Applications for almost any need that can be computed exist on Linux, from the most common and demanded (such as multimedia players, image editing among others) to the most rare and unusual.
Among the most usual of what was already mentioned, also we can find a certain demand in the support to be able to view documents, books, manuals, among other types of information. With this we have what are pdf readers, ebook readers as well as publishers of these.
That is why this time we will meet a new ebook reader which is really short-lived and worth a try.
The application that we will talk about today is called Foliate, this is a new ebook reader for Linux and it has a minimalist interface, which makes it look like an elegant and simple application.
But the fact that you can only see this does not mean that it is a simple application, since under the hood it has some advanced options. With what this ebook reader can offer more than meets the eye.
About Foliate
To know a little under Foliate, we must know that the code is written in JavaScript and that for the formation of the library interface is used GJS (in GTK) and to handle EPUB format - Epub.js
Foliate is a free and open source application which is under the GPLv3 license.
Among its main features we can find the following:
View epub files: Foliate is based on Epub.js and supports both two-page view and scrolling view. Customize the font and line spacing. Choose from light, sepia, dark, and inverted mode.
Easy navigation: The user will be able to view the table of contents or use the search function in the book. The reading progress slider with chapter marks makes it easy to find the book.
Quick dictionary search: Foliate uses the metadata included in the ebook to determine which language to search for. This feature is powered by Wiktionary, the free dictionary.
Add bookmarks, highlights, and notes: Foliate stores your reading progress, bookmarks, and annotations in your XDG data directory as simple JSON files, so you can easily export or sync them.
Font setting and line spacing: With this Foliate can modify the appearance of the text that is being displayed, with which the user can choose the size of the font (if it is very small), as well as the type of font, change the space between lines and more. This in order for the user to have a pleasant reading moment.
Of the other characteristics we can find:
- Background color selection
- Gesture support.
- Metadata viewer
How to install Foliate on Ubuntu and derivatives?
For those who are interested in being able to install this ebook reader on their system, they can do so by following the instructions that we share with you below.
Foliate developer delivers your application in a Flatpak format in a general way so that it can be installed on any Linux distribution with support for it.
So in the case of Ubuntu and derivatives we can do it, we only have to have the support for this type of packages added to our system.
In the event that you do not have this added support, just open a terminal (Ctrl + Alt + T) and on it you will have to type the following commands:
sudo add-apt-repository ppa:alexlarsson/flatpak -y [sourcecode type="bash"]sudo apt update && sudo apt install flatpak
And that's it, you can install Flatpak applications on your system. Now to install Foliate by this method, you will only have to type the following command in the terminal:
flatpak install flathub com.github.johnfactotum.Foliate
With this, you will have the application installed on your system ready to be used, you can find it within your application menu.
In the remote case that you cannot find the application launcher, you can launch it from the terminal by typing the following command:
flatpak run com.github.johnfactotum.Foliate