Hello. Today I'm requesting a portable version of what I consider to be the best software for reading ebooks.
I consider it so for several reasons:
1. It's free and open source.
2. It offers a (albeit minimal) cloud storage for syncing files, notes, and reading progress.
3. It can open multiple ebook formats, including the problematic fixed epub3 format that plagues more popular ebook readers.
4. It's cross-platform: macOS, Windows, Linux, Android, iOS, and the web.
5. It receives regular updates.
6. It works perfectly.
Therefore, I'm not asking for something that's of personal interest to me; it's something I consider important, even essential, for the vast majority of users.
Application: Readest
Website: https://readest.com/
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Two ebook readers already available:
TLDR; In what is it better? Any examples of files tiring SumatraPDF!?
¹Stable releases.
'Life is a strategy game, where roles are already distributed'
― Neo Buddha ―
The unbearable lightness of being.
Life happens only once ("einmal ist keinmal," what happens once is as if it never happened at all), our decisions have no eternal echo. We cannot rehearse life or compare paths. Lacking a lasting impact, life becomes incredibly light, insignificant... fleeting.
Readest is in a league of its own, and you just confirmed that by trying to compare it to others because you don't know it.
I simply won't compare it because even in something that should be basic these days (working on any platform, including the web), it's incomparable; it's simply better. Legacy support is so outdated that even Microsoft itself has abandoned it, leaving dinosaurs like you and me high and dry. The next Windows will be even worse in that regard; legacy support is no longer appealing to anyone. Download a graphic novel in fixed-width ePub3 format and try reading it with your SumatraPDF. Want an example?
Nothing about life in my post & If I know something (or not) is still personal.
About the next Windows: "In a throwaway society, the fast fashion rules".
On-topic: You did not give any 'concrete' example of a requested epub3 file.
'Life is a strategy game, where roles are already distributed'
― Neo Buddha ―
You're the one who's lost track of the topic, and it seems you have little clue when you keep asking me to tell you what a fixed-width epub3 file is.
If this is your approach, it's best to drop it; it's not worth my time, and even less yours.
Regards, and thanks for nothing.
I just wanted PortableApps to address a deficiency: the lack of an ebook reader in its app library, instead of a PDF editor or a simple multi-format viewer, which are completely unsuitable for our purpose.
Furthermore, it should meet your usual conditions: be free and open source. Readest should be compared to Adobe Digital Editions, Thorium Reader, Icecream Ebook Reader, and similar programs. But of course, you might not even know what they are because, coincidentally, PortableApps doesn't have any of them. It does have Calibre, which is a beast used for a much more substantial purpose than simply reading ebooks.
Okay, that's it. My free consultation for you is over.