FBReader for Android
FBReader for Android is almost as old as Android itself is. It is running on devices running Android 1.5 or higher. Of course, the latest versions of the reader require modern Android OS.
Free and Premium editions
Since June 2015, FBReader for Android is available in two editions, Free and Premium. You can install the free version from Google Play, Huawei AppGallery, or this site. The Premium is currently only available (for a fee) on Google Play. However, if you purchased the Premium, you can download the package directly from our site. We will add the Premium to AppGallery in 2022.
The Premium version includes support for additional formats, reading aloud for text formats (not for PDF and DjVu), and Google Translate integration.
The Premium purchase is one-time; it is not a subscription. By purchasing, you support the FBReader project.
Latest release: 3.1 beta 41, published 6th September 2022
If you install FBReader from Google Play or Huawei AppGallery, you will get the “stable” release 3.0.35. However, we also have the “upcoming” version 3.1. It is published on beta track on the Google Play. However, we consider it the new stable version and recommend installing it instead of 3.0.35. We will not update the 3.0.x series anymore.
Our next goal on Android is to release 3.1 officially. We will do this later in 2022.
If you are a user of paid FBReader Premium, join the beta track. If not, you can purchase FBReader Premium on Google Play and join the beta track immediately. You pay once; this is not a subscription.
Alternatively, you can download the package from this site. If your device runs Google Play or Huawei AppGallery, you will be prompted to purchase the license during the first run. Unfortunately, the Huawei store link does not work at the moment. The purchase via AppGallery will be available after the 3.1 release.
If both Google Play Services and Huawei AppGallery are not installed on your device or if your device is an Onyx e-ink reader, you can run the Premium 3.1 for free.
The bad news is that if you have paid via Google Play and switched to a pure Huawei device, you have to pay again. We reserve the right to add more stores to this scheme in the future.
Supported formats
FBReader understands many ebook formats. The cross-platform FBReader engine opens text-based formats like ePub, fb2 and others. However, FBReader for Android also supports image-based files: PDF, DjVu, and comics. This support works via third-party libraries. To open PDFs in FBReader Free, you need to install an additional module named PDF plugin. FBReader Premium incorporates PDF support into the main app. As for DjVu, both versions require the plugin. We cannot embed the plugin into Premium Edition due to license issues.
Download FBReader and plugins
The latest released packages of FBReader are
- FBReader Free
- FBReader Premium (works if purchased on Google Play)
- PDF plugin
- DjVu plugin
- Comics plugin
For older packages, please visit the archive page.
For developers
Until release 2.7, FBReader source code was dual-licensed: GPL and commercial. Unfortunately, GPL violations became a common thing. Currently, the source code is closed.
If you consider using the latest FBReader engine in your own app, please look at FBReader SDK. It is a commercial framework distributed in binary form. You can download the SDK and test it in demo mode before deciding.
The full sources of FBReader 2.6.15 for Android 2.x are available under the GPL from the git repository at GitHub.
