The Ultimate PDF Reader for Students & Researchers Nobody Ever Heard Of
Good News! There's a free PDF reader (available for Windows/Linux/Mac) specifically designed for researchers and students. The curious thing is, hardly anyone has ever heard about it.
Since I work with documents daily, I've probably checked out every available PDF reader (on macOS). While all have their pros and cons, none cater to the typical workflow of students and researchers (not even those advertised for students in the App Store). This is a surprising gap, but fortunately for us, Sioyek is here to the rescue.
But hold your horses, there's a reason why this app has not really taken off yet, even though it's been around for years. It's not simply plug & play straight out of the box. You're confronted with two somewhat frustrating obstacles that, in my opinion, anyone with basic computer skills and 20 minutes of patience can overcome. Still, most people have probably already given up by that point.
The first (and most intimidating) hurdle is to get the latest version up and running. While ready-made installers are available, the latest is back from 2024 (last time I checked). If you want to enjoy all the benefits of the latest version (trust me, you do), you'll need to have the courage to copy & paste a few lines of code into your terminal.
The second hurdle requires investing some time in memorising keyboard shortcuts instead of navigating menus using a mouse, as you're probably used to. This may seem daunting at first, which is why I strongly recommend printing out the cheat sheet (pops up when you first open the app) and sticking it somewhere near your screen.
I know that's a lot to ask, but I can assure you, once you get the hang of it, it feels totally natural and you'll never want to go back. After 2-3 sessions, you probably won't need your cheat sheet anymore, but keep it anyway, in case you take a longer break from this app. Well, you know the saying: "you don't use it - you lose it".
Feeling intimidated yet? Then let me reassure you, it's so worth it. Sioyek is not just another PDF reader, it's packed with features that no other reader offers. After using this app for a few days, you might ask yourself how you ever got any serious work done without it. And just in case you find yourself craving even more features, there are a bunch of free community plugins available. But let's not get into that right now.
Instead, let's finally explore some of Sioyek's amazing features. No worries, I won't bore you with a complete rundown (like importing bookmarks from your e-reader). Let's just briefly touch upon the most exciting ones.
All your annotations are stored in a separate database. This allows you to share documents with others without them seeing your highlights and comments (but you can still embed these if needed).
Every action you take is also recorded in this database, enabling you to jump back and forth in time with a single keystroke. Since it keeps track of every document you've ever opened, you can go back and forth even across several documents (all in the same window!).
You can also create a "portal" to another dimension section in your paper. Let's assume you encounter a drawing early in the document that is worth keeping in mind while you continue reading. Now, pushing that portal button brings up the drawing again in a side-window while you can keep reading. Neat!
Now, bookmarks and highlights with comments are probably the features you most often use, and this is where this app truly shines. You can mark both either locally in your current document or globally, making them accessible within any document. If you lose track while switching back and forth between documents (and you will), don't worry, simply browse through all the actions you've taken (again, across all your documents in the same window).
Now let's look at one of my favourite features: in-text citations. Simply right-click on any in-text citation, and a pop-up window will appear displaying this exact reference in the bibliography (no need to scroll around). If you then click on this reference, your browser will search for this paper (or, if you chose to, download it automatically).
Amazingly, this right-click preview also works with references to figures in documents, regardless of whether there are any actual links present. Sioyek figures all of this out by itself.
And the icing on the cake is, all of this is fully customisable. You can assign any key to any action, pick your favourite color for background, text, or highlights. You can truly make this thing your own.
Bottom line, I've never come across any PDF reader that had such a positive impact on my workflow (not even close). Seriously, if you're a researcher or ambitious student, this app is an absolute game changer.