Yomu is an independent reader for book lovers. Yomu’s design is carefully crafted for ebooks and offers enhanced styles for better readability and distraction-free reading.

Designed to let you focus on reading, Yomu has no unnecessary preferences. Just open a book and start reading. Yomu’s fluid layout dynamically adjusts all text properties and margins depending on your preferred styles and device, giving you an optimal reading experience.

Yomu supports ebooks in the following formats:

• EPub (.epub)
• Mobi (.mobi, .prc)
• Kindle (.azw, .azw3, .kf8)
• Comics (.cbz, .cbr)
• PDF (.pdf)

Only documents without digital rights management (DRM) are supported. This means that you can’t open ebooks bought from Amazon, Apple Books or other vendors, as they all contain some kind of copy protection.

Many publishers provide DRM free books. Choose any of over thousand freely available public domain books from e.g. Standard Ebooks, epubBooks or Project Gutenberg.

In addition, ebooks must conform to official standards. Otherwise, meta information (author, title, table of contents, …) will be missing or the document can not be rendered correctly.

Yomu is primarily intended as a simple reader for text based formats (epub, mobi, kindle). PDF support is rather basic, it’s just a viewer. For more advanced features, it’s recommended to use a dedicated app like Adobe Acrobat Reader or PDF Viewer Annotation Expert.

Yomu is available as a native and refined app for iPhone, iPad and Mac.

The app is published on Apple’s App Stores. You can download it for free.

App Store:
https://apps.apple.com/app/yomu/id562211012?mt=8

Mac App Store:
https://apps.apple.com/app/yomu/id562211012?mt=12

Yomu is free to use and includes all basic features. Every ebook format, theme or preference is available and lets you try out the unrestricted reader.

However, the free version has some limitations and does not include certain features. Upgrade to Yomu Pro to remove all restrictions and get additional features:

Your purchase supports the further development of the app. Thanks!

No, like with Photos, Books or other Apple apps, you do not need to signup or login. Your personal iCloud account from that device is used. But you will need to be signed in on your device with the same Apple ID on all platforms.

With Yomu Pro, all books, annotations, folders, tags or reading state is stored securely in a private database in your iCloud account. Storage limits apply and depend on your corresponding plan.

Yomu for iOS allows you to import ebooks from a variety of different sources.

You can download documents directly from your browser or import files with Apple’s Files App, AirDrop, Drag and Drop, iTunes File Sharing, Dropbox, Google Drive, OPDS or any other third-party storage provider.

In order to import an ebook from a website, tap on the corresponding download link and choose “Open in Yomu”. To import documents from a storage provider, go to the library, tap the plus + icon on top right and select a service.

With Yomu for Mac it is even easier to import books. Simply drag and drop files to your library or open documents by clicking the add button (+) on top right.

You can either add individual documents or use batch import for several at once. Batch import is limited to maximum 100 files, because with more your device could run out of memory and iCloud has troubles syncing large amounts of data. To add more books, you would need to split your collection into multiple batches.

Yomu is intended as simple ebook reader, not a document management system or server. It is recommended to still keep your original books on your computer, some kind of cloud storage provider (iCloud Drive, Dropbox, Google Drive, …) or to use a dedicated ebook management software like calibre.

The app is optimized for up to 500 books or a total size of 800MB. Everything above these limits can lead to memory or storage issues and iCloud synchronization might no longer work reliable.

Any import creates a copy of the document and saves it for offline access. When importing a document, the corresponding format is parsed and validated. In case an ebook does not conform to official standards, a warning is displayed.

This usually means that meta information (title, author, table of contents, …) will be missing. In most cases, the contents of the ebook still can be displayed, but there is no guarantee it will render correctly.

Yomu for iOS directly supports the following storage providers:
– Dropbox

You will need to authenticate using your login credentials and grant Yomu access to your files. Afterwards, ebooks can be imported by browsing to the corresponding folder. You can directly select individual documents or load all files in a folder. To switch to batch import, tap the top right batch button (4 bars) and select any or all files to download.

Access to a provider can be disabled in the settings, or you can remove Yomu from the linked apps in the corresponding provider’s account settings.

Other cloud storage providers like Google Drive, Microsoft OneDrive or Nextcloud can be integrated via Apple’s Files app as described below.

Apple’s Files app is directly integrated for iPhone and iPad devices.

Create a folder on iCloud Drive and add your books. Launch Yomu and go to Import (+) > Files to open the Files App extension. Navigate to a folder and select the files you want to import to your library.

Other storage providers such as Dropbox, Google Drive, OneDrive, Nextcloud or Owncloud can also be connected in case they offer an iCloud Drive integration.

After you install and enable the corresponding integration with Apple’s Files app, they should be listed under Locations in the Browse sidebar.

1. Download and set up the third-party app
2. Open the Files app, tap the Browse tab
3. Tap the More button (…), then tap Edit
4. Turn on the third-party app
5. Navigate to Locations to access it

Apple Support references:
Files app documentation
Use third-party cloud apps in the Files app

You can also import your books from a server or network-attached storage (e.g. Synology NAS). After you connect to a server via Apple’s Files app, you should be able to access it under Locations or Shared like any other storage provider.

Refer to this TechRepublic article on how to set it up:
How to use the Files app to connect to a network server from your iPhone or iPad

Documents can be transferred with iTunes File Sharing to the Yomu iOS app.

Connect a device to your computer and open iTunes or the Finder app on Mac Catalina or later. Navigate to the attached device and open the Files tab where the Yomu app will be listed. Add or simply drop your ebooks to the Yomu section.

When you add books using iTunes File Sharing, they are only transferred but do not automatically show up in the app. You must import them afterwards. Select individual documents to import into your library or switch to batch import (top right button) to load multiple files at once.

1. Add books with iTunes File Sharing
2. Open the app and tap the library import button (+) top right
3. Select Documents to see your transferred books
4. Import individual files or use batch import

Apple Support references:
Use iTunes to share files between your computer and your iPhone or iPad

With OS X Yosemite, you can also simply AirDrop an ebook directly from your computer to your iPhone or iPad.

Enable AirDrop, then drag a document from your computer’s finder to the corresponding device. Select Open with Yomu to import the transferred ebook.

Another option for iPad devices is to import books by drag and drop.

Open Apple’s Files App as a slide over or in split view. Select iCloud Drive and navigate to a folder containing books. Tap and hold a document, it will expand slightly, ready to follow your finger around the screen. Drag the file over to Yomu and drop it on the library to import the book. You can also select multiple files at once and drop them to batch import.

Open Publication Distribution System feeds let you directly access Calibre or other book catalogs on your iPhone, iPad and Mac.

To open a catalog, first tap edit to add a new server. Enter a name and valid feed url. With Universal Clipboard enabled, you can also copy the url from your desktop browser and paste it on a nearby device. If your server uses basic or digest authentication, fill in the optional login user and password.

Your device must be allowed to access the feed url. You may have to grant the required Local Network Permission to connect to your OPDS servers.

Yomu for Mac lets you add books by drag & drop or open documents.

Open Finder on Mac and navigate to a folder containing ebooks. Simply drag files in EPub, Mobi, Kindle, Comic or PDF format to your library. A green plus sign will appear and you can drop the dragged files to import them.

As an alternative, you can also directly open documents. Click on the add button (+) to open supported files, use command or shift click to select multiple. A preview of the selected ebooks is displayed, click on Import to add them to your library.

Annotations, selection or font preferences are only supported for text based formats (epub, mobi, kindle), but not for pdf or comics. In addition, ebooks must conform to official standards.

Content without structured or semantic markup can not always be displayed correctly and creating annotations can fail. For example, if text is contained in div or span elements instead of paragraphs or when local styles are used, a parser can not know its meaning or render it correctly.

This is usually a problem with older formats or “low quality” books. What sometimes helps is to convert such files to a newer format like EPUB 2 with calibre or other programs.

Calibre – E-book conversion:
https://manual.calibre-ebook.com/conversion.html
https://manual.calibre-ebook.com/faq.html#e-book-format-conversion

Page number and total is only available for pdf and comic books. For text based formats (epub, mobi, kindle), it just shows the page/total of the current chapter.

Number of pages for these formats is relative and depends on the screen size, orientation, font or layout. It would be different on your iPhone or iPad and every time you change a reader preference.

Yomu uses a relative content outline at the bottom instead. Like in a physical book, this gives you an indication if you are at the beginning, middle or end and also lets you see the remaining chapters.

Additional information is available in the Get Started Guide.

Text selection, highlights or search are not supported for PDF documents. Annotations, custom layout options or theme and font preferences are not planned at the moment.

As an alternative, you could use the Apple Quick Notes integration to create notes linked to the app. Refer to the Quick Notes FAQ for more details. Or you could also try a PDF to EPub converter such as Calibre or one of the various online services mentioned on Reddit and other forums.

Yomu is an ebook reader mainly focused on text based formats (epub, mobi, kindle). PDF support is rather basic, it’s just a viewer. For more advanced features, it’s recommended to use a dedicated app like Adobe Acrobat Reader or PDF Viewer Annotation Expert.

Whenever possible, try to buy or download books as EPub files instead of PDF documents. EPub (short for electronic publication) is a format much better suited for ebooks: it’s reflowable and automatically adapts to the size of your device and is ideal for text highlighting and notes or to adjust custom layout, theme or font preferences.

Search is only supported for text based formats (epub, mobi, kindle) and not for pdfs or comics.

But search only works in books with semantic content. If a document contains unstructured markup, it can’t be indexed correctly. For example, text needs to be in paragraphs as otherwise it’s unclear what the textual content is.

It should work with most books, but for some it fails. This is often a problem with old formats or converted books that lack any structured content.

Loading time depends on the structure and content of a book. Standard compliant ebooks split content into one file per chapter and should render quite fast. But when this is not the case, the complete book may need to be loaded and it can take a while for the entire layout to be calculated or it can even fail. Likewise if there are unoptimised styles, it will take longer to display a book.

What you can do is change the layout preferences from page to scroll, which should load your book faster. Otherwise, you would have to edit such books to split content chapters into individual files and optimise style formats.

For example with Calibre, you can edit books and either use the preview panel to manually split long html files or automatically by e.g. title or certain classes. Converting a book will also remove unnecessary styles and clean it up.

Refer to the manual for more information:
https://manual.calibre-ebook.com/conversion.html
https://manual.calibre-ebook.com/edit.html#splitting-html-files

Apple’s WebKit component is used to render content, which does not support user-installed fonts. This is due to privacy concerns, as it would allow apps to fingerprint and track users based on their installed custom fonts (see Tracking Prevention in WebKit).

Yomu includes several optimized reader fonts and you can choose any preinstalled system font. From the preferences you can also select the “original” book font, but this will only work when it’s either a system font or when the corresponding font files are bundled with the book.

Ebooks are usually split into individual files per chapter and Yomu displays them as such. When you reach the end with vertical scrolling enabled, you will need to load the next one either with the navigation buttons at the bottom or keyboard shortcut to open the next chapter (Shift + Command + Arrow Right).

But you can also “overscroll” with a trackpad, magic mouse or similar device: when at the bottom, pull up a little and release to open the next chapter. Likewise, pull down to go to the previous chapter when you are at the top.

Meta data like title or author depend on the ebook, not all documents have complete or valid information. To sort books by the author’s last name, the required file-as attribute must be correct (e.g. Shakespeare, William) because otherwise the order can not be determined.

You can either fix meta data before you import a book in calibre or adjust it later. When editing a book in Yomu, tap the right swap button (two arrows) next to the author’s name (see screenshot). This lets you manually change the file-as property.

To sort your library by author, you will also need to change the library sort option (bottom right 3 dots) to author. Refer to the guide for additional details.

Yomu supports basic epub 3 standard series and proprietary Calibre and ComicInfo metadata formats. You can also manually enter series name/number for others by editing a document as described in the Get Started Guide.

If you imported books before series metadata was available, you will need to migrate your library. Data migration scans your library and updates documents where series metadata is found: Settings > Data > Migrate data > Book Series

When you edit metadata like title, author or series in Calibre, it’s only saved in their internal database and not in the original file. You might need to first write back your changes to the embedded metadata in the ebook files. You can either use Save to disk or Polish books with update metadata enabled. For more information, see this Reddit post and MobileRead thread or refer to the Calibre manual.

You can manage your books or add and edit folders and tags on your Mac. To switch to editing mode, click the top right Edit Library (pencil) toolbar button.

Alternatively, you can edit an individual ebook by using its context menu. Right click a book in your library to show the corresponding menu.

For general information about editing books, refer to the guide.

In editing mode, click on either Add Folder or Add Tag in the left sidebar to create new folders or tags. Click on the edit icon (pencil) next to a folder or tag allows to change the name and the delete button removes it from your library.

Folders or documents can also be sorted. Because direct inline sorting is not supported, a new window will open that lets you drag & drop folders or documents to change the order.

Please note: due to a system level issue on macOS Catalina, drag & drop outside the window frame can lead to a crash. There is no fix available, you would need to update to macOS 11 (Big Sur) where this should be resolved.

Yomu is free to use and includes all basic features. Every ebook format, theme or setting is available and lets you try out the unrestricted reader.

However, the number of documents is limited, iCloud synchronization is not available and the free version can display ads. An upgrade to Yomu Pro removes the document limit and ads and includes the option to enable the cloud library. Data is stored in your personal Apple account, storage limits and restrictions of your iCloud plan apply.

Yomu Pro is a one time universal purchase, not a subscription. Enjoy Yomu Pro on your iPhone, iPad and Mac with one single purchase for all platforms. With Family Sharing enabled, up to six family members can use this app.

Yomu offers two pro editions: Pro and Karma.

Both remove all restrictions and include exactly the same additional features. Choose the basic Yomu Pro version to get everything or support the further development of the app by paying some more for the Yomu Pro Karma edition.

It’s up to you 😉

Yomu is available as a Universal Purchase. Enjoy Yomu Pro on your iPhone, iPad and Mac with one single purchase for all platforms. With Family Sharing enabled, up to six family members can use this app.

If you buy Yomu Pro on one of your devices, you can unlock it for free on any other device where you’re logged in to the same Apple ID. Open the settings from the sidebar in Yomu and navigate to purchase. Tap on restore to enable the pro version on that device.

For more information, see Apple’s support documentation.

Restore in-app purchase:
https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT204530

Set up Family Sharing:
https://support.apple.com/en-us/108380

Share purchase with your family:
https://support.apple.com/en-us/108774

Yomu offers a paid one time purchase (“pro�) which, among other things, provides certain features that are not made available to users of the standard, free version.

You can upgrade to Yomu Pro by buying a one time in-app purchase. Open the settings from the sidebar in Yomu and navigate to purchase to select one of the available products.

When you buy an in-app purchase, you are doing so through Apple’s App Store and you are agreeing to their terms and conditions. Payments will be charged to the credit card of your Apple account.

In-app purchases are handled by Apple’s App Store. When you buy an in-app purchase, you are doing so through their store. Developers do not have access or can assist you with any issues.

If you can not buy or restore a purchase:

• Verify your App Store account settings
• Make sure your device is connected to the Internet
• Update your device to the latest available operating system

If it doesn’t work on your device, you can try to either:

• Retry sometimes later
• Close and restart the app
• Close all apps and restart your device
• Logout/login from your App Store account
• Uninstall and then reinstall the app once again

When a purchase can’t be restored you can also attempt to “buy” the same item again. It should show a message saying “You’ve already purchased this. Would you like to get it again for free?”. In that case, tap on OK to unlock the pro edition.

In case of problems with an in-app purchase, please refer to Apple’s official documentation or contact Apple Support if you still can’t buy or restore a purchase.

Buy in-app purchase:
https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT202023

Restore in-app purchase:
https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT204530

Manage your payment method:
https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201266

App Store connection issues:
https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201400

Request a refund:
https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT204084

If you experience a problem, you can request a refund directly from Apple. You’ll need to have a valid reason for the request, like if you bought the purchase by accident or in case it is not working. Developers do not have access nor can issue any refund related to App Store purchases.

To request a refund from Apple:

1. Go to Apple’s problem reports page:
   http://reportaproblem.apple.com
2. Login with your Apple ID.
3. Select the Apps tab.
4. Select Report a Problem to the right of the purchase you want a refund for.
5. Click on Choose Problem and select your problem from the menu.
6. Enter details about your problem and then submit.

You should hear back from Apple within a few days to a week with whether your request for a refund is approved.

Yomu keeps your books, annotations, folders, tags and reading progress stored securely in Apple’s iCloud. Every time you change something on one device, it’s synced to all your other devices. Always have the latest version, when you start reading on your iPad or Mac and continue on your iPhone on the go.

Yomu saves documents and data in Apple’s iCloud. Please note that you need to be signed in on your device with the same Apple ID on all platforms.

The Cloud Library is only available in Yomu Pro and requires a personal iCloud account. Storage limits and restrictions of your iCloud plan apply.

Apple’s CloudKit framework is used to save all metadata and files. Like with Photos, Books or other apps, all data is stored in a private database in your personal iCloud account. Only devices linked to your account have access, it is not possible for users or developers to directly view or download stored documents and data.

Yomu is intended as an ebook reader (client), not a document management system or server. It is recommended to still keep your original books on your computer, some kind of cloud storage provider (Dropbox, Google Drive, Nextcloud) or using a dedicated ebook management software (Calibre, COPS).

When enabling the Cloud Library, your current library will be saved to iCloud and synced to your other devices. You will need to be signed in on your device with your Apple ID and iCloud Drive must be available.

By default, synchronisation is disabled, you will need to enable it individually for each of your devices. Open the left sidebar in Yomu and tap on Cloud or go to Settings > Cloud in order to start the setup.

When you enable this feature, your current local library will be saved to iCloud. Imported books will not be merged with already existing ones. This means that if you have the “same” book on two devices, it will show up twice, since each import is assigned a different unique identifier when first syncing.

Important:
Do not interrupt this process.

When iCloud synchronisation is enabled, changes to documents, annotations, folders and tags as well as your current reading state (chapter/page) are automatically synced to all enabled devices.

Devices are notified of changes by silent push notifications. This requires Background App Refresh to be enabled for Yomu in Settings > General > Background App Refresh. As a fallback or if you do not want to enable automatic refreshing, a periodic sync fetches changes in regular intervals.

In most cases, synchronisation happens automatically and within minutes. But since notifications are not guaranteed to be always delivered or can be turned off, you might not see updates until the next periodic sync. In case changes are not transferred automatically, you can also use «pull-to-refresh» for a manual synchronisation.

In case you disable iCloud synchronisation, documents and data will no longer be synced for that particular device. You can opt out for each of your previously enabled devices individually.

Open the left sidebar and go to Settings > Cloud. Switching the Cloud Library to off will show the cloud setup, where you can disable synchronisation for the current device.

Cloud synchronisation will be disabled for the corresponding device. If you enable it again later, this device will sync up to the latest state stored on iCloud.

When disabling iCloud synchronisation on a device, your library is still stored on iCloud. In case you want to completely remove all stored data after you have disabled all your devices, go to Settings > iCloud > Storage > Manage > Yomu and delete all documents and data.

Important:
If you choose to delete all documents and data from the device settings, your stored library can’t be recovered. It will no longer be available to any other device linked to your account, because data is deleted from iCloud servers.

Apple’s iCloud service is used to store and sync your library. It’s a secure and (in most cases) reliable service, but problems can occur. It is unfortunately not possible for developers to find out why something does not work for certain users.

Make sure iCloud is setup and working:

• Verify you are signed in:
  Settings > Apple ID
• Verify iCloud and iCloud Drive is enabled:
  Settings > Apple ID > iCloud
  iCloud > iCloud Drive > Apps > Yomu
• Verify pending Apple account or iCloud terms and conditions are accepted:
  Settings > Apple Account > iCloud
• Verify network connection is available and not blocked (flight mode, vpn etc.):
  Settings > Network

If iCloud can’t be enabled or your library is not synced:

• Try again later
  → Maybe iCloud is temporarily unavailable
• Relaunch the app
  → This should refresh iCloud synchronization
• Restart your device
  → This should relaunch iCloud system services
• Uninstall/reinstall the app
  → This should reinitialise iCloud zones and records
• Logout/login from your Apple iCloud account (at your own risk):
  → This should reconnect your device and iCloud account

All books, folders, annotations and tags of your library are stored in a private database of your personal iCloud account. But reading state (chapter/page) uses a different service (iCloud Key-Value Store). If your library is synced but current reading progress not updated, it could be a different problem.

Reading position should be synced either when you close a book or when the app goes to background. It gets updated when the app becomes active and periodically while running. Unfortunately, iCloud state sync is sometimes rather slow (can take some minutes) or is unreliable for some devices.

When reading progress is not updated:

• Wait some time between switching devices
• Quit and restart the app again a bit later
• Close all apps and restart your device

If iCloud storage or sync still does not work it’s most likely a problem with your device or account. iCloud is a service provided by Apple, please refer to their documentation or contact Apple support for any iCloud related issues.

Apple iCloud Support:
https://support.apple.com/icloud

Yomu uses Apple’s iCloud service to store and sync your library. It’s a secure and (in most cases) reliable service, but problems can occur during synchronisation.

For general problems with iCloud, please refer to Apple’s official support:
https://support.apple.com/icloud

Below you find a list of the most common iCloud errors. Most problems are recoverable (e.g. no network), but some of them are fatal and require to re-enable synchronisation.

Recoverable Problems

Fatal Problems

In case of a fatal error, it is generally best to disable iCloud synchronisation for that particular device and enable it again after you fixed the problem. Since your data is stored in your local library and on Apple’s iCloud, the affected device should sync up again without any lost information.

Yomu supports external devices like keyboard, mouse or trackpads to navigate and perform common actions.

When you connect a mouse or trackpad to your iPad, a circular pointer appears on the display. Move the mouse or swipe on the trackpad just as you would with a desktop or notebook computer.

Refer to Apple’s documentation to learn how to connect or use a Bluetooth wireless device with your iPad.

Connect a mouse or trackpad:
https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT211009

Use a Bluetooth mouse or trackpad:
https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT211008

Connecting a Bluetooth accessory to your iPad requires at least iPadOS 13.4.

Please note that not all devices are supported by Apple and certain features may not be available. For example, iPadOS doesn’t support scrolling or other gestures with Apple Magic Mouse (1st generation) or Magic Trackpad (1st generation).

Keyboard shortcuts help you make efficient use of Yomu’s core reader features. You can e.g. go to the next page by using the arrow keys or create notes or copy selected text.

With a keyboard connected to your iPad, hold down the command key (⌘) for about two seconds and a window will pop up listing the available shortcuts on that screen.

Shortcuts for common tasks like notes, highlights or copy are available as context actions as well.

When a mouse or trackpad is connected, handling selected text works differently than when using touch gestures. Like on a Mac, you will need to first select some text using the cursor and then right click (control click) on the selection to show the available context menu.

How to right-click:
https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT207700

Apple Quick Note aims to provide a quicker way to jot down things without you having to go in and out of the Notes app. When you activate it, the Notes app quickly opens and is available immediately.

You can bring up a floating Quick Note window on iPad using your finger or an Apple Pencil by swiping diagonally up from the bottom right corner of the screen. On Mac, Quick Note is implemented as a Hot Corner function. Pick a corner of the screen and move the cursor to that corner to trigger it.

Tap on the note brings up the virtual keyboard and you can begin typing. Quick Note also detects the app you are using and will show an Add Link button at the top of the editor window to insert a link to the current content.

When you are back on that content, a thumbnail of the note you saved before appears. Tap or click the preview to show your note. Likewise, selecting a previously added Quick Note link will open the corresponding content inside an app.

Additional information about Quick Note for iPad and Mac is available here:
MacRumours: How to Use Quick Note (iPadOS)
Macworld: How to use Quick Note (macOS)

Yomu supports to add Quick Note links to chapters, pages, bookmarks or annotations.

When reading a book, activate Quick Note to add a link back to the current chapter or page in a pdf or comic. Yomu also lets you create bookmarks, which can be added as a link to Quick Note as well. When you are on a page with a bookmark, the Add Link in Quick Note will automatically show it.

If you select text and create a native annotation, the Add Link button allows to insert a reference to your note or highlight inside the app. To create a link for an existing annotation, tap the annotation and the Quick Note link button changes to the selected highlight.

Afterwards, if you come back to a book with an associated Quick Note, a thumbnail appears which lets you access your note. Or you can select a link you added to Quick Note to open the chapter, page, bookmark or annotation inside Yomu again.

At the moment, third-party apps can not directly add Quick Notes or have access to content inside Apple’s Notes app. It is therefore not supported to add selected text or highlights to Quick Note and annotation export will not include your notes.

A shortcut is a quick way to get one or more tasks done with your apps. The Apple Shortcuts app lets you create your own shortcuts with multiple steps.

Yomu includes shortcuts to list or open books and annotations and to export them in text, markdown or json format or save the original file. All shortcuts are available directly in the Apple Shortcuts app and can be freely combined with other actions. The provided shortcuts require at least iOS 17.4+ but some actions are only supported for iOS 18 or later.

Individual books can be exported in text, markdown or json format with the Export Book shortcut. It can be used together with the Current Book or Find Books action, which lets you get a filtered list of books to automate saving metadata and annotations of all your books.

Export book (example)

1. Add Export Book shortcut
2. Choose a format (text, markdown, json)
3. Choose book or run to select from recents

Export current book (example)

1. Add Current Book shortcut
2. Add Export Book shortcut
   • Connect Current Book output to Export Book input
   • Choose a format (text, markdown, json)
3. Add Save File shortcut from the Files app

Export all books (example)

1. Add Find Books shortcut
   • Optional: Add Filter (tag, folder, …)
2. Add Repeat with Each action for all books
3. Add Export Book shortcut inside the loop
   • Connect Repeat Item to Export Book input
4. Use the Files app Save File action to save the export
   • Disable Ask Where to Save and select a folder instead
   • Enable Overwrite If File Exists to have only one copy

You can save all original book files to create a backup of your library on iCloud Drive with the Save Book shortcut.

Save all books (example)

1. Add Find Books shortcut
   • Add Filter (type, folder …)
2. Add Repeat with Each action for all books
3. Add Save Book shortcut inside the loop
   • Connect Repeat Item to Save Book input
4. Use the Files app Save File action to save the export
   • Disable Ask Where to Save and select a folder instead
   • Enable Overwrite If File Exists to have only one copy

It’s also possible to re-create the folder structure but it’s a bit difficult to get this to work with the Shortcuts app. You will need to modify the save books shortcut to get the folder name and file name to define a custom subpath for the Save File action.

Save books folder (example)

1. Use a Set Variable action inside the loop
   • Select the book folder as value: Repeat Item -> Folder
2. Define a custom Subpath for the Save File action using the folder name and book title
   • Subpath: Folder->Name/RepeatItem->Title

Note: This shortcut can fail with “Couldn’t communicate with helper application”, this is an error message from the Apple Shortcuts app. Most likely the problem is that it runs out of memory with large files. As a workaround, try to run the shortcut from your Mac or from a device with more memory. As an alternative, you can also set a filter in the Find Books action to only save epub formats and exclude large file types such as pdf or comics.

You can export individual annotations in text, markdown or json format with the Export Annotation shortcut.

Export annotation (example)

1. Add Export Annotation shortcut
2. Choose a format (text, markdown, json)
3. Choose annotation or run to select from latest

Another option is to create your own annotation export. You can use the Find Annotations shortcut to get a filtered list of all annotations or the Current Annotations action to save all annotations of your current book.

Export all annotations (example)

1. Add Find Annotation shortcut
   • Optional: Add Filter (date, title, tag, …)
2. Add Repeat with Each action for all annotations
3. Add Dictionary and set properties from Repeat Item inside the loop
4. Create new Dictionary action to save the export output in the required format

This example iterates over all annotations and creates a new dictionary for each entry with specific annotation properties. The result output can be used as a json payload to upload highlights to external services.

Yomu includes a convenience shortcut to upload highlights to the Readwise service. It can be used to upload all or selected highlights with the Find Annotations action or to just upload the Current Annotations of a book.

Upload highlights (example)

1. Add Find Annotations shortcut
   • Optional: Sort by created or modified
2. Optional: Add Choose from List shortcut
3. Add Readwise Service shortcut
   • Connect list output to upload input
   • Enter your Readwise access token

Upload current highlights (example)

1. Add Current Annotations shortcut
2. Add Readwise Service shortcut
   • Enter your Readwise access token

You can obtain your personal Readwise access token from their service
https://readwise.io/access_token

With Shortcuts, annotation export and upload to external services can be automated. Here is an example for Readwise, but the same concepts can be used for other service APIs as well.

Service upload (example)

1. Add Find Annotation shortcut with optional filters
   • Sort by created or modified
   • Order by latest
   • Limit to 30
2. Add Choose from List action to select some or all annotations
3. Add a Repeat with Each action for the Chosen Items afterwards
4. For each item, create a Dictionary with the highlight attributes
5. Create new Dictionary action to save the export output in the required format
6. Use a Get Contents of URL action and configure it to upload the highlights:
   • POST request to Service API endpoint
   • Request body type File set to the Text contents
   • Headers for json content type and authorization token

In summary, the shortcut transforms your annotations to the required json structure and uploads it to the Readwise highlights API endpoint. The text conversion is a workaround, because the Get Contents action somehow does not accept dictionaries for json body type inputs. This solution is based on the custom json payload approach published in Alex W.’s blog.

This approach will only work with more than one annotation. The problem is that the Shortcuts app somehow converts list output to an object instead of an array if there is only one item contained. You would need to modify the shortcut to handle zero/one or multiple annotations.

How you structure or upload highlights depends on the service. Refer to their documentation to learn more:

– Readwise
https://readwise.io/api_deets

– Raindrop.io
https://developer.raindrop.io/v1/highlights

For other questions or more details about Shortcuts, please refer to Apple’s official documentation and support.

Shortcuts User Guide:
https://support.apple.com/en-us/guide/shortcuts

Siri can show your current reading list. Simply ask: “Hey Siri, show my list in Yomu”.

Siri will respond by showing your most recently read books. Select an entry to view the book’s abstract and tap to open in the app to continue reading.

Siri and Shortcuts are only supported on devices running iOS 12 or later.

Verify that Siri is enabled by going to Settings > Siri & Search. Toggle either Listen for “Hey Siri” or Press Side Button for Siri to enable Siri on your device.

Also make sure you granted Yomu permission to share data with Siri. Check the Use with Siri switch in Settings > Apps > Yomu > Siri.

If Siri does not recognize your phrase, try to emphasize it slowly or correct it manually. After some time, Siri will learn to better understand your intended invocation.

For other questions about Siri, please consult Apple’s documentation and support.

Use Siri on all your Apple devices:
https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT204389

If Siri or “Hey Siri” isn’t working:
https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT207489

Use Siri Shortcuts:
https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT209055

Like Apple Books or Photos, Yomu is not a document based app that opens files in place or stores them in a folder. When you add a book, a copy is created and saved in your library. If you have enabled the Cloud Library (pro only), it will also be stored in a private database of your personal iCloud account.

This means that you only have to import books once, but you won’t be able to access them directly later. You still can save or export individual books and their annotations afterwards by tapping on the context action button (3 dots) next to a document in your library or long press (Options > Save/Export). It is also possible to save all original book files using Apple Shortcuts to create a backup to iCloud Drive using the Save Book shortcut.

Yomu is intended as a simple ebook reader. It’s recommended to only add books you are currently reading and keep your entire collection on some storage provider (e.g. Dropbox) or use a dedicated ebook management software like calibre to organise your library.

This way, you can manage your books with a dedicated tool and are also not locked into one app. For example, you can then use Yomu together with any other app or reading device such as a Kindle.

Location settings are a system feature that work in a somewhat non-intuitive way. As long as an app has not yet requested your permission, it will either not be listed in your device settings or it can’t be disabled. Settings only allow to change your preferences later.

The first time an app tries to access your location, it must ask for your permission. Apps won’t use your location until it has been requested and you grant permission.

In case you have not used this feature, you would need to first open a book and create an annotation or bookmark. This will show the corresponding location permission dialog: tap on “Don’t allow” and it should be disabled in settings.

Likewise, if you have already granted the location permission and changed your mind, you can update your preferences from Settings > Privacy > Location Services. Scroll down to find the app, tap the app and select an option.

For more details, see Apple Support:
Turn Location Services on or off
About privacy and Location Services

You can uninstall Yomu like any other app on your iPhone, iPad or Mac.

On your iPhone or iPad, touch and hold an app from the home screen until all apps start to jiggle. Tap the remove icon in the upper-left corner of the app and confirm deletion.

If you have enabled the Cloud Library, data will still be stored in your personal iCloud account. In case you want to completely remove everything, you will need to manually delete it from the device settings.

Caution: Deleting iCloud data containers from your device settings will delete it from your iCloud account on Apple’s servers. This action can not be undone and your data can’t be recovered:
Device Settings > Apple ID > iCloud > Manage Storage > Yomu: Delete Data

Mac Catalyst apps don’t have an uninstaller, you will need to manually delete it. Move the Yomu.app from the Applications folder to the trash. Local data will still be stored in the app’s container.

Open Finder or the Terminal to delete the app’s local data container:
/Users/Your-User/Library/Containers/Yomu

The Library folder is hidden on Mac by default. You can show it with Finder using:
Finder > Menu > Go > [hold option key ⌥] > Library

There is an issue where iCloud sync no longer works on older operating systems and fails with the following error message:

Failed to synchronize iCloud data. Operation is no longer supported for this container.

Apple’s iCloud service deprecated an operation and their servers started to return an error. For older iOS/macOS system versions, requests are rejected by iCloud servers, which is a non-recoverable error. On newer operating systems, it’s just a “bad request” that gets ignored by the app.

Yomu v3.7.0 should fix this iCloud bug. Otherwise you would need to upgrade your iPhone/iPad/Mac operating system to the latest version, which should solve the problem as well.

Yomu uses Apple’s default text selection, which can sometimes be unreliable. For example, the behaviour (and issues) are similar to when text is selected in the standard Safari browser.

What usually works best is to:

1. Long press on an individual word
2. Adjust the selection handles afterwards

It has already been improved in recent iOS versions, it’s recommended to update your device to the latest system version. There will likely be more optimizations in upcoming platform updates. Please report this issue directly to Apple for it to be prioritized:
https://www.apple.com/feedback/

Text selection and highlights depend on the content and structure of a book. It should work in most cases, but sometimes it fails.

Content without structured or semantic markup can’t always be rendered correctly and creating annotations can fail. This is often a problem with old formats or converted books that lack any structured content.

Highlights also change the structure of a document. For example, multiple highlights in the same paragraph or with italics and links can’t always be displayed correctly. Text should still be extracted, but the highlight can’t be created anymore.

How text is displayed depends on the encoding of a book. Unfortunately, encoding for certain special characters is not always handled correctly for some older ebook formats. This can result in for example quotes, apostrophes or other characters being garbled.

It appears to be an issue in one of Apple’s components. A recent version of Yomu added a workaround that should solve the problem. But there might still be cases where it doesn’t work or otherwise causes troubles. Please send the corresponding files to support for further investigation.

As an alternative, you can also convert such books using Calibre and reimport them, which should fix the problem as well.

1. Install calibre ebook manager
2. Add and select books to convert
3. Configure EPUB output options
   • Output format: EPUB
   • EPUB version: 2

Or you could also use the Modify ePub calibre plugin with the Encode HTML in UTF-8 option to clean up invalid encoding.

On macOS, you can right click text to get a context menu to create highlights or notes. Context menus don’t work as expected on Monterey, but this macOS issue should be fixed with Ventura. It’s recommended to use the toolbar or keyboard shortcuts for highlights, notes or other text selection actions.

Please note that “Define” and “Translate” are not available on Mac because Apple doesn’t support the required frameworks for these features on that platform.

Saving images uses Apple’s Photos framework like on iOS. It only asks for the permission once, but you should be able to change it later in the settings.

But somehow the Photos permission is not available in the Mac settings anymore and can no longer be updated. Most likely this is an issue with either Apple’s framework or system settings.

As a workaround, you can reset all permissions for Yomu on Mac with the following Terminal command. You will be ask for it again the next time you save an image:
tccutil reset All net.cecinestpasparis.yomu

Due to a bug in macOS 11.4+, layout rendering for some Mac Catalyst apps no longer works as expected when an external monitor is connected. While the correct content is initially displayed, it breaks the more you scroll or change a page.

According to Apple, a system-level fix is required. It should now work again with macOS 12, but unfortunately a patch for macOS 11 will not be released. There is no workaround available and you will need to either update to macOS 12 or disconnect external displays.