Where it's offered
Offline reading is in the desktop app and the Android app. A browser tab can't do it.
If the Android app keeps its own library on the phone, you don't need any of this. That library is already on the device and works without a network.
Saving a story
The app uses two different words, and they mean different things:
| Word | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Download | Your library fetches a chapter from the fiction site. |
| Save on this device | This device keeps a copy of text your library already has. |
You can save a story from:
- the right-click menu on a card, in the library or in My Books;
- the On this device card on a story's screen, which also shows how much is saved and how much space it uses;
- a selection of chapters on the story screen, with Save on device.
Saving copies the chapter text and pictures from your library. It never fetches anything from a fiction site. If a story is subscribed but not downloaded yet, there's nothing to copy, and the app tells you so.
Keeping a copy current
A saved copy stays as it is until you press Update. If you turn on Keep it current for a story, new chapters are copied onto the device as your library downloads them. Settings → Offline reading can limit that to Wi-Fi and cap how much space the copies use.
The three modes
In Settings → Offline reading:
| Mode | What it does |
|---|---|
| Automatic | The default. Uses your library when it can be reached and this device when it can't. |
| Work offline | Doesn't contact the server at all. Useful on a metered or unreliable connection. Nothing you read is sent back until you leave this mode. |
| Off | Nothing is saved on the device, and every screen needs the server. |
Automatic handles having no network at all, and also the more common case: a phone with a good signal that has left the house, so the server at home can't be reached. If a request fails or goes unanswered for about ten seconds, the app switches to its saved copies. It checks every twenty seconds and switches back when the library answers.
What works with no connection
- The library and My Books list only what's saved on this device.
- Saved chapters open from the device, with their pictures.
- A chapter that isn't saved shows a message saying so.
- Anything that needs the network, such as subscribing, refreshing, browsing a site or uploading a book, is refused with a sentence saying why.
A bar across the top of the app says whether you chose to work offline or the library couldn't be reached. In the reading view it's a small Offline label in the corner.
Saved chapters are read from the device even when you're connected. If an author edits a chapter, the app notices that its copy is out of date and replaces it.
What you read gets back
What you do while disconnected is kept on the device and sent when the library can be reached: chapters marked read or unread, reading positions, dismissed edits, and highlights and notes.
Deleting a chapter's text after reading is never queued this way. It only happens while you're connected.
Work offline also holds the queue back. Nothing is sent until you leave that mode.
Managing what's stored
Settings → Offline reading lists what's saved, how much space each story uses, and how many changes are waiting to be sent. You can remove a story from there, from its own screen, or from the shelf menu. Removing a copy only frees space on the device. Your library isn't affected.
Unsubscribing from a story removes its copy from the device as well.
The On device filter on the library and My Books shelves shows only what's saved.
This isn't sync, and it isn't a backup
- Sync keeps two full libraries in step. A device copy is one device holding part of one library.
- A backup protects you from losing the library. A device copy doesn't.
- A device copy never contacts a fiction site. It only copies what the library already has.