Calibre Companion Reviews

by Folkengine

I would love to pay the developers of this application for a Pro version that pays for their hard work. It’s worth it to me. What I don’t want to do is to pay for a subscription service. I definitely don’t want to be hammered with random loud ads at random intervals. In the end the aggravation simply isn’t worth it. I’m choosing to just uninstall CalibreCompanion and download through other methods. There are too many alternatives built into Apple products to put up with this annoyware.

by Chad_fitz

When trying to input server data, the keyboard covers up the buttons and fields, preventing you from seeing or selecting covered fields or even clicking ‘OK’ to confirm your entry.

Also, unless you’re going to pay a subscription for what largely appears to be an app with the same functionality as the free web page created by Calibre for accessing books on the server (which works great in iOS except for the constant need to re-enter credentials as though I was accessing a financial account), you’ll be confronted with annoying ads for the paid version every time you open CalibreCompanion . I might consider paying if it was a one-time fee, but a subscription model is for me, like with most things, out of the question. I’d rather pay $200 once than $5 per month—I don’t want to have to remember the charge, and I want to have something approximating genuine ownership of the things that I buy.

by LaluBaggins

This latest update deleted all of my books from CalibreCompanion which I use on my iPad. I thought it wasn’t a big deal because I could just sync everything again. But once I did, I found it very hard to navigate. Whenever I type a book tittle it won’t search for it. It will also not sort things in any order. I tried sorting by date, author, etc and nothing. My books are all there I can see them but when I search for anything specifically it doesn't work anymore.

by S&Cprof

CalibreCompanion used to cost a few bucks to purchase- I happily paid for it, and it was a great app. The conversion to a subscription mode is unfortunate, but understandable, in order to stay sustainable. What isn’t understandable, and is a really jerk move by the developer, is to lock me out of CalibreCompanion I already paid for if I don’t start the subscription service. According to the launch screen, I only get to skip starting the subscription dialog three times...

by CyFan 96

After the upgrade, CalibreCompanion seems to have a mind of it’s own. I also lost all of my books. Plus I can’t get CalibreCompanion to do anything now. It was just a big waste of money! It bothers me that the developers released a buggy update with KNOWN PROBLEMS and seemingly no concern for potential loss of an entire library of books. It also bothers me that when I bought CalibreCompanion , I believed it to be a one-time purchase. The new developer is planning on making CalibreCompanion subscription based. Great, now we are going to be nickeled and dimed on something that should be free to use after the initial purchase. Based on the way we have been treated by this developer, I will be reluctant to purchase anything by Mr. Cohen again. Greed and ineptitude have ruined a great product.

by ChesterGreenBird

I purchased CalibreCompanion a month ago today for $4.99 plus tax. At first it did not work for me because it would not let me sign in to my OneDrive account. Calibre Companion’s App Store page said they were working on fixing this, so I decided to wait. Meanwhile, a couple weeks later, I figured out how to enable 2-step verification for OneDrive, and I was able to log in with Authenticator. Today I saw there was an update to CalibreCompanion , but now it tells me I need to become a premium member (monthly/yearly fees), but I did not see anything about this before the update! I did not buy CalibreCompanion with a view to continued purchases.

by Mindonly0

Like the majority of the recent posts and reviews on CalibreCompanion, I am greatly disappointed with the developers decision to go subscription! I have been using calibre library on my laptop, and Calibre companion on my iPad and iPhone for many years having paid for and appreciated it’s simplicity and flexibility.

I am simply disenfranchised by this and so many other applications which in recent times, developers have decided to, Basically take advantage of those who have respectively purchased an application in a market please where virtual commodities seem to imply that the consumer has less rights to propriety subsequent to purchase then in a typical brick and mortar commodities industry.

It is time that Apple or CalibreCompanion Store take the lead in a market place where regulations are still significantly lagging and either antiquated or inappropriate , in the rapidly changing virtual market place, and develop policies that protect the consumer of their commodities and hold vendors to the usual implied contractual responsibility to their consumers. Consideration could be given to how “possession” is defined and perhaps those who have previously purchased and now “possess” an application on their device can, by way of a grandfather clause, be protected from back end coercion into subscription charges that we’re not part of the original purchase terms and agreement.

Sorry Calibre for the rant, but you deserve it!

by American_Desi

I started using Calibre to organize my e-books when I realized how unreliable iBooks was. Calibre used to be pretty good.

Now CalibreCompanion tries to force me every time I load it up to subscribe to a subscription service I don’t need. There are constant ads everywhere which make it extremely annoying. I am very disappointed that I paid for CalibreCompanion and got a good product that got broken by the developers’ choice to change to a subscription service. This wasn’t part of the deal that I signed up for when I paid for it.

by Piovac

I bought the premium application several years ago while it was developed by another company. Now, with the latest upgrade by the new developer, this application reverted to a trial version, asking for a subscription fee. I understand that the new developer wants to move to a subscription model to found the development. Nevertheless, it should have done that by creating a new app and leaving the old one unmaintained. I am not sure that the operation performed by the developer complied with the terms of CalibreCompanion Store. In any case, I consider it quite inappropriate. I urge to have my application (the one that I pay for) back. If not I am gong to escalate the issue to Apple.

by R. Uncle Pennybags

I've already bought CalibreCompanion but it's now become a subscription one with obnoxious ads if you don't sign up. If you're expecting people to pay subscription fees you should at least polish the ugly UI and make it possible to send books to the Books app in bulk. I would have even been ok with paying an additional fee for CalibreCompanion, even though I paid it once, but I simply do not want a subscription and don't think this bait and switch is reasonable.

by AC4LT

At one point in time this worked wonderfully to sync my ipad with my Calibre library. When I try to connect now it connects and starts its “initial sync” but after 30 or so seconds it appears to disconnect. No error is given. It just silently fails. I don’t have the time or patience to deal with bad software. It’s bad enough that it fails but it’s even worse that it fails with no explanation.

Your mileage may vary. You may never trip over the issue I’m experiencing but since I’ve got no way to tell what happened to cause this it’s possible you may.

by E3dward

I happily paid for CalibreCompanion a while back, but lately the subscription model is basically an annoying barrier to using CalibreCompanion . Now, with latest update, it’s also asking me iCloud login every time I use it. So performance is degrading, but the dev is asking me to pay a subscription fee.

by Snow-raven

Even as a free version user, I find CalibreCompanion very helpful for accessing my Dropbox-stored libraries. It takes advantage of some of the primary advantages I see to using Calibre, including tag searching and cover display.
The biggest complaint that I would like to request some attention to is whatever goes on while CalibreCompanion is in the background. I’m usually using my Calibre libraries during research, which often requires juggling multiple apps. When in the background, CalibreCompanion resets to the home screen and disconnects from my cloud server. You can imagine how annoying this is.
I do also have two feature requests. I have two libraries in Dropbox. It would make more sense to me to select which library to connect to from the home screen, rather than connecting and loading a library & then having to switch. This seems counterintuitive, and I am constantly hunting for this selection. There’s also a bug of some sort that always indicates the library I want (but which isn’t currently connected) selected, so I have to toggle twice to get it to actually load.
Finally, it would be lovely if some additional search functions loaded, as I find Subject my most useful tool for finding references.
Thanks for making this handy tool! I’d be happy to chip in for its development, if you could see your way to abandoning the subscription model. There are too many of those in our lives these days.

by Oscalla92

Not a bad little app. I like being able to tote so many of my books with me directly from Calibre. I agree with an earlier reviewer who said the lack of a reader function is the main drawback. I had to learn how to use Marvin to be able to read the books. If the creator develops a built-in reader function so you don’t have to transfer books, CalibreCompanion would be GOLD!

by DsrtTrkr

I have been using CC for a while on my iPad and iPhone and it has worked without flaw in the past, but since IOS 11 came out it has been kind of glitchy. It was offline for a while but now the update has made it compatible with IOS 11, it is working fine on my iPhone, but still a few issues with iPad.
CalibreCompanion serves me well and I do recommend it for getting your books from calibre to your preferred device.

by JP91306

Calibre is hands down the most sophisticated and useful tool for managing an ebook collection. Filled with many controls and tools to convert, edit, sort, add information, and even be a server to other devices. Email books to devices or let them pull directly from the database. Much much more. And it is FREE and very well supported!

by Mgpappano

I bought this subscription for my mom as a gift for her birthday and she absolutely loves it! There are so many stories to pick from on Calibre which makes the price totally worth it! If you or anyone you know loves their books organized, then this is CalibreCompanion for you!

by Veritas1971

I find nothing more frustrating than trying to side load ePub and PDF documents to an Apple device. CalibreCompanion in conjunction with the PC based Calibre system does it easily and quickly. Now I can pursue two of my retirement projects. Read every Weird Tales edition that I have digitized and every copy of my college newspaper (the Cowl)for the years I was there in time for my 50th reunion next year. Thank you.

by Yorye

Man! I just do not get these negative reviews. It organizes the books in Calibre in a number of useful ways and provides a very easy way to transfer the books. My Calibre library is stored on Dropbox, so no matter where I am, as long as I have an internet connection, I can get any of my books without connection to my PC, which is quite useful since I never take my PC traveling. Sure there are a number of other ways to set up Calibre to access your books, locally and remotely, but none as simple and reliable as CC.

by ShadowReikaz

I absolutely love CalibreCompanion. The amount of stories I have in Calibre is insane. And to have an app on my iPad that allows me to connect remotely is awesome! The subscription part isn’t too big of an issue, about the price of KU for a month, except this one is for a year. Totally worth it in my opinion. I’ve had CalibreCompanion for a few days now, I haven’t come across any issues. I would definitely recommend this to anyone who wants an app that can make it easier to get your books or stories to your tablet without the hassle of connecting or emailing to yourself and what not. Definitely 5 stars from me.

by Smoke2002

The newest update is a complete & total failure!! It completely removes all your books from your library...and the really sad part is that the developer knew it would happen & released it anyway without any word of warning to the users. His quote was that he didn’t think it was that big of a deal.

The fact that he now wants to make users pay a subscription for an app they already paid full price for is also infuriating. I have absolutely no trust in him at all.

Buyer beware!!

by Cammie80

I liked Calibre Companion and was happy to pay for it to keep my ebook library available on my devices. Since it automatically updated I have now lost all my books, the comment was that they didn’t think it was a big deal to reload everything. This combined to with the move to a monthly subscriptions means it’s time to research an alternate method and delete this now useless app.

by Danniritter

The most recent update cleared my database. All of my books are gone. I know I can move them over again when I connect to Calibre, but I was not happy to discover that everything is gone after updating. Anything I've done on my iPad since I've last connected to my computer is gone. This is super annoying. If I knew it was going to delete everything, I would have waited to update 😠

by Bangbangboogie

I thought this included a reader function, but it's just a way to move your books over from calibre. Works ok for me over wireless so far to move the books over without problem; but, lacking a built in reader, you still have to then copy them over to a reader app.

by ShaneJ017

This was a good purchase in my opinion, but there are quite a few glitches and download from content server issues I have noticed. Also, I really wish CalibreCompanion had a dark mode since the white really hurts m eyes.

by Khike7

I don’t want to pay for someone else’s paid storage service, so I have tried Calibre Companion as an alternate way to upload and read books. The interface with Marvin is good. Also, I send some material to Write PDF. But it’s Calibre Companion that makes the transfer possible. Thank you!

by Hogen123456

I have app on my IPad, my Calibre library on my Mac. Works well to transfer books and organize them before sending them to the Kindle app. Thank you, Hogen