foliate

Foliate: A Stylish Reading Companion

Foliate is a sleek and modern book-reading application that enhances your reading experience with its array of features and stylish interface. This comprehensive application supports a variety of functions to make digital reading more accessible and enjoyable.

Installation

Runtime Dependencies

For Foliate to run smoothly, certain dependencies are required. These include:

• gjs (version 1.76 or higher)
• gtk4 (version 4.12 or higher)
• libadwaita (version 1.6 or higher, referred to as gir1.2-adw-1 on Debian-based distributions)
• webkitgtk-6.0 (known as webkitgtk6.0 on Fedora and gir1.2-webkit-6.0 on Debian-based systems)

Optional Dependencies

To take full advantage of Foliate's features, you might also consider the following optional dependencies:

• Hyphenation Rules: For auto-hyphenation, install language-specific hyphenation packages (e.g., hyphen-en for English).
• Text-to-Speech Support: Install speech-dispatcher and output modules such as espeak-ng.
• File Tracking: If you wish to track file locations, install tracker (version 3 or later) and tracker-miners.

Obtaining Foliate

To get started with Foliate, you can clone the repository with all its submodules using:

git clone --recurse-submodules https://github.com/johnfactotum/foliate.git 

Alternatively, download the compressed tarball from the Releases page.

Running Foliate Without Installation

You can run Foliate directly from the source without building or installing it by executing:

gjs -m src/main.js

This is particularly helpful for quick tests or trying out the application. Note that running it this way won't save your settings unless you compile the schema with:

glib-compile-schemas data

Then, execute the application with:

GSETTINGS_SCHEMA_DIR=data gjs -m src/main.js

Building and Installing Foliate

To build and install Foliate from the source, you will need:

• meson (version 0.59 or later)
• pkg-config
• gettext

Run the following commands for installation:

meson setup build
sudo ninja -C build install

For uninstallation:

sudo ninja -C build uninstall

Local Directory Installation

If you wish to install Foliate to a local directory without root permissions, you can specify a local prefix:

meson setup build --prefix $PWD/run
ninja -C build install

Then run the application with:

GSETTINGS_SCHEMA_DIR=run/share/glib-2.0/schemas ./run/bin/foliate

Alternative Installation Options

• Flatpak: Foliate is available on Flathub. For development, use GNOME Builder.
• Snap: Install Foliate from the Snap Store using:

sudo snap install foliate

Screenshots

Foliate offers a variety of features showcased in its screenshots:

• Dark mode for comfortable night-time reading
• Wikipedia lookup for enriching the reading experience
• Detailed book metadata
• Annotation capabilities for taking notes
• Popup footnotes for easier reference
• Support for vertical writing

License

Foliate is free software, distributed under the GNU General Public License. It includes several JavaScript libraries, each with its own license:

• foliate-js: MIT license
• zip.js: BSD-3-Clause license
• fflate: MIT license
• PDF.js: Apache License 2.0

Foliate represents a blend of modern design and functionality to offer users a superior digital reading experience.