Seeking IOS app for epub, pdf, mobi, cbr/cbz

[Elfwreck]

I've recently gotten an iPad and am just starting to use it for ebooks. I'm looking for a good app so I don't have to keep switching between different ones.

I have swarms of ebooks on my hard drive. The easiest way to get them onto my iPad is Dropbox, and it seems many readers are supposed to connect with that, but it's not always clear how that works.

I tried Marvin and then ebookmobi, and removed them as they didn't have the features I wanted. I had forgotten that Marvin is epub only; epubmobi says it supports all four filetypes but I couldn't get it to connect with Dropbox's offline files.

I'm looking for an app that will read non-DRM'd epub, mobi, PDF, and comic (cbr/cbz) formats. Reading HTML, txt, or rtf/doc would be a nice bonus, but not necessary. I went looking for app suggestions, and found that "TOP 10 EREADER APP" articles always include Kindle and iBooks and Google Play, and... no, the idea is to have a single app that will read all the books I want to read.

I'm hoping to find the ereader device features I care about:

• Remembers where I left off in each book
• Has a library that works offline
• Sort by title or author, and ideally by recently read/recently added
• Ideally, looks at metadata and not filename
• Add bookmarks easily

Although at this point, I may settle for "opens the filetypes and doesn't mangle the epub or mobi formatting."

(I am very aware that pdf is a terrible ebook format. But I get a lot of free PDF ebooks, and archive.org has magazine/pulp issues as PDFs.)

[meeera]

Originally Posted by Elfwreck

I've recently gotten an iPad and am just starting to use it for ebooks. I'm looking for a good app so I don't have to keep switching between different ones.

I'm sorry, I don't know of any. In the past I've found that Swiss Army apps often do each task badly, so I haven't gone out of my way to look for one. (FWIW I use Comic Zeal for cb*, GoodReader for PDF, and my Kobo for epubs.)

[Elfwreck]

If I can't find a single app, I'm willing to work with a set of them. Does Goodreader remember where you left off in a PDF if you switch to a different one?

[meeera]

Originally Posted by Elfwreck

If I can't find a single app, I'm willing to work with a set of them. Does Goodreader remember where you left off in a PDF if you switch to a different one?

Yes, there is a bookmark feature. And you can have multiple PDFs open in tabs and quick-switch between them.

https://goodreader.com/gr-man-view-pdf.html#bookmarks

[Elfwreck]

I don't mean bookmarks - I don't want to have to make a bookmark every time I stop reading.

The apps I've been using - Dropbox's native viewer and Acrobat Reader - will both open to the same page I left off, most of the time, but sometimes I'll open them and it'll be back at the beginning of the book. There is no internal memory of where I left off like ereader devices have.

...Ideally, I want an app that did what the Pocket EZReader did. Even without all of that, I want an app or apps where I can switch between books, close the app (...or have the device shut off from lack of battery), and open it later and find where I was in each book.

[MicroDrie]

Elfwreck try the free GitDen E-book reader. I use it on my Android devices to read and test EPUB’s and via an also free add-on PDF files. The Android version restart were you left, it shows the last read Epubs, Bookmarks, figures included in the document. There must be also a Apple version (not tested by me).

[skillachie]

Hey Elfwreck,

The app that you are looking for is called BookFusion!. This is exactly what we do. BookFusion is a cross platform eBook app that allows you to upload, organize and read your eBooks across all devices. BookFusion supports all eBook formats including epub, mobi, PDF, and comic (cbr/cbz) formats. Reading HTML, txt, or rtf/doc (Uploads via the web interface).

All your bookmarks, highlights, comments and reading progress will always be synced across all devices. We also have a Calibre plugin that makes sending your eBooks from Calibre as seamless as possible.

iOS App: https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/bookfusion/id1141834096


Calibre Plugin: https://www.bookfusion.com/reading/calibre


We currently have an updated version being reviewed by Apple scheduled to be released next week and have a major release planned for October that will include support for Series, List/Cover View and additional sort options.


Take us for a spin and let me know if you have any feedback. We will try our best to get them integrated in our next release.

[MusPuto]

Originally Posted by skillachie

Take us for a spin and let me know if you have any feedback. We will try our best to get them integrated in our next release.

Why do I need to sign in to use this app?

[MusPuto]

Originally Posted by Elfwreck

If I can't find a single app, I'm willing to work with a set of them. Does Goodreader remember where you left off in a PDF if you switch to a different one?

Goodreader has a pretty cluttered and dated UI. I’d go with Documents by Readdle, or PDF Viewer by PSPDFkit. They both remember position, but PDF Viewer won’t keep the document open for you if it closes out of memory.

[Elfwreck]

Originally Posted by MusPuto

Why do I need to sign in to use this app?

That was my thought. I'd looked into BookFusion, but it doesn't clearly state that it has the features I want, and it includes a whole bunch I don't care about, like cloud access across different devices.

It also seems to say that, to add books, I have to upload them into its library, and then download them to the device I'll be using. It doesn't seem to have an option for "read the books currently available on this device." Doesn't seem to mesh with Dropbox.

Most of my reading is done in times/places where I don't have internet access. Does it work if you're offline?

[Elfwreck]

...Looked into BookFusion details.

1)How much does it cost?
It costs $4.99/month or $39.99/year for early adopters/readers

2)What is a free vs premium account?
Free accounts have the following limits:
*100 or less eBook limit
*Subscription popup
*Limited use of the Calibre Sync Plugin

No thanks. I am looking for a reader, not access to a bookstore. One of the reasons I'm using my iPad is that my Sony PRS-300 chokes when I get over about 300 books in the library; it takes a full ten minutes to restart.

[skillachie]

Originally Posted by Elfwreck

That was my thought. I'd looked into BookFusion, but it doesn't clearly state that it has the features I want, and it includes a whole bunch I don't care about, like cloud access across different devices.

It also seems to say that, to add books, I have to upload them into its library, and then download them to the device I'll be using. It doesn't seem to have an option for "read the books currently available on this device." Doesn't seem to mesh with Dropbox.

Most of my reading is done in times/places where I don't have internet access. Does it work if you're offline?

I understand you dislike having to create an account but please do not let this stop you from just taking it for a spin. Feel free to sign up with a throw away account.

The first version of our app was a web reader, we later created Android and iOS apps that had to be integrated with our web application. Similar to Dropbox or any platform that offers a cloud service, an account is required to allow the user to upload and sync their eBooks across all these devices and related data seamlessly. We offer our own cloud service that is geared, optimized and tightly integrated into our apps to provide a seamless reading experience.

Integration with Dropbox, Google Drive and One Drive is also planned.

That is not really correct you can open EPUBs & PDFs directly from the iOS app after it is installed. You will need to upload the other versions via the web interface but then they will be available for offline reading in the iOS and Android app

It works perfectly offline and syncs your highlights, bookmarks and notes once internet connectivity is returned to your device. You are able to search your entire collection and the download the books you want to your device.


See the screenshot below that illustrates this.

[skillachie]

Originally Posted by Elfwreck

...Looked into BookFusion details.

No thanks. I am looking for a reader, not access to a bookstore. One of the reasons I'm using my iPad is that my Sony PRS-300 chokes when I get over about 300 books in the library; it takes a full ten minutes to restart.

Seem we responded the same time

As we provide a cloud service we cannot unfortunately provide it for free since we do not sell our users data or ads and respect their privacy. We have premium readers that have upwards of 70,000 eBooks that use us today to manage their eBooks. You do not need to use the bookstore at all... our focus is firstly on reading and organizing your eBooks. Several apps are no longer maintained since they did not have a sustainable business model.


Dropbox charges $9.99 per month compared to BookFusion that charges only $4.99/month or $39.99 per year for early adopters for unlimited storage, no fine prints. We have a lot more planned for the platform that you can use.

The features you require are hard to achieve without the eBook app or platform also providing the cloud service integrated with the reader.


I would be more than happy to send you a $10 Starbucks/Amazon gift card if you will take a leap and simple try the platform and let me know if you have any feedback.

[Elfwreck]

I'm potentially willing to pay a subscription fee for the right service. However, since the cloud functions are useless to me - I just want something to read on a single device; I'm content to manage file transfers myself - I consider a subscription a strong negative and the rest of the features would need to be exactly what I want.

Most important: Does it work offline?
I need an ereader app that works when I don't have internet access. Everything else is secondary. Dropbox allows me to set files and folders to "available offline." I can read books through it when I'm not connected. (Dropbox has a whole lot of other functions I find useful, like the ability to share folders and edit things after switching between laptops. I don't mind paying for features, but they have to be features I'll use. "Cloud access to things I can read" is not one of them.)

I want to know a lot more about it first. I asked some questions in the BookFusion thread. I'm especially concerned with personal privacy and data harvesting. (Why do you need birthdates of readers?)

I couldn't find a section about GDPR compliance. I'm not in Europe, but a lot of members of Mobileread are.

[skillachie]

Originally Posted by Elfwreck

I'm potentially willing to pay a subscription fee for the right service. However, since the cloud functions are useless to me - I just want something to read on a single device; I'm content to manage file transfers myself - I consider a subscription a strong negative and the rest of the features would need to be exactly what I want.

Most important: Does it work offline?
I need an ereader app that works when I don't have internet access. Everything else is secondary. Dropbox allows me to set files and folders to "available offline." I can read books through it when I'm not connected. (Dropbox has a whole lot of other functions I find useful, like the ability to share folders and edit things after switching between laptops. I don't mind paying for features, but they have to be features I'll use. "Cloud access to things I can read" is not one of them.)

I want to know a lot more about it first. I asked some questions in the BookFusion thread. I'm especially concerned with personal privacy and data harvesting. (Why do you need birthdates of readers?)

I couldn't find a section about GDPR compliance. I'm not in Europe, but a lot of members of Mobileread are.

We currently have readers from Europe as well and our privacy terms have been updated to be GDPR compliant since 2018. This communication that was sent out to all our readers last year. See the screenshot below of the message that was sent :



Responded to your questions on the thread there. As mentioned in the above post we do not sell Ads nor our users data and so have no interest in your actual birthday. As a general reading platform it is also used by children. To be compliant we ask for the birthday of users to allow us to filter out mature content and ensure they do not join a free library that contains mature content. We should be able to update this to ask the following questions instead:

Are you older than 13 years old?
Are you older than 18 years old?

Would you be more comfortable with the questions? Or it communicates the same message?


100% works offline. You can download all or select the books you want downloaded and they will be made available offline automatically. Besides storing your eBooks and allowing seamless syncing of highlights, reading progress and bookmarks, the cloud aspect of the platform also allows us to support most if not all eBook formats.

This is one of the reasons we are also not just a standalone app. It will be very difficult for a standalone app to support all eBook formats or a majority of the popular ones with all the bells and whistles that you are looking for.


If you do decide to try the platform even with a throw away account and send us some feedback let me know so I can still send you the $10 Amazon/Starbucks gift card. We are a sweet all in one application for epub, pdf, mobi, cbr/cbz though Just try it .

Thank you for taking the time to talk with me