News: Desktops and Laptops

FBReader 2.5 RC 1 is now available for macOS, Windows and Linux. Highlights include a redesigned library, integration with the Readino bookshop, and text-to-speech.

We started the FBReader 2.2 beta series more than a year ago. The release has taken longer than planned, and we have added many new features since those betas. To reflect these additions, we are releasing the update as version 2.5.

We believe this release candidate is ready for everyday use. We plan to publish the stable 2.5 release in the coming weeks, either unchanged or with a few final fixes.

Here are the main changes since the latest stable release, 2.1.5:

• Library and network catalogues
  • Redesigned library and book details pages
  • Multiple book selection and batch actions
  • Favourites and custom shelves, synchronised through the FBReader Book Network
  • More reliable Book Network connections and improved recovery from failed uploads
  • OPDS 2.0 support, including grouped catalogues, filters, account profiles, and sign-in via a browser or QR code
  • Readino bookshop integration, including purchases and saved books. Enabled by default in the US, the UK and Australia. In other countries, you can enable it in the network catalogue settings.
  • Borrowing from compatible online libraries
• Book reading
  • Audio and video playback in EPUB books
  • Reading aloud using an installed system text-to-speech engine
  • Support for CBR and CB7 comics, with improved metadata handling
  • Improved display of image-based, fixed-layout EPUB books
• Other improvements
  • Full keyboard navigation: all features can be accessed without a mouse
  • Experimental feature: bookmark export and import
  • Many smaller fixes and improvements

The key new feature in the 2.2 series is support for OPDS 2.0 catalogues. OPDS 2.0 offers richer capabilities compared to the older OPDS 1.x format. FBReader fully supports all OPDS 2.0 features, including groups, facets, and authentication.

OPDS 2.0 is already widely adopted by public library services and will serve as the main API for the upcoming Readino bookshop.

As always, we invite all users to try the beta and report any issues they encounter. The final release of FBReader 2.2 is planned for September 2025.

This release also reduces integration with the Russian-language ЛитРес store. Due to the ongoing degradation of their API, FBReader will now only provide access to books already purchased by users. We will maintain this limited access for as long as it remains technically feasible.

We have also released a long-awaited standalone installer for FBReader 2.1.3 for Windows. Please read the note on the packages page before installing.

This update does not introduce any major new features. Instead, we have focused on refining the app by improving stability and fixing minor issues:

• Cloud synchronisation: Improved stability
• Preferences window: Better look on Windows 11
• ePub3: Implemented support for table of contents in XHTML navigation format
• Interface language selection: New option available under Information → Language
• Keyboard shortcuts: Page Up and Page Down keys can now be used for page turning, alongside the arrow keys and Space
• OPDS catalogues: Fixed issue with URLs containing spaces
• Library: added tooltips for books
• Text settings: Increased maximum font size in preferences
• Page header settings: New macro: %authors%

The update is fully released for Mac and Linux, and is available on the Windows Store. Standalone installer package for Windows will be published later due to technical reasons.

In the September update:

• The app now uses image sizes specified in CSS
• Error messages have been made clearer
• Minor improvements to the UI and security

A month after launching the 2.1 series, we release the first minor update for all three desktop platforms. In this update:

• We’ve added two new interface translations – Bulgarian and Spanish – based on the languages popularity among our users.
• The library window has been slightly redesigned to fix a few bugs and to make the covers look a bit brighter.
• Image background adjustments in reading mode have been clarified: the darkening and lightening effects now depend on the background colour rather than the application theme.
• LCPL file detection has been improved to work even when the file has a wrong extension.