References 4+
BibTeX database manager
Benjamin Burton
-
- $4.99
Screenshots
Description
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}.
You can tell References where to find these attachments by linking folders in your app settings. The app will look for your attachments within these folders – for example, if you link your Documents folder then the app will be able to match the BibTeX field {../PDFs/foo.pdf} to a real location such as Documents/PDFs/foo.pdf or Documents/foo.pdf.
The app is able to read attachments stored on your device, or on iCloud Drive, or on third-party providers including Box, Dropbox, Google Drive, Nextcloud or OneDrive. 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/ .
What’s New
Version 3.0.1
v3.0.1: Fixes an issue where file attachments on Box or OneDrive were reported as not found.
References 3.0 is major overhaul of the entire app, bringing it up to date with modern iOS and iPadOS. The app now supports dynamic type, and on iPad it now supports multitasking so you can have different BibTeX libraries open side-by-side (via Stage Manager, Split View, or Slide Over).
Other features include:
- BibTeX parse errors are now visible in a separate tab;
- Better support for UTF-8 BibTeX sources (as opposed to plain ASCII);
- Smart/Dynamic group rules updated for compatibility with recent BibDesk and JabRef.
Enjoy!
Ratings and Reviews
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.
Developer Response ,
Hi - I've now added full Dropbox support for file attachments in version 1.6. If you like, you can try to update your app and see if this fixes Dropbox for you.
Great replacement for EndNote
I have been looking for a simple tool and system to replace EndNote that was not online on yet another cloud-hosted service. This application works great, especially when using iCloud Drive. I have never used Dropbox and I do not foresee ever needing Dropbox. Keep up the great work! The only issue that I saw was when I had not generated any site keys, the app would only see one source rather than the 136 that I had in the bib file. And another issue is that since I use folders to organize, all of my reference libraries come as References.
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.
App Privacy
The developer, Benjamin Burton, indicated that the app’s privacy practices may include handling of data as described below. For more information, see the developer’s privacy policy.
Data Not Collected
The developer does not collect any data from this app.
Privacy practices may vary, for example, based on the features you use or your age. Learn More
Information
- Seller
- Benjamin Burton
- Size
- 33.3 MB
- Category
- Productivity
- Compatibility
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- iPhone
- Requires iOS 17.0 or later.
- iPad
- Requires iPadOS 17.0 or later.
- Apple Vision
- Requires visionOS 1.1 or later.
- Languages
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English
- Age Rating
- 4+
- Copyright
- © 2024 Benjamin Burton
- Price
- $4.99
Supports
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Family Sharing
Up to six family members can use this app with Family Sharing enabled.