cross-posted from: https://lemmy.ca/post/43297441
I just started working on a self hosted Android & iOS ereader app. I’d like to know what features you would like to see if you use this kind of app.
Current Planned Features
- Support for EPUB, TXT, and HTML ebooks.
- Syncing over WebDAV. (Bring your own server. I’m not hosting people’s pirated libraries.)
- Multiple libraries (a WebDAV server is a library), and multiple users per library.
- Current progress from offline reading will get synced when back online.
- Dark mode.
- Custom fonts and themes.
- Text to speech.
- Keep awake.
- Orientation lock.
- Open source. (GPL license)
- Native apps using React Native.
- Animations can be turned completely off.
- Really good e-ink screen support.
- Tablet and phone sized device support.
Background
I use a Boox Palma, but sometimes I don’t have it with me, and I’d like to read on my iPhone.
With the current ereaders I know of, there’s always some downside. Syncing costs money, rendering is janky, page turn animations can’t be disabled, themes cost money (really???), no cross platform support, etc.
I want to learn how to build native apps with React Native, so I’m using this as a learning project. I’m not trying to make money on it, so it’ll be open source, and you have to have your own WebDAV server with all your ebooks on it to sync.
Non-Planned Features
Some things I just can’t do or won’t help me learn, so I’m not going to do them.
- PDF support. (Maybe in the future, but not the initial version.)
- Web app. (I don’t want to host it.)
- Kindle app. (React Native doesn’t support them.)
- Syncing over anything but WebDAV. (I’ll be using WebDAV properties, and I’m not interested in doing any other providers.)
So I’d like to know, what are some features you would like to see, and what are the pain points you’ve experienced with your current ereader apps?
OPDS is the only real hard requirement for me in an eBook reader app.
I’ve never even heard of that. There’s an NPM package for it, so I might be able to add it if that package works in React Native.
Is this used for syncing read state, or just keeping a catalog of your own books?
OPDS is the standard for ebook distribution. Most eBook apps support it, I bet your boox does too.
You can subscribe to a feed and browse the catalogue and download a book. Some popular OPDS catalogues are:
- Feedbooks
- Internet Archive
- Manybook
- Project Gutenberg
- Standard Ebooks
- unglue.it
If you use Linux, check out Foliate reader from Flathub.
I would be interested in something that can sync with Calibre-Web
Yeah, Calibre is ubiquitous at this point. You really can’t discuss ebooks without it inevitably coming up. Syncing with calibre would be huge, because it would open the door to the single largest library management program in use.
If you start up the content server in Calibre, you can connect to it with any OPDS compatible ereader app.
If Calibre-Web can sync with WebDAV, it should work. I don’t know about it though, so I don’t know if that’s possible.
There is an API that you can call to sync Kobo e-readers with calibre.
https://jccpalmer.com/posts/setting-up-kobo-sync-with-calibre-web/
It just depends on if this would work with your current thoughts on how your app works.
