LITERA Reader 📖

Now you can comment on blog posts

Hey everyone! Alex here 👋

Before, we used to post news and announcements, and you'd read them in silence. Now things are different.

We've added comments under every post on our blog. Now you can share your thoughts, ask questions, debate, or just say thank you.

Want to discuss a new feature? Drop a comment under the post. Spotted a mistake? Let us know. Got inspired by an idea? Tell us how you applied it.

We did this so the blog becomes more than just a news feed. It's a place for real conversation. Between us and you. And between readers themselves.

What's already up for discussion?

Here are a few recent posts we'd love to hear your thoughts on:

📖 The Birth of a Project: More Than Just a Reader — how it all started.

📊 May results with Alex: preserving books, commenting on quotes, and messing up with scaling (then fixing it) — may's highlights and our scaling adventures.

🔔 July Wrap‑up with Alex: Notifications, Bookmarks, and Optimization Insights — notifications, bookmarks, and optimization.

Head over, read, and leave your mark.

Let's talk. Litera Reader ❤️

API for everyone: now with a step‑by‑step guide

Hey everyone! Alex here 👋

We've mentioned before that we now offer the ability to integrate our reader into any library or community with text files — books, articles, manuals.

And now we've taken the next step. We've launched a dedicated page with a detailed description of how to set it all up.

👉 Developer Guide: Integrating the Document Reader

There you'll find all the technical info, examples, and step‑by‑step instructions.

If you have any questions — we're always here. Drop us a line, ask away. We're open to collaboration and ready to help with integration.

Come check it out, explore, and connect.

Open for integration. Litera Reader 🤝

📬 Your feedback. Part 2.

Hey everyone! Alex here 👋

Continuing with your feedback – here's another topic you asked about.

🔍 Search inside a book

I would like to have a 'search the text' feature when I open a book

There's a nuance here. If you're reading a book in epub format, search isn't available through the reader interface just yet. But you can always press Ctrl+F (or Cmd+F on Mac) and find what you need right in your browser.

If it's a PDF - it's simpler: the search function is in the side panel. Just open it and search for anything you like.

If you have similar questions or have run into the same issues - drop them in the comments 👇

We're listening and making things better, Litera Reader 🤝

📬 Your feedback. Part 1.

Hey everyone! Alex here 👋

We've done these roundups before, and we see that you really care about sharing your ideas with us. Today we're covering two new requests we've received from readers.

📂 Grouping books into folders

Please, I need to organize my books. I have many volumes of the same work, and it's hard to browse the book I want to read. We need a feature to group books into folders. And a search feature would be appreciated!

We don't have this functionality yet. But you're absolutely right - organizing the space inside the library is an important step. We're keeping it in mind, but it's not on our immediate roadmap. As soon as we have something, we'll let you know.

↩️ "Back" button

When I click on a link in the text, I'm navigated to the end of the book. But how do I get back to continue reading? There's no 'Back' button

Yeah, that's inconvenient. We understand the problem and we're already thinking about how to make it easier to return to where you were reading. We're working on it.

If you have similar questions or have run into the same issues - drop them in the comments 👇

We're listening and making things better, Litera Reader 🤝

Our service is used all over the world

Hey everyone! Alex here 👋

We often say that people read us from all over the world. And it's not just words. Just look at the numbers.

🌍 Our service is used by people from more than 30 countries.

Here's the top 5 by geography:

China – 31%
USA – 15%
Poland – 8%
Hong Kong – 4%
India – 4%
And other countries (Netherlands, Finland, Japan, Brazil…)

Now about languages. The website and the reader are currently only in English, but our users speak many different languages.
Top 5:

English – 76% (2.6M)
Chinese – 17% (569K)
French – 2% (72K)
Spanish – 1% (51K)
Italian – 1% (43K)
And other languages (Portuguese, Russian, German…)

We see that even with just English, we're getting huge numbers of readers from China, Europe, and the Americas. So localization will make the service even more convenient.

Which language would you like to see in the interface first?
Drop it in the comments 👇
Your answers will help us set our priorities.

We speak your language. Litera Reader 🤝

New blog post: July Wrap‑up with Alex: Notifications, Bookmarks, and Optimization Insights 📝

Hey everyone! Alex here 👋

I recently published a fresh article on our blog and wanted to share it with you.

What's inside?

📌 July updates: what we've accomplished this month
🔔 New notification system, so you never miss a thing
🔖 Bookmarks, by the way, have you tried them yet?
⚡️ And our thoughts on optimization: how we're making the reader faster and smoother

Follow the link, give it a read, and drop your comments. Your feedback really matters to us!

Growing together. Sharing what's new. Litera Reader 🤝

Why we chose web over apps 🌐

Hey everyone! Alex here 👋

Today I want to talk about why we chose web over native apps for Litera Reader.

The main reason: we're in active development.

Right now, Litera Reader is a living product. New features drop frequently, sometimes every couple of weeks. We're constantly improving the reader, adding functionality, and polishing details.

And in this kind of dynamic environment, the web version gives us a superpower:

👉 You always get the latest build instantly — no waiting for approval from the App Store or Google Play
👉 No need to download, update, or reinstall anything
👉 No sync headaches. Just open your browser and read

Everything works here and now.

So what's next?

We totally get that many people prefer native apps for convenience. That's why, down the line, we plan to package the web version into native apps for iOS, Android, and desktop. For now, though, web is our main focus.

Read anywhere. Instantly. No extra fuss. Litera Reader 🤝

📖 Bookmarks are finally here!

Hey everyone! Alex here 👋

When we started building the first version of the reader, we… totally forgot about bookmarks 😅

Honestly? We thought: why do you need them if we already save your reading position? And for anchor points — there are highlights. Jump to any highlight from the social panel, and you're good.

But all this time, one developer from a neighboring team kept asking:

So… when are we getting bookmarks?

Turns out, he uses the reader completely differently than we expected. He doesn't just need highlights, he wants to see whole chapters or specific spots that aren't quote-worthy. Just a page where he stopped for a reason. Or a chapter he wants to return to later.

We heard him. And we delivered ✅

Now bookmarks are live in the reader! They live in the table of contents panel, on a separate tab — just look for the 🔖 icon.

You can add as many as you want and jump back to any saved spot anytime.

With love for your favorite chapters, Litera Reader 🤝

Notifications in the reader: keeping a finger on the pulse 🔔

Hey everyone! Alex here 👋

Likes, comments, new features — we've already made quite a few steps toward our goal: building a living community around books

And here's the next step. Things just got a little easier. We've added notifications right inside the reader.

If someone likes your quote or replies to your comment — you'll see it in the top right corner of the screen. Nothing gets missed or lost. You'll always know when someone wants to talk about the same part of a book as you.

But that's not all.

We'll also use these notifications to let you know about:

👉 Our events
👉 New blog posts
👉 The most important messages from our Telegram channel

We promise not to spam. We just want to keep you in the loop about what's happening with the project.

Check out the new notifications section 👀 Maybe someone already liked your quote

Read, comment, stay in touch, Litera Reader 🤝

Read online without downloading: sharing our API 🔗

Hey everyone! Alex here 👋

This will be a tiny bit technical, but I'll break it down.

We now have the ability to offer an API (think of it as a digital bridge) to other services that store text files.

Imagine a university library with millions of textbooks and articles. What does a student usually do? Download a file, search for a program to open it, wait, struggle... 😩

But what if our reader was built right into that library? Just click "Read Online" — and you're reading. No downloads, no extra software.

The first big project that already integrated us is a well-known library you all know well 📚 Millions of files have been processed by our system. You can open them without limits, right in your browser.

If you have a project with text files and you want people to read them comfortably without downloading — reach out to us integrations@litera-reader.com. We'll tell you how to integrate our reader.

Open to integrations. Litera Reader 🤝

Devs vs. quotes: the battle continues 🔥

Hey everyone! Alex here 👋

We recently got together with the team at a coworking space and once again, we hit a wall with quotes. Seems simple: just show quotes and that's it, right? Nope.

A book is a finite thing. First page, last page, clear volume.
You finish reading → good job → grab the next one. But quotes… they're endless. For real.

You can re-read the same book 10 times and each time find a phrase that suddenly hits you right in the heart. The one you used to just scroll past. And for us devs, this is a real quest.

Questions that make our heads spin:
— Which quotes should we even show?
— How do we tell if a line really matters or just "passes by"?
— Random ones? Popular ones? The ones users highlighted themselves?
— And most importantly — how not to drown in this ocean of words?

Because:
👉 show everything → you get a mess
👉 show too little → you miss that one quote. The one someone might have opened the book for in the first place.

Right now, we're actively searching for a solution.
The likes we recently introduced help a lot. So once again, please rate the best quotes ❤️

We really want you to open the reader every time and find something alive, sharp, and meaningful to you.

What matters to you in quotes? Do you like random gems? Or do you want to see the most popular ones from other readers? Drop a comment 👇 we're genuinely curious.

Thanks for helping us uncover the gems, Litera Reader 🤝

Now quotes are talking

Hey everyone! Alex here 👋

Today I'm telling you about the latest update — commenting on quotes.

Before, a quote was just a line in a book. You'd highlight it, save it, maybe like it. But now here's the thing: you can leave a comment under any quote. And even reply to someone else's comment.

A quote no longer just hangs in the air. It's a reason to chat with others who are reading the same book.

— You can discuss an unexpected plot twist 🔄
— Argue about the meaning of a phrase ⚡️
— Support someone's reading 🤝
— Or just say: "Oh, I got stuck on that line too!"

It's a chance to find like-minded people in a book you love (or hate - debates are still welcome).

We didn't just add a text field. We made it so that a living community forms around books.

Question for you:

Which quote from the last book you read would you want to discuss? Write it in the comments and imagine how many people might agree or disagree with you.

Your reader is always with you, Litera Reader 🤝

How a like helps quotes get noticed

Hey everyone! Alex here 👋

Today I want to talk about likes. I've mentioned this topic in our blog before, but now let me go into a bit more detail. Imagine you're reading and suddenly come across a phrase that hits you, maybe makes you think. Or just seems really useful. What do you do? Hit like ❤️

But it's not just "I like this." It's a signal:

Hey team, check this out — this quote is great

That's how it becomes more visible to other readers.

Why does this even matter?

We're working on how to surface the most useful quotes. Because books are finite, but there are so many quotes inside them and it's not always clear which ones are truly valuable to readers.

Likes are one way to figure that out. The more support a quote gets, the higher the chance others will see it. That's how we gradually learn to filter what might actually be useful for our audience. So you're not just rating you're helping us shape the quotes feed and highlight what really matters.

Let's work together so that great lines don't get lost in the endless scroll. Tap the heart under a quote if it speaks to you. And share your most memorable quotes in the comments.

With you on every page, Litera Reader 🤝

New voice on air and blog post release

Hey everyone! 👋

This is Alexandra (you can call me Alex). Starting today, I'll be covering the events of our project for you.

You know, we've decided to lift the curtain a little. To talk not only about features, but also about the team and our plans. So you see not just "another update", but how and why it comes to life.

I've been with the project since the very first build. I remember piecing the reader together bit by bit, arguing about quotes, and celebrating our first wins. So I really have a lot to share with you.

Today I want to share 📖 a news post from our blog, where I talked about the personal library on the Litera Reader website and the updates related to socialization.

By the way, how do you like my library? I'd be curious to know what you're reading.

I'm always open to feedback in the comments or privately – write to me, I'll be waiting.

See you more often now, Alex (and Litera Reader, of course) 🤝

Thank you for your feedback 🙌

We read everything you share with us, and today we’d like to go over some of the most common requests.

🔊 Text-to-speech

Many of you have asked about adding text-to-speech to Litera Reader. We hear you — and we agree, it would be a valuable addition.

At the same time, it’s a complex feature to build properly. It involves more than just reading text aloud — it requires natural-sounding voices, careful text processing, and solid technical groundwork.

It’s already part of our plans, but it will take time to implement. Thank you for your patience.

🌐 Reading experience

As we’ve mentioned before, one of our key priorities is developing social features. We believe reading becomes more engaging when you can see how others interact with the same content — and share your own perspective.

At the same time, we know that everyone reads differently. Some people enjoy being part of a shared experience, while others prefer to focus without distractions.

That’s why we’re working on introducing different reading modes:

🥳 Social mode — see activity from other users and take part in discussions;
🤫 Focused mode — no notifications, no external activity — just you and the book.

🎨 Visual customization

You also suggested adding more control over background and text appearance — thank you for that.

We agree this can make a real difference in the reading experience. We’re planning to introduce more flexible settings to make reading as comfortable as possible.

Please keep sharing your feedback!

We read it, discuss it, and use it to guide how Litera Reader evolves. We’re building this product together with you 💙

Litera Reader didn’t start as a social product

At the beginning, the goal was simple — create a tool that could open books in any format. But products evolve — and so do expectations. At some point, we started asking ourselves: where do we go next?

The answer came down to one idea — connection.

Reading on your own is valuable. But it becomes even more meaningful when you can see how others engage with the same text — and share your own perspective.

💬 That’s how quotes evolved — and eventually grew into Impressions.

With these features, Litera Reader becomes more than just a reading tool. It becomes a space for shared context — for discussions, reactions, and discovering like-minded readers.

In a way, it’s a focused social layer built around books.

😎 We’re encouraged by how this direction is taking shape.

There’s still a lot to do. Not every idea has been implemented, and there are challenges along the way. But we believe we’re moving in the right direction.

Read, share your Impressions, and connect with readers around the world! We’ll keep working to make that experience as seamless as possible.

About reader performance

On the surface, using an app feels simple. You see buttons, icons, and a clean interface. You tap, and everything just works.

📕 For example, when you upload a book: select a file → click “upload” → done.

From your perspective, that’s all there is to it. Behind the scenes, however, there’s much more going on. Once your file is uploaded, it’s processed by our system. Servers handle everything in the background, preparing the content so you get a fully functional reading experience — with structured text, images, and customizable settings.

Sometimes, the reader may take longer to open than we’d like. This can depend on several factors:

• file size and format;
• how many users are active at the same time;
• the complexity of the book;
• and other technical details that aren’t visible on the surface.

What matters is that we’re continuously working to improve this.

🧐 Every day, we analyze performance, identify bottlenecks, and optimize the system to make the experience faster and more reliable.

Our goal is simple: you open a book and start reading — without waiting.

Thank you for being with us!

Let’s summarize the first part of the year!

Without further introduction — we’re glad to share that a major update has been released, including three important features.

💎 Impressions for quotes — you can now not only save passages, but also tag them based on your reaction. This helps us better organize quotes and enables filtering by category.

✍️ Blog section — we’ve launched a blog on the Litera Reader website. What would you like to see there? Feel free to share your ideas.

📚 My book collection — we’ve introduced a page with your uploaded books. You can now easily return to your library without worrying about losing anything.

What we’re still working on

We have been working on improving reader performance and accessibility across different regions. Unfortunately, we have not yet achieved the desired results due to technical limitations related to access restrictions.

We continue to explore solutions and will keep you updated.