GZreader

Grimmory + ZenOS + KOReader for Kindles
Your Grimmory (formerly BookLore) library on a Kindle, from the Kindle Keyboard to the Paperwhite: download books, audiobooks and Plex music from one Catalog, read or listen, and keep your place, bookmarks and highlights in sync. Notes, calendars, and books sent from your browser too.

Download the latest release · Wiki · Install · Changelog

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GZreader is KOReader trimmed down to reading, with the ZenOS interface and a built-in connection to your self-hosted Grimmory book server.

Kindle / Nook	How you use it	Tested
Kindle 2, Keyboard (3), DX	the keyboard: a letter key for everything	yes
Kindle 4	the 5-way and Menu	yes
Kindle Touch	touch	yes
Paperwhite 3 (2015)	touch	yes
Paperwhite 1 (2012)	touch	untested
Paperwhite 2 (2013)	touch	untested
Paperwhite 4 (2018)	touch	untested
Paperwhite 5 (2021), Signature Edition	touch	untested
Paperwhite 6 (2024), Signature Edition	touch	untested
Kindle Basic 2014 (7th gen), 2016 (8th gen), 2019 (10th gen)	touch	untested
Kindle 2022 (11th gen), Kindle 2024	touch	untested
Kindle Voyage	touch	untested
Kindle Oasis 1, 2, 3	touch	untested
Kindle Scribe (2022, 2024)	touch	untested
Kindle Colorsoft	touch (in greys)	untested
Nook 1st Edition, Nook Simple Touch — test builds	the colour touchscreen / touch	yes

Tested means run on that Kindle or its emulator; the untested ones use the same KOReader device support and should work, but their screens and buttons haven't been tried.

Home	Catalog: books	Catalog: audiobooks	Catalog: music
Downloads on shelves	Music from Plex	Audiobooks	Notes from Memos

More screenshots

What it does

• 📚 The Catalog: one tab, three pages you swipe (or page) between, each laid out like a shop: covers on display ledges, then a bookcase of lists. Pick something, and it downloads in the background:

  • Books from Grimmory: Continue reading, Recently added, All books, libraries, shelves, authors, series and search. Download or Download & open; your place, bookmarks, highlights and ratings stay in sync with Grimmory.
  • Audiobooks from Grimmory (or a Plex library): Continue listening, Recently added, authors, shelves, series. Download & listen opens the player, and your place is kept.
  • Music from Plex: Recently played, Recently added, playlists, albums and artists as CD cases. Download for offline, or Play: it starts as soon as the first track is in.

  Audiobooks and Music are on Kindles with a speaker or headphone jack (Kindle 2, 3, DX, Touch); the others have the Books page.

• 🗄️ Bookshelves: your books stand on shelves, spines out; the one you pick turns to show its cover. Audiobooks sit on the shelf as a cassette walkman (each one a cassette tape inside), music as a CD player (each album a CD). Lists and tiles are a tap away.

• 🌐 Set up from your browser: scan one QR code, or type the Kindle's address into any browser on your Wi‑Fi and enter the PIN it shows. One page connects everything (single sign-on works too) and sends books straight to the Kindle.

• 🔁 Copy connections from another GZreader over the Wi‑Fi with a PIN.

• 🔌 No Wi‑Fi? Sync with a computer (Kindle 2, DX): plug the Kindle in and open the sync page in Chrome or Edge. Your reading goes to Grimmory; books, audiobooks and Plex music (chosen on the Kindle or the page), notes, calendars, GZreader updates and a copy of your library (to browse the Catalog tab) come back.

• 📝 Notes: your Memos notes as sticky notes; tick checklists, write and edit, offline too.

• 📅 Calendar: CalDAV accounts and calendar links (Proton, Google…): agenda, day, week, month.

• 🎵 Music (Kindles with audio): albums and playlists from Plex, played while you read, in a portable CD player with its queue on the back of the case. The quick panel gets a Music tile while it plays. A Music tab of its own is in Settings → Interface → Navbar → Tabs.

• 🔊 Read aloud (Kindle 2, 3, DX, Touch): any EPUB, MOBI, AZW3, FB2 or TXT read to you in the Kindle's own voice, the sentence being spoken highlighted and the pages turning by themselves. Shift + Sym plays and stops, like the stock Kindle.

• 🎧 Audiobooks (Kindles with audio): a cassette walkman with chapters, a sleep timer and the volume keys; your place syncs with Grimmory's audiobook progress.

• 🔋 Wi‑Fi only when needed, a built-in English dictionary, updates from GitHub.

All the details are in the wiki: feature overview, device compatibility, what's changed from KOReader and ZenOS.

Install

1. Jailbreak the Kindle (and install KUAL on the Kindle 2, 3, DX, 4 and Touch): Jailbreaking and rooting, or kindlemodding.org's Jailbreak Wizard.

2. Download the package for your Kindle from the latest release:

   Kindle	Package
   Kindle 2, Keyboard (3), DX	gzreader-kindle-legacy-<version>.zip
   Kindle 4, Kindle Touch, Paperwhite 1 (untested)	gzreader-kindle-<version>.zip
   Any Kindle on firmware 5.16.3 or newer: Paperwhite 3, untested: Paperwhite 4, 5, 6, Kindle 2019, 2022, 2024, Oasis 3, Scribe, Colorsoft	gzreader-kindlehf-<version>.zip
   Paperwhite 2 and newer on firmware 5.16.2.1.1 or older: Paperwhite 3, untested: Paperwhite 2, 4, 5, Voyage, Oasis 1–3, Kindle 2014, 2016, 2019, 2022	gzreader-kindlepw2-<version>.zip

   The firmware version is in the Kindle's Settings → Device Info.

3. Unzip it and copy its folders to the top of the Kindle's USB drive, merging with what's there (your books stay). Eject.

4. Start it: KUAL → GZreader → Start GZreader, or on a Paperwhite or newer the GZreader item on the Kindle's home screen. The setup guide shows a QR code for your phone, and an address and PIN for any browser.

Updates come by themselves (Settings → General → Updates). Step-by-step help for each package, uninstalling and the Nooks: Installing in the wiki.

Privacy

Passwords and tokens stay on the Kindle and are never written to its log. GZreader sends no usage statistics. It can send debug reports (errors, freezes, crashes; their log lines can name a book) to help fix problems, only if you choose: the setup guide or Settings → General → Send debug reports automatically (what's sent).

More

• The wiki (edit it in wiki/) · Changelog
• Developing GZreader: building, tests, releases, keeping up with KOReader and ZenOS

Credits and license

Built on KOReader (AGPL-3.0) and ZenOS, connecting to Grimmory. Dictionary: Open English WordNet (CC BY 4.0). GZreader is free software under the GNU Affero General Public License v3; KOReader's README is README.koreader.md.