MobileRead Forums - View Single Post - Kobalt: an alternative reader app for Kobo devices

jackie_w · 10-12-2026, 04:55 PM

@MrSilverstrike,

Well, this is off to a promising start.

I've installed it on an old AuraOne running the latest fw 4.38.23828. Some feedback after a short time using it...

Problem. Any CSS style which contains font-family:sans-serif doesn't appear to display as sans-serif. At first I thought the same was true of CSS font-family:monospace but I did get that to work OK by selecting Publisher default in the [Aa] menu. Unfortunately it didn't also fix the sans-serif problem. Any ideas?
Suggestion. The option to set a default font for serif is fairly standard in most apps but very few seem to offer the option to additionally set a default sans-serif font and a default monospace font. KOReader is the only app I've used which does have this feature. Might this be a future possibility?
Problem. After setting the brightness level it seems to reset itself down to 5% within a very short time. Is there an option to choose the length of time before this happens?
Suggestion. When using GUI options which need to page through a long list (e.g. TOC Chapters), once you arrive at the last page then, to get back to the first page you have to reverse-page all the way back again. Nickel cycles around from last page to first (or first to last) in one step. I've appreciated this a lot over the years.
On the plus side, I'm pleased to say that font-variant:small-caps and pseudo-selectors ::first-letter and ::first-line seem to work very well in standard epubs.
I like how you've only changed the reading app and left Nickel to handle the main GUI (booklists etc.)

10-12-2026, 04:55 PM	#51
jackie_w Grand Sorcerer Posts: 6,350 Karma: 16800000 Join Date: Sep 2009 Location: UK Device: ClaraHD, Forma, Libra2, Clara2E, LibraCol, PBTouchHD3	@MrSilverstrike, Well, this is off to a promising start. I've installed it on an old AuraOne running the latest fw 4.38.23828. Some feedback after a short time using it... Problem. Any CSS style which contains font-family:sans-serif doesn't appear to display as sans-serif. At first I thought the same was true of CSS font-family:monospace but I did get that to work OK by selecting Publisher default in the [Aa] menu. Unfortunately it didn't also fix the sans-serif problem. Any ideas? Suggestion. The option to set a default font for serif is fairly standard in most apps but very few seem to offer the option to additionally set a default sans-serif font and a default monospace font. KOReader is the only app I've used which does have this feature. Might this be a future possibility? Problem. After setting the brightness level it seems to reset itself down to 5% within a very short time. Is there an option to choose the length of time before this happens? Suggestion. When using GUI options which need to page through a long list (e.g. TOC Chapters), once you arrive at the last page then, to get back to the first page you have to reverse-page all the way back again. Nickel cycles around from last page to first (or first to last) in one step. I've appreciated this a lot over the years. On the plus side, I'm pleased to say that font-variant:small-caps and pseudo-selectors ::first-letter and ::first-line seem to work very well in standard epubs. I like how you've only changed the reading app and left Nickel to handle the main GUI (booklists etc.)