MobileRead Forums - View Single Post - Syncronize book and pdf reading using a local private Cloud

haertig · 03-19-2021, 05:08 PM

I tried a couple of things. Nothing I found does exactly what you want though.

I used the MoonReaderPro app on two different Android devices. I set each app to sync to my Nextcloud server (that's a self-hosted cloud that I run on my own computers). With this setup, reading position is synced to all devices, as long as they are using MoonReaderPro. But it fails your criteria because the books are locally downloaded.

Next I tried reading a PDF file that was hosted on my Nextcloud server. I accessed my Nextcloud with a web browser on each device. This setup does not require you to download the book locally. But it doesn't remember reading position between devices, or even for the same device on different login sessions.

Next, I tried a book that is hosted in my Calibre database. I accessed the book from a 3rd web app I run named "Calibre-Web". Despite the name, this is NOT official Calibre software. It just is able to read a Calibre database. I personally like this 3rd party server better than the one that is built into Calibre. Anyway, Calibre-Web has a "Read in Browser" option, and that is what I used from the client devices. The client devices use a web browser to access the Calibre-Web server. With this setup I do not have to download books locally. And it remembers reading position, but only on a per-device basis. It does not sync reading position across different devices.

So none of these things I tried meet all of your criteria. They each meet a different subset of criteria, but none meet 100% of your criteria.

FWIW, those were my results.

03-19-2021, 05:08 PM	#3
haertig Wizard Posts: 1,899 Karma: 31522252 Join Date: Sep 2017 Device: PW3, Fire HD8 Gen7, Moto G7, Sansa Clip v2, Ruizu X26	I tried a couple of things. Nothing I found does exactly what you want though. I used the MoonReaderPro app on two different Android devices. I set each app to sync to my Nextcloud server (that's a self-hosted cloud that I run on my own computers). With this setup, reading position is synced to all devices, as long as they are using MoonReaderPro. But it fails your criteria because the books are locally downloaded. Next I tried reading a PDF file that was hosted on my Nextcloud server. I accessed my Nextcloud with a web browser on each device. This setup does not require you to download the book locally. But it doesn't remember reading position between devices, or even for the same device on different login sessions. Next, I tried a book that is hosted in my Calibre database. I accessed the book from a 3rd web app I run named "Calibre-Web". Despite the name, this is NOT official Calibre software. It just is able to read a Calibre database. I personally like this 3rd party server better than the one that is built into Calibre. Anyway, Calibre-Web has a "Read in Browser" option, and that is what I used from the client devices. The client devices use a web browser to access the Calibre-Web server. With this setup I do not have to download books locally. And it remembers reading position, but only on a per-device basis. It does not sync reading position across different devices. So none of these things I tried meet all of your criteria. They each meet a different subset of criteria, but none meet 100% of your criteria. FWIW, those were my results.