# OpenScholarXIV: a Flutter arXiv reader that wants its own Gemini key > A cross-platform Flutter app for finding, reading and summarizing arXiv papers. The last release claims a codebase upgrade, while the README download link still points at the release before it. **ScholarXIV/OpenScholarXIV** — OpenScholarXIV is an open-source, aesthetic, minimal and AI powered app that allows users to search, read, bookmark, share, download and view summaries of academic papers from the arXiv repository. - Repository: https://github.com/ScholarXIV/OpenScholarXIV - Stars: 1,187 · Forks: 57 - Language: Dart - License: GPL-3.0 - Published: 2026-10-07 · Updated: 2026-10-07 · Language: en - Canonical page: https://hysenlabs.com/projects/scholarxiv-openscholarxiv ## A Flutter app, not a native Android project GitHub reports the primary language as Dart, and the directory listing confirms the shape: `android/`, `ios/`, `linux/`, `macos/`, `windows/` and `web/` all sit at the top level, alongside `lib/`, `pubspec.yaml`, `pubspec.lock` and `analysis_options.yaml`. That is a Flutter project targeting six platforms, not an Android app with a Dart port. It matters for anyone deciding whether to use it or contribute to it. A `test/` directory and `scripts/` mean there is a place for automated checks, and `pubspec.lock` is committed, which means dependency versions are pinned and a local build should be reproducible. The same structure also means the desktop builds are first-class targets rather than an afterthought, so the same codebase that runs on a phone can be built on macOS or Windows. ## Finding, reading and bookmarking papers from arXiv The feature list is short and specific. You can find papers with search and with suggested research papers. You can read papers in the app without leaving OpenScholarXIV, rather than being dropped into a browser or a PDF viewer. You can bookmark papers to revisit later, download and share them, and read and listen to summaries. Two of those deserve attention. In-app reading means the paper renders inside the Flutter view hierarchy, which is convenient until you hit a paper whose embedded figures or unusual layout do not survive that treatment. Listen-to-summary turns a generated summary into audio, which is the feature most likely to be used on a commute and the one most dependent on the AI layer behaving predictably. The project acknowledges arXiv for the use of its open access interoperability, which is the mechanism that makes paper metadata and full text available to a third-party client at all. ## AI features run on a Gemini key you supply The AI surface is two features: deep dive into papers with AI chat, and the generated summaries you can read or listen to. Both run against a key you bring yourself. The README lists bring your own Gemini API key as a feature rather than a limitation, and there is a dedicated screenshot for it in the screens section. This is the single most important thing to understand before trying the app. There is no bundled model and no hosted backend to pay for; the cost, if any, is on your own Google account, and the app is only as useful as the quota attached to the key you paste in. The feature list also includes read and listen to paper summaries and AI chat as separate capabilities, and it names chat history as its own screen, so conversations persist between sessions. What the README does not say is which model the app requests, what happens when your quota runs out mid-chat, or whether summaries are cached per paper. Those are the details that determine whether the feature is pleasant or a source of friction. ## A takeover in May 2026 after a year of stagnation The release history explains the project's current shape better than the README does. v4.0.0, published 2026-05-28, is titled Introducing OpenScholarXIV, and its notes say the team took ownership of the previously known open-source app ScholArxiv. The same notes say the app launched two years earlier, that maintenance had been stagnant for the past year, and that the work since then has been updating dependencies, fixing filed issues and adding features. v4.1.0 on 2026-05-30, two days later, added Material You theming and a new Paper Details page. v4.2.0 on 2026-08-29 reports grouped categories, filters and a codebase upgrade. The cadence is brisk for a handover: three releases inside about three months, with the most recent one explicitly framed as community contribution. That history also sets an expectation. This is a young maintainership on an older codebase, and v4.2.0's own description of an improved and updated codebase is the kind of claim that takes several more releases to prove. ## The README download link points at v4.0.0 Here is a contradiction worth naming. The README's first substantive line is a download link, and it points at the v4.0.0 release tag. The most recent release is v4.2.0, published on 2026-08-29, and the last push to the repository matches that date. So the file tree and the README point at an older build than the releases tab does. Both facts are true at once: v4.0.0 exists and is a real tagged release, and v4.2.0 is newer. A reader who trusts the README installs a build from May; a reader who checks the releases tab gets August's work, which is the version that added the grouped categories and filters. There is no way to settle which the project intends from the documentation alone. The practical move is to take the highest tag in the releases list rather than the link in the README, since v4.0.0 is described as a rename and takeover release rather than a feature release. ## GPL-3.0, with contribution through the issues tab The licence is the GNU General Public License, stated in the README and recorded in the repository's licence field as GPL-3.0, so the two agree. For an end user that means the app is free to install and redistribute, and for anyone who wants to build a modified version, GPL-3.0's copyleft obligations apply to a distributed derivative. The contribution path is minimal: fork the repo, make your changes, and open a pull request. The README also points at the issues tab for contribution ideas, which is a lower bar than the seven-step CONTRIBUTING document that similar projects usually carry, and there is no such document in the file tree. The screenshots section is worth a second look for scope. It shows find, read-and-listen, AI deep dive, chat history, bring your own keys, read in-app, bookmark, paper details, paper notes, paper category, search by author and Material You themes. That is a broad feature surface for an app whose last push is a single maintainer's recent work. ## Conclusion OpenScholarXIV is worth watching if you want one app that covers search, reading, bookmarks, notes and an AI chat over a paper, and if bringing your own Gemini key is acceptable to you. It is a GPL-3.0 Flutter codebase with `lib/` doing the work, desktop targets alongside Android and iOS, and a maintainer who has shipped three releases since taking the project over in May 2026. What the repository does not settle is the current version: the README's download link points at v4.0.0 while v4.2.0 is the most recent release, so check the releases tab before installing. If you need citations you can export, or AI features that do not depend on a Google key, this is not the app. ## FAQ ### What is OpenScholarXIV used for? It is a Flutter app for working with arXiv papers: search and browse them, read them inside the app, bookmark them, download and share them, and listen to generated summaries. It acknowledges arXiv for the use of its open access interoperability. ### Do I need a Gemini API key to use OpenScholarXIV? For the AI features, yes. Bring your own Gemini API key is listed as a feature, and the AI chat plus the summaries both run against it, so there is no bundled model or hosted backend to cover the cost. ### Which platforms does OpenScholarXIV run on? The repository is written in Dart and is structured as a Flutter app, with android, ios, linux, macos, windows and web directories at the top level, plus a pubspec.yaml and a committed pubspec.lock. The README links to an APK download. ### What license is OpenScholarXIV released under? The GNU General Public License. The README states it is licensed under the GNU General Public License, and the repository licence field records GPL-3.0. ## Sources - [Issues](https://github.com/ScholarXIV/OpenScholarXIV/issues) - [License: GPL-3.0](https://github.com/ScholarXIV/OpenScholarXIV/blob/main/LICENSE) - [README](https://github.com/ScholarXIV/OpenScholarXIV/blob/main/README.md) - [Releases](https://github.com/ScholarXIV/OpenScholarXIV/releases) - [ScholarXIV/OpenScholarXIV on GitHub](https://github.com/ScholarXIV/OpenScholarXIV) --- Hysen Labs editorial analysis, written from the project's own repository and release notes. Cite the canonical page: https://hysenlabs.com/projects/scholarxiv-openscholarxiv