PocketBook Reader Reviews

by Karma3333333

PocketBook Reader is a unique, outstanding reader for people who like continuous, non-stop scrolling. No other app offers this luxury to read page after page without hands. But the latest update has broken the custom margin adjustment. Now, as soon as you adjust the margin for one page, the margin adjustment for the previous page disappears.

Many books have different margin spacing for even and odd numbered pages. Even and odd require different margin adjustments. That feature worked very well until this latest update. The broken feature now makes continuous scrolling, page after page, no longer possible for many books. Please repair this wonderful, but now broken, custom margin adjustment feature. Until then, I cannot use PocketBook Reader any longer for many of my PDF books.

by Julo Satran

Now it doesn’t even open books already on the device - those I read once. I will removit from my iPad.
—————— older review
I was initially impressed by the application - mainly due to the UI - my initial review is attached. Unfortunately it is getting worse - some books take ages to display if at all. OPDS is not working - and I gave their support access to my calibre server to test but never heard them (but other readers work with it and so does a browser). It slowly gets unusable.
———————- original review
But I The name is nostalgic reminder of popular reader more than 15 years ago. The UI is innovative and good. The layout of the books is very good. I would recomment adding a sellection of fonts. So far I did play only with epub books but I plan to check some more. The Library support appears to be multilingual but I could not find a language selector. Also I could not access my home OPDS server (that I can access in Kybook).

by Takerzmuse

I’ve been on the hunt for a better reader than my usual go-to and decided to give PocketBookReader a try. In a lot of ways I really do like it—it has a scroll mode where most have only page mode, which I need due to attention issues—but it’s nearly impossible to read light novels that contain illustrations.

Because of my vision, I need to increase the text size, HOWEVER! When I do so, it cuts off text above illustrations. The only solution I’ve found is to decrease text size and read what was cut off before increasing text size again. But that takes time I’d rather be using reading. Not to mention that the further I am in the novel, the more difficult not losing my place becomes with the resizing. :/

by Roadgecko352

Reply to developer:
I had books in my app. I was reading one. I open app and find I am logged out. It refuses to log me in. Instead of giving me the option to log in it keeps trying to make me create a new account. I go through new account creation, I think, using my previous user name and password. It lets me into PocketBookReader . No books, books are gone. Now it will not let me add books. It does not see the books download to my device. Is that more clear?

Halfway through reading a book I own on Smashwords PocketBookReader logs me out and deletes all my books. Now I have no idea where I stopped reading in the book. I also can’t get it to recognize any of the books saved to my device or get it to let me add new ones. What good is a book reader with no book or access to books.

by Jakeindc

I’ve tried opening a book and it hung for about 15 minutes and finally “sort of” opened. But then I wasn’t able to get past the first page of the book. Closed PocketBookReader and it gets stuck trying to open the book again. Deleted PocketBookReader , rebooted, reinstalled a book that I knew didn’t have DRM and same issue. Verified that my internet was working (200mbps down and 100 up), so it is not a connection issue. I do software testing as my job. I don’t want to have to do it on apps I get to relax by reading.

Update-now that I have tried and failed to open a book multiple times, when I was finally able to get back to the “home page” there are multiple copies of the book. Sigh!!!

by EmilyApricot

Fails to offer what I want: a premium eBooks store that supports Text to Speech (TTS). However, it seems workable for imported visual reading. The embedded dictionary also works. Also, offering The Lost World by A.C. Doyle (1995) free with PocketBookReader is generous. Starting TTS is a little obtuse, requiring a longpress on the text to start, but it works quite well. The bookstore is still down after trying multiple times this week. To the developer: I would suggest not including broken features in PocketBookReader including 'ReadRate' in the upper right corner in read view, and an unreliable bookstore. These additions can make the entire app appear broken to a newcomer.

by Low_mileage

I export a file from dropbox on my iPhone and told it to open in PocketBook Reader. It worked. HOWEVER, whenever I want to open PocketBook reader or simply switch back to it from another app it begins syncing and the icon keeps rotating and it seems to take forever. Like 20 or 30 seconds or more. This is very frustrating. Other readers I have used almost immediately open to the page I was reading. This is the only negative to PocketBookReader that I’ve come across and it seems to be only on the newer version. Prior versions open quickly to the page I was reading and it was very simple. No idea what changed.

by Alnicat347

I used to love reading my books off of PocketBookReader, which was a lot because I’m an absolute book nerd. However, I noticed that after a recent update that it doesn’t open up my ebooks properly anymore. I was in the middle of an ebook, but after the update it fails to load. Instead it just shows a white screen with a little green book that just keeps turning pages over and over again. I’ve waited for long periods of time while on that screen to see if there was just difficulty loading the ebook, but that isn’t the case. Please please please tell me how to fix this if it’s a problem on my end!!! I’ve used PocketBookReader for ages on all sorts of devices and I’ve never had a problem with it before now.

by 123546756787

(EDIT) Elaborating. The quick action zones make it so that if you, say, tap on the right side of the page screen it will go forward one page. However, this is completely unnecessary and makes no sense in scroll mode where there are no pages. In settings you can only change each zone from being forward or back. There needs to be an option to disable them altogether so that they are not accidentally tapped.

Would rate this five stars if it were possible to disable quick action zones completely. They are such a nuisance especially in continuous scroll mode where it is useless and only makes it harder to select etc.

by AKA$H25

Hey I just got PocketBookReader and it seems pretty neat. One small issue I was seeing is that when I scroll quickly it kinda lags and stutters. Only if I scroll it slowly does the issue become barely noticible. Id give it 5 stars if not for this annoying issus. If it helps, the book was imported from Dropbox. Another minor thing is that in landscape mode, I can't scroll from the margins, I have to put my finger over the text to scroll. Finally, the book doesn't stay in the same place when switching from portrait to landscape mode. I jumped two chapters just because I switched.

Ps. Thanks for adding scrolling in PocketBookReader , there's very very few apps with the feature.

Edit: Decreasing the margins seems to help for some reason, but scrolling still isn't as smooth as other apps like iBooks. Everytime I move my hand off the screen and touch it again to scroll, the scrolling lags slightly, jarring the flow of reading. In an update, I'd like smooth scrolling regardless of margin sizes. Also, PocketBookReader would be great with a windows / web version, I would even pay for those features.

I use the iPhone XS

by Susan Ashworth

I read a number of protected Adobe PDFs for work, and wanted a more flexible app than Digital Editions. Specifically, I wanted to be able to export my notes and highlights, which PocketBook does very well. The display and scrolling options offer reading variety. However, PocketBookReader 's built in text to speech is buggy. No matter what voice I pick from the menu or how many times I tap Apply, PocketBook insists on the Aaron voice. I cannot change it. But if you're not using text to speech, it's a wonderful app that blows Adobe out of the water.

by Stephengraybill

I read audiobooks for a living and this reader is by far the most impressive I and some colleagues have found. It retains the formatting of the book you’re reading, so you end up basically reading the PDF or EPUB file. Which is essential for us.

My only gripe so far is the auto scroll. The movement is smooth and seamless, and being able to adjust the margins is incredible. However, though the you’re told the speed can be changed between 9 or so speeds with the swipe of a finger (incredibly intuitive and simple) at increments of .2, the only *actual* speed change happens between 5.0 and 5.2. Which is not helpful. At all.

Change this please.

by Vic765

I really liked PocketBookReader since its early days. It’s quite great. Maybe paging could be more smooth.
Dropbox integration doesn’t work for me, though. It’s just empty. Maybe it’s because my Dropbox is huge, and PocketBookReader only tries to read a portion of it?
Anyway, I don’t want the entirety of it synced to the reader. Can we please have a feature - select which directory to sync?
Thank you.

Edit: it’s very simple. I authorized PocketBookReader to access Dropbox. It never asked which folder, I assume it’s all of it. Dropbox icon in PocketBookReader is active, but when I tap it, the list is empty. Refresh doesn’t change it.

BTW, it would be nice to have a feedback option in PocketBookReader . The current website is useless, it only allows feedback for hardware ebooks. Maybe it will leave less negative reviews in PocketBookReader Store.

by Ftgfdcbhj

I have used many epub readers. They are either far too complex and convoluted (MoonReader), or lacking essential tools such as highlighting or bookmarking. PocketBook Reader has all the essential features but not so many as to be confusing and make it difficult to use. It is the only epub reader I have felt deserving of use. Biggest problem: I can find no way to easily locate a set bookmark if losing track of where it is. Flipping through Page after page trying to find a lost bookmark is not time conservative or user friendly. Would like to see this fixed... or a more obvious way to do so if such feature already exists.

by VeryMouseJ.

I use this for reading books from eLibraries. The functions present are mostly the same as iBooks, which I like, but the control is clumsier – it has a maddening lag whenever you tap to flip the page.

Technically the lag is inevitable: it has no way to tell whether you are double-tapping except waiting for the second tap to come. It still prevents PocketBookReader being otherwise snappy.

Oh and it has a noticeable lag when you try to bring up something, be it the UI or text-to-speech bar.

by Anonms

I’ve found PocketBook to be my go-to reader for some years now, but over the last week it crashes every time I click on the right hand page when PocketBookReader is in 2-page mode. It seems to be OK in scroll and single-page mode. PocketBook has been updating in the background on my iPad Pro 9.7”, so I’m wondering if your upgrade to 5.1 a week ago is the cause of this problem. Also it seems that more than a few books have a pop-up saying “Error : errors during document open.” Any help?

by Nyags1

I’ve been using this ereader for a while now and yes, after the last update, it does takes a while to load the book. But, I have found that the more I use it, the less time it takes to load the books so maybe that’s just a learning curve for PocketBookReader ?
The only negative right now is that on auto-scroll, the screen will timeout and lock as if the phone’s not being used. I’ve looked at the settings but I can’t see what could have changed.
Still, thank you for providing this free, no ad, auto-scroll ereader.

by Ohh,Gee

One I have to say I love PocketBookReader and the great features, but right now with the current version I have to say that the settings for the speech rate may need some work - when the rate is set to 1.1 you can tell that pattern sped up, but when you dial it to 1.2 the difference in speed is ridiculously greater almost to the point of not being able to make out what is being said. Would definitely love it if you guys can take a look at that in a future version 😀.
Other than that I love PocketBookReader and have recommending it to everyone I know that likes to read 👍🏼👍🏼👍🏼.

by Ahizen Royal

This is the best! Seriously. I’ve seen too many apps of this type and none has pleased me so well as this one. The most I like is the Text to Speech function, the best I’ve found. Bear in mind that it never Freezes, you can lock your phone and it keeps working, it doesn’t matter if it’s reading a 5 thousand pages book, it never crashes, I mean it, it doesn't matter in what format is your book, it load it anyway, this is the best! And it's for free! Completely free! I live in Cuba and I really don't have any money, jeje, If I could, I would donate some money for sure. Some day I will because I owe them so much. Thanks a lot for everything.

by Greygabu

I love reading ebooks, but I especially love downloading obscure books from the Internet Archive. So when Adobe Digital Edition kicked the bucket, I was upset and frustrated. How in the world would I be able to read these books again?! In comes PocketBookReader. With an awesome interface and format, I don’t even have transfer these books to my Nook anymore; I can read my books right on my phone. 😀

by Cgrett33411

I’ve been using pocketbook to read epubs for a while now, and I like everything about it.

However, recently, it seems that leaving ePub open while not using my iPad causes my iPad NOT to charge, and in face, stops my iPad from automatically shutting down after periods of nonuse. However, if I kill the pocketbook process, the power drain goes away, charging ability and speed is restored.

by Svkiphone

The problem is not with sharing from other apps to Pocketbook. The problem occurs when I try to share a book from inside of Pocketbook to other apps like Files or iBooks or Send to Kindle. If you swipe left on a downloaded book inside Pocketbook app and try to use the sharesheet for sending the book to Files or Kindle or iBooks it doesn’t work.

Update Answer: No it doesn’t work. After clicking more, try tapping one of these- Files, Send to Kindle or iBooks. Nothing happens. It used to work fine before the recent update.

I like PocketBookReader. The most recent update broke the sharesheet functionality. To reproduce, swipe left on the list of downloaded books, tap share button, tap open in, try to use files, kindle or iBooks. Nothing works. Please fix this. I am on iPhone 6.

by Bookwormy1983

Ever since this weeks update I’m struggling with pdf files. I can only scroll down and not turn the pages like an animation anymore
PocketBookReader suddenly takes much longer to load.
Please change this.

by Smvad

This could be a 5 star review if highlighting worked better, less clunky, and more exact. Kindle highlights just by dragging your finger. Trying to manipulate the dots, not so easy.

In all other ways, a fine reader.

by Filsdesion

From the actual design of PocketBookReader to the various features, it is a breeze to not only build a library, but also annotate your readings...Just try it to see for yourself!

by IKfur

This is a very good app, though it needs some improvements.

- Each file should have its own viewing mode.

- The scrolling of books need improvement so it does not scroll too much on a small swipe.

- Please add a share function for the books.

- The touch area mode should be removed on iPhone as the screens are small.

- The resizing should be done automatically the book fully fits the screen.

Hopefully you improve PocketBookReader and have a look at my suggestions aswell.

by Naidiam

I can not disable tapzones? Why, it’s so simple to implement.

by Jasonminnt

Love PocketBookReader. Only thing that could make it better is a pages left in chapter feature. Hope to see it soon. Thanks for the hard work on this! It would be nice if it had how many pages left in the chapter being read is all I meant.

by AshMore008

PocketBookReader has recently been updated and is now a very good all around ebook reader with many useful options and features. This and Marvin 3 are my favorite ebook readers for my iPad Pro 10.5 and I have tried nearly every app available for my large collection of EPUB and PDF ebooks.

by Tranhuynhvu

I was struggling finding a free CHM reader. When almost lost hope, PocketBook shows up! PocketBookReader works like a precious paid one, without ads, no bugs, 5 STARS!

Updated 28 Oct 2018:

I feel regretted for rating PocketBookReader 5 STARS. It deserved 10 ONES!

I’m writing these lines just to tell everyone how much I love PocketBookReader! Especially, the ‘PDF Reflow Mode’ is golden. My phone has a screen so small that it doesn’t fit a readable pdf page. Magic happened when I turned on the mode. Everyone should have PocketBookReader as the 1st one installed!

by Akxnfurh

PocketBookReader has the convenient feature of auto-cropping the margins of pdfs to maximize reading space. It loads quickly and the interface is clean, without ads.