Elephant Folio

Elephant Folio is a macOS and iOS application that manages collections of academic PDFs, research papers, and arXiv downloads. It employs on‑device AI, specifically Apple Intelligence, to automatically sort incoming files, generate appropriate folder structures, assign tags, and rename documents without any manual filing. All processing and indexing occur locally, and the app stores its metadata in Core Data while synchronizing the library across devices via iCloud’s private CloudKit container.

The software provides full‑text search of every PDF, allowing users to locate files by filename, tag, or any word appearing inside the document. A Safari extension enables one‑tap import of PDFs from web sources, and a Share extension captures files from Mail, Messages, and other apps without leaving the user’s workflow. A built‑in document scanner converts physical handouts and notes directly into searchable PDFs.

Privacy is emphasized: no personal information is collected, no advertising SDKs are used, and none of the content is transmitted to external servers. The library remains on the user’s devices and in their private iCloud storage, making the tool suitable for researchers and students who need an automatically organized, searchable PDF repository on Apple platforms.