

### 5/5 — How can this be free?!

*2026-04-03, version 2.0.4*

An absolutely astounding app. Works seamlessly on Mac and iPad and syncs beautifully.

### 5/5 — The best research tool!

*2026-03-15, version 2.0.4*

Zotero does a lot of things that are often split across many different apps: citation management within other proprietary software, PDF and ebook reading and annotation across devices, library syncing across multiple devices, note-taking and web-clipping... It's a lot! All while not mining and selling personal data. I have been using Zotero as a research tool for several years now across my iPad, desktop and phone. It syncs without issue. There are always new features to develop and improve, and the developers are super responsive to requests and bugs. So grateful to this team!

### 5/5 — Question

*2026-03-14, version 1.0.45*

May I ask if it is compatible with iOS 16.3? My tablet is a 2018 model, and upgrading to 16.3 would be very slow. Currently, on iOS 16.3, I can only install the 1.0.45beta version, but it doesn't sync at all—it just throws errors when trying to sync. Thank you!

## Frequently asked questions about Zotero

### What does Zotero do?

Zotero is a free research tool designed to help you collect, organize, annotate, cite, and share your research materials. It allows you to save articles, books, webpages, and more, then manage them efficiently for your projects.

### How can I collect research with Zotero?

You can collect research by saving journal articles, newspaper articles, books, and webpages directly through the Share button in Safari and other apps. The app can also automatically download PDFs and allows you to add physical items by scanning barcodes or DOIs with your device's camera.

### Is Zotero free to use?

Yes, Zotero is a free research tool. The developers are committed to providing this software without charge and do not sell user data, operating as an independent, nonprofit organization.

### Can I use Zotero on multiple devices?

Yes, you can synchronize your personal and group research libraries to access them via Zotero’s desktop app and the Zotero website. This ensures your research is available across different platforms.

### How does Zotero help with citations and bibliographies?

Zotero can instantly generate citations and bibliographies in over 10,000 different formats and journal styles, including popular ones like APA, Chicago, IEEE, MLA, Turabian, and Vancouver. It also integrates with word processors like Word, LibreOffice, and Google Docs.

## Version history (last 5 releases)

### 2.0.7 — 2026-06-25

- Miscellaneous bug fixes

### 2.0.6 — 2026-05-06

- Added ability to customize annotation toolbar in settings
- Preserve page zoom when tapping page edge to turn pages
- Miscellaneous improvements and bug fixes

### 2.0.5 — 2026-04-14

- Recently Read collection, synced with other devices
- Support for non-English interface languages
- Improved login flow to support MFA
- Improved saving from some sites
- Miscellaneous bug fixes

### 2.0.4 — 2026-01-16

- Fixed bug in 2.0.1–2.0.3 that could cause annotations not to be saved

### 2.0.3 — 2026-01-15

- Additional new item fields and creator types

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*Data collected daily from the US App Store and indexed by [AppsHunter](https://appshunter.io/). User reviews are verbatim App Store reviews. Ratings, prices and chart positions refresh continuously; this snapshot is from 2026-08-25.*
