Fablum
Best EPUB reader apps for Android
Fablum is one of the apps on this list, and we make it. The others open more file types; each entry names a page where you can check the claim.
On Android a downloaded EPUB usually lands in the Downloads folder, and the phone offers it to whichever app has claimed the format. That makes the choice of reader less dramatic than on an iPhone and more about what you want around the book: formats, a library, reading aloud, a shop.
Four readers and ours are below, in no particular order. We make Fablum, so every entry also says where the other app is ahead of it. Each line about another app was read on that app’s own store listing or site on the date beside it.
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Moon+ Reader
An Android reader with a settings screen for everything.
- Opens EPUB, PDF, DJVU, AZW3, MOBI, FB2, CHM, CBZ, CBR, DOCX, ODT, RTF, TXT and more, and reads OPDS catalogs and other online libraries. Google Play listing
- Backs up to Dropbox or WebDav and keeps reading positions in step between a phone and a tablet. Google Play listing
- The free edition carries ads; the listing is marked "Contains ads" and puts ad-free reading in the Pro version. Google Play listing
Side by side: Fablum and Moon+ Reader.
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ReadEra
A document reader that treats books and office files the same way.
- Opens EPUB, MOBI, AZW3, FB2, PDF, DjVu, DOC, DOCX, RTF, ODT, TXT, CBR and CBZ, including files still inside a ZIP or RAR archive. ReadEra's own site
- Leaves your files where they are instead of copying them into a store of its own, and finds them again after you move them. ReadEra's own site
- Reads without registration and without ads, which is also how Fablum works. ReadEra's own site
Side by side: Fablum and ReadEra.
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FBReader
A reader for Android, desktops and Chrome OS.
- Opens Readium LCP protected EPUBs, which is how some public libraries and shops hand out a book. FBReader's own site
- Browses network book sources and takes OPDS catalogs you add yourself. FBReader's own site
- Reading aloud is part of FBReader Premium and skips PDF and DjVu; PDF in the free edition needs a separate plugin. FBReader's own site
Side by side: Fablum and FBReader.
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Google Play Books
The reader for books bought from Google, with audiobooks beside them.
- Sells ebooks, audiobooks, comics and manga, and plays an audiobook through Android Auto in the car. Google Play listing
- Notes written while reading are saved to Google Drive, where you can share them. Google Play listing
- Parts of it depend on where you live and what you read in: the listing notes that Play Points are not available in all countries and that the reading practice tools are English only. Google Play listing
Side by side: Fablum and Google Play Books.
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Fablum
Our reader. It opens EPUB and PDF files and packaged audiobooks, reads EPUB aloud with the voices on the device, and runs on Android, iPhone and iPad.
- No account, and a downloaded book opens with the network off.
- Android offers Fablum in "Open with" for EPUB, PDF and audiobook files, so a book reaches the library straight from the browser or a file manager.
- Fewer formats than the three readers above: EPUB, PDF and the packaged
.audiobookand.lcpafiles, and loose MP3 or M4B chapters are not imported. - No shop and no catalog of your own: the built-in public catalog holds books whose copyright has run out in the USA, and nothing can be added to it.
Which one to install
Buying books from Google makes Play Books the obvious one, the same way Kindle is the obvious one for books bought from Amazon. For files you already have, Moon+ Reader and ReadEra both open almost anything, and FBReader also opens Readium LCP protected EPUBs. Fablum opens fewer formats and spends the difference elsewhere: audiobooks, reading aloud, and a catalog of out-of-copyright books that is already in the app.
How these entries were checked
Every line above was read on the page it links to, on the date printed beside it. Our test suite fails once any of those dates is more than 180 days old, which is what stops the page rotting quietly. A date moves only after somebody has opened the page again.
The step-by-step version of all this is reading EPUB books on Android, and the catalog idea is explained in what OPDS is.