Loudreader

Productivity

ebook reader

SHOW HN2021

Legend

Loudreader

A usable eBook reader inside a browser (azw3, mobi, ePub, pdf)

loudreader.com

#ebook reader#epub reader#browser reader#pdf reader

297points
69comments
#115of 2,533 in 2021
Top 5%of 2021 by points

How HN took it

MixedNo clear lean

11 positive, 14 neutral or asking, 6 mixed, 9 critical, out of 40 comments about the project. Thread score 0.00.

Idea: 4 for, 2 againstExecution: 1 for, 3 againstDesign: 2 for, 1 againstPerformance: 0 for, 1 against

The thread, comment by comment

Each row is a top-level comment and its replies, in HN's order. Select a cell to open that comment on HN.

positive neutral or mixed critical about another commenter or something else the maker

What HN said

What people liked

  • Useful and usable for reading in the browser

    From 3 comments
    • Revolutionary concept to be able to read HTML based ebook formats in a browser! But seriously, nice job.
      napier on HN
    • Wow. Thanks! This will be useful
      tsjq on HN
    • I ran this in a Oculus Quest2 HMD and loving it !! In the native browser it lets me access local storage content. Can't do that in Firefox Reality but the browser's screen size…
      jimmySixDOF on HN

Objections

  • Missing layout options like line height, margins and page width

    From 4 comments
    • Solid start. The page layout options could use a bit more work: 1. It initially defaults to showing two facing pages per screen, but the selector shows "Read a chapter as a long…
      mrec on HN
    • I like it! It needs more display options, like line-height, and margin size. I also accidentally scrolled with my touchpad and was moved to the very beginning, then very end when…
      abrowne on HN
    • Great work! I join the margins bandwagon: when displaying a single column, it would be great to be able to have a not too big page width, as very long lines on a desktop monitor…
      corecoder on HN
    • Awesome project. I'm not sure if it's just in Firefox, but I would recommend that you be a little more aggressive with the whitespace in the books. I've found that iBooks has a…
      mmastrac on HN
  • Does not save place or book when page reloads or tab closes

    From 2 comments
    • Can you describe what motivated you to build an ebook reader for the browser, when multiple free desktop and mobile book readers exist? Also, do I need to keep the screen open if…
      SamBam on HN
    • This is pretty rad on my iPhone. It’s be nice if it didn’t lose my place and my book when I closed the tab.
      jamesgeck0 on HN
  • Broken or unusable on mobile and iPad

    From 3 comments
    • Not usable on mobile
      boffinism on HN
    • Can’t it to turn pages or do anything on mobile. Great idea though!
      vehemenz on HN
    • On iPad, it’s impossible to see the bottom of the page. It scrolls back up by itself. There’s a blink as well when it happens. Also, please block double tap/triple tap. They…
      lrossi on HN

Requests

  • Persist reading position and book across sessions

    From 3 comments
    • Can you describe what motivated you to build an ebook reader for the browser, when multiple free desktop and mobile book readers exist? Also, do I need to keep the screen open if…
      SamBam on HN
    • hey, I actually was working on something similar ( forking from https://github.com/satorumurmur/bibi which is an open source epub reader ), but my objective was to allow a) To…
      xtracto on HN
    • This is pretty rad on my iPhone. It’s be nice if it didn’t lose my place and my book when I closed the tab.
      jamesgeck0 on HN
  • Add margin and line-spacing controls

    From 3 comments
    • I am very opinionated. My ebook reader requirements: - [ ] let me set colors for background and text. Extra points for saving more than two sets. - [ ] let me choose my own font,…
      dsr_ on HN
    • I like it! It needs more display options, like line-height, and margin size. I also accidentally scrolled with my touchpad and was moved to the very beginning, then very end when…
      abrowne on HN
    • Great work! I join the margins bandwagon: when displaying a single column, it would be great to be able to have a not too big page width, as very long lines on a desktop monitor…
      corecoder on HN
  • Open source license

    From 2 comments
    • Very cool project! Is it open sourced?
      casmith on HN
    • Would be cool if it was MPL, BSD, or MIT Licensed. Could eventually be embedded into browsers.
      Phrodo_00 on HN
  • Load files from Google Drive or Dropbox

    From 2 comments
    • Excellent. Just a couple nitpicks (on Linux Chromium): * Hovering over either button on the top right opens a menu. I'm pretty sure only the far right is supposed to. * Needs an…
      anderspitman on HN
    • hey, I actually was working on something similar ( forking from https://github.com/satorumurmur/bibi which is an open source epub reader ), but my objective was to allow a) To…
      xtracto on HN

Questions

  • Is it open source?

    From 2 comments
    • This is really good! I couldn't find a good lightweight ePub reader. Is it open source though? I'd love to customize it a bit :)
      imedadel on HN
    • Very cool project! Is it open sourced?
      casmith on HN
  • Does it upload books or work offline?

    From 1 comment
    • How can one tell if the books are being uploaded somewhere or not? Can this work offline?
      cableclasper on HN

Alternatives named

  • Foliate

    From 2 comments
    • Foliate is a wonderful FOSS ePub reader for Linux. It seems to offer all of the customization options you listed. https://johnfactotum.github.io/foliate/
      dublinben on HN
    • Foliate fits perfectly: - [x] colors - [x] Fonts - [x] Font size - [x] Margins/padding/spacing - [x] Page scroll. no animations - [x] Keyboard shortcuts - [x] Footnotes…
      captn3m0 on HN
  • Calibre

    From 2 comments
    • Have you tried calibre? It’s a proper ebook reader app that allows you to define custom dictionary URL patterns.
      k_sze on HN
    • Not GP, but the reader included in Calibre would fit.
      square_usual on HN
  • KOReader

    From 1 comment
    • FBReader on Android; KOReader on many platforms; EPUBReader extension for Firefox (requires tinkering to get the fonts right now, would use any locally installed font in earlier…
      dsr_ on HN
  • Bibi

    From 1 comment
    • There's BIbi which is a nice open source ePub reader ( https://github.com/satorumurmur/bibi )
      xtracto on HN

Category, keywords, summaries and labels on this page were made by AI (Thread Reader v2) and not checked by hand. Each point links to the comments it came from.

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