YACReader is an app for reading comics on your Android devices. Version 1.x was conceived as a companion for YACReaderLibrary: you can use it as a remote browser and reader for YACReaderLibrary, and you can import comics and folders into its local library from YACReaderLibrary.
The recommended formats for comics are CBZ/ZIP and CBR/RAR. YACReader also supports comics in PDF format, but books are not really supported. Remote reading can open any file format supported by YACReaderLibrary.
The first thing you need to do is to pair your app with a YACReaderLibrary server by tapping the + button.
YACReaderLibrary has a server included which provides access to your collections. Get YACReader for desktops here, it is free.
There is a headless version of YACReaderLibrary (a version with no graphic user interface) that can be used in embedded devices to have a 24/7 comics server, you can install it in devices such a Raspberry Pi or NAS with support for installing apps. You can find more info a tutorials in the users' forum
Open YACReaderLibrary then locate the server settings icon in the top tool bar (see the screenshot above), there you will be able to see the connection data you need to use to connect the app to the server.
Enter the IP and port from the the server config dialog manually or just scan them through the QR code.
NOTE: make sure that your firewall allows YACReaderLibrary connections.
Once connected, YACReader will show you a list of libraries to choose from (you will only have one problably), tap one of them to start browsing your library.
A remote library view will show a list of the comics being read (it scrolls horizontally), so you can access them quickly, and a list of types of containers. To start browsing pick a container.
While browsing you will see a list of folders and comics, you can access an index using the top right corner button a-z, the index allows quick navigation in large folders.
The browser can be customized using the menu in the top right corner. You can pick from 4 different modes: table mode and grid mode with 3 size levels.
While browsing through YACReaderLibrary you'll see the covers of the comics, their state (read, reading or unread) and also a header showing the next comic to read/import in a folder.
YACReader for Android has a local library, you can import comics and folders from YACReaderLibrary to the local library. To do so, do a long tap on the content you want to import and then tap Import.
The comics will be stored in an internal library.
Once the import process starts, an icon with the number of queued comics will appear in the top navigation bar.
Tap the icon to see the import queue, you can cancel the import process from this view.
Since 1.4, the app includes a local library that can be accessed from the bottom navigation bar.
This is where you can find all the imported content.
To delete an item, do a long tap and then Delete. The long tap gesture will also show other available options in a context menu.
This section covers how to read comics and customize the reading experience.
Page turning is based on gestures. You can use swipe gestures to go the next/previous page, but the recommended way is to use taps in the hot areas of the screen. The hot areas can be configured in the settings; for more information read the Settings subsection.
When the page is zoomed in, or if the page is not fully visible due to the fit settings used, YACReader will scroll automatically after every tap.
To access the options and features available while reading do a long tap on the screen.
Using the Settings (dots icon), you can configure a hot area in the center of the screen to use a single tap to open the overlay.
YACReader uses fast tap detection in the borders of the screen to make page turns as responsive as possible. In these reduced areas, double tapping for zooming is not enabled.
The top section contains information about the comic and a button for exiting the reading view. You can close the options by tapping in any area outside the overlay.
The bottom section has a slider to quickly jump to any page in the comic, the current page indicator (in the top section) will change as you change the slider. From left to right this section has: buttons for going to the previous/next comic, a button for configuring the manga mode reading, a button for choosing the page fit/fill mode, a button for picking the page mode (single, double or auto) and a button for opening the settings.
Zooming is available through pinch gestures. You can also use automatic zooming with a double tap. If you want to reset the zoom level, use a double tap again.
Double tap for zooming adds a delay to the single tap gesture. However, YACReader adds a special hot area around the screen; in this area, single taps always have priority and run instantly.
Panel-by-panel reading automatically detects panels in the current page and lets you move through them one at a time. You can enter this mode from the crop options, or configure double tap so zooming into a page starts guided reading. YACReader can also show the full page before the first panel and after the last one, center the current panel, and adjust the margin around detected panels.
Panel detection runs on the device and may take longer or use more memory on older hardware, especially with very large pages. If YACReader cannot confidently detect the layout, the page behaves like a single panel so reading stays predictable.
This button icon represents the reading direction, switch it to enable the mange mode. This mode is stored per comic and carried along the next comics you open in this mode.
Enable the continuous vertical scroll mode to read web comics style content.
You can choose how pages are displayed on screen, from top to bottom you have: auto mode, YACReader will choose the fitting page mode for you; full fit, pages are always fully displayed on screen; fit to width, fit to height, fill screen, continuous vertical mode (this one is specially suited for web comics) and continuous horizontal mode.
YACReader supports double page mode, you can choose between single page mode, double page mode, or auto, when auto is selected, double page mode is enabled when the device is in landscape orientation.
There are three crop modes: show the full page, automatically trim page margins, or use panel-by-panel reading. Automatic trimming removes detected page margins so the comic content uses more screen space. Panel-by-panel mode enters the guided reading experience and advances from panel to panel with the next/previous tap gestures.
Do a swipe up gesture to show this view, you can scroll through the whole comic content. Tap on any page to go to that page. Do a swipe down or tap the screen to dismiss this view.
This is the view that controls all the settings that affect the reading experience, all of them are pretty self explanatory, so go ahead and try some of them.
If you read mainly manga, you can enable manga mode as the default mode for all the files, so you don't need to switch it on every time you start a new series.
Image filters let you adjust how each comic looks while reading. You can quickly apply an automatic preset for old scans, clear the filters, or open the filters view to control temperature, tint, brightness, contrast, saturation, sharpness, gamma, black point, and white point. Filters are stored with the comic and synchronized through YACReaderLibrary when available.
YACReader offers options to customize its behavior and how it looks. This view controls settings that affect the whole app, including the library layout, whether to use metadata as comic titles, reading progress synchronization from the server, recent-content indicators, and the number of days an item is considered recent.
Starting with 1.5, you can move the whole app to an SD card to keep your library there. To do so, go to the system settings -> apps -> YACReader -> Storage & cache -> Storage used -> Change. The SD card needs to be formatted as internal storage.
