Carry your BibTeX libraries with you on your iPad and iPhone!
A BibTeX library is a collection of bibliographic references (papers, books, reports, etc.), designed to work with the LaTeX typesetting system. Each library is stored in a specially-formatted text file (typically ending in .bib), which you can create with your favourite text editor.
The References app gives you an easy way to browse through and interact with your BibTeX libraries. You can scroll, search, follow links, and view file attachments. In particular:
- The app creates links from DOIs, MathSciNet references, ACM IDs, and of course URLs.
- The app understands elementary LaTeX, so if your titles and/or abstracts contain markup or mathematics (and if your LaTeX is simple enough) then the app can display them nicely.
- If you used BibDesk or JabRef to create your library, the app can view your file attachments (e.g., PDFs that you have attached to your references).
- You can view references grouped by keywords, if you use the Keywords field in your BibTeX libraries. You can also view all of your smart/static groups from BibDesk, and your dynamic/static groups from JabRef.
- The app supports BibLaTeX libraries as well as classic BibTeX.
The References app can open BibTeX libraries from anywhere on your device. In particular, you can use iCloud Drive to keep them synchronised between your devices.
FILE ATTACHMENTS:
To view file attachments (e.g., PDFs), the path to each file should be included in the corresponding entry in your BibTeX library. You can do this using the specially encoded Bdsk-File-* fields (as used by BibDesk), or the plain text File field (as used by JabRef). If you are writing your BibTeX files by hand, just add a File field giving the location of the attachment, such as File = {../PDFs/foo.pdf}.
All paths are relative to the location of your BibTeX library (so if your BibTeX library is Documents/BibTeX/papers.bib and you encode an attachment as ../PDFs/foo.pdf, then the app will look for the file Documents/PDFs/foo.pdf). If your attachments are stored somewhere different, then you can just add their location as a new linked folder in the app, and the References app will still be able to find them.
You can view attachments from many places, including Box, Dropbox, Google Drive, Nextcloud or OneDrive (all iOS versions), or iCloud Drive or anywhere on your iPhone/iPad (iOS 13+ only). If you are having trouble viewing attachments from a third-party provider, please mail the References developer with the details.
FURTHER INFORMATION:
To learn more about BibTeX, see http://www.bibtex.org/ .
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4.92 out of 5
24 ratings
in United States
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Reviews
A fantastic app for everyone using Bibdesk on Dropbox
The title of this review says it all!
Thanks Benjamin to keep updating this wonderful well written app! The whole scientific and engineering communities using Bibdesk are forever in debt with you.
I just wish there was a similar app that was even barely functional running on Android… :-)
Need Apple Pencil Support while reading PDF using the inbuilt PDF viewer
Apple Pencil Support while reading PDF using the inbuilt PDF viewer needs to be added to make this app a full fledged app.
Not bad!
As a bibdesk user this app is really what I need, allowing me to access my library seamlessly. Handy.
I wonder if it’s possible, when opening attached PDFs, to have the option of opening it in other viewers e.g. acrobat? Currently one can only import it to acrobat, but then it creates a new file. If there’s an option to open the file in acrobat directly I thought it really completes the workflow. Thanks!
Simple and to the point
Great way to access BibTex on iPad. The developer is active and adds features all the time (like access to OneDrive, and other cloud storage). Very recommended.
Nothing else like it
This app is a must for academics working with latex/bibtex. It's very easy to use, and there is nothing else like it on the App Store. One suggestion: it would be great to be able to export not just the bibtex code, but also a formatted citation (e.g. in RTF), similarly to what bibdesk can do on a Mac.
virw and cite on the go
Wonderful app that solves the problem of being able to ciye entries in one's bib file to write papers on the go
Great bibtex manager
With the addition of support for “groups” this has become a great way for me to manage my reference library. I use jabref on the desktop and box to sync my bibtex file and PDFs of papers and this manages things very well. The only other features I could want are support for a hierarchy of groups (which is how they are in my jabref library) and the ability to mark up the PDFs in another app, but I blame the later point on iOS’ horrible file system.
Great app for accessing your bibtex library and attached articles on iPad
Glad to see the most recent update! Indispensable mobile access for academics on the go.
Dropbox linking not working
Updated on April 14. The developer has FIXED the Dropbox sync issues and this app now works as advertised. This a a GREAT app for researchers who use BibTex to organize their references. Many thanks for this very helpful research tool.
I was a longtime user of PocketBib who was very sad to PB development stop. Consequently, I was thrilled to discover References for iOS bibtex files. Unfortunately I am also unable to link my Dropbox folders to access pdf files. The Dropbox link is greyed out and inactive. If that important functionality was fixed (and the addition of keyword searching was added) I would give this app a five star review.
Easy access to bibdesk references and files
Replacing PocketBib, which is no longer developed, this is a slick and effective app. Great for finding and reading my references.
Impressed by how responsive the developer was in adding access to files in Dropbox!
Hope the app succeeds and look forward to seeing future developments.