You can use the regular Kindle viewer once you jailbroke your kindle, but KOReader has native epub and pdf support so you don't have to use a converter when uploading your books.
I did find it hard to get the bezels to be even and it still doesn't always format well depending on the book. I still kind of prefer the default viewer.
I use this plugin in KOReader which lets you download books from Z-Library within KOReader.
Another cool thing is you can use custom fonts and dictionaries. I use the OED short version and the Wikipedia one. There's built in ones that it can download but pirated ones like OED you have to upload yourself.
Unfortunately on MacOS it seems you have to use Amazon's app to access the filesystem.
Edit:
They changed it on the newer Kindle which I have.
There's open source alternatives to the send to kindle app.
KOReader is my jam! With its reflow for PDFs, I've used it on my Kindle Oasis 2 to read everything for my undergrad and graduate degree. Some years ago now, I wrote a script that converts the annotations to Obsidian [0], and then another little script to automatically keep my "Articles" folders in sync between the Kindle and my laptop.
My wish is to see ebooks become first class citizens on all digital devices. Apple has a native ebook reader built in to their devices. It's cumbersome and bloated, but it's there. No web browser except Yandex has built in ebook support, even though it would be the easiest thing in the world. Android, Linux and Windows have no built-in ebook reader, as far as I know.
Murasaki [1] is the most performant and sleek ebook reader you can get for MacOS currently. It's magnificent, but the creator has regionally limited who can get it, unfortunately.
I installed it on my Amazon Kindle and I couldn't be happier.
It shows once again that free software is superior to proprietary software. Free software grows slowly to make users happier and not to attract them with useless features to extract more value from them.
Congratulations for this great piece of software.
I've been a Kindle user since way back in 2010 with a Kindle 3G. I had a pretty huge amount of money invested into a library of books on Kindle. I installed koreader on my paperwhite earlier this year and haven't looked back. Even if it weren't for the limitations put on the walled garden for books in the kindle ecosystem, just the software upgrade alone feels great. When you hit buttons in koreader it actually responds in less than a second. I hadn't even realized how frustrating the UX of the kindle OS was until I realized the hardware was capable of feeling snappy.
There's obviously a lot you need to provide yourself that Amazon gives "for free" with the Kindle ecosystem, but using koreader with OPDS and kosync for synchronizing progress across devices, I'm very happy to be just buying DRM-free books elsewhere and hosting a small OPDS+kosync server on my home server. Installing tailscale on my kindle makes it so I can even fetch books/sync progress when I'm away from home without needing to expose my book server to the internet.
It has super useful features like the semi-auto-cropping which removes margins in PDFs (like papers or books), including unnecessary things like page numbers or similar, so that you can really maximize the size of the core content. It also has a nice chapter overview and other useful things!
Truly one of the best pieces of software I have used so far.
It took me some time to know my way around it, but wow. I have it configured with some plugins, like zen ui and bookshelf. I Also use BookOrbit to sync reading progress and annotations between devices. Loving it.
I am using koreader on my ereader and KOreader has a native support for https://wallabag.org/. They are both fantastic opensource projects, whenever I like to read a blog post I am sending them to my wallabag and therefore I can easily have them on my ereader too.
Also the fact that you can install different plugin on KOreader and customize it in a way you like is fantastic.
for example just check:
I installed this the moment I got my Kobo Libra H2O. Mostly read fiction from the 1800s and early 1900s and I did not want to fight whatever proprietary software the reader came with (Kobo is probably better than the Kindle for this, but I never tried it!)
I have a problem with epubs though. This need to support every single thing under the sun makes the pipeline exceedingly complex. All you need for a vast majority of fiction is:
- headings
- paras
- emphasis (bold/italic)
- block quotes
Add simple "image" syntax to it to display maps etc from detective stories
Basically a ruthlessly cut down version of markdown.
The mini-readers from Xteink came in at the right time for such experimentation.
If you use a Kindle, you have to jailbreak it first before installing it. There's definitely been some improvements with user experience at least with apps since I first jailbroke it. There's like an appstore with games and KOReader that I use.
KOReader is so much better, including in how it renders typography and does typesetting than what ships on Kobo devices by default, it's sort of wild.
I actually made a mod to try to upgrade Kobo's built-in reader so it's more correct, i.e. more faithful to how KOReader renders text. Sharing it here since it may be interesting for anyone with Kobo e-readers: https://github.com/nicoverbruggen/NickelTypeFix
Did anyone made a comparison across different devices for running this? I am curious on what is the best device today to run it, and also the best when accounting for cost of the device too.
I finally installed this on my Kobo Libra 2. The UX is clunky but overall it works great. Very fast. Don’t need KEPUBS anymore as epubs render just as fast, where as that’s not the case on the stock software.
I finally got around to installing it as I got an xteink x3 and wanted to have cross device syncing back to my Grimmory server. Works great with OPDS and KOSync.
Although I miss using the native kobo sync where I could just add a book to my virtual shelf and have it auto sync to my device. OPDS seems very rudimentary in comparison, but it works nonetheless.
103 comments
[ 0.22 ms ] story [ 17.4 ms ] threadI did find it hard to get the bezels to be even and it still doesn't always format well depending on the book. I still kind of prefer the default viewer.
I use this plugin in KOReader which lets you download books from Z-Library within KOReader.
https://github.com/ZlibraryKO/zlibrary.koplugin
Another cool thing is you can use custom fonts and dictionaries. I use the OED short version and the Wikipedia one. There's built in ones that it can download but pirated ones like OED you have to upload yourself.
Unfortunately on MacOS it seems you have to use Amazon's app to access the filesystem.
Edit:
They changed it on the newer Kindle which I have.
There's open source alternatives to the send to kindle app.
Very grateful for this software!
[0]: https://github.com/simonpacis/kohico
Murasaki [1] is the most performant and sleek ebook reader you can get for MacOS currently. It's magnificent, but the creator has regionally limited who can get it, unfortunately.
[1] https://genjiapp.com/mac/murasaki/index_en.html
There's obviously a lot you need to provide yourself that Amazon gives "for free" with the Kindle ecosystem, but using koreader with OPDS and kosync for synchronizing progress across devices, I'm very happy to be just buying DRM-free books elsewhere and hosting a small OPDS+kosync server on my home server. Installing tailscale on my kindle makes it so I can even fetch books/sync progress when I'm away from home without needing to expose my book server to the internet.
31-mar-2025 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=43539103 106 comments
10-apr-2024 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=39996947 33 comments
It has super useful features like the semi-auto-cropping which removes margins in PDFs (like papers or books), including unnecessary things like page numbers or similar, so that you can really maximize the size of the core content. It also has a nice chapter overview and other useful things!
Truly one of the best pieces of software I have used so far.
And then the UX… great project but could use a systems guy used to jailbreaking installations and a UX designer
Edit: for kobo at least
Also the fact that you can install different plugin on KOreader and customize it in a way you like is fantastic. for example just check:
- https://github.com/doctorhetfield-cmd/simpleui.koplugin - https://github.com/AndyHazz/bookshelf.koplugin
Or with Lua you can develop your own plugin for that. to people who wanted to jailbreak their Kindle I can recommend these two links:
- https://kindlemodding.org/ - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qtk7ERwlIAk
All in all I am supper happy with KOreader and can't imagine to use anything else
I have a problem with epubs though. This need to support every single thing under the sun makes the pipeline exceedingly complex. All you need for a vast majority of fiction is:
- headings
- paras
- emphasis (bold/italic)
- block quotes
Add simple "image" syntax to it to display maps etc from detective stories
Basically a ruthlessly cut down version of markdown.
The mini-readers from Xteink came in at the right time for such experimentation.
This is the guide I used and it's up to date.
https://kindlemodding.org/
I actually made a mod to try to upgrade Kobo's built-in reader so it's more correct, i.e. more faithful to how KOReader renders text. Sharing it here since it may be interesting for anyone with Kobo e-readers: https://github.com/nicoverbruggen/NickelTypeFix
It's nice to have another option though and if the UX improves one day maybe I'll use it as my main reader.
I finally got around to installing it as I got an xteink x3 and wanted to have cross device syncing back to my Grimmory server. Works great with OPDS and KOSync.
Although I miss using the native kobo sync where I could just add a book to my virtual shelf and have it auto sync to my device. OPDS seems very rudimentary in comparison, but it works nonetheless.