Best CSS support for EPUBs?

[Freakeao]

After using FBReader for many years, I thought I would evaluate EPUB readers again. I have some EPUBs with pretty specific publisher CSS and I'm hoping to find a reader that will render these as well as calibre's reader does. And also support my other wanted features.

So far Bookari and PocketBook do the best CSS rendering that I have tested. But neither is quite perfect based on my (possibly too high) requirements. Here are the short comings for me.

Bookari

• No Image Zoom (for details on maps, etc)
• A bit slow on my older tablet running 4.4 (yes, I know it's old)
• very minor, would like to turn off format tag on book cover

PocketBook

• no TOC display on android 4.4. Works fine on android 9
• doesn't support grouping by calibre series

For both of the above, I would like more options for the display of the optional progress bar. But that's not a necessity.

Librera
I've started testing and have noticed a couple CSS issues it's not handling correctly so far, and no image zoom AFAICT.

Any info regarding how responsive are the developers of these apps?

Here are the main features I would want in my EPUB reader.

• full CSS support
• image zoom
• reading position sync
• calibre series support in library
• OPDS
• config of informative page footer options. Tick marks?
• performance on older tablet

If I am not understanding some features of these apps (that I think are missing or broken) I would love to hear about it. Or if there are other apps that would be worth checking out. Thanks.

[Quoth]

Aldiko Classic seems OK on old Andriods and Lithium on newer Androids. Lithium simply won't install on old Android.
The Aldiko needs an Internet connection, once on first run.

Indeed there are many that have loads of options and hardly use the CSS in the eBook at all. IMO a rubbish experience.

I don't care about sync. Search a phrase is faster!

[pazos]

Any app that works on top of webview should fully honor CSS3. Sadly most of them are quite limited in their options.

Gitden works for me and certainly has more features than other web based ebook readers.

[Freakeao]

I used to use Aldiko when I could use Aldiko sync on non-rooted devices. But then I switched to FBReader. As I mentioned, I am a fan of sync functionality.

I'm not looking for a web based reader. And Gitden doesn't handle the notch in my phone well. Can't touch the top toolbar as it is behind the status bar.

[pazos]

Originally Posted by Freakeao

I'm not looking for a web based reader. And Gitden doesn't handle the notch in my phone well. Can't touch the top toolbar as it is behind the status bar.

Yep, Gitden wasn't updated since 2018, so some new "features" like notched phones might be missing.

For the sake of clarity, I wasn't implying Gitden (or Pocketbook, or Lithium or ...) are web based products. It is just that they use a full blown web engine to render chunks of xhtml.

The other type of products (FBReader, Moon, Coolreader, Alreader ...) all implement they own renders, and they won't be able to have "full CSS support" unless they switch to a web engine, because these companies are not google and don't have resources to reinvent webkit

[JSWolf]

What's the minimum version of Android that KOReader needs?

I did find this site that says 4.0.

https://f-droid.org/en/packages/org.koreader.launcher/

But for the version on GitHub, I cannot say.

[Freakeao]

Originally Posted by pazos

For the sake of clarity, I wasn't implying Gitden (or Pocketbook, or Lithium or ...) are web based products. It is just that they use a full blown web engine to render chunks of xhtml.

Is there a list of webkit based readers vs non?

[pazos]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

What's the minimum version of Android that KOReader needs?

I did find this site that says 4.0.

https://f-droid.org/en/packages/org.koreader.launcher/

But for the version on GitHub, I cannot say.

It is the same minimum version for all packages. F-Droid builds the source once a month.

Anyway, KOReader uses Coolreader engine and that doesn't fullfit the "full CSS support" needed by OP.

Probably it (the coolreader engine) is the best epub render that doesn't rely on a web engine, but that's another history.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by pazos

It is the same minimum version for all packages. F-Droid builds the source once a month.

Anyway, KOReader uses Coolreader engine and that doesn't fullfit the "full CSS support" needed by OP.

Probably it (the coolreader engine) is the best epub render that doesn't rely on a web engine, but that's another history.

So what CSS code doesn't work with KOReader so GitHub requests can be put in to get this fixed?

[Freakeao]

Originally Posted by pazos

Anyway, KOReader uses Coolreader engine and that doesn't fullfit the "full CSS support" needed by OP.

Probably it (the coolreader engine) is the best epub render that doesn't rely on a web engine, but that's another history.

I just tried out KOReader a little on my 4.4 android tablet. It correctly renders my couple test cases so far. Reader looks great, so many options.

But I haven't figured out a way to group books by series, or author, or any metadata really. Just by directory structure. Is there a plugin that does that?

[pazos]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

So what CSS code doesn't work with KOReader so GitHub requests can be put in to get this fixed?

Umh, nope.

Apps that aim to support the EPUB3 standard **must** be based on CSS3-compliant browser engine, as stated in the reference implementation https://github.com/readium/readium-sdk

You're welcome to report meaningful issues. (Hint: you won't)