Papers by ReadCube vs Dropsight
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Papers by ReadCube
Manage, read, and discover research literature on your mobile devices. Annotate PDFs, organize your library with custom lists and tags, and receive personalized recommendations for new papers. Syncs seamlessly with desktop and web applications.
- Read and manage research papers
- Annotate PDFs with notes and highlights
- Organize library with custom lists and tags
- Discover new research with personalized recommendations
- Search and download articles
- Sync across devices
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Papers by ReadCube is the simplest way to read, manage and discover research literature. Papers on your iPhone and iPad are the perfect companions to the Papers desktop software, enabling you to access your papers anywhere – read on the go, organize your library, and annotate PDFs with notes and highlights. Enhanced PDF: • Tap-able inline citations, reference lists, and author names so you can quickly find cited articles and related information • Supplements are automatically attached where available • Fullscreen or double-page PDF viewing plus multi-touch zoom/navigation for an optimal reading experience • Multi-color highlighting and note taking tools Easily find new papers: • Search the Papers databases within the app • Quickly download new articles with a single tap when you’re on campus or with your institutional proxy • Import directly from Safari, email attachments, and other apps • In your preferred browser, use any search engine to find article PDFs • Use the “Open In…” option from the browser or any app to add PDFs to your Papers library • Metadata is automatically resolved - no more guessing with cryptic file names Personalized Recommendations: • Discover relevant new papers based on your library or lists – you’ll never miss another important paper again! Stay organized: • Create custom lists and sort articles into one or multiple lists • Quickly search your entire library (and all annotations) • Add any number of #tags to further customize your library organization • Sync everything – papers, notes, highlights – between the Papers desktop and web apps or your other mobile devices Simplify your research life – try Papers for free on your iPhone, iPad, and computer. We love feedback from our users - please email support@papersapp.com with any suggestions or issues. Thanks for using Papers!
Dropsight
This tool transforms your smartphone into a spray deposition analysis device for natural leaf surfaces. It helps optimize agricultural chemical usage by comparing deposition from various spray apparatus and calibrations.
- Spray deposition analysis
- UV photography integration
- Leaf surface analysis
- Comparison of spray apparatus
- Optimization of agricultural chemicals
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DROPSIGHT is an application that, when used in conjunction with LEAFLAB (the mobile UV photography laboratory) and UVIEW (the UV tracer used in the spray application), will turn your smart phone into a spray deposition analysis tool on natural leaf surfaces. This is used to compare the deposition achieved with different spray application apparatus and calibrations, hence optimizing the use of pesticides, insecticides, fungicides and growth regulators in commercial agricultural production.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is rating: Dropsight at 5.0 against Papers by ReadCube's 3.7. Papers by ReadCube's advantage is ratings volume (551 vs 2). On price, update cadence, ads and in-app purchases there is nothing between them.
Scored on Price · Rating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings · Update frequency · Ads · In-app purchases · Monetization · Best chart rank · Devices · Requires iOS
Both are free to download. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.
Dropsight holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 3.7. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Papers by ReadCube has 551 ratings behind it against 2, so its average is the more settled of the two.
Papers by ReadCube ships an update every 2 months, Dropsight every 6 weeks. The most recent releases landed on September 25, 2026 and September 20, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Papers by ReadCube | Dropsight |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 3.7 (551 ratings) | 5.0 (2 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 41.2% of reviews | — |
| Number of ratings | 551 — better | 2 |
| Update frequency | Every 2 months | Every 6 weeks — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Free | Free |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better | iPhone, iPad |
| Requires iOS | 15.6 — better | 16.6 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 77 MB | 85 MB |
| Age rating | 17+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Digital Science & Research Solutions Inc. | Dropsight (Pty) Ltd |
Customer experience
Papers by ReadCube
Dropsight
Bugs and requests
Papers by ReadCube
Reported bugs
5 issues- Frequent app crashes and freezes
- Sync issues causing data loss and duplication
- Unreliable PDF downloads and access
- Inconsistent behavior of annotation tools
- Compatibility problems with newer devices and OS versions
Requested features
5 requests- Add eraser tool for handwritten annotations
- Improve PDF viewing and navigation experience
- Implement better organization and folder management
- Integrate citation and bibliography tools
- Provide more customization options
Dropsight
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
In-app purchases
Papers by ReadCube
No in-app purchases
Dropsight
No in-app purchases
