15 Useful Mobile Apps For Life Scientists
Nowadays, mobile devices are ubiquitous with an estimated number of smartphones and tablet PCs to exceed two billion globally.
The availability of internet connection in most public places, powerful processors, and user-friendly touch screen technologies make mobile devices useful not only for spare time activities but also for education and science.
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Mobile devices are now standard lab companions. With reliable connectivity, capable processors, and touch-first interfaces, phones and tablets handle reading, note-taking, barcode scanning, and quick calculations alongside desktop tools.
Beyond consumer health and clinical apps, there is a growing set aimed at research workflows: literature discovery and reference management, electronic lab notebooks with inventory and protocol access, molecular viewers and calculators, and training tools that run graded simulations. Many work offline, sync to desktop, web, and support institutional access.
However, good mobile apps for assisting life science researchers in their lab routine can be rather hard to stumble upon. Below is a curated set of 15 mobile resources for life science practitioners, organized by their utility:
Literature Management & Discovery
Prime: PubMed Journals & Tools
Prime is a free and powerful app which connects you to the up-to-date journal citations and abstracts from the complete PubMed database. Using this app you can search articles by keywords, author, or journal, then link to the publisher’s full texts.
The Prime app also allows users to bookmark articles, tag important content and search results to be able to come back to them later, and share articles from the app via Email, Dropbox and social media channels. Some additional functions include Grapherence—a graph view showing citation influence and article interrelationships in a user-friendly graphical representation—and a For You feed that recommends new papers based on usage, as well as being able to set alerts for specific journals of interest – so that you get notified when new articles are published.
The latest 2025 update also added Sort By options (Most Recent, Relevance, Pub Date, Journal, Title, Author).
Available on iOS/iPadOS 13.1+ via the App Store (free) and on Android via Google Play.
Papers by ReadCube
Papers by ReadCube is a cross-platform reference manager and mobile PDF reader for researchers. The iOS and Android apps sync your library and annotations, let you search, import from the share sheet, and open full text via institutional proxy. The mobile Enhanced PDF view supports tap-through inline citations, attached supplements, and multi-page reading, with offline access after you pre-download items.
App experience is geared to fast reading and triage: highlight/notes, full-screen or two-page layouts, quick metadata resolution on import, personalized recommendations based on your library, and library organization with lists/tags and full-text/annotation search. If you also use the desktop/web apps, your mobile work feeds into the broader workflow (SmartCite for Word/Docs, browser extensions).
Available on iOS/iPadOS 15.6+ via App Store and on Android via Google Play.
Zotero
Zotero is a mobile client for open-source reference management. You can save articles and books via the system Share sheet, auto-download readable PDFs, scan ISBN/DOI barcodes, organize with collections/tags, and keep personal and group libraries in sync.
A built-in PDF reader supports highlights, notes, and freehand ink, with item metadata editing and group-library collaboration. You can generate formatted citations and bibliographies with over 10k styles and, on desktop, insert annotations and citations into Word/LibreOffice/Google Docs; the Android listing notes in-app citation generation is “coming soon.” Annotations created on mobile can be pulled into notes on the desktop client for citing or export & vice versa.
Available on iOS/iPadOS 16.6+ via App Store and Android via Google Play. Desktop versions are available for MacOS & browser extensions.
Laboratory & Computational Tools
eLabNext
eLabNext is the unified mobile companion for SciSure’s electronic lab notebook and inventory system, bringing core lab tools to phones and tablets. It lets users access their projects, studies, and experiments on the go, with all data visually organized and linked to associated samples. The app replaced the separate eLabJournal and eLabInventory clients in September 2025, merging their functions into one streamlined interface.
Through the app, users can scan 2D barcodes on samples, storage locations, or instruments to instantly view or update records, move or archive items, and make equipment bookings. It also provides access to personal or shared lab protocols, which can be customized and followed step-by-step during experiments. Notes and photos taken at the bench sync automatically with the web app, while notifications keep users informed about signature requests, inventory levels, or lab activity updates.
Available on iOS/iPadOS 13+ via the App Store and on Android via Google Play.
iMolview
iMolview is a lightweight 3D molecular viewer for quick lookup and inspection of biomacromolecules and small molecules on mobile. It connects to public databases—PDB, DrugBank, and PubChem—so you can search by drug name, protein name, or PDB code and load structures directly.
The touch-first UI supports pinch/drag gestures for zoom/rotate/pan/clip, quick toggles for common representations (wire, ball-and-stick, space-fill, ribbon, molecular surfaces), residue/atom/chain selection with per-selection styling, continuous “inertia” spin, and saving views as slides. iOS also exposes “neighbors” selection and electron density map loading; Android allows syncing local files from device storage.
Available on iOS/iPadOS 12+ via App Store for $0.99 and Android via GooglePlay. A free iMolview Lite variant exists on both stores.
BayesMobile
BayesMobile is a mobile runner for Bayesian network models. It loads models built in GeNIe/SMILE and executes inference locally on the device (SMILE engine). The app ships with built-in example models for quick evaluation and field use.
The interface is diagnosis-oriented: tabs show (1) posterior probabilities for target variables, (2) suggested observations ranked by value of information, (3) current evidence, and (4) a user case library. A graph view lets you inspect network structure; evidence and cases can be saved/loaded. External models can be imported from local or cloud storage after a $9.99 in-app purchase.
Available on iOS/iPadOS 14.7+ via App Store. No Android build as of 2025.
Molarity Dilution Calculator
Molarity Dilution Calculator is an Android app designed for chemistry and molecular biology applications, aiding in precise and efficient lab work. You can compute molarity from mass/volume, do stock-to-working dilutions, interconvert units (e.g., ppm/ppb↔molarity), and solve for any missing variable (mass, volume, concentration) with a built-in unit converter. Most features work offline.
The experience is a simple tool picker with calculators plus reference tables you’d reach for in routine work—buffer prep notes and pH ranges, amino-acid properties, DNA/RNA codon tables, quick antibiotic stock info, and minimal-media recipes. There are no ads, and most content is bundled for offline use, making it ideal for students, researchers, and professionals engaged in routine research.
The latest update added a DNA melting temperature (Tm) calculator and basic primer design helpers, so you can estimate annealing temps and generate reverse complements without leaving the app. It also added NanoDrop-style conversions (A260 to concentration), a SMILES→structure generator with a simple structure drawer, and a lightweight PDB viewer that fetches entries from RCSB/PDBj or local files.
Available via Google Play.
NEB Tools
Restriction enzymes are widely used in lab experiments for molecular cloning and DNA modification. NEB Tools app provides access to the most requested information about restriction enzymes helping plan experiments on the go.
Using this app you can find and email to your inbox restriction enzyme information selected by category, recognition sequence, or name. Also, you can determine buffer and reaction conditions for experiments with two restriction enzymes, or calculate annealing temperature for PCR reaction etc.
Available on iOS/iPadOS 15.6+ via the App Store and on Android Google Play. Free download; works offline with an on-device enzyme database.
Drug & Clinical Reference
MSD Manual Consumer
MSD Manual Consumer provides medical information on thousands of disorders, including symptoms, diagnoses, and treatments, all accessible offline. It requires permissions for storage to save content on the device. The installation is a two-step process: downloading the app template and then the full content, which may take several minutes.
The app includes content from over 350 medical experts, with photos, illustrations, animations, and quizzes. It operates without collecting personal data, ads, or subscriptions. It is intended for use outside the U.S., its territories, Puerto Rico, and Canada (users in those regions should use the Merck Manual Consumer app)
Available on iOS/iPadOS 9.0+ via App Store and Android via Google Play.
Medscape
Medscape provides immediate clinical answers for healthcare professionals with access to medical calculators, drug and disease information, clinical tools, and medical news. It features over 450 calculators by specialty, a Drug Interaction Checker, Pill Identifier, and procedural videos.
The app covers prescribing and safety details for 9,200+ drugs, herbals, and supplements. It updates on FDA approvals, clinical trials, and offers expert commentary in over 30 specialties. Users can earn CME/CE credits and track progress with an Activity Tracker. It also includes Medscape Consult for networking and MedscapeLIVE! for events.
Recent Medscape update added AI features: AI Search with chat-style answers grounded in Medscape content & mobile access, and Scribe that records patient visits on device, auto-generates summaries for EHR transfer and provides summaries auto-delete after 72 hours). The iOS listing also advertises a Dialer to call patients showing the office number.
Available on iOS/iPadOS 16+ via the App Store and on Android via Google Play.
VisualDx
VisualDx is an image-centric clinical reference app used to build differentials and look up testing and treatment across dermatology, infectious disease, pediatrics, and internal medicine. The mobile app exposes the same core set as desktop: a large, curated image atlas (now 50,000+ images) and concise summaries for 3,200+ diagnoses, with specific tooling for drug eruptions and travel/infectious presentations. Recent releases added more oncodermatology content (e.g., immunotherapies, targeted agents, ADCs).
You can start from findings to build a differential, or search a condition directly; compare candidates side-by-side, filter images (including skin-of-color emphasis), and pull brief “best tests/therapy” sections. The app also offers quizzes, 400+ patient handouts (EN/ES), and earns internet point-of-care CME per search. The August update notes “smarter Sympticons” to assess rash distribution patterns.
DermExpert lets clinicians photograph a lesion, get an AI-assisted lesion-type suggestion, answer a few structured questions, and generate a ranked differential inside VisualDx. DermExpert access is included in specific subscription tiers.
Available on iOS/iPadOS 16+ via the App Store & Android via Google Play with in-app subscription options.
Biotech Calculators
Biotech Calculators is a mobile app designed for eye care practitioners to perform precise IOL (Intraocular Lens) calculations for cataract and refractive correction surgeries. The app includes calculators for Eyecryl Phakic, Eyecryl Phakic Toric, Eyecryl Toric, Eyecryl ACTV Toric, Optiflex Trio, and Bioring models. Clinicians enter pre-operative data and receive a model recommendation tailored to the selected implant family.
Each calculator is accessed from a simple menu; after login you input the patient’s pre-op values and get a recommended IOL/Bioring configuration. The iOS listing notes the app can work offline after content is downloaded and you’re logged in; the Android listing emphasizes smooth online operation post-login. No ads. A web portal is available for account creation and online access to the same tools.
Available on iOS/iPadOS 13+ via the App Store and on Android via Google Play.
Education & Training
Labster
Labster delivers interactive, self-paced virtual labs across biology, chemistry, physics and health sciences. Simulations include embedded quiz questions that gate progress, animations to visualize theory, and structured explanations. Scores are generated automatically, and instructors can monitor student- and class-level performance in a dashboard
The app also lets instructors assign simulations, and lets students complete story-based labs such as HPLC (instrument components, method setup, drug-stability analysis). Simulations run as interactive 3D scenes with checkpoints and grading. Labster recommends iPad use; the App Store warns that iPhone use is sub-optimal, and Labster’s help center states smartphones are not supported.
Available on iOS/iPadOS 14+ via the App Store and on Android via Google Play. Simulations are intended for iPad/Chromebook; the App Store warns that iPhone use is sub-optimal, and Labster’s help center states smartphones are not supported.
ReactionFlash
ReactionFlash (Elsevier/Reaxys) is a mobile reference app for named chemical reactions. Each entry includes a reaction overview, mechanism, and examples drawn from peer-reviewed literature and patents. The catalog currently covers ~1,266 named reactions and links into Reaxys—Elsevier’s curated chemistry database covering substances, reactions, properties, and the underlying literature/patents, updated weekly—for recent examples and routes.
The app uses a flashcard-style layout for quick browsing and study, with a built-in quiz mode to test recall. Cards show the reaction scheme plus stepwise mechanism, with outbound links to Reaxys when you need details beyond the summary.
Available on iOS/iPadOS 14+ via the App Store and on Android via Google Play.
Topic: Next-Gen Tools
