Readest - eBook Reader
EPUB & PDF reader for Mac
Free · In‑App Purchases
Experience the Ultimate Ebook Reader Across All Your Devices for Avid Readers
Readest is an ebook reader for people who read a lot, and who want their books, notes and reading position on whatever device is nearest.
Open EPUB, PDF, MOBI, AZW3, FB2, CBZ, TXT and Markdown in one library. Pull books from OPDS catalogs or from your own Calibre server. Read, annotate, listen, translate.
Made for iPhone and iPad
• CarPlay, so you can keep listening on the road with playback controls on the dashboard
• Download read-aloud voices per book and listen with no connection at all
• Add books from Files, Mail or any share sheet, and read them in place instead of copying them into a second library
• Open up to four books at once on iPad and arrange them how you like
Reading
• Paginated or scrolling, with custom fonts, themes, spacing and margins
• Vertical text for CJK books
• Contrast and refresh tuned for e-ink screens
• Full-text search inside a book
Your library
• Browse, search and download from OPDS catalogs and public libraries
• Connect to Calibre or Calibre-Web, covers and metadata included
• Organize with bookshelf groups you can rename
Notes
• Highlights, bookmarks and structured notes
• Copy a highlight together with a deep link back to the passage
• Export your annotations
Listening and languages
• Text-to-speech with downloadable offline voices
• Translate a sentence, a page, or an entire book
• Wikipedia and dictionary lookup without leaving the page
Sync
• Readest Cloud, or bring your own: iCloud, Google Drive, OneDrive, WebDAV, S3
• KOReader sync keeps your progress in step with your e-reader
• iPhone, iPad, Mac, all other platforms and the web
Readest is open source.
Support: support@readest.com
Privacy Policy: https://readest.com/privacy-policy
Terms of Service: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/
more I love using alternate software on my Kindle. The only stock feature I missed was the ability to pick up where I left off on my phone later on. With the new update, this app finally gives back the same functionality. It took me some trial and error to get matching files to the app, but now it works without a second thought. I can’t overstate my gratitude to the dev team for making such great software—the fact that its open source is even better.If a future update could enable syncing files as well as progress, that would merit at least a sixth star! But as it is, this app absolutely earns its name. Definitely the best e-reader on the App Store for my use case.
I love using alternate software on my Kindle. The only stock feature I missed was the ability to pick up where I left off on my phone later on. With the new update, this app finally gives back the same functionality. It took me some trial and error to get matching files to the app, but now it works without a second thought. I can’t overstate my gratitude to the dev team for making such great software—the fact that its open source is even better.If a future update could enable syncing files as well as progress, that would merit at least a sixth star! But as it is, this app absolutely earns its name. Definitely the best e-reader on the App Store for my use case.
READEST is the e-reader to get. Its Calibre plug-in for syncing makes it indispensable. Superb customization options. Having tried dozens since the introduction of the iPad (including Marvin, Kybook, Book Fusion, Pocketbook, & Apple), READEST tops them all. Also, has auto-scrolling, for hands-free reading. The Pro upgrade is inexpensive and a great way to encourage the development of this wonderful app. And because it's open-source, it doesn't have the same risk of it being abandoned by developers, which typically leaves users stranded. Get READEST now!
READEST is the e-reader to get. Its Calibre plug-in for syncing makes it indispensable. Superb customization options. Having tried dozens since the introduction of the iPad (including Marvin, Kybook, Book Fusion, Pocketbook, & Apple), READEST tops them all. Also, has auto-scrolling, for hands-free reading. The Pro upgrade is inexpensive and a great way to encourage the development of this wonderful app. And because it's open-source, it doesn't have the same risk of it being abandoned by developers, which typically leaves users stranded. Get READEST now!
This is the app I've been looking for years. I have tried every single e-reader app out there and none of them did what I wanted conpletely. Finally I got Readest due to getting a Kobo/Koreader. I genuinely wish I would have found it sooner because WOW. Just wow. It's literally the perfect program and I always skipped over it because low reviews. So here I am, giving it my 5 stars. It deserves 10. That speed reading mode? Bro....amazing. When I get this job I will buy buying the app outright in support.
This is the app I've been looking for years. I have tried every single e-reader app out there and none of them did what I wanted conpletely. Finally I got Readest due to getting a Kobo/Koreader. I genuinely wish I would have found it sooner because WOW. Just wow. It's literally the perfect program and I always skipped over it because low reviews. So here I am, giving it my 5 stars. It deserves 10. That speed reading mode? Bro....amazing. When I get this job I will buy buying the app outright in support.
Been mainly using this for the TTS function. However, I have noticed that I can go about half a page before TTS will skip over dialogue on pdf files. Sometimes it’s very short. Skipping over a sentence or two. Other times it will skip a paragraph or half a page. It’s infuriatingly annoying that I have to basically stop and restart the TTS. At first, I thought I was hearing things until I read along with it and saw it happened. If the TTS wasn’t skipping, I’d give this a higher rating.Seems like I don’t have this problem if I am using TTS on an e-book file. Seems to only not work properly if I am using it on a pdf article or something.
Developer Response Some pdf files may not have a complete text layer for the TTS to read. Could you share the file that has this issue so that we can reproduce and verify it?
Been mainly using this for the TTS function. However, I have noticed that I can go about half a page before TTS will skip over dialogue on pdf files. Sometimes it’s very short. Skipping over a sentence or two. Other times it will skip a paragraph or half a page. It’s infuriatingly annoying that I have to basically stop and restart the TTS. At first, I thought I was hearing things until I read along with it and saw it happened. If the TTS wasn’t skipping, I’d give this a higher rating.Seems like I don’t have this problem if I am using TTS on an e-book file. Seems to only not work properly if I am using it on a pdf article or something.
Some pdf files may not have a complete text layer for the TTS to read. Could you share the file that has this issue so that we can reproduce and verify it?
– Library: You can now organize books into configurable bookshelves, tag books in bulk
– Audiobooks: You can download Audiobookshelf books for offline listening, stream audiobooks from OPDS catalogs and BookOrbit
– Reading: You can now open HTML files as books, and select, highlight, and look up text in Paragraph Mode
– Sync: Reading progress refreshes when you return to the app, WebDAV sync is more reliable, and Readwise exports now include bookmarks
– PDF: Page-turn animations now work on PDFs, comics, and fixed-layout books, and wide comic pages get a spread of their own
– KOReader: Added background sync, group downloads, and more library controls, and highlights you delete stay deleted
– Dictionary: Pronunciations can play automatically on lookup, accented words are easier to find
– More: Backups are much faster and keep the screen awake, and fixed freezes on App launch and in image-heavy chapters
0.12.10 6d ago
– Reading: Customize the information shown in headers and footers, resize text with zoom shortcuts
– Sync: You can choose whether to use Readest Cloud before signing in, and recover missing covers during sync
– Annotations: You can now import highlights, bookmarks, and reading progress from ReadEra, and sync your notes and highlights to Notion
– Audiobooks: You can now stream ebook-only titles from Audiobookshelf
– Text-to-Speech: use Apple Enhanced and Premium voices on the web, and optionally skip parenthetical readings in Japanese books
– Web Imports: You can now clip signed-in pages and import web novels that require an account, with more reliable text decoding
– Styling: Your library and reader can now use separate theme modes and colors, and e-ink mode is available on every platform
– PDF: You can lock horizontal panning while zoomed, highlights stay visible in dark mode, and PDFs work on older devices
– Dictionary: Dictionary entries can now play embedded audio, jump to parts of speech, and enlarge images
– Sharing: Nearby BookDrop now offers easier pairing, transfer sounds, and more reliable device discovery and reconnection
0.12.8 Sep 8
– Audiobooks: Added Audiobookshelf support for streaming audiobooks and podcasts, and you can now pair an audiobook with its ebook to read along as it plays
– Text-to-Speech: Added a lyric-style view that shows the sentences around the one being read, plus per-book offline voice downloads and steadier pauses between sentences
– Library: You can now browse the web inside Readest to add books, choose which chapters to import from a web novel, hide covers for privacy, and watch download progress right on the shelf
– Sharing: Added Nearby BookDrop to send and receive books between nearby devices over your local network, including KOReader devices
– Reading: Added customizable keyboard and mouse shortcuts, Yomitan dictionary support, a full-screen book cover view, and right-to-left page order for comics and fixed-layout books
– Reading: The Notebook is now a full writing workspace, where your notes save as you type, sync across devices, and link back to the passage they came from
– Footnotes: Footnote popups no longer get cut off, let you select and look up text, and can jump straight to the note's place in the book
– PDF: You can now select text across page boundaries, copy paragraphs without broken line breaks, and see the printed page numbers as reference pages
– Sync: Your book groups and shelves now sync, file sync between devices settles reliably, highlights you delete in KOReader come across, and your progress survives an OPDS re-download
– More: Fixed crashes on launch, garbled AZW3 books, the reading position drifting after rotating the screen, and unreadable highlights on e-ink screens
0.12.6 Aug 28
– Text-to-Speech: Books that come with recorded narration now play their own audio in step with the text, and you can set the sleep timer to stop at the end of a chapter
– Library: Added full text search across your books with fuzzy and nearby-word matching, importing web novels from a link, bulk downloading from the shelf, and page counts in book details
– Annotations: Your notes and highlights now live in one hub, where you can export and import them as a file, copy a link back to any highlight, and write math formulas in your notes
– Reading: You can now pull down to add a bookmark, tap the page label to jump to any page, tap the footer to bring up the progress bar, and turn pages with an Apple Pencil double tap or squeeze
– Reading: Fixed layout books can now scroll horizontally, image descriptions show in the image viewer, search results group by chapter, and the mouse cursor gets out of the way while you read
– Sync: Added iCloud sync on iPhone, iPad and Mac, plus a BookOrbit integration that keeps your annotations, bookmarks, stats and reading status in step
– Translation: Translated text now keeps its bold, italic and other inline formatting, and the Azure and Yandex translators work again
– PDF: Sharper text on desktop and a readable footer in scrolled mode
– More: Markdown books now pick up their title and author automatically and show every heading in the contents, plus fixes for some crashes
0.12.1 Aug 11
– Text-to-Speech: Read-aloud voices can now be downloaded per book for offline listening, and adjustable pauses between sentences and paragraphs
– Sync: Added OneDrive as a cloud provider, you can now sync to several providers at once
– Reading: Added a right-edge swipe to change Auto Scroll speed, footnotes in Markdown books, and copying text now keeps its paragraph breaks
– Reading: Smoother page-turn animations, steadier text selection on iOS, and a redesigned custom theme editor that stays readable on mobile
– Annotations: You can now copy a highlight or note together with a deep link that jumps straight back to its spot in the book
– Library: You can now sort and filter your shelf by time remaining, and the Recently Read shelf and widget show only books you're currently reading
– PDF: Fixed a crash that could happen when turning pages or zooming large PDFs on iOS
0.11.20 Jul 23
– Reading: Added Auto Scroll, a hands-free mode that scrolls the page for you at an adjustable pace, plus middle-click autoscroll on the desktop
– Reading: Added slide and page-curl animations when turning pages for a more natural feel
– Reading: Fixed page turning and the reading ruler for vertical right-to-left books, PDF text selection when system font scaling is on, and header/footer readability over light PDFs in dark mode
– Text-to-Speech: Redesigned read-aloud as a mini player with an expandable full player, and playback now keeps going even after you close the book
– Sync: Added S3-compatible cloud storage and a new Cloud Sync screen to choose and switch between your sync providers
– Integrations: Added a Calibre plugin to push books and custom columns into Readest, and improved OPDS sign-in and auto-download for self-hosted catalogs
– Library: New books dropped into watched folders now import automatically, and you can sort your shelf by reading progress
– More: Added a speak button in the dictionary popup, a cleaner theme switcher, and per-rule toggles for proofreading
0.11.18 Jul 8
– Sync: Added WebDAV and Google Drive sync for your books and reading data
– Widgets: Added home-screen reading widgets on mobile so you can jump straight back into your book
– Reading: You can now open and read Markdown(.md) files
– Reading: You can select a word by double-clicking it, and search gained regex and nearby-words modes
– Reading: Added a sticky progress bar with chapter markers, and keyboard shortcuts to fine-tune text selection
– Library: Added a Recently Read shelf to quickly pick up where you left off, plus a separate background texture for your library
– Text-to-Speech: Added offline voices on iOS, a setting to highlight by word or by sentence
– PDF: Smoother pinch-zoom and panning, faster scrolling on mobile, and a new contrast option in the view menu
– More: Customize the highlight toolbar across all books, filter exported annotations by color and style
0.11.17 Jun 30
– Reading: Fixed full-page cover images and cover backgrounds that didn't display correctly under a page texture
– Reading: Fixed a crash when opening large PDF files on mobile devices
– Reading: You can now save or share an image straight from the image viewer
– Speed Reading: Fixed the control bar overlapping the playback controls on mobile
– Sync: Books without a reading status no longer jump back to the top after every sync
– Sync: Your per-device reading view settings now stay local instead of syncing between devices
– OPDS: Fixed the Add Catalog dialog appearing behind Settings on mobile
0.11.12 Jun 23
– Dictionary: Look up words with your device's built-in system dictionary, plus faster MDict and StarDict imports
– Library: Import books from a folder with format and size filters, or read them in place from external folders without copying
– Reading: The reading ruler now follows individual lines, you can swipe along the edge to adjust brightness on mobile, and customize hardware-button page turning
– Annotations: Create global highlights that apply to every matching passage in a book
– Text-to-Speech: Added a hotkey to highlight the sentence being read aloud, and made TTS more reliable
– Fonts: Fixed custom fonts disappearing after restarting or reloading the app
– iOS: Fixed the reader not updating when you switch between light and dark mode
– Fixes: Many improvements across PDFs, EPUBs, Sync, Scrolling, Highlighting
0.11.2 May 31
– Dictionaries: You can now import your own StarDict and MDict dictionaries
– Sync: Your custom dictionaries, custom fonts, background textures and OPDS catalogs now sync across devices
– KOReader Sync: Browse your full Readest Library from inside KOReader, with improved sync diagnostics
– OPDS: Stream books over OPDS-PSE and optionally auto-download new titles from feeds
– Library: Added an optional 4-digit PIN lock at app launch to keep your library private
– Library: You can now drag entire folders to import books
– Speed Reading: Reading position now resumes correctly across devices and inside long sections
– Fixes: Many fixes across PDFs, MOBIs, EPUBs, TTS, scrolling, and accessibility
0.11.1 May 11
– Library: Much faster browsing for large collections
– Reading: Added an option to keep the book's original paragraph layout
– Reading: Fixed page navigation for Arabic books
– PDF: Fixed TTS reading interruptions at line breaks in PDFs
– PDF: You can now apply your chosen theme colors to PDFs
– Sync: Added HTTP Basic auth support for CWA
– Sync: Improved progress sync with Hardcover.app
– OPDS: You can now edit your registered catalogs, with better handling of download filenames
– Speed Reading: Your reading position now syncs across devices
– Platform: Fixed window buttons on macOS, reduced crashes on iOS
0.10.6 Apr 13
– Reading: Added single section scroll option, keyboard shortcuts help dialog, and reading ruler improvements
– Reading: Fixed embedded font loading and applied theme colors to PDFs
– Reading: Fixed occasional freeze, image sizing on resize, and vertical writing mode compatibility
– Annotations: Fixed annotations grouped under wrong chapter and added highlight opacity setting
– Text-to-Speech: Added dedicated TTS settings tab with highlight opacity and keyboard shortcuts for navigation
– Sync: Added Hardcover.app sync integration and improved KOSync progress accuracy
– KOReader Plugin: Added full annotation sync option and fixed sync-related crashes
– OPDS: Added custom catalog headers with web proxy consent and fixed feed display issues
– Speed Reading: Added per-chapter progress bar and speed selector dropdown
– Theme: Added atmosphere Easter egg with video overlay and ambient audio
0.10.4 Apr 5
– Reading: Added continuous scroll and spread layout support for EPUBs
– Reading: Added current time and battery display in footer
– Reading: Added TTS, annotation support, pinch-to-zoom, and scroll mode for PDFs
– Library: Added backup/restore to a zip file and batch metadata refresh
– Footnotes: Added back navigation with link history and more responsive popup sizing
– Annotations: Added loupe display when selecting text in instant annotation mode
– Text-to-Speech: Fixed TTS reading position tracking in scrolled mode
0.10.1 Mar 22
– Text-to-Speech: Fixed an issue where TTS could not continue to the next chapter
– Reading: Fixed an issue importing very large TXT files on iOS
– Reading: Fixed the layout of the reading ruler in scrolled mode
– Reading: Smoother page-turn animations for a more fluid experience
– Reading: Added a gallery mode to zoom and browse images within books
– Annotations: Page numbers are now displayed and exported with highlights and notes
– Annotations: Added support for exporting highlights to Readwise
– OPDS: Fixed missing book descriptions in OPDS feeds
0.9.101 Mar 1
– Text-to-Speech: Automatically moves to the next chapter when the current chapter finishes
– Reading: Improved RSVP layout and stability
– Reading: Fixed an issue where some EPUB books could not adjust font size
– Annotations: Added a magnifier (loupe) when adjusting text selection
– Annotations: Text selection now snaps to word boundaries for better accuracy
– Annotations: Custom highlight colors now apply correctly in the sidebar
– Dictionary: Added a back button for easier navigation
– Dictionary: Fixed an issue where Dictionary and Wikipedia could not open on Android
– Metadata: Added collapsible sections in Book Details
– Metadata: Added support for parsing series information from Calibre-exported EPUB files
0.9.100 Feb 13
– Reading: Added a reading ruler (line highlight) to help guide your eyes while reading
– Reading: Added paragraph-by-paragraph reading mode for more focused navigation
– Reading: Added a speed reading mode to support faster reading workflows
– Reading: Added support for gamepad input to turn pages
– Accessibility: Improved VoiceOver support in dropdown menus for smoother navigation
– Accessibility: Page navigation buttons are now always visible to screen readers
– Accessibility: Reading progress is now updated correctly when navigating with screen readers
– Annotations: Expanded highlight customization with more color options
– Annotations: Added an option to export annotations as plain text
– Library: Added grouping by author and series for better library organization
– Library: Added support of marking books as finished
– Settings: Added fuzzy search to quickly find settings even with partial keywords
– Table of Contents: Added page numbers for nested TOC entries
– Text-to-Speech: Added navigation controls to return to the current reading position
0.9.99 Feb 6
– Bookshelf: Added the ability to export original book files directly from the book details dialog
– Bookshelf: Added a new sorting option to organize books by publish date
– Bookshelf: Improved performance for large library with faster and more stable imports
– OPDS: Improved download reliability by correctly detecting filenames for PDF and CBZ files
– Proofreading: Added support for whole-word replacement to make text corrections more precise
– Notes: Added the ability to export notes using a customizable template
– PDF: Added support for panning within PDF documents for easier navigation
– PDF: Improved performance by pre-rendering the next page for smoother page transitions
– Text-to-Speech: Added support for word replacement to improve pronunciation during playback
– E-ink: Improved reading stability by preventing unwanted scrolling when animations are disabled or on e-ink devices
– Discord: Added Discord Rich Presence to display your current reading status on Desktop platforms
– Fonts: Improved web font loading for faster and more stable text rendering
0.9.98 Jan 30
– Annotations: Added annotation bubble icons directly on text with instant note popups
– Annotations: Enabled quick highlighting when selecting text
– Annotations: Added the ability to edit the text range of existing highlights
– Annotations: Added an annotation navigation bar for easier browsing
– OPDS: Fixed an issue where CBZ files could not be downloaded from OPDS catalogs
– OPDS: Improved compatibility with Komga OPDS servers
– OPDS: Added support for OPDS servers using self-signed SSL certificates
– PDF: Fixed an issue where some PDF files failed to open
– Search: Added search term history for quicker repeated searches
– Text-to-Speech: Reduced excessive pauses between sentences for smoother playback
– File Transfer: Introduced a background transfer queue for uploading and downloading books
– Proofreading: Added a proofread tool that can replace text directly within books
0.9.97 Jan 11
– TTS: Resolved an issue where Edge TTS was blocked in certain regions
– OPDS: Improved compatibility with older versions of Calibre Web
– OPDS: Added an instant search bar for faster browsing in OPDS catalogs
– OPDS: Added a curated book catalog from Standard Ebooks
– Comics: Fixed layout issues to improve comic book reading
– Layout: Footnote popups now adapt correctly to different screen sizes
– Layout: Fixed an issue where the maximum inline width was not applied to EPUBs
– Sync: Improved file downloading by correctly handling special characters in filenames
– UI: Added an option to temporarily dismiss the reading progress bar
– Settings: Screen brightness adjustments now apply only to the reader view
– iOS: You can now open files directly in Readest from the Files app
0.9.96 12/19/2025
– OPDS: You can now search, browse, and download ebooks directly from OPDS catalogs
– OPDS: Improved compatibility with Calibre Web for reliable downloads
– OPDS: Fixed an issue where book covers from self-hosted Calibre OPDS servers did not display correctly
– Cloud Storage: You can view and delete files stored in your cloud storage directly from the app
– Bookshelf: Added support for importing books from a folder recursively
– Bookshelf: You can now rename your bookshelf groups
– EPUB: Added support for SVG covers from Standard Ebooks
– Annotations: Keyboard shortcuts no longer copy selected text into the notebook
– Footnotes: Footnote popups now scale properly on small screens
– Touch/Styli: Removed the context menu for smoother interaction on touch and stylus devices
– PDF: Improved zoomed-in navigation and hand-tool behavior for smoother page navigation
0.9.95 12/08/2025
– OPDS: You can now browse and download ebooks directly from OPDS catalogs
– PDF: Added a hand-tool mode that makes navigating PDF pages easier
– CJK: Added one-tap conversion between Simplified and Traditional Chinese
– Library: Added a new option to adjust cover sizes in grid view
– TTS: Fixed an issue where the page would scroll when showing the annotator
– iOS: Fixed occasional failures when opening books on older iOS versions (16.4 and below)
0.9.94 12/02/2025
– Sync: Improved reliability for new accounts so your books sync correctly from the start
– Library: Fixed an occasional issue where returning to the library could get stuck
– Layout: Improved image display in paginated mode so images won't exceed the available height
– TXT: Improved performance and stability when opening and parsing TXT files
– Fonts: Fixed an issue where monospace fonts were not applied correctly in code blocks
0.9.93 11/20/2025
– Bookshelf: Added support for nested groups to organize your books more flexibly
– Sync: Improved reliability by automatically retrying failed book syncs
– UI: Storage capacity is now displayed with precise values in the user profile
– Reader: You can now import files directly into the currently selected book group
– Account: You can now update the email address linked to your Readest account
– Footnotes: Added compatibility for more footnote formats
0.9.92 11/18/2025
– TTS: Added options to customize the highlight style during read-aloud
– TTS: You can now choose the target language for read-aloud on translated books
– Sync: Faster library syncing and support for in-app one-time purchases of extra cloud storage
0.9.91 10/30/2025
– Sync: Faster library syncing and support for in-app one-time purchases of extra cloud storage
– TTS: You can now choose the target language for read-aloud on translated books
– Reader: New keyboard shortcuts make it easier to move between sections
– Reader: Smoother scrolling for a more comfortable reading experience
– Reader: Footnotes in definition lists are now fully supported
– Reader: Improved search accuracy and display of search results
– Reader: Clearer error messages when importing books
– Reader: Improved safety when loading book content
– Reader: Restores your last reading page if the app was closed in the background
– Settings: You can now choose your own highlight colors
– Settings: Added option to adjust screen brightness automatically
0.9.90 10/29/2025
– Library: You can now organize books into configurable bookshelves, tag books in bulk
– Audiobooks: You can download Audiobookshelf books for offline listening, stream audiobooks from OPDS catalogs and BookOrbit
– Reading: You can now open HTML files as books, and select, highlight, and look up text in Paragraph Mode
– Sync: Reading progress refreshes when you return to the app, WebDAV sync is more reliable, and Readwise exports now include bookmarks
– PDF: Page-turn animations now work on PDFs, comics, and fixed-layout books, and wide comic pages get a spread of their own
– KOReader: Added background sync, group downloads, and more library controls, and highlights you delete stay deleted
– Dictionary: Pronunciations can play automatically on lookup, accented words are easier to find
– More: Backups are much faster and keep the screen awake, and fixed freezes on App launch and in image-heavy chapters
more Version 0.12.10 6d ago
Data Not Linked to You The following data may be collected but it is not linked to your identity:
Location Usage Data Diagnostics 
