PocketBib is a BibTeX library reader for academics on the go. With PocketBib you can search, browse and read the papers in your BibTeX library, and synchronise them over Dropbox with BibDesk or JabRef on your computer. You can even annotate your papers in another app, then re-import them to PocketBib and your annotated paper will be uploaded to Dropbox!

PocketBib features:

• Parsing BibTeX libraries, including understanding TeX character accents. “Döring” is displayed correctly, not as “D{\"o}ring”. TeX math-mode isn't supported, so $^{85}$Rb will be rendered as just that. If you see something you think isn’t displayed correctly, please let me know.
• Sync your libraries using Dropbox, or add them to your device directly through iTunes.
• Support for BibDesk smart and static, and JabRef static groups. JabRef smart groups will be supported in the future.
• Tap to download and view linked PDF files. The PDF files must be linked in BibDesk / JabRef.
• Automatically sync all linked files. Just go to settings and select ‘All Linked Files’ in ‘Local Storage’. The default is to keep a 200Mb cache of the most recently used files.
• Search for entries by title, author, abstract, etc.
• Although annotating files is not supported, and ‘unflattened’ annotations cannot be viewed, you can send a PDF to another application, make your annotations and then send it back to PocketBib. PocketBib will then offer to upload the new file to Dropbox, replacing the original.
• You can email BibTeX entries with the paper attached.
• Multiple group selection on the iPad: tap and hold on a group to engage multiple select mode and the articles list will display only the articles in all of the groups.
• It's fast! PocketBib has been tested on libraries with thousands of papers.

User reviews:

“Great mobile addition to BibDesk! This is the app I was waiting for! Combined with Bibdesk on Mac and Dropbox, it turns the iPad into the perfect reference library.” “Finally, an app for the Bibtex + Dropbox -> iPad academic workflow! I've been looking for an app for reading academic papers for months now ever since I bought my iPad, but amazingly nothing existed for browsing a directory of pdfs + a bibtex file until now. ” “It is flawless! Works like a charm.”