Alternative to google books?

pbpza@lemmy.dbzer0.com to Technology@beehaw.org – 40 points –

Do you know any app that deals nicely with epub and has both web and android version and syncs but isn't google books? I would rather not use anything google because of privacy reasons.

11

Calibre to manage your library, and Calibre content server to essentially make it available for other devices.

For web browsing and reading, one can use Calibre-web.

For Android, Librera reader is suitable, IIRC, on the Pro version, which you can download for free from Github, you can use Calibre as an OPDS and download books from your Calibre directly on the app.

Privacy versus convenience... For what I know, the most common solution to your concern would be to setup a Calibre server and access it via your Android devices. But that's obviously a tad more complex than uploading EPUBs to Google Books.

  • KOReader
  • Librera Pro on F-droid

Sadly no dedicated app yet, but Kavita is a really great book server you can self host.
The webapp also works pretty well on Android until a full app can be deVeloped.

I assume you're asking because you're trying to get away from corporate/proprietary solutions, but in case you're not: kindle has web reader and an Android app and lets you upload epubs sourced outside of the Kindle ecosystem.

would rather not use anything google because of privacy reasons.

Amazon is just as bad if not worse.

BookFusion is cool. It also has a calibre plugin so you can upload directly to it if you use Calibre. No idea how they are privacy wise but the sync is perfect across multiple devices and systems. It is not open source but it does what you want and has paid levels. Here’s the link: https://www.bookfusion.com/

Despite the name, audiobookshelf recently also added e-book support. It is still in development but (at least for me) is at a point where I've abandoned kavita and am now using it for both my audio, and e-books.