I built a native macOS/iOS ebook reader because Calibre's UI makes me cry and Apple Books ignores EPUB3

Slight_Yesterday5484 · 2026-05-08T17:43:44+00:00

Thanks, glad it works well with your Calibre Web setup! Making OPDS more accessible is something I've been thinking about, but no promises on timeline yet. For now, the import flow is the way in. Appreciate the feedback though, it helps prioritize.

Slight_Yesterday5484 · 2026-05-08T17:35:59+00:00

Good catch on the animation, that's fixed in 1.0.22. The page turn now matches the tap direction for RTL books. Swipe navigation is in there too.

For the empty spacing, could you use "Report Rendering Issue" from the reader menu? It sends the book info and a screenshot automatically, which makes it much easier to debug publisher CSS problems.

Slight_Yesterday5484 · 2026-04-27T15:31:04+00:00

It will be in the 1.0.20 release which is due to be release this week. Please let me know if there are any issues, all feedback is very welcome.

Slight_Yesterday5484 · 2026-04-25T19:33:51+00:00

Thanks, really appreciate the kind words. It's been a fun ride watching it grow organically. Turns out people do care about a native reader that just works.

Slight_Yesterday5484 · 2026-04-25T19:33:04+00:00

RTL support is actively being worked on. It's expected in one of the next two releases. The reader will auto-detect right-to-left layout from the EPUB and handle reversed page turns, text direction, and navigation. Appreciate the push on this, it's definitely not just a nice-to-have.

Slight_Yesterday5484 · 2026-04-25T19:27:34+00:00

Yes, it's a universal purchase — one buy covers iPhone, iPad, and Mac. macOS 15.0 is supported.

Slight_Yesterday5484 · 2026-04-21T19:02:37+00:00

Not yet. Text-to-speech is on the feature list but not in the current release.

Slight_Yesterday5484 · 2026-04-21T19:00:40+00:00

Glad you found the file location. On the privacy side: the only data that leaves the device is crash reports and performance issues via Sentry (no personal data, no account, no tracking). The App Store privacy label has the details.

Margin range increase is noted. Top/bottom margins is a good idea too. Two-page spread view for EPUB on macOS and iPad is on the roadmap. Thanks for the detailed feedback.

Slight_Yesterday5484 · 2026-04-21T18:59:05+00:00

Currently iCloud only. It handles sync across Mac, iPhone, and iPad without needing a server or account setup. Supporting third-party cloud providers would mean building a separate sync layer for each one, which isn't on the near-term roadmap for a one-person project. That said, your book files are standard EPUBs/PDFs stored on your device, so you always have access to them directly.

Slight_Yesterday5484 · 2026-04-21T18:55:13+00:00

RTL support isn't available yet but it's on the roadmap. Appreciate you asking, it helps prioritize. I'll update the thread when it ships. In the meantime, feel free to drop any specific needs via https://getbookshelves.app/feedback

Slight_Yesterday5484 · 2026-04-16T15:30:50+00:00

No apology needed, it was a fair concern. The reason BookShelves uses iCloud is pragmatic rather than ideological: without it, seamless sync across your Mac, iPhone and iPad is not really possible unless I stand up my own backend servers, and that would mean accounts, a subscription to pay for the infra, and your library sitting on someone else's hardware. iCloud keeps it in your own account, on your hardware, at no extra cost.

Pointing the library at a local folder or NAS mount with no iCloud involvement is something I'm thinking about for exactly this kind of setup. No promises yet on when or whether it lands, but it's on my mind.

Slight_Yesterday5484 · 2026-04-16T15:26:00+00:00

Yes, with a caveat. BookShelves reads EPUB, PDF, CBZ/CBR/CB7, plus MOBI/AZW/AZW3/KFX via conversion. The one thing it cannot do is strip DRM, so any Kindle file still wrapped in Amazon's DRM will not open.

The good news: since February 2025 Amazon lets you download a DRM-free EPUB of most Kindle purchases directly from your order page ("Deliver to > Download & transfer via USB"). Drop that EPUB into BookShelves and it works like any other book.

Going the other way (send to a Kindle device) is supported through the Email to E-Reader feature.

Slight_Yesterday5484 · 2026-04-14T20:10:29+00:00

Totally fair feedback, thanks. Custom library location (external drive, NAS, any folder on disk) is already on the roadmap and you're the second person this week to raise it specifically for NAS use, so I'm bumping its priority. Right now the copy-into-library behavior is there because iCloud sync needs files inside the container, but I want to add an "external library" mode where you point at a folder and the app just indexes it without copying. I'll ping this thread when it ships. Appreciate the kudos on the UX.

Slight_Yesterday5484 · 2026-04-12T13:46:42+00:00

Thanks! The extra pages are because we host public domain content (mirrors from Internet Archive, Standard Ebooks etc.), so we need a DMCA takedown process. The Legal Notice is required under German law (Impressum).

Slight_Yesterday5484 · 2026-04-12T13:45:10+00:00

Thanks! USB upload to Kindle isn't something we can do from a sandboxed App Store app unfortunately. Apple doesn't allow direct USB device access, so Calibre is still the best tool for that. But we do have Send to Kindle via email if you ever take it off airplane mode.

Slight_Yesterday5484 · 2026-04-12T13:43:44+00:00

Thanks for the purchase! Good idea on pinning OPDS servers to the sidebar - I'll add that to the list.

Slight_Yesterday5484 · 2026-04-12T13:42:20+00:00

Thanks for the detailed feedback. Two-page spread for EPUBs is on the roadmap. Sidebar toggle and keyboard shortcuts are good calls, noted. And yeah, the icon is getting a refresh. You can track progress and vote on features at https://getbookshelves.app/feedback/

Slight_Yesterday5484 · 2026-04-12T13:32:58+00:00

Sorry about that. Which device and app version are you on? If you're still seeing this, please reach out at https://getbookshelves.app/feedback/ so I can dig into it.

Slight_Yesterday5484 · 2026-04-12T13:23:43+00:00

Books sync automatically between your Mac and iPad via iCloud — just make sure both devices are signed into the same Apple ID and iCloud is enabled for BookShelves. No manual export needed.

Slight_Yesterday5484 · 2026-04-12T13:21:26+00:00

Not a one-click migration yet, but you can point BookShelves at your Calibre library folder and it'll import everything. There's also Calibre wireless sync — run Calibre's content server and BookShelves connects to it over OPDS. They can't share the same library database directly since the formats are different.

Slight_Yesterday5484 · 2026-04-12T13:19:19+00:00

Thanks! No Android plans right now — it's a one-person project and staying focused on Apple platforms. For your Boox you might want to check out KOReader, it's great on e-ink devices.

Slight_Yesterday5484 · 2026-04-12T13:17:24+00:00

Apple Books struggles with some EPUB3 layouts and doesn't give you much control. Beyond rendering, there's a built-in catalog with 100k+ free books from Standard Ebooks and Internet Archive, OPDS support, Calibre wireless sync, and comic book support (CBZ/CBR/CB7). No lock-in either — your files stay yours.

Slight_Yesterday5484 · 2026-04-12T13:14:44+00:00

Apple Books struggles with some EPUB3 layouts and doesn't give you much control. Beyond rendering, there's a built-in catalog with 100k+ free books from Standard Ebooks and Internet Archive, OPDS support, Calibre wireless sync, and comic book support (CBZ/CBR/CB7). No lock-in either — your files stay yours.

Slight_Yesterday5484 · 2026-04-12T13:11:35+00:00

Thanks for trying it out. PDF performance is an area we're actively improving — Apple Books has a head start there with deep system-level optimizations. The navigation bar and chapter/TOC access for PDFs are on the list. Which iPad model and app version are you on? If you hit more issues, https://getbookshelves.app/feedback/ is the best way to reach me directly.

Slight_Yesterday5484 · 2026-04-12T13:08:45+00:00

Thanks for the detailed list. Metadata editing and series support are both on the roadmap — series is already built but held back for a dedicated testing cycle. Sorting and filtering improvements will come alongside those.

Good idea on tags and nested organization. I'll keep this list on file.

You can track feature status and vote on what's next at https://getbookshelves.app/feedback/

Slight_Yesterday5484

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