Reviews of Zotero

By: Zotero

List of user reviews and ratings for Zotero

Total ratings

4.60 (Rating count: 417)

Receive review notifications

Get notified when new reviews are posted so you can respond quickly.

See reviews on Apple App Store

View and respond to reviews directly on the store page.

Visit

Review summary

Users praise Zotero for cross-device syncing and its all-in-one research capabilities, but report stability and access issues, login/auth problems, storage limitations, and missing feature support. The app is powerful yet reliability and feature gaps hinder consistent use.

Pros

Cross-device syncing across iPad, desktop, and other devices.
All-in-one research tool for citations, notes, PDFs, and web clipping.
Privacy-conscious design and generally responsive development

Cons

Unreliable syncing and crashes when adding resources or notes across devices.
Login/authentication problems, including email verification failures and SSL/Cloudflare blocks.
Storage limits and cloud-centric model with unclear local storage controls.
Missing features: annotation with Apple Pencil, EPUB/MOBI support, PDF reader choice.

Upgrade to see all 51 reviews

User Reviews

Recent rating average: 3.90

All time rating average: 4.60

Upgrade to see all 51 reviews

6% (3)

Date	Author	Comment
2026-05-17	Ci*****	I’m constantly amazed at the capabilities this app has
I’m constantly amazed at the capabilities this app has
2026-04-29	aj*****	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!
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!
2026-04-27	Fa*****	I just downloaded the app for my exams and it cannot verify my email. It is getting frustrating.
I just downloaded the app for my exams and it cannot verify my email. It is getting frustrating.
2026-03-15	ca*****	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!
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!
2026-03-14	Th*****	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!
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!
2026-02-18	Ec*****	blocked by the stupid human verification software cloudflare. What a deception
blocked by the stupid human verification software cloudflare. What a deception
2026-02-11	co*****	I wish the Apple Pencil squeeze function was “undo”. I love this app. Use it all the time for grad school.
I wish the Apple Pencil squeeze function was “undo”. I love this app. Use it all the time for grad school.
2026-01-15	po*****	Hello, I would love to be able to annotate pdfs in Zotero using my Apple Pencil. I want to make notes on the pdfs directly and still have them synced to Zotero with my pencil. As a PhD student, I need to be able to take notes on my pdfs.
Hello, I would love to be able to annotate pdfs in Zotero using my Apple Pencil. I want to make notes on the pdfs directly and still have them synced to Zotero with my pencil. As a PhD student, I need to be able to take notes on my pdfs.
2026-01-03	Ph*****	January, 2026 I continue to use Zotero daily and am apparently out of storage, but I don't know how to increase it. The dialogue box says the overflow is saved to local storage, and I can increase my Zotero storage in settings. I can't find that in either the app or iPad settings. Can you clarify this for me? I wrote this in ~January, 2025: I love the basic functionality of Zotero, especially since I've been hunting for a place (an app) to store and organize links, my purchase records, and ideas, search results from myriad areas of research, writing, and, well, everything. The native Apple Notes worked beautifully until it began crashing, and protracted conversations with Apple folks left us all baffled. I feel like I have the basics of Zotero in hand by now, so I'm noticing what needs refinement. Foremost, I'm an enormous fan of outlines, so that extends to folders, subfolders, etc., but all I see here is a single list without an apparent way to differentiate between top-level folders OR to collapse subfolders into them. I don't need or want to see them all. If I’m filing my app reviews, do I need to see the folder on mitochondria or the risks of fungal infections from raw sugar cane juice? I'd rather see my top-level Medical folder, understanding that I can click it when I need it. I’m not asking for cute and fancy notebooks that popular high-rent notes apps use- just something uncomplicated and straightforward. Secondly, thank you for incorporating Markdown. I’m flummoxed that so many so-called organizers, notes, etc, don't include it. I’m copying files from other apps I’ve been trying, and it looks like I have to do it manually. Yikes! Unfortunately, Markdown doesn't work on copy-and-pasted text. I don't know if that's a Markdown deficiency or a problem intrinsic to Zotero. I’m certain I don't want to retype everything, though. I was accustomed to using Markdown as part of my approach in Apple Notes and was looking forward to reinstating it after dealing with dreadful stopgap alternatives like Google Keep. Fixing it would be helpful, especially because I often copy text from photos and can't avoid having to format it to display it as the original. Speaking of photos, it would be so much easier if I could fetch them directly from my camera roll, not just from files. If I stitch photos, for example, but have to edit, even with the native editor, I need to add a step of saving to files, even when I plan to delete it as soon as I use it in Zotero. This requires me to delete the photo twice, once from my camera roll and again from Photos. I’ve managed to save images directly to Zotero when I copy and paste text, but it doesn't seem to include them reliably. I want to delete some auto-generated tags, but I don't see how to do so. I’m aware that some of my problems might be user error. I'm pretty sure I’ll discover things the more I use it, since I only just figured out how to move a file from one folder to another. Yay!
January, 2026 I continue to use Zotero daily and am apparently out of storage, but I don't know how to increase it. The dialogue box says the overflow is saved to local storage, and I can increase my Zotero storage in settings. I can't find that in either the app or iPad settings. Can you clarify this for me? I wrote this in ~January, 2025: I love the basic functionality of Zotero, especially since I've been hunting for a place (an app) to store and organize links, my purchase records, and ideas, search results from myriad areas of research, writing, and, well, everything. The native Apple Notes worked beautifully until it began crashing, and protracted conversations with Apple folks left us all baffled. I feel like I have the basics of Zotero in hand by now, so I'm noticing what needs refinement. Foremost, I'm an enormous fan of outlines, so that extends to folders, subfolders, etc., but all I see here is a single list without an apparent way to differentiate between top-level folders OR to collapse subfolders into them. I don't need or want to see them all. If I’m filing my app reviews, do I need to see the folder on mitochondria or the risks of fungal infections from raw sugar cane juice? I'd rather see my top-level Medical folder, understanding that I can click it when I need it. I’m not asking for cute and fancy notebooks that popular high-rent notes apps use- just something uncomplicated and straightforward. Secondly, thank you for incorporating Markdown. I’m flummoxed that so many so-called organizers, notes, etc, don't include it. I’m copying files from other apps I’ve been trying, and it looks like I have to do it manually. Yikes! Unfortunately, Markdown doesn't work on copy-and-pasted text. I don't know if that's a Markdown deficiency or a problem intrinsic to Zotero. I’m certain I don't want to retype everything, though. I was accustomed to using Markdown as part of my approach in Apple Notes and was looking forward to reinstating it after dealing with dreadful stopgap alternatives like Google Keep. Fixing it would be helpful, especially because I often copy text from photos and can't avoid having to format it to display it as the original. Speaking of photos, it would be so much easier if I could fetch them directly from my camera roll, not just from files. If I stitch photos, for example, but have to edit, even with the native editor, I need to add a step of saving to files, even when I plan to delete it as soon as I use it in Zotero. This requires me to delete the photo twice, once from my camera roll and again from Photos. I’ve managed to save images directly to Zotero when I copy and paste text, but it doesn't seem to include them reliably. I want to delete some auto-generated tags, but I don't see how to do so. I’m aware that some of my problems might be user error. I'm pretty sure I’ll discover things the more I use it, since I only just figured out how to move a file from one folder to another. Yay!
2025-11-29	mr*****	The barcode scan for books is such a great feature. Love Zotero!
The barcode scan for books is such a great feature. Love Zotero!