Guide

Setup, streaming and troubleshooting in one place. Everything here applies to the app you already have - no account needed to read any of it.

Getting started

Install it, get your files in, and know where your progress lives.

How do I add books and folders to BiblioFuse on iPhone?
BiblioFuse stores files in its own iCloud-synced folder. You can add books via the Files app (copy files into the BiblioFuse folder), via AirDrop, or via the built-in Wi-Fi Transfer — open a library session from Mac or PC and drag files in from any browser.
Where are reading progress, bookmarks, ratings, and tags saved?
It depends on where the book file lives:
  • Local storage — saved on that device only, no cross-device sync
  • iCloud storage (Pro) — saved to iCloud and synced across your devices automatically. On the free tier the iCloud folder is locked, so this applies once you upgrade.
  • SMB / network share (Mac or PC streaming) — saved on the host device
    • iOS reading a Mac stream: progress saves on the Mac
    • iOS reading a PC stream: progress saves on the PC
    • PC ↔ Mac: stored independently — they do not share data
    • If you use both Mac and PC as streaming hosts, your reading data will be split. Stick to one host for consistency.

Local and iCloud library

Where the files actually live on each platform, and what your own iCloud adds.

Where do my book files actually live?
That differs by platform, and the difference matters if you already have a library organised on disk.
  • Android, Windows and Mac — you link a folder you already have.
    • Point the app at an existing folder and it reads the books where they are. Nothing is copied, nothing is moved, and your own folder structure stays exactly as you built it.
    • The app remembers that permission, so the folder keeps working after a restart. Rename or reorganise things outside the app and it picks the changes up on the next refresh.
    • On Mac and Windows the same applies to a folder on a NAS or network share.
  • iPhone and iPad — books go inside BiblioFuse’s own folder.
    • iOS does not let an app read an arbitrary folder elsewhere on the device the way a desktop can, so the library is the app’s folder — which you can see and open in the Files app.
    • Drop whole book folders in at the top level and they become your library, subfolders and all.
    • Because that folder is visible in Files, you can get books back out again later. Nothing is locked inside the app.
  • Either way, nothing is uploaded.
    • Files are read on the device. If you want the same library on more than one device, that is either your own iCloud folder or a server — see below.
Should I use iCloud or a server to keep my library in sync?
They are two independent options and you can use either.
  • Your own iCloud folder
    • Put books in BiblioFuse's iCloud folder and the whole library — files, covers, progress, ratings and tags — follows you to every device signed into the same account.
    • This covers the whole folder and is a Pro feature, not a free preview tier.
  • A Komga, Kavita or OPDS server
    • Nothing is copied to the device: you browse and read from the server, with position sync where the server type supports it.
    • Better for a large collection you already host, and the only option if your library lives on a NAS. Also Pro.

Streaming from your BiblioFuse Mac, PC or NAS app

Your own machine or NAS hosts the library; the reading device connects to it.

How does streaming from Mac or PC to iPhone work?
On your home network, nothing has to be configured: the host app on your Mac or PC announces itself and the reading device finds it, connecting over HTTPS with a pinned certificate. To read away from home the host also publishes its address to your iCloud Drive, and the reading device reaches it over Tailscale — that path needs the same iCloud account and Tailscale running on both. On the same network you will see both entries for one host and pick whichever you want; the app never switches between them behind your back.
What do I need to set up streaming?
It depends on where you want to read.
  • At home — nothing extra.
    • The host app on your Mac or PC advertises itself on your local network; your iPhone, iPad or Vision Pro finds it on its own.
    • Allow local network access the first time the app asks. That is the whole setup.
  • Away from home — the same iCloud account on both devices, plus Tailscale running on both.
    • The host writes its address to your iCloud Drive and the reading device picks it up over Tailscale.
    • Windows has no built-in iCloud — install iCloud for Windows from the Microsoft Store.
    • Your iCloud and Tailscale accounts can use different email addresses, and a Tailscale exit node is not needed.
  • A NAS host works differently — it has no iCloud path at all.
    • Pair it once on your local network so the certificate is stored, after which the same host can be reached remotely over Tailscale.
Do I need Tailscale to stream at home?
No. Local Wi-Fi streaming works on its own — the host advertises itself on your network and the app connects to it over HTTPS with a pinned certificate. Early versions genuinely did fail on a local network, because the app was not reading the metadata the host advertised and fell back to a plain-HTTP address that release builds block. That is fixed. Tailscale is now only for reading away from home.
  • Settings → Mac / PC Streaming has three modes.
    • iCloud + Tailscale — lists both local hosts and the remote one published through iCloud.
    • Local Wi-Fi — local hosts only; no remote address is ever shown or dialled.
    • Manual Tailscale — for a host you enter by hand, including a NAS.
  • There is deliberately no automatic switching between local and remote.
    • On the same network both entries appear for the same host and you pick one, so a working local connection is never silently swapped for a slower route.
  • Apple TV is local-network only.
    • tvOS cannot use iCloud Documents, and the Tailscale path is built and tested but shipped switched off while an upstream Tailscale bug on tvOS is unresolved.
Can Android read from a Mac or PC host?
Yes. The Android app finds hosts on your local network, and once a host has been paired there it can also be reached by entering its address by hand. It can copy a book from the host into its own library, and reading position, ratings and tags are sent back to the host. Android has no iCloud access, so reading away from home means entering the host address manually over Tailscale rather than having it discovered for you.

Streaming from your existing OPDS, Kavita or Komga server

Already self-hosting a catalogue? Connect to it directly — nothing is copied to the device.

What is OPDS, and how do I connect an OPDS server?
OPDS is an open catalogue format that lets an app browse and read from a self-hosted book or comic server page by page, instead of downloading the whole library first. BiblioFuse connects to any OPDS 1.x server — Calibre-Web, COPS, Ubooquity and others — including OPDS-PSE page streaming for comics.
  • Adding a server
    • Open Settings, add the server's catalogue URL, and sign in if it asks for credentials.
    • If the server displays a QR code, you can scan that instead of typing the address.
    • This is a Pro feature.
  • The QR scanner is for catalogue servers only.
    • It does not pair a Mac or PC for streaming — that uses local network discovery and needs no camera. If you are setting up streaming, see the streaming section instead.
How do I connect BiblioFuse to my Komga server?
Add your Komga server's address and credentials in Settings and BiblioFuse browses it through Komga's own API rather than a generic OPDS feed, so you get series and volume covers, tags and genres. Your reading position reads from and writes back to the server. Pro required.
  • Bookmarks do not sync with Komga.
    • In-book bookmarks sync with Kavita only. Reading position syncs with both. If bookmark sync matters to you and you have a choice of server, that is the difference.
How do I connect to Kavita, and will my reading progress sync?
Yes, both ways. Add your Kavita server in Settings and BiblioFuse uses Kavita's native API rather than the OPDS-PSE extension that most reader apps rely on — which is where a lot of the progress-sync trouble in the wider Kavita ecosystem comes from. Reading position syncs in both directions, and in-book bookmarks sync too. Pro required. EPUB highlights and notes sync with Kavita as well — add, edit or delete them on either side.

Reading

Formats, reading direction, text-to-speech and translation.

Does BiblioFuse work on Apple Vision Pro?
Yes. BiblioFuse is a native visionOS app on the App Store — a true spatial window, not a compatibility-mode iPad app. It supports eye tracking, pinch, mouse, trackpad, and keyboard, and it is included in the universal iOS + Mac purchase at no extra cost.
What spatial reading layouts does BiblioFuse support on visionOS?
Three spatial library layouts: Spatial Bookshelves (your covers on floating shelves), Grid View (a floating grid for large libraries), and Slanted Wall (an angled gallery wall with rating and tag filters). You can also stream your library from a Mac or PC to keep Vision Pro storage free.
How do I get better text-to-speech voices in BiblioFuse?
Higher-quality voices may already be available through your device's text-to-speech system, but some must be downloaded separately. BiblioFuse will detect newly installed voices automatically when they are made available to apps.
  • iPhone / iPad
    • Go to Settings → Accessibility → Spoken Content → Voices
    • Choose your language, then download an Enhanced or Premium voice
    • Premium voices on supported iOS versions provide Apple's highest-quality speech
  • Android
    • Go to Settings → Accessibility → Text-to-speech output
    • Depending on your device, this setting may instead appear under Settings → General management → Text-to-speech, or Settings → System → Languages → Text-to-speech output
    • Select your preferred text-to-speech engine, such as Speech Recognition & Synthesis from Google or your device manufacturer's engine
    • Open the engine settings, select Install voice data, and download the languages or voices you want
    • You may also update the text-to-speech engine through Google Play
    • Voice quality and availability vary by device, language, manufacturer, and installed TTS engine — some higher-quality voices may require an internet connection
    • Restart BiblioFuse, then begin a new TTS session
  • Mac
    • Go to System Settings → Accessibility → Spoken Content → System Voice → Manage Voices
    • Download any Enhanced or Premium voice for your language
  • Windows 10 / Windows 11
    • Go to Settings → Time & language → Language & region
    • Add your reading language, or open Language options for an installed language
    • Under Language features, install Text-to-speech
    • Restart BiblioFuse, then begin a new TTS session
  • Windows 11 Natural voices (optional)
    • Go to Settings → Accessibility → Narrator
    • Under Add natural voices, download the voice you want
    • Windows may expose some Natural voices only to Narrator and not to other applications
  • No BiblioFuse update is required. BiblioFuse detects newly installed voices when they are exposed through the Android, Apple, or Windows text-to-speech system
Can I read manga right to left?
Yes, and usually without doing anything. A reading-direction switch covers every page-turning format — CBZ, ZIP, CBR, RAR, PDF and comic-style EPUB — and it is free, not a Pro feature. It does not apply to prose EPUB or plain text, which follow the book's own text direction rather than a page order.
  • It sets itself where it can.
    • A comic EPUB that declares right-to-left in its own metadata opens in manga mode on its own, as does a book streamed from a server that reports right-to-left. The switch is there for files that say nothing either way.
    • Changing it mirrors the page, the slider and the on-screen controls together, so the whole reader reads in the same direction.

Tools

Fix a file before you read it - in the browser, on your device.

What is the difference between the PC Reader and the PC EPUB / CBZ tools?
The PC Reader is a full reading app — it opens books, manages your library, compresses files, and streams to iPhone. The PC EPUB and CBZ tools are lighter, cheaper apps focused on compression and merging only, with no reader.

Moving to a new device

What carries over on its own, and what you have to bring with you.

How do I move my library and reading progress to a new iPhone or iPad?
It depends on where your books live, and two of the three cases need nothing from you.
  • Books in your iCloud folder — automatic.
    • Sign into the same account on the new device and the library reappears with its progress, ratings and tags. Nothing to transfer.
  • Books on a Komga, Kavita or OPDS server — automatic.
    • Reconnect to the same server. The books never lived on the old device in the first place.
  • Books stored only on the old device — bring them yourself.
    • Use Files, AirDrop or Wi-Fi Transfer, the same three routes you used to add them. See the getting-started section.
Do local books survive an iPhone backup and restore?
Yes. Locally stored books live in the app's normal documents folder, and BiblioFuse does not exclude that folder from backups — so unlike some other file-based reader apps, your local library is part of a standard encrypted computer backup or an iCloud device backup, along with everything else.
  • If books did go missing after a restore, the usual causes are not app-specific.
    • The new device was set up as new rather than restored from that particular backup.
    • The backup predates when you added the books.
    • An iCloud device backup skipped large files because the account was near its storage limit.
  • Moving books across by hand always works, whatever the backup did.
    • Files, AirDrop and Wi-Fi Transfer do not depend on backup state at all.

Buying and restoring

What one purchase covers, and how to get it back.

Does one purchase cover iPhone, iPad, Mac, Vision Pro and Apple TV?
Yes. Those five are one app listing, and Pro is a single purchase shared across all of them — buy it on any one device and it unlocks everywhere you are signed into the same Apple ID. There is no per-platform purchase and nothing to buy twice. Monthly, yearly and lifetime options are available.
  • Android and Windows are separate.
    • They are different apps on different stores, so an Apple purchase does not carry across to them, and vice versa.
I reinstalled the app and lost Pro — how do I get it back?
Just open the app. On iPhone, iPad, Mac and Apple TV your existing Pro is detected at launch, before you tap anything, because the app checks your App Store purchase history on startup. If it has not appeared, use Restore Purchases in Settings — it is always there as a fallback on every platform.
  • Nothing extra is involved.
    • Purchases go through Apple's own system rather than a third-party account, so restoring works the same way it does for any App Store purchase — no BiblioFuse sign-in, and nothing for us to look up on your behalf.

When something is not working

The two failures that come up most, and what actually causes them.

Why is my library or reading progress not syncing through iCloud?
BiblioFuse keeps each book's progress, rating and tags in a small companion file next to the book in your iCloud folder. That means syncing depends on Apple's iCloud Drive working normally on both devices rather than on anything BiblioFuse controls.
  • Check these four, in order
    • iCloud Drive is turned on, and BiblioFuse is enabled for it, on both devices.
    • Both devices are signed into the same Apple ID.
    • The account is not out of iCloud storage.
    • The book itself is fully downloaded on the device you are checking — not still showing a cloud icon.
  • An empty iCloud folder is a real state, not necessarily a fault.
    • If Settings says iCloud is connected but you see no books, open the Files app and look directly. A folder that is genuinely empty behaves differently from one that is failing to connect, and it is worth telling them apart before troubleshooting further.
Streaming is set up correctly but the host does not appear — what should I try?
Stale address files used to be the usual cause. Both the Mac and Windows hosts now clear them by themselves every time streaming starts, stops, or the address changes — including iCloud conflict copies — so this is rarely the problem any more.
  • Quit and reopen the app on the host. It republishes a fresh address on launch.
  • On the reading device, open the streaming source list and look for a green dot beside the host name.
    • Grey means the host has not been reached yet — wait a few seconds, or force-quit and reopen the app on the host.

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