In-Browser Reader
Litara includes a built-in reader powered by Foliate.js. Open any supported book by clicking Read in the book detail panel.
Supported formats: EPUB, MOBI, AZW, AZW3, CBZ (comic books)
Reading progress
Your position is saved automatically as you read (debounced, every ~1 second) and synced across sessions. When you reopen a book, the reader restores your last position. Progress is also shown as a thin green bar on book cards in your library and as a percentage in the book detail panel.
Keyboard shortcuts
All shortcuts work when the reader iframe has focus (i.e., while reading). Most also work when the toolbar is focused.
| Key(s) | Action |
|---|---|
→ / ← | Next / previous page |
Space | Next page |
Shift + Space | Previous page |
f or Ctrl + F | Open search bar |
Enter | Next search result |
Shift + Enter | Previous search result |
Escape | Close search (if open), or exit reader |
+ / = | Increase font size |
- | Decrease font size |
1 | Switch to Light theme |
2 | Switch to Sepia theme |
3 | Switch to Dark theme |
? | Show keyboard shortcuts panel |
The keyboard shortcuts panel is also accessible from the toolbar (keyboard icon).
Search
Press f or Ctrl + F to open the search bar. As you type, the reader searches the entire book and highlights all matches. The count shows your current position in the results (e.g., 3 / 12).
- Enter or the
›button — jump to the next match - Shift + Enter or the
‹button — jump to the previous match - Escape or the
✕button — close search and clear highlights
Search is case-insensitive by default and uses Unicode-aware matching for better results across languages.
Appearance
Font size and theme (Light / Sepia / Dark) are saved to localStorage and restored on your next reading session. The reader defaults to matching your app theme (dark or light) on first use.
Footnotes
For EPUBs that use standard footnote markup (epub:type="noteref"), clicking a footnote reference opens the footnote content in a panel at the bottom of the screen instead of navigating away from the current page. Press Escape or the ✕ button to dismiss it.
Highlights and annotations
Litara lets you highlight text, underline it, add strikethroughs, and attach personal notes — all saved to your library and synced across sessions.
Highlighting text
- Select any passage of text in the reader by clicking and dragging.
- A popover appears with annotation options.
- Choose a highlight color (yellow, green, blue, or pink), Underline, or Strikethrough.
- Optionally type a note in the text field.
- Click Save — the annotation is stored and the text is visually marked immediately.
Clicking on an existing annotation opens the same popover, letting you edit the note, change the style, or delete it.
Highlights and annotations are currently supported for EPUB files. Other formats open without the text-selection popover.
Bookmarks
To bookmark the current page, click the bookmark icon (🔖) in the reader toolbar. The icon fills to indicate the page is bookmarked. Click it again to remove the bookmark.
Bookmarks appear in the in-reader annotations panel and on the global Annotations page.
In-reader annotations panel
Click the list icon in the reader toolbar to open the annotations panel on the right side of the reader. The panel lists every highlight, note, and bookmark for the current book:
- Click any entry to jump directly to that location in the book.
- Click the trash icon to delete an annotation from the panel.
The panel stays open as you read; close it with the ✕ button in its header.