FirstPass for arXiv

FirstPass is a mobile-first reader for arXiv.

FirstPass makes full arXiv papers comfortable to read on your iPhone or iPad. Open papers from wherever you find them, then read them in a mobile-first format built for researchers, students, engineers, and anyone tired of pinching, zooming, and losing their place in PDFs built for another screen.

FirstPass covers the entire arXiv archive and updates daily. Its discovery tools help you find what to read next, from personalized Feeds and Radar monitors to author pages and advanced search. But FirstPass does not ask you to change how you find papers: any arXiv link you come across can open directly in the app.

In the reader, tap any inline reference, figure, table, or equation for an instant preview, so you can inspect what the paper is referring to without losing your place or panning around a full-page PDF. Open figures and tables in dedicated viewers, highlight passages and add notes, select text for an on-device explanation on supported devices, or use Guided Skim to mark the sentences carrying the paper’s argument. Export papers to Markdown or Obsidian with figures and equations intact. A side panel keeps recent and pinned papers close for quick switching.

As you read, FirstPass can surface related papers from your own Library and matching highlights when available, all matched on-device. Your highlights and notes are also collected in Library, where you can search across them and return to the exact passage.

Briefs make large sets of papers easier to scan. Attached to paper cards across the app, each Brief condenses an abstract into a single short summary so you can quickly decide what deserves a full read. Briefs are generated locally on your device when enabled.

Feeds help you find new papers quickly. Tune categories by hand and like papers to shape future ranking. Feeds are ranked locally on your device.

Radars help you monitor arXiv as it changes. Save an advanced search to watch for new matches, follow specific authors, or create a Smart Folder from a group of papers to find similar new work. FirstPass checks daily and sends a single notification when it finds something new.

Search across all of arXiv with hybrid search, or use Advanced Search to narrow by author, category, date, and other paper metadata. From any result, you can save or like the paper, explore related work and more from its authors, or begin reading immediately.

FirstPass is local-first and does not require an account. Your Library, likes, reading state, highlights, notes, preferences, cached files, and generated Briefs are stored on your device. Some paper identifiers and highlighted passages are briefly sent to FirstPass services to generate embeddings used for ranking and matching on your device. They are not retained as part of a persistent account or research profile. When you enable iCloud sync, supported Library data and reading state also sync through your iCloud account.

Optional product analytics are disabled until you choose to enable them. Analytics record limited feature usage, but never paper identities or content, search terms, highlighted passages or note text, URLs, location, purchase data, or a persistent user or device identifier.

FirstPass Plus adds iCloud sync, offline reading for opened and saved papers, unlimited paper monitoring, Guided Skim, and pinned papers. Plus members can select text for an on-device explanation and export papers to Markdown or Obsidian. As you read, FirstPass can also surface related papers and matching highlights from your Library. Eligible users can start a one-time 14-day trial with no payment and no automatic renewal.

FirstPass is independent and is not affiliated with, sponsored by, or endorsed by arXiv or OpenAlex.

Built with gratitude for arXiv’s open repository and OpenAlex’s open scholarly data.