Two ways to use it
| Connected to a server | Library on the phone | |
|---|---|---|
| Where the library is | Your server | The phone |
| Stories from fiction sites | Yes, everything the server has | Yes. The phone checks and downloads them itself. |
| Your own ebooks | Yes, on the server | Yes, stored in the app |
| Needs a network | Yes, unless you've saved stories for offline reading | Only to fetch new chapters and to sync |
| Sharing with other devices | Automatic. It's the same library. | Through Google Drive |
The app asks which you want the first time it opens. You can switch later in Settings, and switching doesn't delete either one.
Connecting to a server
- Enter the server address, for example
http://minipc.lan:8080. The app tests it and tells you what happened. - Enter the access token if your server uses one.
- Choose your profile from the list.
https://localhost in FR_CORS_ORIGINS. Without it, the app can't read the server's replies. If the app says it can't connect and you're sure the address is right, check that first. See Running a server.A home server normally uses plain HTTP, and the app allows that. When you're away from home, reach the server over a VPN. Don't open a port on your router.
A library on the phone
In this mode the phone has its own library. It keeps a database in the app's private storage, imports your book files through Android's file picker, and follows, checks and downloads stories from fiction sites itself.
Everything you do is saved on the phone straight away, with or without a network. In airplane mode the app still works. Only syncing and fetching new chapters wait.
FanFiction.net is a special case. It only answers a real browser, and the phone uses the app's own built-in browser for that. Stories from it are only checked while the app is open.
Switching between them
Settings → Android connection switches between the two. Both are kept side by side, each with its own data. Switching never copies or merges one into the other.
Checking in the background
When the library is on the phone, Check for new chapters in the background is off by default, since it uses battery and data. The setting stays on this phone and isn't synced.
With it on, the phone checks every few hours, even while the app is closed. A second switch, on by default, limits that to Wi-Fi. With it off, the app checks when you open it or come back to it.
Reading on a phone
The reading view is the one described in Reading, with two differences:
- Long-press selects text with Android's own handles. The highlight toolbar appears once you've made a selection.
- The back button closes an open panel first, then returns to the story. A second press is needed to leave the app.
Keep the screen awake in the reading settings stops the screen dimming while you read.
Google Drive on the phone
A library on the phone syncs through Google Drive the same way the desktop does. See More than one device. Two things are particular to Android:
- Book files only transfer on Wi-Fi by default. You can allow a single transfer on mobile data after confirming it.
- Forget the local Drive library deletes the library, books and key stored on this phone. The copy in Drive isn't touched. Use it before passing the phone on to someone else.
What a library on the phone leaves out
A few things need a server, so they aren't offered:
- archive search;
- adding a pasted list of stories in one go;
- webhook notifications (the phone uses its own notifications);
- archive verification and the proxy settings;
- the scheduled reading-list backup.
Settings still lists these, greyed out, with a line saying why.
Downloaded chapters of web stories don't sync between devices yet, so a phone following a story fetches its own copies. See What travels.