How to read EPUB files on iPhone and iPad

EPUB is the most common format for ebooks that are not locked to one store. Project Gutenberg, Standard Ebooks, most small publishers and many authors who sell directly hand you an .epub file. Your iPhone can read it well, but the first time you tap one, it is not obvious where it should go.

Where EPUB files come from

Most EPUBs reach a phone in one of four ways: a download in Safari, an attachment in Mail, a file sent over AirDrop, or a folder you keep in iCloud Drive, Dropbox or Google Drive. In every case the file ends up somewhere the Files app can see, and that is the place to start.

The Files app can show you that the book is there, but it does not read EPUBs itself. It hands the file to a reading app.

Opening an EPUB from Files, Mail or AirDrop

1. Find the book in Files (try Recents or the Downloads folder if you downloaded it in Safari).
2. Touch and hold the file, then tap Share.
3. Pick the reading app you want, such as Books or another reader that accepts EPUB.

From Mail or Messages, tap the attachment to preview it, then use the same Share button. AirDrop asks which app should open the file as soon as it arrives.

The app makes its own copy, so you can delete the original download afterwards without losing the book.

Importing a whole folder of books

Sharing books one at a time is fine for one or two. If you have a folder of fifty, most readers make you repeat the steps fifty times. A few readers on iOS can import a whole folder at once from Files, which also keeps your library tidy if you already sort books into folders on a computer.

If you keep your books on a home server with Calibre, Kavita or Komga, you can skip files altogether and download books over OPDS. We cover that in How to read your Calibre library on iPhone and iPad.

Books with DRM, and why they will not open

Some EPUBs are encrypted. Books bought from big stores and many library loans come with DRM (digital rights management), which ties the book to one app or one account. A DRM-protected EPUB will open in the store's own app and nowhere else. Other readers show an error or a blank page.

You can usually tell from where you got it. Files from Project Gutenberg, Standard Ebooks, Humble Bundle, Smashwords and many independent authors are DRM-free. Files that arrive as an .acsm link instead of an .epub are a sign of Adobe DRM, and they need Adobe's own tools.

Keeping your place across iPhone and iPad

Reading on a phone in bed and on an iPad at a desk works best when the app remembers where you stopped on both. Look for a reader that syncs your library, your highlights and your reading position through iCloud, rather than one that asks you to make an account.

How Glosa handles EPUB

Glosa opens EPUB as well as PDF, DRM-free Kindle files (MOBI and AZW3), plain text, Markdown and HTML. Tap + in the library to import one book or a whole folder from Files, or share a book to Glosa from another app. Your library, highlights and reading places sync across iPhone, iPad and iPhone Duo through your own iCloud, with no account to make.

While you read, a double-tap on any word shows what it means in that sentence, which helps most when you read in a second language.