FBReader: ePub and fb2 reader

Crashes many times a day now. Also I have to wait several seconds for the book page to open when switching apps. This is quite a regression.

For such a simple application this is just flat out useless as an iPad reading solution. The vertical scrolling option is so jerky it gives me headaches.
Don’t waste your time, find something better

Please add a text to speech feature for this app. I paid for the upgrade to help improve the app. Would really appreciate that feature. Thank you.

Probably the best alternative reader coming from Android, BUT there is a huge but, for some books, when I press the book it crashes before it opens, is it a free version issue? I don’t want to buy it and then face the same issue. Please help.

To delete more than one book from the library, you need to completely close the application after deleting the first book and log in again. If you don't do this and try to delete two books in a row, then when you delete the second one, you will delete not the one you selected, but the book that is higher in the list... And you can only hope that you have a good memory, since you won't be able to get it back. There is not even a "recently deleted" section. This bug has been unfixed for a year or two.

不能打开pdf

I used fbreader for years until until the ads started. That was a show stopper for me.

So this might be a good app if only they could add more books there is only 6 out of the millions out there so no variety please add more

I’ve used this app for the last year or 2 without any problems. Then the last several months it seems to get stuck and freeze up. I can’t page forward or back. Can’t do anything. Finally figured out how to open it to the main library screen and delete the book. I opened the file on my PC and it seems to be a special character or graphic on the next page that is causing the problem. This never happened before and now it’s occurring on almost every book. Must be something in the latest update. It’s just not worth it to use this app anymore. More trouble than it’s worth.

I’ve used this app for years but now they’re trying to force you to upgrade to the paid version. I’m just going to have to get a new reader.

Installation broken with IPadOS 14.6

Just bought the full version. Several books don’t sync from my Google Drive and when I tried to manually add them the app locked up. Forced the app to close and then when I clicked the table of contents to scroll through the book the font was so bad the book was unreadable. I would like a refund!!!!

Don’t download!!!

Hadn’t opened the app for a while. Now all of the books I had downloaded and bought are gone! Help!

Works better on android

This is not a serious ebook reader.

Unable to load books to app from my iPhone. Went to FBR website to follow illustrated instructions but in-app options did not match what was shown on the website. Thinking it was a matter of free version vs pro so upgraded but issue was not resolved.

Can’t add new book from local storage

Installed the app, went in the website in my desktop and logged in, loaded up my books - and waited for the app to sync and pull them over, and waited, and waited. Both logged into the same account with the same email address. After 12 hours - nothing. Deleted the app.

The iPad/iPhone app does not allow use of remote Calibre or OPDS libraries as the Android version does. This is very disappointing as most functionality is provided using plugins that do not work on Apple devices. That means most of the FBReader functionality is locked away for Apple customers. It’s a fine solution if you just mean to read a small collection of EPUB you store on Google Drive, but it will not work for customers with a large book library in a variety of formats or for those with a Calibre catalog.
If those features are added I will update this review and score.

There is no way to add books from iCloud or local folder. App is useless if we can’t open file in the first place.

FBReader suffers from poor design decisions and a number of recurring bugs that negatively impact the overall user experience. Basic interactions feel unintuitive, and the app does not always behave as expected. Additionally, support is slow and unresponsive, making it difficult to resolve issues in a timely manner.

I can’t even open the app. It started a few days ago. And you still didn’t solve the problem. I always consider this app as the best one, but not now. Hope you will do something about it.

It was the best reading software I've ever used more than 10 years ago, but it's too old for now, and some of the experiences are still the same as in the past, which can't be adapted to today's mobile phones, especially Apple's mobile phones. For example, in the page flip, up and down page flip is as difficult to use as the computer crash, and can not batch select files, the ui interface is also very old!

As an app to read epubs, FBReader gets 5 out of 5. As an app to read "books", FBReader gets a 2 out of 5. This review will be based on reading epubs on an ipad mini.
As an epub reader, FBReader is great. Page rendering is reasonably fast once loaded, and no unusual blank or missing pages so far. The data read on an initial load or resume after being swapped out can lead to a UI freeze, but this is not frequent (unless it's constantly being swapped out I suppose).
Most of the expected settings are easily set: font family and size, line height, etc. Lots of good settings to make reading more enjoyable. I also like that font size can be changed directly while reading without delving into the settings. The immediate font-change feedback is appreciated.
An unexpected setting is flexible margins. Imagine a reader who wants uneven margins (like a book) where the outer margin is larger so the thumb can rest and not obscure text. I am personally a fan of top-heavy margins (less space on top, more space on bottom) so the text does not fall off the bottom of the screen. Independent margin settings is a nice touch.
FBReader is also one of the few readers that allow tap on both left and right margins to turn to the next page.
Overall, lots of different ways to tweak and fine-tune the reading experience without wading through a scary amount of screens. The only issue I've had is some of the settings use a sideways toggle (o--) vs (--o) without a clear indication of which side is enabled/on or disabled/off.
As an app to read and manage books, FBReader is not great. Book handling by the app is very clunky. First, adding books is inconsistent. FBReader has google drive synchronization with a web client. The sync seems to work only one way, or is very flaky and unreliable. If I load a book through the web client, it will appear in the app. If I locally load a book via share sheet, it does not appear on the web client. As I understasnd it, the google drive integration is how book/bookmark synching is handled. I didn't use another device to test this, but I am skeptical since the book itself does not appear.
Second, there is no human mechanism to organize books. For ios, FBReader can only group books by recency (recently opened, recently downloaded, etc), author, and title. There is also an option to group by series, but I could not get this mechanism to trigger. Looking around online, there are references to custom "bookshelves", but it seems to only exist in the android version of the app.
Third, it is difficult to get basic book information in the library without opening the book itself. It's easy to bulk import books via web client, but good luck tracking what has been read. There is a read indicator if the books are listed in "tile" view. However, only the cover art is shown and the title itself may be difficult to read. On my ipad mini, the tile view of the cover art is a blue blob next to a green blob.
Fourth, the reading controls invite mishaps. While reading, the UI to show the table of contents, go to the library view, and import books are all next to each other in the top left corner of the screen. I am constantly mis-tapping things since they are all right next to each other.
Fifth, bookmarks are incredibly clunky. FBReader bookmarks are based on word(s) and not a page. To create a bookmark, tap and hold to select a word, optionally extend the highlighted text, and then tap "bookmark" from the text selection dialog. There's no obvious indicator on how to create a bookmark (eg, no onscreen bookmark icon); I only discovered this by accident.
Comparing the free vs purchased versions, I can load more than 10 books at a time. However, without better book management features, I find it difficult to handle more than 5 books or so. I also get integrated google or deepl translate. It works by selecting 'translate' from the selection options after highlighting text. It seems to work fine, but it doesn't seem that much better than "copy" and pasting the snippet into google translate or whatever directly. It would be more helpful if there was an option to translate an entire page, or translate on-the-fly on page turns.
Bottom line: good reader, but everything else around it is not so great. For me, not worth the purchase.

I purchased premium several years ago. The proof of which I cannot find. Without that proof, do you keep records of people who have purchased premium? I had my entire collection of books on FB reader, which were in the hundreds, now I can’t get any more than 10 books. All but 10 are grayed out. It just happened. This is very frustrating.
How do I get premium back. How do I get all those books back.
Thanks for any response.

It is such a pain trying to open a book from a list to read.there help section useless you that would be a frequently asked question. But this keeps getting worse as time goes on.

The eBook reader itself is fast and simple.
But there is no option to remove an eBook from the library without also deleting from the file system. This is contrary to most eBook readers and a big deal breaker! I really don't want to accidentally delete any of my books. Uninstalled sadly!

A Mac app in name only. "Poorly featured" is an understatement.

Can full edition read pdf format?

No support for RTL Languages.

It looks promising, but this is an alpha version for macOS at best. Try selecting a font, they are all jumbled together.
The worst part, however, is that it deletes the books you just imported. Close the app and next time you open it, all your books are gone.
I understand there’s also a cloud storing option, but it works through Google and experience has shown that Google is not trustworthy when it comes to handling user data and privacy.
If I’m importing books locally, I would expect the app to keep them stored locally.