Android App Bluetooth page turning on Kobo: which models work natively (2024+ firmware)

[teipub]

The older threads on this topic are locked now, and the answers in them predate a significant change: recent Kobo firmware (roughly 2024 onward) added native HID arrow-key support. So Bluetooth page turning now works at the firmware level — no KOReader, no hacks — on:

- Clara 2E, Clara BW, Clara Colour
- Libra 2, Libra Colour
- Sage, Elipsa 2E

Standard BT keyboards, clicker remotes, and phone-based remotes all work. Models without a Bluetooth radio obviously can't.

Two things that still trip people up:
- The reader drops BT input when the screen sleeps — tap to wake and it reconnects. This is often mistaken for the remote being broken.
- Some remotes send media keys instead of arrow keys; Kobo ignores those, so check what your remote actually sends.

Disclosure: I'm the developer of Bookmote, a free Android app that turns your phone into a BT page-turn remote, which is why I've been collecting model-by-model reports. The full compatibility list is public here: https://jeon-gyungmin.github.io/Bookmote-releases/ —
community-reported, corrections welcome. If you've tested a model that isn't listed, I'd genuinely appreciate hearing the result, here or there.

Happy to answer questions about specific models.

[fogice]

It's been my impression that my Libra 2 drains the battery much more quickly than I would expect while using a page turner (in my case, the 8BitDo Micro). What have you seen in your testing?

[RobertJSawyer]

Originally Posted by fogice

It's been my impression that my Libra 2 drains the battery much more quickly than I would expect while using a page turner (in my case, the 8BitDo Micro). What have you seen in your testing?

I have the same perception, Fogice, with my Libra 2. But the drainage on my Clara 2e isn't as bad.

[catsknit]

What is the advantage of a remote page-turner? I must be missing something obvious but can't think of a time I'm reading and can't use my right hand on the Libra to page turn.

[DNSB]

One friend of mine has circulation issues. When he is reading in bed with a holder for his Libra Colour, his hands are under the covers keeping warm. Works great until he needs to pick a new book.

[catsknit]

Ah, that makes sense I guess. I never read in bed anymore as it hurts my neck so I hadn't thought of that. Any other reasons besides keeping hands warm?

[DNSB]

Some people have health issues which make it hard for them to hold the ereader. For them, the remote allows turning pages without having to reach out to the ereader. A remote is not needed for most people but for others, it is the only way they can read comfortably.

[John F]

Originally Posted by catsknit

Ah, that makes sense I guess. I never read in bed anymore as it hurts my neck so I hadn't thought of that. Any other reasons besides keeping hands warm?

For me, it would be more comfortable.

[teipub]

The full compatibility list is public here: https://teipub.github.io/Bookmote-releases/

[teipub]

Two corrections and an answer, six weeks on.

**The compatibility link in my first post is dead.** I renamed my GitHub
account and GitHub doesn't redirect an old *username*, so the URL in post #1
now 404s. The list has moved here, same content:

https://teipub.github.io/Bookmote-releases/

Apologies to anyone who clicked it and got nothing.

**My model list was missing the original Elipsa.** Kobo's own support page for
the Kobo Remote lists Clara 2E, Clara BW, Clara Colour, Libra 2, Libra Colour,
Sage, Elipsa and Elipsa 2E — so first-gen Elipsa belongs in the list too. I've
added it. That page is also a more authoritative version of this list than
mine, so worth bookmarking:
https://help.kobo.com/hc/en-us/artic...ut-Kobo-Remote

**On the battery drain (fogice, RobertJSawyer):** I haven't measured it, so I
won't pretend to have numbers. But the reports match the obvious mechanism — an
e-reader's power budget assumes the thing is asleep almost all the time, and
holding a Bluetooth link works against that. It isn't a property of any
particular remote: an 8BitDo Micro and a phone-based remote cost the reader the
same radio time. Kobo seems to agree, since their own remote page tells you to
switch Bluetooth off on the reader when you're not actively using it. That's the
practical fix, and the pairing is remembered, so it's a toggle rather than a
re-pair.

One thing I can confirm since July: Clara BW is now verified from two
independent reports, with a caveat worth knowing — page turns work, but Home,
Back and manual e-ink refresh do not. Kobo's reader only listens for the page
keys, so extra buttons on a multi-key remote will do nothing.

Still collecting model-by-model results, so if you've tested something that
isn't on the list, I'd like to hear it — here or on the list itself.