Librera reader is pretty good. It's also free and open source F-Droid link
this post was submitted on 27 Jun 2023
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This has been my go to. Haven't found myself needing another app for reading.
I second this. Switched from FBReader (Freemium, not opensource)
Given I avoid the Play Store as much as possible (don't like it; it's just a killswitch/rental service, at the end of the day), I sought readers distributed as APKs, and the best one I found (which is also FOSS) is Librera Reader, which also has pre-built APKs on F-Droid and Github:
I personally like ReadEra. Fits all the criteria you've listed
I use ReadEra as well, I haven't found a format it can't read, it has a fantastic UI that makes it really easy to find stuff, it will save your place and also has bookmarks to save specific pages and it's free version has zero ads, literally none at all, which is absolutely insane for how feature rich it is.
So I even bought the premium version, even though it doesn't offer a hell of a lot more it's just such a fantastic app I felt guilty not paying the tiny bit, the Dev really deserves it.
Agreed on all of the above, including buying premium just because it is good.
UI also has good customization options to fit whatever you reading habits or requirements are (font type, size, color, page turning, etc)
The font type and size was the real seller for me, completely forgot to mention in my OC, I have low vision so reading regular books has become a real struggle.
+1 for ReadEra! Besides .pdfs, it covers a lot of ebook file formats, like .epub, .mobi, .azw3, etc. I typically download .epubs because you can change the font and font size, as well as use dark mode quite easily that way. And it looks like the most recent update now has TTS available for Premium users. It's a very solid app, and is my top choice as well
If I format my phone, is progress still saved on ReadEra?
Same here. I haven't tried a lot of apps since ReadEra was the first one I tried and it was basically perfect for me.
I use lithium. The free version has some limitations like not being able change the app to darkmode (although from what I remember the pages of the book itself can be changed to white/sepia/dark even in the free version). It has cross-device progress sync too, but I can't remember if it was there in the free version). Worked well enough for me. Decided to get the pro version after a couple of years cause I had been using it a lot and didn't have any gripes with the app. (Look for it in mobilism if you don't want to pay for the pro version)
Moon+ Reader is great if you want a library in your phone. It's very customizable, too. But it's not great with PDFs, and few third-party apps are. If you're reading on a phone-sized screen, the official Adobe Acrobat app is the best for text reflow on PDF files. It maintains a lot of the formatting making it very comfortable to read. Unfortunately, nothing else about the app is that great and it won't give you a good library view like you're asking for.
I use Kavita.
It's fantastic for me. It handles all the different fileformats, has different reading mods (made for eBooks, Webtoons, Comicbooks, etc.) it tracks the reading progress very precise and quickly.
It's metadata automation is...good enough. Sometimes i have to help but it does it's job in 90% of cases.
It's super leightweight to host and easy to set up. Doesn't have any apps per se, but it's a very good-working PWA that you can simply open on any android / PC device and it feels like a native app.
Xodo.
Going to second Xodo. I use it on my Samsung tablet and it does everything I need it too and is not laggy.
It's a relatively clunky app and I don't really trust it not to leak anything private I open in it... It's a decent tabbed pdf reader, but I wouldn't use it for reading a novel.
I used to use Xodo a lot, and it honestly is still the most feature rich. But, I was running into bugs using it to read on my Chromebook but the support staff was unhelpful. I tried Librera which works, but something about the interface didn't jive with me. I've since moved on to Readera
I've had very good luck with Cool Reader. I mostly use epub books but it's very tweakable.
If you're a masochist with a thing for freemium apps with horrific UI, give moonreader pro a try
I second this. Moonreader is really designed for epubs but for pdf books where you can zoom into the readable contents of the page it's much much comfier than Adobe reader.
KOreader is a nice free option that's on Fdroid.
While neither are privacy focused, I use eboox for anything not pdf and Adobe acrobat for pdfs due to the liquifier feature.
(Unrelated but first lemmy comment woo!)
I've been using Librera (Play Store link). It has a lot of options and it can also search for books!
Moon Reader Pro is the only one so far that hasn't hurt my eyes with the UI design. You can see the cover, your progress, and it supports different formats, including epub and pdf.