FBReader

FBReader
Company type	Proprietary software (since 2015); formerly free software
Industry	Software, e-book reader
Founded	January 2005; 21 years ago
Founder	Nikolay Pultsin
Area served	Worldwide
Products	FBReader e-book reader application

Adapted from the English Wikipedia article FBReader, available under CC BY-SA 4.0Updated 9 August 2025

FBReader is an e-book reader compatible with Linux, Microsoft Windows, Android, and several other operating systems.

Initially created for the Sharp Zaurus, its compatibility has expanded to include numerous mobile devices such as the Nokia Internet Tablet as well as most desktop computer environments. An early version of FBReaderJ, the Java adaptation for Android, was made available on April 13, 2008.

The application supports a wide array of formats including EPUB, FictionBook, HTML, plucker, PalmDoc, zTxt, TCR, CHM, RTF, OEB, DRM-free mobi, and plain text.

Additionally, it is compatible with books protected by Readium LCP digital rights management.

Originally distributed as free software under the terms of the GPL, FBReader transitioned to a proprietary license starting with version 2.7 in 2015.

History

The initial version of FBReader was developed by Nikolay Pultsin and launched for the Sharp Zaurus in January 2005. Later that year, in December 2005, a Maemo port was introduced for the Nokia 770. Since then, FBReader has offered binary releases supporting a variety of mobile platforms and leading desktop operating systems. The name "FBReader" is inspired by the well-known Russian e-book format, FictionBook.

The original software was implemented in C++. However, in 2007, a Java-based derivative known as FBReaderJ was created. This Java variant became the basis for the Android application, while the C++ version continued to serve other operating systems.

In 2015, all versions across platforms shifted to closed-source licensing. The Android edition branched into Free and Premium versions, both proprietary; the Premium version includes built-in support for PDF files and machine translation capabilities.

Components

To facilitate straightforward cross-platform compilation, FBReader utilizes zlibrary, a multi-platform interface library that allows recompilation on diverse systems regardless of the underlying GUI-toolkit.

Features

Compatibility with various archive formats: tar, ZIP, gzip, and bzip2
Automatic detection of text encoding
Generation of table of contents
Support for embedded images and hyperlinks
Position tracking serving as an alternative to traditional page numbers
Library organization featuring recent books and last reading positions
Automatic hyphenation support
Text search functionality and full-screen reading mode
Screen orientation adjustments at 90, 180, and 270 degrees
Text-to-speech functionality (requires TTS plugin on Android)

File format compatibility

FBReader is compatible with the following file types:

EPUB: supports core features except for tables; CSS support is partial
EPUB3: offers limited functionality for EPUB 3 specifications
Mobipocket: supports only non-encrypted *.mobi files; does not handle DRM-protected content
FB 2.0: complete support provided
FB 2.1: does not support tables
HTML: provides adequate but limited compatibility
Plain text: basic handling available; paragraph segmentation may be inaccurate
RTF and a subset of DOC (Microsoft Word)
PDF:
- On Android: supported through an additional plugin utilizing a third-party library
- On other operating systems: no support offered
DjVu:
- Available on Android via a separate plugin
- Unsupported on other platforms
Plucker:
- Not supported on Android at present
- Partial functionality on other systems, though some commands might be disregarded
DAISY 3 integration included in Go Read for Bookshare available on Google Play, which is a derivative of FBReaderJ developed by Benetech

Cross-platform availability

FBReader can be used on:

Windows
Linux
macOS
FreeBSD
BlackBerry 10
Tizen
A range of mobile Linux devices, such as Sharp Zaurus, Archos PMA430, Siemens Simpad, Nokia Internet tablets (maemo), Pepper Pad 3, Motorola smartphones, iLiad, various Digital Reader models, Hanlin eReader, Openinkpot OS running on Hanlin and Hanvon hardware, Pocketbook E Ink readers, and SmartQ devices

External links