12 ms·

Alexandria: A minimalistic cross-platform eBook reader

280 points by microflash 3y ago

raskelll 3y ago
While I think it does look good and seems to have a wide range of features supported right out of the box, what new does it bring to the table?
- microflash 3y ago
  It does support multiple platforms. Even though I love Calibre, I'd love to use a better looking ebook Reader on desktop.
  - Klonoar 3y ago
    So just to play devil's advocate: is it really that much more work to build something entirely new in Tauri than to just do the porting work for releasing a GTK app on Windows/macOS? I know it's annoying but it's not like it's impossible, right?
    - xulres 3y ago
      It's really easy to build wrapper apps based around good available libraries in tauri.
      - Klonoar 3y ago
        That doesn’t answer my question at all. What exactly is so hard about porting the existing GTK app? That work already exists, anything in Tauri is reinventing the wheel.
  - 3abiton 3y ago
    Calibre is like the mupdf of epub
    - JNRowe 3y ago
      mupdf is the mupdf of epub; it supports epub and other formats beyond pdf¹. When I've had really large files I've used mupdf to read them a few times, as it seems to be far better at handling them than other tools. ¹ https://mupdf.com/ https://mupdf.com/
  - criddell 3y ago
    Is it multi platform though? It seems like the platform is Chromium.
    - sbt567 3y ago
      *Webview
- input_sh 3y ago
  Isn't being cross-platform, relatively modern-looking and open source already setting it apart from the current offerings? There's great ones (like Foliate or Moon+) which are limited to one platform, there's ones that are cross-platform, but look so dated that I couldn't seriously use them for reading (like the one integrated in Calibre), and there's ones which are both fairly modern-looking and cross-platform, but not open source (like FBReader). If this one syncs my books, reading positions, and highlights across my devices, that's gonna be a huge win in my book.
  - JNRowe 3y ago
    Hmm, that is odd about fbreader. I have the Debian package¹ installed that is Open Source², but looks like recent versions are no longer Open Source. Hadn't noticed that before. Might also argue that nov.el³ is high quality and cross platform, but I'm not sure my definition of cross platform would necessarily align with other peoples ;) ¹ https://packages.debian.org/trixie/fbreader https://packages.debian.org/trixie/fbreader ² https://metadata.ftp-master.debian.org/changelogs//main/f/fbreader/fbreader_0.12.10dfsg2-6_copyright https://metadata.ftp-master.debian.org/changelogs//main/f/fb... ³ https://depp.brause.cc/nov.el https://depp.brause.cc/nov.el
  - soligern 3y ago
    I don’t see how an ebook reader can look “dated”. It’s literally displaying your text, with your chosen font in a frame.
    - slikrick 3y ago
      That's perfectly okay that you cant see how it could look dated. If you wish to have a productive conversation you should probably open your eyes and look a bit broader, perhaps by not minimizing things to their absolute minimum and thinking about that. you reduce the entire UI/UX as "in a frame" because the rest of it is about the actual content and font, which are literally the most basic need that the rest of the discussion is what actually matters
      - 3y ago
- cynicalsecurity 3y ago
  It's on JavaScript.
creshal 3y ago
I'm really curious what the current definition of "minimalistic" is.
- gnicholas 3y ago
  Seems fairly minimalistic to me. What strikes you as undeserving of this descriptor?
  - creshal 3y ago
    • Code: Bloated react mess that's bigger than the entire internal storage of early e-reader hardware • Design: You get a full UI that's no more minimal than the Kindle desktop builds • Features: Again, fully featured, better than some e-reader hardware Compared to what is it minimalistic by what metric?
    - zuminator 3y ago
      I think that by minimalistic they mean an uncluttered, uncomplicated interface.
      - fake-name 3y ago
        A.K.A. all the buttons are hidden so half the functions are impossible to discover.
      - mhd 3y ago
        Which ebook reader does something horrible here? When not adjusting settings or loading books, most of them just display a book-like page. I haven't encountered one yet with Office-like toolbars or whatever Acrobat thinks it's doing. "No skeuomorphic book shelf" seems like a low bar.
    - coldtea 3y ago
      It's about the GUI, not about the code. >You get a full UI that's no more minimal than the Kindle desktop builds Those are already minimal. This is too.
mkesper 3y ago
Why would you read your books in white on black?
- gnicholas 3y ago
  I read lots of stuff this way, and surely am not the only one. I think Ars has a night mode toggle on their website, in fact.
- asicsp 3y ago
  One of the screenshot shows settings for text and background color.
- animuchan 3y ago
  I used to dislike white-on-black too, but it eventually grew on me. Not least because the floaters are getting more distracting with age it seems, and black screen makes them disappear.
- anotheryou 3y ago
  I prefer that sometimes. Especially on mobile.
- deleted 3y ago
  [deleted]
- Qwertious 3y ago
  Because LCD screens have a minimum brightness, and white-on-black lets you slightly lower that threshold if you're e.g. reading in bed on your phone at night with the lights off, and want to take the brightness as low as possible.
- boredhedgehog 3y ago
  Is this where we sneer at people who use sans-serif fonts and left-aligned text? Some people just have no taste! :-)
- dspillett 3y ago
  Many OLED screens consume less power when displaying mostly black, so it is not uncommon for phones to be used that way. If you are used to dark mode from other uses¹ you might prefer it for everything else on *LED screens too even though it would likely feel unnatural for “real” reading on paper³. -- [1] not caught the bug myself yet, but most of the devs around me use it for coding, I've used it for terminal work for as long as I can remember, and have my phone in dark mode² so apps & web stuff that respect that are light-on-dark [2] apparently this saves battery life on OLED screens, though not as much as some saying that seem to think, and it is also nicer for low-light situations like when I'm shutting down in the evening (but have messages to respond to before I do). [3] or on an e-ink device
shimonabi 3y ago
A few days ago I discovered https://github.com/ealang/pixel-reader https://github.com/ealang/pixel-reader which lets you read EPUB-s on the Miyoo Mini Plus retro gaming device with a 3.5" screen. I really enjoy reading on it.
- notpushkin 3y ago
  This reminds me of programs that converted plain-text ebooks (and maybe ePubs as well?) to J2ME apps you could install on your featurephone. Good times!
  - ajot 3y ago
    I was thinking about TequilaCat the other day, in my current quest to find a good FLOSS one-size-fits-all multi format reader for Android. KOreader is clumsy, MuPDF Viewer is quite nice and minimalistic, Librera FD has lots of options but I still can't tell what bothers me. I think it truly shows how much has changed, as a teenager I didn't care the text only format, sometimes even awfully formatted, if I could read something from my phone while commuting to school.
    - notpushkin 3y ago
      FBReader might be a nice choice. It's pretty minimalistic, configurable just the right amount, supports EPub, FB2, MOBI and a bunch of other formats. I'm pretty happy with it – give it a try too if you haven't yet: https://f-droid.org/packages/org.geometerplus.zlibrary.ui.android/ https://f-droid.org/packages/org.geometerplus.zlibrary.ui.an... https://fbreader.org/android https://fbreader.org/android
asicsp 3y ago
I use Foliate (https://github.com/johnfactotum/foliate https://github.com/johnfactotum/foliate), which is mentioned as one of the inspirations for this project.
- atomicnature 3y ago
  This is a polished and high quality product. I use it all the time. Kudos to the devs!
- anhner 3y ago
  I love foliate, such a shame that it's linux only...
deleted 3y ago
[deleted]
globular-toast 3y ago
An ebook reader is pointless if it doesn't run on eink devices. Surely nobody is reading entire books on a laptop screen?
- arglebargle123 3y ago
  I spent a year reading on my 10.5in amoled tablet, it worked really well for night time reading at low brightness with the night filter on and KOReader in dark mode. In some ways that setup actually worked better for me than KOReader on an eink device because dark mode amoled contrast is much better than the front light on my actual eink reader. That said, I wouldn't want to read anything except PDFs on a laptop and I'd much rather read them on a large high-refresh-rate amoled tablet.
- falcor84 3y ago
  I have read many dozens of books (mostly pdf based) from my laptop, and am quite happy with the experience.
  - deafpolygon 3y ago
    I actually prefer doing this vs. a tablet (similar type screen). Plus, e-ink in color is either very expensive or not done very well.
- deleted 3y ago
  [deleted]
- Qwertious 3y ago
  >Surely nobody is reading entire books on a laptop screen? You'd think so, but e-readers (hardware) cost more than $0. Plus, phones are more commonly pocket-carried than ereaders (hardware) given that most ereaders (hardware) don't fit in your pocket, and most people don't buy multiple ereaders (hardware).
  - input_sh 3y ago
    I have two e-readers somewhere in my drawer (some Kobo and a Paperwhite) and I still read from my phone/laptop. Easier to get my books onto them, easier to look stuff up and write notes, easier to reach my highlights afterwards to do something useful with them.
ejz 3y ago
I don't see the most important format right now... .kfx :(
- pasc1878 3y ago
  Unforunnatly Amazon protects .kfx files with DRM. Some publishers do say use unDRMed files but then you need to download them as .azw
charleshan 3y ago
Thanks for sharing. For those who haven't tried, Google Play Books is really good. It's free, cross-platform (plus web), you can upload epub, and syncs annotations across devices. I switched from jailbroken Kindle to android e-ink device 3 years ago and I haven't looked back. It's the perfect combo. Tip: Use Calibre to organize/backup your books and convert to epub
- jesterson 3y ago
  If only they wouldn't snoop/monetise what they can see.
  - danielbln 3y ago
    Or shut it down and throw it onto the graveyard on a whim.
    - arglebargle123 3y ago
      You can always dump your licenses from the web interface, pull down the books with the Adobe fulfillment software and then strip the DRM using calibre.
    - Dah00n 3y ago
      FUD.
      - ghusbands 3y ago
        It seems like a reasonable worry. Google Play Music was shut down, as have been so many Google services over time.
        anon____ 3y ago
        Wikipedia lists 61 of them: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Discontinued_Google_services https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Discontinued_Google_s....
merpkz 3y ago
How do I get it to run after downloading .tar.gz of latest release? Quickly glanced over the contents of files and it rings no bells of what this thing is or how to even build it. If it's in javascript, I should just point my web server root directory to this folder, but I don't see any index files in there.
- brettermeier 3y ago
  You must build it yourself with Tauri (https://tauri.app https://tauri.app) or use pre-built releases, which you can download here: https://github.com/btpf/Alexandria/releases https://github.com/btpf/Alexandria/releases
enson110 3y ago
Is there any reading APP supports pronunciation on IOS? It can pronounce the word or sentence I select.
- levysoft 3y ago
  I use Voice Dream Reader on iOS: https://apps.apple.com/app/id496177674 https://apps.apple.com/app/id496177674
- deleted 3y ago
  [deleted]
sampo 3y ago
So many of my books are in pdf, I would not want to use separate apps for pdf-books and other format books.
- upofadown 3y ago
  Zathura then with the mupdf plugin for epubs.
idoubtit 3y ago
Last year, I tried several epub readers on a linux amd64 laptop. None was satisfying. All those that just wrapped chromium crashed with some epub files: that was the case for "Foliate", which was the inspiration for this "Alexandria" project. The Calibre reader was slow and unresponsive. Mupdf was fast and stable, but it lacked important features, like a table of contents. A Firefox plugin was okay, but its workflow was impractical. I've since bought a e-ink device, so I don't read much on my laptop. When I do, I use Koreader. It's perfect for my Kobo device, and quite alright for a computer.
- deleted 3y ago
  [deleted]
- watwut 3y ago
  I use fbreader, but did not tried it on linux.
  - anon____ 3y ago
    In my opinion, it's the best on Linux.
- AB1908 3y ago
  How is annotation support on Koreader? Eink devices in general seem to be a hassle to annotate on compared to my phone.
  - edent 3y ago
    It's pretty good. You can highlight a passage and then it pops up a box for you to type in. However, Lua doesn't support native Android keyboards - so you have to use a virtual keyboard https://github.com/koreader/koreader/issues/7423 https://github.com/koreader/koreader/issues/7423
- ajot 3y ago
  A couple of years back I tried Zathura, with the mupdf backend (if I remember correctly, this was the needed plugin for epub, so I also ditched the Poppler backend for PDF). I'm not a keyboard centric user, so couldn't get accustomed to it, but still think it works pretty well. https://pwmt.org/projects/zathura/ https://pwmt.org/projects/zathura/
amadeuspagel 3y ago
I made 1paragraph[1], a web-based, offline-first epub reader. It also syncs across devices. [1]: https://1paragraph.app/ https://1paragraph.app/
jdprgm 3y ago
I really wish there was a plex for ebooks where I could just throw epubs on my server and read on kobo ereader, iphone, web, mac/windows native, etc and just not think about it. Would also be nice to have actually decent stats tracking and an anki like spaced repetition for any words i looked up in the app while reading. There are some sort of attempts it this but it all falls down with anything resembling saemless ereader support. For some odd reason there seems to be no overlap into good UI design with most devs working on anything reader related. Been waiting a decade for something like this but seems there is just no such demand.
- metatranca 3y ago
  Calibre Web: https://github.com/janeczku/calibre-web https://github.com/janeczku/calibre-web
- armitron 3y ago
  Calibre has a server mode that comes with a HTTP UI allowing downloads but also has a built-in reader.
  - deleted 3y ago
    [deleted]
- ThatPlayer 3y ago
  KOReader with Calibre Content Server does handling the actual content. KOReader also has its own seperate sync feature. Don't think it'll do stats though.
  - jdprgm 3y ago
    Yeah I have messed with that in the past but KOReader doesn't have an iOS client so then forced to use the calibre server reader and it's all just not a fluid process. While I am thankful to have calibre as a tool it has always been a bit annoying to deal with for a few reasons: Feels completed bloated in terms of features and GUI, every time I open the app there is a update to be downloaded and no in app updates, the reader itself on desktops isn't that great, etc. I get that I can sort of hack together some parts of what I want but really I want the Plex experience of once I have thrown an mp4 onto my server it is just a first class experience viewing and resuming on any device I own equivalent or better than media viewers from the likes of netflix, hbo, etc. I just want that same sort of experience with regards to eBooks, not a hacked together hodgepodge of homelab sync tools and configuration.
chkhd 3y ago
On Windows https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sumatra_PDF https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sumatra_PDF is amazing!
- boredhedgehog 3y ago
  Kind of, but the recent switch to the mupdf engine sacrificed what little layout customization it had for epubs. Now you can't even change the font anymore.
politelemon 3y ago
I have tried numerous ereaders over the past few years, and nothing has ever come close to Foliate. It strikes the perfect balance between functionality and minimalism, or to put it in more concrete terms - it's very good at getting out of the way of reading. It has a fully immersive mode and is very customizable. This Alexendria seems to be similar but is cross platform, so it will be worth giving a go.
sandreas 3y ago
There also is Kavita: Homepage: https://www.kavitareader.com/ https://www.kavitareader.com/ Repository: https://github.com/Kareadita/Kavita https://github.com/Kareadita/Kavita I don't know if it fits your needs, but i think its pretty cool. Written in C# it is also pretty "hackable".
onetokeoverthe 3y ago
[dead]
jxdxbx 3y ago
I have used a ton of ebook apps and have thoughts: For me, the main thing that matters, particularly in a phone, is not wasting a ton of space. Margins do help readability. But the "margin" of your phone includes bezel, etc. Too-short lines of text drive me crazy and make me feel like my eyes are getting a workout. Text-to-speech needs to be good. That means not speaking page and title numbers, working with the screen off, and turning pages properly with the screen off, such that it's easy to switch between reading the text and listening without losing your place. I have used apps that do text-to-speech but don't continue through the book, or only turn the page if the screen is kept on, etc. Also spoken words should be highlighted as they are spoken, if the screen is on. Also on a small screen I much prefer ragged right to fully justified text. I also don't want a bunch of permanent on-screen chrome (tap in the center to reveal seems best); page-turning should be via a fast, simple "slide" animation; and the app needs to be able to override an ebook's font and spacing choices. Cross-device syncing is nice as well. And this one is ridiculous but speed-reading modes are nice too, both through highlighting chunks of text and RSVP (one word or phrase at a time: Rapid Serial Visual Presentation).
Shorel 3y ago
I just tested it. Compared with other EPUB readers on Linux, it is fast. Really fast.
2big2fail_47 3y ago
does anyone know a good way to convert pdf's to epub. I tried calibre but the inconsistent formatting of pdf's make this really buggy. Is there any OCD / machine learning solution out there? :)
dorfsmay 3y ago
How does it compare to foliate? My issue with most ebook reader is they try to be everything, catalog your entire drive etc... Foliate is the exact opposit, it opens the one file I ask it to, doesn't overtake my screen, easy to close when I'm done!
goodmachine 3y ago
Unfortunate nameclash with this LibGen browser https://github.com/Samin100/Alexandria/releases https://github.com/Samin100/Alexandria/releases
NoMoreNicksLeft 3y ago
Wonder if it handles non-linear pages correctly, or if it does what iBooks does and treats them as some sort of end notes feature.
tibudiyanto 3y ago
While eink displays is usually the gold standard for eBook reader, I wonder does reading it on an AMOLED screen with black background and white font is a good substitute?

280 points by microflash 3y ago

While I think it does look good and seems to have a wide range of features supported right out of the box, what new does it bring to the table?

microflash 3y ago
It does support multiple platforms. Even though I love Calibre, I'd love to use a better looking ebook Reader on desktop.
- Klonoar 3y ago
  So just to play devil's advocate: is it really that much more work to build something entirely new in Tauri than to just do the porting work for releasing a GTK app on Windows/macOS? I know it's annoying but it's not like it's impossible, right?
  - xulres 3y ago
    It's really easy to build wrapper apps based around good available libraries in tauri.
    - Klonoar 3y ago
      That doesn’t answer my question at all. What exactly is so hard about porting the existing GTK app? That work already exists, anything in Tauri is reinventing the wheel.
- 3abiton 3y ago
  Calibre is like the mupdf of epub
  - JNRowe 3y ago
    mupdf is the mupdf of epub; it supports epub and other formats beyond pdf¹. When I've had really large files I've used mupdf to read them a few times, as it seems to be far better at handling them than other tools. ¹ https://mupdf.com/ https://mupdf.com/
- criddell 3y ago
  Is it multi platform though? It seems like the platform is Chromium.
  - sbt567 3y ago
    *Webview
input_sh 3y ago
Isn't being cross-platform, relatively modern-looking and open source already setting it apart from the current offerings? There's great ones (like Foliate or Moon+) which are limited to one platform, there's ones that are cross-platform, but look so dated that I couldn't seriously use them for reading (like the one integrated in Calibre), and there's ones which are both fairly modern-looking and cross-platform, but not open source (like FBReader). If this one syncs my books, reading positions, and highlights across my devices, that's gonna be a huge win in my book.
- JNRowe 3y ago
  Hmm, that is odd about fbreader. I have the Debian package¹ installed that is Open Source², but looks like recent versions are no longer Open Source. Hadn't noticed that before. Might also argue that nov.el³ is high quality and cross platform, but I'm not sure my definition of cross platform would necessarily align with other peoples ;) ¹ https://packages.debian.org/trixie/fbreader https://packages.debian.org/trixie/fbreader ² https://metadata.ftp-master.debian.org/changelogs//main/f/fbreader/fbreader_0.12.10dfsg2-6_copyright https://metadata.ftp-master.debian.org/changelogs//main/f/fb... ³ https://depp.brause.cc/nov.el https://depp.brause.cc/nov.el
- soligern 3y ago
  I don’t see how an ebook reader can look “dated”. It’s literally displaying your text, with your chosen font in a frame.
  - slikrick 3y ago
    That's perfectly okay that you cant see how it could look dated. If you wish to have a productive conversation you should probably open your eyes and look a bit broader, perhaps by not minimizing things to their absolute minimum and thinking about that. you reduce the entire UI/UX as "in a frame" because the rest of it is about the actual content and font, which are literally the most basic need that the rest of the discussion is what actually matters
    - 3y ago
cynicalsecurity 3y ago
It's on JavaScript.

creshal 3y ago

I'm really curious what the current definition of "minimalistic" is.

gnicholas 3y ago
Seems fairly minimalistic to me. What strikes you as undeserving of this descriptor?
- creshal 3y ago
  • Code: Bloated react mess that's bigger than the entire internal storage of early e-reader hardware • Design: You get a full UI that's no more minimal than the Kindle desktop builds • Features: Again, fully featured, better than some e-reader hardware Compared to what is it minimalistic by what metric?
  - zuminator 3y ago
    I think that by minimalistic they mean an uncluttered, uncomplicated interface.
    - fake-name 3y ago
      A.K.A. all the buttons are hidden so half the functions are impossible to discover.
    - mhd 3y ago
      Which ebook reader does something horrible here? When not adjusting settings or loading books, most of them just display a book-like page. I haven't encountered one yet with Office-like toolbars or whatever Acrobat thinks it's doing. "No skeuomorphic book shelf" seems like a low bar.
  - coldtea 3y ago
    It's about the GUI, not about the code. >You get a full UI that's no more minimal than the Kindle desktop builds Those are already minimal. This is too.

mkesper 3y ago

Why would you read your books in white on black?

gnicholas 3y ago
I read lots of stuff this way, and surely am not the only one. I think Ars has a night mode toggle on their website, in fact.
asicsp 3y ago
One of the screenshot shows settings for text and background color.
animuchan 3y ago
I used to dislike white-on-black too, but it eventually grew on me. Not least because the floaters are getting more distracting with age it seems, and black screen makes them disappear.
anotheryou 3y ago
I prefer that sometimes. Especially on mobile.
deleted 3y ago
[deleted]
Qwertious 3y ago
Because LCD screens have a minimum brightness, and white-on-black lets you slightly lower that threshold if you're e.g. reading in bed on your phone at night with the lights off, and want to take the brightness as low as possible.
boredhedgehog 3y ago
Is this where we sneer at people who use sans-serif fonts and left-aligned text? Some people just have no taste! :-)
dspillett 3y ago
Many OLED screens consume less power when displaying mostly black, so it is not uncommon for phones to be used that way. If you are used to dark mode from other uses¹ you might prefer it for everything else on *LED screens too even though it would likely feel unnatural for “real” reading on paper³. -- [1] not caught the bug myself yet, but most of the devs around me use it for coding, I've used it for terminal work for as long as I can remember, and have my phone in dark mode² so apps & web stuff that respect that are light-on-dark [2] apparently this saves battery life on OLED screens, though not as much as some saying that seem to think, and it is also nicer for low-light situations like when I'm shutting down in the evening (but have messages to respond to before I do). [3] or on an e-ink device

shimonabi 3y ago

A few days ago I discovered https://github.com/ealang/pixel-reader https://github.com/ealang/pixel-reader which lets you read EPUB-s on the Miyoo Mini Plus retro gaming device with a 3.5" screen. I really enjoy reading on it.

notpushkin 3y ago
This reminds me of programs that converted plain-text ebooks (and maybe ePubs as well?) to J2ME apps you could install on your featurephone. Good times!
- ajot 3y ago
  I was thinking about TequilaCat the other day, in my current quest to find a good FLOSS one-size-fits-all multi format reader for Android. KOreader is clumsy, MuPDF Viewer is quite nice and minimalistic, Librera FD has lots of options but I still can't tell what bothers me. I think it truly shows how much has changed, as a teenager I didn't care the text only format, sometimes even awfully formatted, if I could read something from my phone while commuting to school.
  - notpushkin 3y ago
    FBReader might be a nice choice. It's pretty minimalistic, configurable just the right amount, supports EPub, FB2, MOBI and a bunch of other formats. I'm pretty happy with it – give it a try too if you haven't yet: https://f-droid.org/packages/org.geometerplus.zlibrary.ui.android/ https://f-droid.org/packages/org.geometerplus.zlibrary.ui.an... https://fbreader.org/android https://fbreader.org/android

asicsp 3y ago

I use Foliate (https://github.com/johnfactotum/foliate https://github.com/johnfactotum/foliate), which is mentioned as one of the inspirations for this project.

atomicnature 3y ago
This is a polished and high quality product. I use it all the time. Kudos to the devs!
anhner 3y ago
I love foliate, such a shame that it's linux only...

deleted 3y ago

[deleted]

globular-toast 3y ago

An ebook reader is pointless if it doesn't run on eink devices. Surely nobody is reading entire books on a laptop screen?

arglebargle123 3y ago
I spent a year reading on my 10.5in amoled tablet, it worked really well for night time reading at low brightness with the night filter on and KOReader in dark mode. In some ways that setup actually worked better for me than KOReader on an eink device because dark mode amoled contrast is much better than the front light on my actual eink reader. That said, I wouldn't want to read anything except PDFs on a laptop and I'd much rather read them on a large high-refresh-rate amoled tablet.
falcor84 3y ago
I have read many dozens of books (mostly pdf based) from my laptop, and am quite happy with the experience.
- deafpolygon 3y ago
  I actually prefer doing this vs. a tablet (similar type screen). Plus, e-ink in color is either very expensive or not done very well.
deleted 3y ago
[deleted]
Qwertious 3y ago
>Surely nobody is reading entire books on a laptop screen? You'd think so, but e-readers (hardware) cost more than $0. Plus, phones are more commonly pocket-carried than ereaders (hardware) given that most ereaders (hardware) don't fit in your pocket, and most people don't buy multiple ereaders (hardware).
- input_sh 3y ago
  I have two e-readers somewhere in my drawer (some Kobo and a Paperwhite) and I still read from my phone/laptop. Easier to get my books onto them, easier to look stuff up and write notes, easier to reach my highlights afterwards to do something useful with them.

ejz 3y ago

I don't see the most important format right now... .kfx :(

pasc1878 3y ago
Unforunnatly Amazon protects .kfx files with DRM. Some publishers do say use unDRMed files but then you need to download them as .azw

charleshan 3y ago

Thanks for sharing. For those who haven't tried, Google Play Books is really good. It's free, cross-platform (plus web), you can upload epub, and syncs annotations across devices. I switched from jailbroken Kindle to android e-ink device 3 years ago and I haven't looked back. It's the perfect combo. Tip: Use Calibre to organize/backup your books and convert to epub

jesterson 3y ago
If only they wouldn't snoop/monetise what they can see.
- danielbln 3y ago
  Or shut it down and throw it onto the graveyard on a whim.
  - arglebargle123 3y ago
    You can always dump your licenses from the web interface, pull down the books with the Adobe fulfillment software and then strip the DRM using calibre.
  - Dah00n 3y ago
    FUD.
    - ghusbands 3y ago
      It seems like a reasonable worry. Google Play Music was shut down, as have been so many Google services over time.
      - anon____ 3y ago
        Wikipedia lists 61 of them: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Discontinued_Google_services https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Discontinued_Google_s....

merpkz 3y ago

How do I get it to run after downloading .tar.gz of latest release? Quickly glanced over the contents of files and it rings no bells of what this thing is or how to even build it. If it's in javascript, I should just point my web server root directory to this folder, but I don't see any index files in there.

brettermeier 3y ago
You must build it yourself with Tauri (https://tauri.app https://tauri.app) or use pre-built releases, which you can download here: https://github.com/btpf/Alexandria/releases https://github.com/btpf/Alexandria/releases

enson110 3y ago

Is there any reading APP supports pronunciation on IOS? It can pronounce the word or sentence I select.

levysoft 3y ago
I use Voice Dream Reader on iOS: https://apps.apple.com/app/id496177674 https://apps.apple.com/app/id496177674
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sampo 3y ago

So many of my books are in pdf, I would not want to use separate apps for pdf-books and other format books.

upofadown 3y ago
Zathura then with the mupdf plugin for epubs.

idoubtit 3y ago

Last year, I tried several epub readers on a linux amd64 laptop. None was satisfying. All those that just wrapped chromium crashed with some epub files: that was the case for "Foliate", which was the inspiration for this "Alexandria" project. The Calibre reader was slow and unresponsive. Mupdf was fast and stable, but it lacked important features, like a table of contents. A Firefox plugin was okay, but its workflow was impractical. I've since bought a e-ink device, so I don't read much on my laptop. When I do, I use Koreader. It's perfect for my Kobo device, and quite alright for a computer.

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watwut 3y ago
I use fbreader, but did not tried it on linux.
- anon____ 3y ago
  In my opinion, it's the best on Linux.
AB1908 3y ago
How is annotation support on Koreader? Eink devices in general seem to be a hassle to annotate on compared to my phone.
- edent 3y ago
  It's pretty good. You can highlight a passage and then it pops up a box for you to type in. However, Lua doesn't support native Android keyboards - so you have to use a virtual keyboard https://github.com/koreader/koreader/issues/7423 https://github.com/koreader/koreader/issues/7423
ajot 3y ago
A couple of years back I tried Zathura, with the mupdf backend (if I remember correctly, this was the needed plugin for epub, so I also ditched the Poppler backend for PDF). I'm not a keyboard centric user, so couldn't get accustomed to it, but still think it works pretty well. https://pwmt.org/projects/zathura/ https://pwmt.org/projects/zathura/

amadeuspagel 3y ago

I made 1paragraph[1], a web-based, offline-first epub reader. It also syncs across devices. [1]: https://1paragraph.app/ https://1paragraph.app/

jdprgm 3y ago

I really wish there was a plex for ebooks where I could just throw epubs on my server and read on kobo ereader, iphone, web, mac/windows native, etc and just not think about it. Would also be nice to have actually decent stats tracking and an anki like spaced repetition for any words i looked up in the app while reading. There are some sort of attempts it this but it all falls down with anything resembling saemless ereader support. For some odd reason there seems to be no overlap into good UI design with most devs working on anything reader related. Been waiting a decade for something like this but seems there is just no such demand.

metatranca 3y ago
Calibre Web: https://github.com/janeczku/calibre-web https://github.com/janeczku/calibre-web
armitron 3y ago
Calibre has a server mode that comes with a HTTP UI allowing downloads but also has a built-in reader.
- deleted 3y ago
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ThatPlayer 3y ago
KOReader with Calibre Content Server does handling the actual content. KOReader also has its own seperate sync feature. Don't think it'll do stats though.
- jdprgm 3y ago
  Yeah I have messed with that in the past but KOReader doesn't have an iOS client so then forced to use the calibre server reader and it's all just not a fluid process. While I am thankful to have calibre as a tool it has always been a bit annoying to deal with for a few reasons: Feels completed bloated in terms of features and GUI, every time I open the app there is a update to be downloaded and no in app updates, the reader itself on desktops isn't that great, etc. I get that I can sort of hack together some parts of what I want but really I want the Plex experience of once I have thrown an mp4 onto my server it is just a first class experience viewing and resuming on any device I own equivalent or better than media viewers from the likes of netflix, hbo, etc. I just want that same sort of experience with regards to eBooks, not a hacked together hodgepodge of homelab sync tools and configuration.

chkhd 3y ago

On Windows https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sumatra_PDF https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sumatra_PDF is amazing!

boredhedgehog 3y ago
Kind of, but the recent switch to the mupdf engine sacrificed what little layout customization it had for epubs. Now you can't even change the font anymore.

politelemon 3y ago

I have tried numerous ereaders over the past few years, and nothing has ever come close to Foliate. It strikes the perfect balance between functionality and minimalism, or to put it in more concrete terms - it's very good at getting out of the way of reading. It has a fully immersive mode and is very customizable. This Alexendria seems to be similar but is cross platform, so it will be worth giving a go.

sandreas 3y ago

There also is Kavita: Homepage: https://www.kavitareader.com/ https://www.kavitareader.com/ Repository: https://github.com/Kareadita/Kavita https://github.com/Kareadita/Kavita I don't know if it fits your needs, but i think its pretty cool. Written in C# it is also pretty "hackable".

onetokeoverthe 3y ago

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jxdxbx 3y ago

I have used a ton of ebook apps and have thoughts: For me, the main thing that matters, particularly in a phone, is not wasting a ton of space. Margins do help readability. But the "margin" of your phone includes bezel, etc. Too-short lines of text drive me crazy and make me feel like my eyes are getting a workout. Text-to-speech needs to be good. That means not speaking page and title numbers, working with the screen off, and turning pages properly with the screen off, such that it's easy to switch between reading the text and listening without losing your place. I have used apps that do text-to-speech but don't continue through the book, or only turn the page if the screen is kept on, etc. Also spoken words should be highlighted as they are spoken, if the screen is on. Also on a small screen I much prefer ragged right to fully justified text. I also don't want a bunch of permanent on-screen chrome (tap in the center to reveal seems best); page-turning should be via a fast, simple "slide" animation; and the app needs to be able to override an ebook's font and spacing choices. Cross-device syncing is nice as well. And this one is ridiculous but speed-reading modes are nice too, both through highlighting chunks of text and RSVP (one word or phrase at a time: Rapid Serial Visual Presentation).

Shorel 3y ago

I just tested it. Compared with other EPUB readers on Linux, it is fast. Really fast.

2big2fail_47 3y ago

does anyone know a good way to convert pdf's to epub. I tried calibre but the inconsistent formatting of pdf's make this really buggy. Is there any OCD / machine learning solution out there? :)

dorfsmay 3y ago

How does it compare to foliate? My issue with most ebook reader is they try to be everything, catalog your entire drive etc... Foliate is the exact opposit, it opens the one file I ask it to, doesn't overtake my screen, easy to close when I'm done!

goodmachine 3y ago

Unfortunate nameclash with this LibGen browser https://github.com/Samin100/Alexandria/releases https://github.com/Samin100/Alexandria/releases

NoMoreNicksLeft 3y ago

Wonder if it handles non-linear pages correctly, or if it does what iBooks does and treats them as some sort of end notes feature.

tibudiyanto 3y ago

While eink displays is usually the gold standard for eBook reader, I wonder does reading it on an AMOLED screen with black background and white font is a good substitute?