Scholarly on Mobile

Scholarly runs in any modern mobile browser. The web app is built so the same features you use on a laptop work on your phone — uploading, chatting, studying flashcards, watching video lectures, listening to podcasts, and capturing meeting notes.

This guide covers the controls and flows that are specific to phones and small screens.

Creating on Your Phone

Start anything from the New button in the header or the create tiles on the home page — flashcards, quizzes, podcasts, video lectures, AI slides, study guides, and every other tool.

On phones, create windows open full-screen and lead with your sources, so adding material comes first:

• Take a photo or scan — Point your rear camera at handwritten notes, a textbook page, or a whiteboard. The photo becomes a source immediately.
• Photo library — Pick existing photos of notes or slides from your camera roll.
• Files, links, and pasted text — Upload files, paste a website or YouTube link, or paste raw text, same as on desktop.
• Your library — Reuse anything you've already uploaded or created.

Snapping a photo of the day's notes and turning it into flashcards is one of the fastest study loops on a phone.

Reading PDFs

PDFs automatically fit to the width of your phone screen when they open, so there's no sideways scrolling to read a page. Pinch to zoom when you need a closer look.

AI Meeting Notes on Your Phone

Start a live capture from the AI Meeting Notes tile and your phone becomes the recorder — handy for lectures and in-person meetings. While recording, a floating control bar stays pinned to the bottom of the screen with the elapsed time and pause/stop controls, so you can scroll the page and still stop the capture without hunting for the button.

If your browser can't record (older Safari versions, for example), Scholarly tells you immediately and points you to the file-upload path so you can still get a transcript.

Sharing With the Native Share Sheet

On a phone, the Share button opens your phone's native share sheet — the same one apps like Messages, Mail, WhatsApp, X, and AirDrop hook into. You can pick where to send the link without leaving the page.

The full Share window is also available — tap More options in the native sheet, or open the Share window from any item header. On phones, the window opens full-screen so the link, public/private toggle, channels, QR code, and invites all fit comfortably.

See Sharing for the full breakdown.

Chat and Page Editor

• The chat input and page editor are sized to phone keyboards, so the send button stays visible while you type — no more searching for it behind the keyboard.
• The send, cancel, and voice buttons in chat are sized for fingers, not cursors.
• The flashcard editor stacks the question and answer fields on top of each other so each one is full-width.

Voice Mode

Voice mode works on iPhone and Android. The first time you start it, Scholarly explains what's about to happen before your browser asks for microphone access — so you know to tap Allow. If access is blocked, Scholarly shows the exact steps for your phone to unblock the mic.

See Voice Mode for the full guide.

Folders on Phones

Open a folder on mobile and you land on its content list first, so you can see what's inside at a glance. A tap-to-add area at the top makes it easy to drop new material straight into the folder, and the folder's chat opens as a panel when you want to ask questions about everything inside.

Installing as a PWA

Scholarly can be added to your home screen on iPhone and Android for a more app-like feel:

• iPhone (Safari) — tap the Share icon → Add to Home Screen.
• Android (Chrome) — tap the ⋮ menu → Add to home screen or Install app.

Once installed, Scholarly opens full-screen without the browser bar, like a native app.

Tips for Phones

• Pin the materials you study most so they sit at the top of your sidebar — that turns Scholarly into a one-tap study app from the home screen.
• Use voice mode during commutes and walks — it's hands-free and uses your daily voice budget.
• Listen to AI Podcasts in the background — your phone keeps playback going with the screen off.
• Photograph handwritten notes right after class while they still make sense — the AI reads handwriting surprisingly well.

Related

• Sharing — including native share, QR codes, and request access.
• Voice Mode — including microphone permissions on iOS and Android.
• AI Meeting Notes — including mobile-recording specifics.
• Uploading Content — every way to add sources, including pasted text.