CalibReader: an EPUB and PDF reader for iPhone, iPad and iPhone Duo

[CalibReader_]

Hi everyone,

I'm a solo developer, and CalibReader is the app I built because I keep my books in calibre and wanted that library on my phone, readable offline, without moving it into anyone else's cloud. It's an EPUB and PDF reader for iPhone, iPad and iPhone Duo. It's on the App Store now: https://apps.apple.com/app/id6777391511

Every setup I tried split this into two apps: one to sync the calibre library to the device, and another to actually read in. CalibReader is both, finally in one app: your calibre library, synced and browsable the way you organised it, plus the best reader I could build, one that feels like reading a real book.

I'd like to hear from calibre users trying it on their own libraries, especially if you have an iPhone Duo.



LIBRARY: your calibre library, synced

• Point it at the folder that holds your calibre library (the one with metadata.db): Dropbox, OneDrive, a NAS or home server over SMB, or a folder on the device or in iCloud Drive.
• You choose at setup: copy your whole library to your device for offline reading, or copy just the catalogue, with each book downloading when you open it. Later syncs only pick up what changed.
• Series and series index, tags, ratings and publisher come across as you set them in calibre.
• Reading positions and read status sync between your devices through a small file in the library folder. Start reading on your phone, and later when you pick up your iPad to continue, you're exactly where you left off.
• Read status, % read and last read can go back into calibre with a free desktop plugin, CalibReader Sync, which is in calibre's plugin index: https://www.mobileread.com/forums/sh...d.php?t=375871
• Home shows what you're reading and what you added recently. Grid, list and series views, every series in order with your progress, filters you can stack (read status, author, genre, series, tags) and search.
• The full synopsis, page count and publish date for every book.
• Cover picker: swap in another edition's cover, or bind any book in leather. Books with no cover get one found automatically.
• Light or dark mode for the whole app.
• Single books can also be opened from Files, Mail or AirDrop.
• No account, no uploads, no subscriptions.
• Tested and working with 40,000-book libraries.

READER: built to feel like a book

• Two pages side by side on iPad and iPhone Duo, a single page on iPhone, or continuous scroll.
• Real page curls, forward and back, or a simple flip. Turning back curls the previous page in from the left, as smoothly as turning forward.
• Every book opens on a title page that turns over like a real one.
• On iPhone Duo: unfold it and the book is a two-page spread; close it and the book's cover is on the outside, and the line you were reading stays put through every fold.
• Calm controls: on iPhone, a slim bar at the top shows the chapter and your progress, with Back, Contents and Aa in a small bar under the text. Tap the middle of the page and they all disappear.
• Font, size, line spacing, margins and justification, applied live, with proper hyphenation for justified text.
• A "Book's own formatting" switch for when you want the publisher's styling.
• Parchment, sepia, black and navy themes, or any colour you like.
• Table of contents, chapter navigation, a clock and a progress footer.
• A built-in dictionary that works offline: long-press a word and tap Define.
• In scrolling view, the end of a chapter is a firm stop; tap the edge to carry on.
• Your place is kept to the line through crashes, app updates and library switches, and leaving the app never moves you.
• PDF support: two-page spreads on iPad and iPhone Duo, and it remembers your page.
• Use external reader: open MOBI, CBZ and other formats in another app of your choice.

Price
You can import and browse your whole library and read any 3 books in full for free. After that it's $9.99 once to read everything. No subscription, no account, no ads.

What it doesn't do yet

• It's iPhone and iPad only for now. Android is close behind, and Android foldables will get the same two-page spread.
• Google Drive isn't supported on iOS, but it will be in the Android version.
• It doesn't connect to the calibre Content Server or OPDS catalogs, or act as a calibre wireless device. It reads your library folder directly, so no server is needed.
• Your own custom columns don't show in the app yet, and ratings, highlights and annotations don't go back to calibre yet. Highlights and notes are next, saved into calibre's own annotations.
• Read status uses a Yes/No column named read_status. Choosing your own column is coming; until then the plugin shows how to copy yours over once.

Website: https://calibreader.com
Help pages: https://calibreader.com/help/
Demo on iPhone Duo: https://youtu.be/aPAax-0lJsI
The screenshots use public-domain books from Standard Ebooks, but the design really pops with real modern book art.

I'll be reading this thread every day and would like to hear what breaks, what's missing, and what you'd change.

CalibReader is an independent app and is not affiliated with calibre.

Mike

[JSWolf]

Does it have a header to show how many pages left in the chapter along with the chapter title and the footer to show how many pages left in the book along with the book title? Does it have ADE/RMSDK page numbers and if not, can you please add them?

In the animated GIF, there's too much wasted space at the top and bottom of the screen.

Does this have the ability to add your own fonts? Does this have the ability to adjust the font weight?

[CalibReader_]

Thanks for mentioning ADE/RMSDK - I honestly didn't know about these until today. I have a thing about page numbers on ebooks too (CalibReader already looks up each book's print page count, regardless of your library - no custom column needed).

Looks like we're on the same page (ha, sorry) re: ereader details in certain aspects.



Here's what CalibReader does now:

1. Margins are user adjustable. Because the chapter info lives in a small floating pill instead of full-width header and footer bars, nothing needs reserved space. The next app update takes margins to true zero everywhere. If you install it today: scrolling view has true zero margin possible on all four sides. Single page and two-page views have a nonzero margin at the top and bottom (until the update). I agree, that GIF shows very relaxed margins / overly generous whitespace, maybe even in excess of what a typical analog book has - but hey, let the user choose how they want to read.



2. A small header pill shows the book, the chapter and progress (total book %). On an iPhone it shows the chapter number; on iPad there's room for the chapter's title too. Tap the middle of the page to show/hide the pill. (Less obtrusive than a device-width banner that eats major screen real estate - my personal preference is calm/minimal while still showing everything you need at a glance)

3. The two-page spread shows the page number within the chapter on each page.



You can also keep the book's original style and font (its own formatting), or set your own font (serif or sans), size, line and paragraph spacing, justification, a theme (Parchment, Sepia, Navy, Black) or any background colour, and Single Page, Dual Page or Scrolling with Curl or Flip page turns. All of it live-updates as you change it, and every time you rotate the device or change view modes, your EXACT place/line is kept. (Another nit-pick on other ereaders that I had to fix). And the table of contents actually works - it's the book's real ToC, and every entry takes you to the right place (surprisingly many ereaders get this wrong).

If a cover is missing or blurry, CalibReader fills it in or upgrades it automatically, and Choose Cover lets you pick a high-res cover from other editions yourself.

Coming next:

- (thanks to your comment) ADE/RMSDK page numbers, so they're the same on every device and font size, plus the book's own print page numbers when the EPUB has a page-list.

From what I read, RMSDK works out pages from each chapter's compressed file size, which surprised me - clever, if a little odd. You'd know far better than me, though.

Already on the roadmap:

- An optional header with the chapter title and pages left in the chapter, and a footer with the book title and pages left in the book.
- Importing your own fonts, with proper font weights: pick a heavier weight from the font's own family (or slide the weight on variable fonts).

What is your ideal header and footer? You've thought about this more than most, and it's fairly simple to make tweaks.

[The Old Man]

Rather than loading my entire Calibre library I found just going to individual folders (cloud or local) works well. Creating a new calibre library with a specific genre works better than importing my entire library. Doesn’t seem to be a way to expand a graphic to full screen which is generally accomplished by double-tapping.

[CalibReader_]

Thanks for the notes! Genre libraries are a great way to use it. You can point CalibReader at as many libraries or folders as you like and switch between them in a few taps, and the next update makes switching a lot faster: it asks "whole library or catalogue only?" right after you pick the folder, and the covers you can see load first.

Double-tap to see an image full screen is a great idea, it's going in an update soon.

How many genre libraries have you set up so far?

[The Old Man]

Originally Posted by CalibReader_

Thanks for the notes! Genre libraries are a great way to use it. You can point CalibReader at as many libraries or folders as you like and switch between them in a few taps, and the next update makes switching a lot faster: it asks "whole library or catalogue only?" right after you pick the folder, and the covers you can see load first.

Double-tap to see an image full screen is a great idea, it's going in an update soon.

How many genre libraries have you set up so far?

Just two, Agatha Christie and Nelson DeMille. More to come.

[CalibReader_]

CalibReader 1.0.3 is on the App Store
https://apps.apple.com/us/app/calibr...r/id6777391511

Two updates have landed since I first posted here (1.0.2 and 1.0.3), and a couple of the changes came straight from this thread.

From this thread

• Double-tap a picture to see it full screen (thanks, The Old Man). Chapter headings, ornaments and drawings now also blend into every theme, dark ones included.
• Less empty space at the top and bottom (thanks, Jon): user adjustable margins go all the way to zero on scrolling view, and iPhone pages hold about two more lines than before.

Also new

• Read straight from your calibre Content Server, at home or away (Tailscale works too).
• Facing pages line up: on a two-page spread, every line sits level with the line across the gutter, like a printed book.
• iPad in landscape opens books as a two-page spread, iPad mini included.
• Plain folders of ebooks open from your NAS, Dropbox, iCloud Drive or OneDrive, with or without a calibre library.
• Downloads try again on their own and pick up where they stopped, and a big NAS folder shows books while it's still being read.
• A sample library of 8 classics, to try the app before pointing it at your own books. (sample library books do not count toward your 3 free books)

Coming next

• Load your own fonts.
• Margins remembered per view: one set for portrait scrolling, another for landscape two pages, and the app switches to the right one when you rotate.
• Several libraries remembered, with a quick switch from Home, so hopping between folders/sources/libraries is one tap.
• Kobo reading-position sync, starting with Calibre-Web's Kobo sync.

[enuddleyarbl]

I've gotten my iPad Mini A20 Pro (base model) and am trying to figure out how reading works on it. I've loaded up CalibReader and am looking at a epub in it. My biggest issue is that the font size of the book isn't big enough. The book has no fonts specified nor any default font size. I've bumped the Font Size up to its maximum of 32px in CalibReader and it's just not big enough for me. I've even turned on the iPad Accessibility option for larger font sizes, but that didn't help in the book.

My second issue is that I've got formatting set up in these books where the first line following things like a heading (h1, h2, etc.) should be "font-variant: small-caps" with "font-size: large" in the CSS (these are formatted as EPUB3). Those lines display as smallcaps, but the font size is very small. It doesn't seem to adjust to what the Font Size slider in CalibReader is set to.

The problem could lie anywhere between me and the ereader. I'm not sure if this is of any help, but here's the applicable CSS I'm using in this case:

p {
  /* Basic paragraph styling */
  display: block;
  text-indent: 1.2em;
}
h1, h2, h3 {
  /* Basic Chapter Heading Styling */
  page-break-before: always;
  page-break-after: avoid;
  text-align: center;
  font-family: sans-serif;
}
h2 + p, h3 + p, hr + p, .note + p, .poem + p, .placard + p {
  /* Non-indented Paragraphs Styling (for paragraphs that follow something and shouldn't be indented) */
  text-indent: 0;
}
h2 + p::first-letter, h3 + p::first-letter, hr + p::first-letter {
  /* First-Letter Styling (for the first letter following certain things (IOW, dropcaps)) */
  font-weight: bold;
}
h2 + p::first-line, h3 + p::first-line, hr + p::first-line {
  /* Make first line of first paragraphs large and smallcap */
  font-size: large;
  font-variant: small-caps;
}

[CalibReader_]

Originally Posted by enuddleyarbl

I've gotten my iPad Mini A20 Pro (base model) and am trying to figure out how reading works on it. I've loaded up CalibReader and am looking at a epub in it. My biggest issue is that the font size of the book isn't big enough. The book has no fonts specified nor any default font size. I've bumped the Font Size up to its maximum of 32px in CalibReader and it's just not big enough for me. I've even turned on the iPad Accessibility option for larger font sizes, but that didn't help in the book.

My second issue is that I've got formatting set up in these books where the first line following things like a heading (h1, h2, etc.) should be "font-variant: small-caps" with "font-size: large" in the CSS (these are formatted as EPUB3). Those lines display as smallcaps, but the font size is very small. It doesn't seem to adjust to what the Font Size slider in CalibReader is set to.

The problem could lie anywhere between me and the ereader. I'm not sure if this is of any help, but here's the applicable CSS I'm using in this case:
...
]

Got it, and thanks for posting the CSS, that made it easy to see what's going on.

Two things were getting in your way. The Font Size slider tops out at 32 px, which just isn't big enough for you on the mini. And sizes a book sets with a keyword, like your font-size: large on the first line, were being worked out from the default 16 px instead of from the slider, so that line stayed small however big you set the text.

The next update raises the maximum to 64 px and makes keyword sizes follow the slider, so your small-caps first lines scale with everything else. It should be ready in a couple of days, along with a whole slew of other updates: font weight, switching between several calibre libraries, and more.

Is 64 px enough headroom on the mini, or would you go bigger still? Also, brand new mini, nice - how are you liking it? by 'base model' do you mean you do *not* have the matte screen?

[enuddleyarbl]

Thanks for the quick response.

Since I have no experience on the Apple side of things (to say nothing of an actual tablet), I don't really know if 64px is going to be big enough. I also never work with px as a unit. I always use em. Which actually brings up an interesting point. Should you be using px? In general, the advice I see is to use relative units (em, rem, %) instead of absolute units (px). Granted, that's advice I usually see at the book level, not the ereader level:

https://www.w3docs.com/snippets/css/...s-px-em-or-rem

I've also run across similar advice regarding accessibility:

https://accessibilitychecking.org/ac...ography-guide/

But, just from my cursory look at your app, I'm impressed. It looks very nice.

Regarding the mini, yes, it's the 128GB unit without the matte screen. Build-wise, it's really impressive. I didn't even realize its got a metal body instead of plastic (I'm going to have to buy a case, though -- it's too slick). And, the screen is amazing. I haven't noticed any glare, but one of the first things the wife mentioned was glare. So, YMMV. Functionally, I'm still working my way through setting it up: I'm just completely unfamiliar with Apple's way of doing things (which, from a Windows and Linux perspective, I have issues with).

[CalibReader_]

Originally Posted by enuddleyarbl

Thanks for the quick response.

I also never work with px as a unit. I always use em. Which actually brings up an interesting point. Should you be using px?

Good question on px. The slider sets the base size, the same thing as a browser's 16 px default, and everything relative in your book (em, rem, % and keywords like large) scales from it. So your em-based CSS behaves the way you wrote it. Your small first line was exactly that link breaking: large was taken from a fixed table instead of from the base size. That's what the update fixes, and 64 is four times the default, so it should be a big jump on the mini.

Once the update's out, tell me whether 64 is enough or you'd want more.

Originally Posted by enuddleyarbl

But, just from my cursory look at your app, I'm impressed. It looks very nice.

Thanks! Please keep the feedback coming.

Originally Posted by enuddleyarbl

Regarding the mini, yes, it's the 128GB unit without the matte screen. Build-wise, it's really impressive. I didn't even realize its got a metal body instead of plastic (I'm going to have to buy a case, though -- it's too slick). And, the screen is amazing. I haven't noticed any glare, but one of the first things the wife mentioned was glare. So, YMMV.

Yes, that metal body and frame is slippery...its the only reason I got a case for the Duo.

I asked about the matte screen because it's only available on the iPhone Duo, the latest iPad mini (as an upgrade option) and the iPad Pro M4 and M5 (also an upgrade option). I'm currently working on some 'e-ink' reader themes that take full advantage of the "Nano texture" matte screen and it has a massive impact on reading comfort compared to glossy, glass OLED screens. Imo it really makes reading on these devices feel much more like using an e-ink device. You really have to see it in person to get the full effect: