I've always wanted to make an ebook app that 'just works', to quote the iconic words from a certain American company. While experimenting with a lot of different ways on how to make it, this year I finally decided to make it in React Native. Here's a quick overview of the progress I've made.

First, I started thinking about the design of the app. And by that I don't mean the looks, but the inner workings. How should I parse the ebooks? How should I show them on the screen and make them working? I wrote some blog posts (in Dutch) on that if you're interested in my findings.

After putting lots of work, I managed to make a bar bones app that does everything what you expect from an ebook app: from importing ebooks to actually reading them.

After a few months has passed, the app can now search in ebooks and customize the layout of the pages. This week I've implemented a simple lazy loading feature that makes the app better than ever before.

Feel free to test it yourself by following the instructions on the site. (Please forgive me for using AI for the banner, I will sort that out asap.)