# Athene Reader — For the books you already own > A personal reader for your existing digital book library with AI assistance. (iPhone/iPad app by Aditya Sreedhar.) - Source: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/athene-reader/id6811711454 (this page in markdown: same URL + `.md`) - Developer: [Aditya Sreedhar](https://appshunter.io/developer/6811711456) - Category: Books, Productivity - Price: Free - Rating: 4.30/5 from 6 App Store ratings · 5 written reviews indexed - Age rating: 4+ - Requires: iOS 26.0 · 36 MB - Languages: American English - Released: 2026-09-22 - Data updated: 2026-10-05 - Monetization: free - User reviews in markdown: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/athene-reader/id6811711454/reviews.md ## What is Athene Reader? Athene is a reader for the books you already own. Bring your books from Files, from Mail, from your computer over Wi‑Fi, from a link, or from anywhere that can share a file, and they go on a shelf that looks like one. EPUB and PDF open as they are; MOBI, AZW3, Word, FB2, TXT and HTML files become books as they arrive. Free classics from Project Gutenberg are a tap away. If you keep your library on a calibre server, Athene browses that shelf too — on your home network, or from anywhere through your own VPN such as Tailscale. THE PAGE Open a book and the app steps back. Just the page, on white, sepia or night paper, or paper in any colour you like, in the typeface and size you read best, including any Google Font. Highlight a passage, add a note, drop a bookmark, and find them all again under Marks. The shelf itself follows the time of day — Morning, Sunset, Night — or stays on the one you pick. NOTES YOU CAN DRAW Type a note in the margin, or sketch in it. On a PDF, mark up the page itself with Apple Pencil. LISTEN Any book, read aloud in a warm, natural voice that runs entirely on your device, and keeps reading with the screen locked. The voice is a one-time download of about 242 MB. A DICTIONARY Select a word to see what it means and how to say it. It is built in, and it works offline. ASK THE PAGE Tap the owl while you read and ask about what is in front of you. Who is she again? What did that word mean? What just happened? The Owl answers from the pages around where you are — this chapter at most, never the whole book, never your other books — and if the pages do not say, it tells you that instead of guessing. YOUR MODEL, YOUR CHOICE On a device with Apple Intelligence, the Owl thinks on the device and nothing you ask is sent anywhere. Or point it at your own Ollama server on your own network. Or bring a key from Claude, OpenRouter or OpenAI. Athene asks before the first question leaves the device, names the address it would send to, and remembers your answer. ON EVERY DEVICE Turn on iCloud Sync and your place, highlights, notes, drawings, collections and reading settings follow you between your iPhone and iPad. It goes only to your own private iCloud, and what you wrote is encrypted on your device first. With a calibre server, your highlights and how far you've read can go back to your calibre library too. PRIVATE BY CONSTRUCTION Athene has no account, no analytics and no servers of its own. Your books, your notes and your questions stay on your device or go only where you have pointed them. The privacy policy says the same, in plain words. FREE Reading is free. No account, no subscription, no limit: the shelf, the reader, Listen, the dictionary, the Owl, iCloud Sync, your calibre server, your highlights and notes. Nothing in Athene is for sale. Athene requires iOS 26. The on-device Owl requires Apple Intelligence (iPhone 15 Pro and later, M-series iPad, iPad mini A17 Pro); on other devices the Owl works with your own Ollama server or an API key. ## Key features - Import books from various sources - Customizable reading interface - Text-to-speech functionality - Note-taking and highlighting - AI-powered content questions - Offline dictionary - iCloud Sync ## Recent user reviews (5 of 5) All indexed reviews: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/athene-reader/id6811711454/reviews.md ### 5/5 — Fantastic reader which happens to also support Calibre *2026-09-27* This is a straight to the point reader with a beautiful UI. This is the first app I’d recommend for an e-reader - and it happens to be ALL FREE!! ### 5/5 — My favorite e-reader! *2026-09-27* Love the bookshelf concept and its connection to calibre. I finally have all the train operation manual PDF’s from my calibre server right on my phone. Thank you for making this app!! ### 5/5 — Simple, Functional, Beautiful, Private *2026-09-26* I have caliber-web set up on my Synology NAS and this is now my favorite way of accessing it. The app is incredibly useful. I especially like the way that AI is integrated with privacy in mind. Thank you for making this app. I would pay for it if weren’t free. **Developer response:** Thank you for the kind review! Made my day! ### 1/5 — Doesn’t work *2026-09-26* I can’t get it to connect to Calibre. I’m doing it correctly. App is the problem. **Developer response:** I’m sorry you are having troubles connecting. Are you starting with http:// ? Please contact athene@theadipost.com and we’ll work together to get it working :) ### 5/5 — Great for Calibre users *2026-09-22* It was very simple to connect to my existing calibre website. For a long time I used the site as a weblink, this app is so much better! **Developer response:** Thank you, I’m happy you found value in my app. And the app will continue to get even better :) ## Frequently asked questions about Athene Reader ### What file formats does Athene Reader support? Athene Reader supports EPUB and PDF directly. It can also convert MOBI, AZW3, Word, FB2, TXT, and HTML files into readable book formats upon import. ### Can I listen to my books with Athene Reader? Yes, Athene Reader offers a text-to-speech feature that reads any book aloud in a natural voice. This feature runs entirely on your device and continues with the screen locked. ### How does the AI assistant in Athene Reader work? The AI assistant, called the Owl, can answer questions about the content of the page you are reading. It draws information from the current chapter. On devices with Apple Intelligence, it runs on-device. Alternatively, it can connect to your own Ollama server or use keys from Claude, OpenRouter, or OpenAI. ### Is Athene Reader available on Android devices? Athene Reader is currently only available on iOS devices, specifically iPhone and iPad, and requires iOS 26 or later. ### Does Athene Reader have ads? No, Athene Reader is completely free and does not contain advertisements. It also has no in-app purchases or subscriptions. ### How often is Athene Reader updated? The latest version, 3.1.0, was released on October 3, 2026, indicating a recent update. The app was initially released on September 22, 2026. ### What are the privacy features of Athene Reader? Athene Reader is designed with privacy as a core principle. It has no account, no analytics, and no servers of its own. Your books, notes, and questions remain on your device or are sent only to destinations you explicitly choose. ### Can I sync my reading progress across devices with Athene Reader? Yes, you can enable iCloud Sync to synchronize your reading progress, highlights, notes, drawings, collections, and reading settings between your iPhone and iPad. This data is stored privately in your iCloud and encrypted on your device. ## Version history (last 5 releases) ### 3.1.0 — 2026-10-03 Athene 3.1 brings everything from 3.0 GINGERBREAD, the biggest update yet, and a few improvements of its own. All of it is free. LISTEN Any book, read aloud in a warm, natural voice that runs on your device. Tap the headphones while you read, and it keeps going with the screen locked. The voice is a one-time download of about 242 MB. NOTES YOU CAN DRAW Switch a note from Type to Draw and sketch in the margin, with a tray of pens and inks. Turn on Settings › Reading › More Drawing Tools for a fountain pen, a pencil and a brush. INK ON PDFS Mark up any page of a PDF with Apple Pencil, or with a finger. A DICTIONARY Select a word to see what it means and how to say it. It is built in, and it works offline. ICLOUD SYNC Turn it on in Settings › Sync, and your place, highlights, notes, drawings, collections, papers and reading settings follow you to every device signed in to your iCloud. It's off until you turn it on, and it goes only to your own private iCloud. FONTS AND PAPERS Read in any Google Font: Aa › Add a Font. Paper comes in any colour. MORE WAYS IN Tap + on the Library for free classics from Project Gutenberg, books sent from your computer over Wi‑Fi, a link to a book on the web, or an OPDS catalog. Athene now opens MOBI, AZW3, Word, FB2, TXT and HTML files too, turning them into books as they arrive. SEND TO CALIBRE Your highlights and how far you've read can go back to your calibre library, into columns you choose, and finished books can be marked as read. NEW IN 3.1 CALIBRE, EASIER TO CONNECT Type your computer's address without a port, and Athene finds calibre by itself. When it can't connect, it now says why: calibre isn't running, it's the wrong port, the computer is asleep, or Local Network is switched off. If calibre's Content server is off, "Show me how" walks you through turning it on. COLLECTIONS Add a whole stack of books to a collection at once, and rename or delete a collection by pressing and holding it. A book's menu can take it out of the collection you're in, and switching collections now fades smoothly instead of jumping. TRYING VOICES Each voice plays a different line about Owl when you try it, and a ring around its play button shows the line playing to the end. THE NOTEBOOK The reader's notes panel is now the Notebook, with room for all its filters. Reading is free, as it was. ### 3.0.0 — 2026-10-02 Athene 3.0 GINGERBREAD - is the biggest update yet, and all of it is free. LISTEN Any book, read aloud in a warm, natural voice that runs on your device. Tap the headphones while you read, and it keeps going with the screen locked. The voice is a one-time download of about 242 MB. NOTES YOU CAN DRAW Switch a note from Type to Draw and sketch in the margin, with a tray of pens and inks. Turn on Settings › Reading › More Drawing Tools for a fountain pen, a pencil and a brush. INK ON PDFS Mark up any page of a PDF with Apple Pencil, or with a finger. A DICTIONARY Select a word to see what it means and how to say it. It is built in, and it works offline. ICLOUD SYNC Turn it on in Settings › Sync, and your place, highlights, notes, drawings, collections, papers and reading settings follow you to every device signed in to your iCloud. It's off until you turn it on, and it goes only to your own private iCloud. FONTS AND PAPERS Read in any Google Font: Aa › Add a Font. Paper comes in any colour. MORE WAYS IN Tap + on the Library for free classics from Project Gutenberg, books sent from your computer over Wi‑Fi, a link to a book on the web, or an OPDS catalog. Athene now opens MOBI, AZW3, Word, FB2, TXT and HTML files too, turning them into books as they arrive. SEND TO CALIBRE Your highlights and how far you've read can go back to your calibre library, into columns you choose, and finished books can be marked as read. Reading is free, as it was. ### 2.1.0 — 2026-09-25 A new calibre screen, and a good deal more. YOUR CALIBRE LIBRARY The calibre tab now opens on what's new on your server, the next book in a series you've finished, and more by the author you're reading, with Authors, Series, Tags and Formats a tap away. When calibre has no description for one, the Owl reads its first few pages and tells you how it begins. Athene now reaches your server over Tailscale. READING Turn on Settings › Reading › Show Reading Progress for a fine line at the foot of the page, with how much of the book you've read beside it. PDFs now pinch to zoom and turn with a swipe, so a stray tap no longer flips the page. Style/Layout panel re-organized ON IPAD The tabs move to the top of the screen, calibre lists use the width in two columns, and Contents, Aa and the Owl open right beside their buttons. Reading is free, as it was. ### 2.0.0 — 2026-09-23 CALIBRE Athene now works with calibre's own built-in content server, not only calibre-web. READING Text alignment — justified, or ragged right. Four line-spacing settings and three margin widths. All under Aa, in Layout. AROUND THE APP Easier to use with one hand on iPhone Reading is free, as it was. ### 1.0 — 2026-09-22 No release notes. ## Apps similar to Athene Reader | App | Rating | Price | Category | | --- | --- | --- | --- | | [Sutra - eBook & Comic Reader](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/sutra-ebook-and-comic-reader/id6780096864) | 4.3 (12) | Free | Books | | [Andrea - Comics, Manga & Books](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/andrea-comics-manga-and-books/id6760780154) | 3.9 (7) | Free | Books | | [Leaf & Spine: Reader & Tracker](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/leaf-and-spine-reader-and-tracker/id6758519785) | 4.3 (7) | Free | Books | | [EPUB Reader - JustRead](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/epub-reader-justread/id6757948605) | 4.7 (42) | Free | Books | | [Calibre View](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/calibre-view/id6756579355) | 5.0 (4) | Free | Books | | [Absorb - for Audiobookshelf](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/absorb-for-audiobookshelf/id6760673498) | 4.9 (111) | Free | Books | --- *Data collected daily from the US App Store and indexed by [AppsHunter](https://appshunter.io/). User reviews are verbatim App Store reviews. Ratings, prices and chart positions refresh continuously; this snapshot is from 2026-10-05.*