iPad Calibre View - Free iOS app for browsing Calibre libraries (TestFlight beta)

[hyzerloops]

It looks great! I would be willing to beta test if or when it has iCloud sync as that's where I keep my libraries.

[DandalfTheWhite]

Originally Posted by dunhill

Will it be only for iOS, or are you planning an Android version? Calibre-sync, if it helps, works on both systems.

I coded this with Swift which is for iOS specifically. I do not have any android devices so I do not think it will be an android app in the short term. I am planning on eventually opening sourcing the code so someone else may be able to have at it but that is a while off still I think. (Just got a new job as I finished the app lol.)

Originally Posted by JSWolf

You need to edit your first line in the first post. It says there's no OneDrive support when there is.

Whoops, I did. Thanks for that. I had edited it in the features list but missed it right in front of me.

Originally Posted by JSWolf

Does this work with calibre 9.x?

My libraries are from version 9.2.1 and they work fine.

Originally Posted by GeniusJ

Thanks for creating this!

I've installed it and connected it to Dropbox; however, when attempting to add a library your picker only shows about 5 folders from my Dropbox. Not all of them are listed, in particular the "Books" folder doesn't show up, so I have no way to add my library. Must be something in the way the API call is being used, I'd guess?

CalibreSync has an automatic search Dropbox function by which is looks in all the folders that have a metadata.db and presents them as options. Is that something you could add?

Otherwise I'm stuck.

This is an odd one for me. Whenever I log into dropbox it shows me the whole file system. I looked into this quickly and it looks like a pagination issue. I think I should be able to fix this with the next version. The Automatic Library Search is possible but I thought it might be slow for larger dropboxes.

I will fix this bug and get a new version out there soon. Always something to improve but I hope that it will be able to be updated soon.

[Loosheesh]

I've been wanting to try the app from the time OneDrive access became available, but I have some uncertainty about the permissions (see image).



From the image, what does "unverified" mean? And, aside from my Calibre library, will CV be able to access other folders and files from my OneDrive?

Also, it's noted that the app is read-only but I'm not comfortable with the "see and update" access mentioned—is this generic language, or will CV have the ability to update data?

[GeniusJ]

Originally Posted by DandalfTheWhite

This is an odd one for me. Whenever I log into dropbox it shows me the whole file system. I looked into this quickly and it looks like a pagination issue. I think I should be able to fix this with the next version. The Automatic Library Search is possible but I thought it might be slow for larger dropboxes.

I can't speak for others, but Calibre Sync has the automatic search feature as an option and it's quite quick on my Dropbox, which is rather large. It looks for metadata.db in the entire Dropbox and presents the folders where it finds them as selections. Works well.

Thanks for looking into this.

[Insalata]

Originally Posted by GeniusJ

Thanks for creating this!

I've installed it and connected it to Dropbox; however, when attempting to add a library your picker only shows about 5 folders from my Dropbox. Not all of them are listed, in particular the "Books" folder doesn't show up, so I have no way to add my library. Must be something in the way the API call is being used, I'd guess?

CalibreSync has an automatic search Dropbox function by which is looks in all the folders that have a metadata.db and presents them as options. Is that something you could add?

Otherwise I'm stuck.

I get the same.

[DandalfTheWhite]

Originally Posted by Loosheesh

I've been wanting to try the app from the time OneDrive access became available, but I have some uncertainty about the permissions (see image).



From the image, what does "unverified" mean? And, aside from my Calibre library, will CV be able to access other folders and files from my OneDrive?

Also, it's noted that the app is read-only but I'm not comfortable with the "see and update" access mentioned—is this generic language, or will CV have the ability to update data?

Great questions! Let me clarify each one:

"Unverified" Status: This means I haven't completed Microsoft's publisher verification process yet (which requires business documentation and domain verification that I do not have as a guy doing this for fun). It's about verifying me as the developer, not about the app's safety or functionality.

Access to Other Folders: Unfortunately, Microsoft's permission system doesn't allow folder-specific access. The Files.Read permission technically allows access to all OneDrive files - this is a Microsoft platform limitation, not an app choice.

However, Calibre View only accesses files in the folder you navigate to. The app has no reason to access other folders and doesn't include any code to browse or read files outside what you select. I will also say that the app is "client-side," meaning the file data goes directly from OneDrive to your device and never touches a server I own. (I do not own a server…)

"See and Update" Language: I understand this is confusing! The actual permission the app uses is Files.Read, which is genuinely read-only and the app cannot modify, create, or delete any of your files. The "see and update" wording is Microsoft's confusing description for their offline access permission, not a reflection of what the app actually does.

Finally, the "Maintain access" part just means you won't have to log in and re-authorize the app every single time you open it/refresh your library.

----

To everyone with the Dropbox pagination issue, I am hoping to get a new version updated to Apple this weekend so look for an update early next week depending on how long it takes them to approve it in Test Flight that will hopefully fix the issue. I would appreciate you letting me know if it didn't work for you prior and does after the update as I can not replicate that one on my end.

[DandalfTheWhite]

Originally Posted by GeniusJ

I can't speak for others, but Calibre Sync has the automatic search feature as an option and it's quite quick on my Dropbox, which is rather large. It looks for metadata.db in the entire Dropbox and presents the folders where it finds them as selections. Works well.

Thanks for looking into this.

I will see what I can do in the next version I am working on this weekend. I agree, the way Calibre Sync does it is really well done and it is possible.

[Loosheesh]

Originally Posted by DandalfTheWhite

Great questions! Let me clarify each one:

"Unverified" Status: This means I haven't completed Microsoft's publisher verification process yet (which requires business documentation and domain verification that I do not have as a guy doing this for fun). It's about verifying me as the developer, not about the app's safety or functionality.

Access to Other Folders: Unfortunately, Microsoft's permission system doesn't allow folder-specific access. The Files.Read permission technically allows access to all OneDrive files - this is a Microsoft platform limitation, not an app choice.

However, Calibre View only accesses files in the folder you navigate to. The app has no reason to access other folders and doesn't include any code to browse or read files outside what you select. I will also say that the app is "client-side," meaning the file data goes directly from OneDrive to your device and never touches a server I own. (I do not own a server…)

"See and Update" Language: I understand this is confusing! The actual permission the app uses is Files.Read, which is genuinely read-only and the app cannot modify, create, or delete any of your files. The "see and update" wording is Microsoft's confusing description for their offline access permission, not a reflection of what the app actually does.

Finally, the "Maintain access" part just means you won't have to log in and re-authorize the app every single time you open it/refresh your library.

I'll make time to look at the app this weekend.

[Insalata]

Originally Posted by DandalfTheWhite

To everyone with the Dropbox pagination issue, I am hoping to get a new version updated to Apple this weekend so look for an update early next week depending on how long it takes them to approve it in Test Flight that will hopefully fix the issue. I would appreciate you letting me know if it didn't work for you prior and does after the update as I can not replicate that one on my end.

Thank you!

[GeniusJ]

Originally Posted by DandalfTheWhite

To everyone with the Dropbox pagination issue, I am hoping to get a new version updated to Apple this weekend so look for an update early next week depending on how long it takes them to approve it in Test Flight that will hopefully fix the issue. I would appreciate you letting me know if it didn't work for you prior and does after the update as I can not replicate that one on my end.

Thank you, it's appreciated!

[Insalata]

I used the button to find Calibre databases, and that worked with no problem. I could also browse to the database if I wanted to get to it that way.

I have a column called “Languages” that didn’t show in the list. I think it’s a standard one, not one I added, but it’s a useful one to be able to filter on. I’ll play some more…

Edit: On the new version I just picked up in Test Flight.

[DandalfTheWhite]

Originally Posted by hyzerloops

It looks great! I would be willing to beta test if or when it has iCloud sync as that's where I keep my libraries.

I finally got iCloud working. Took a while to get around some persistant but it seems to be working on my test build with a small library. Let me know if you run into any issues as it is a bit of a different connection than some of the others. Newest version is in TestFlight.

[DandalfTheWhite]

Originally Posted by Insalata

I used the button to find Calibre databases, and that worked with no problem. I could also browse to the database if I wanted to get to it that way.

I have a column called “Languages” that didn’t show in the list. I think it’s a standard one, not one I added, but it’s a useful one to be able to filter on. I’ll play some more…

Edit: On the new version I just picked up in Test Flight.

Glad dropbox is working better in the new version!

You're also absolutely right about languages column not being visible. I also see that a few others (formats, comments, and id) are not showing too as options. I will add them all (except comments, as that is on the book detail page and not really a good one to sort by) and it will be in the next update. Good catch, I am sure I hard coded the ones I did at some point for a reason but no clue now.

Also, there was a new update posted to TestFlight today if you are looking for it. Thanks again to everyone for testing and providing feedback!

[Insalata]

Originally Posted by DandalfTheWhite

Glad dropbox is working better in the new version!

You're also absolutely right about languages column not being visible. I also see that a few others (formats, comments, and id) are not showing too as options. I will add them all (except comments, as that is on the book detail page and not really a good one to sort by) and it will be in the next update. Good catch, I am sure I hard coded the ones I did at some point for a reason but no clue now.

Also, there was a new update posted to TestFlight today if you are looking for it. Thanks again to everyone for testing and providing feedback!

Thank you for doing this! It already does most of what I want, which is to be able to browse my Calibre library, and download something to read. Filtering by tag, language &c makes it much easier to narrow the choice down.

[DandalfTheWhite]

Originally Posted by Insalata

Thank you for doing this! It already does most of what I want, which is to be able to browse my Calibre library, and download something to read. Filtering by tag, language &c makes it much easier to narrow the choice down.

Glad you're enjoying the app! You're using it exactly as I do too, just wanted something simple and clean interface to narrow down what I was looking for from my iPad.

I added the language to the next version, some languages will say English or Spanish but others might just be an uppercase three letter code. If someone's device system language is set to Spanish, it should say "Español" in the language column and if it is in English, it would say "Spanish". Should be in the next version though! Thanks again for the feedback.