# CHMate: EPUB & CHM Reader — Search, annotate, read offline

> EPUB and CHM eBook reader with organization, bookmarking, and sharing features. (iPhone/iPad app by 贤安 陈.)

- Source: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/chmate-epub-and-chm-reader/id335157929 (this page in markdown: same URL + `.md`)
- Developer: [贤安 陈](https://appshunter.io/developer/318015371)
- Category: Books, Utilities
- Price: Free with in-app purchases
- Rating: 3.60/5 from 20 App Store ratings · 195 written reviews indexed
- Age rating: 4+
- Requires: iOS 18.0 · 8 MB
- Languages: American English, Korean, German (Germany), Brazilian Portuguese, Chinese (Traditional, Taiwan), Chinese (Simplified, China), French (France), Japanese
- Released: 2009-10-29
- Data updated: 2026-08-28
- Monetization: free with in-app purchases
- User reviews in markdown: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/chmate-epub-and-chm-reader/id335157929/reviews.md

## What is CHMate?

Most e-readers are bloated with monthly subscription traps, intrusive ads, and clumsy formatting.
CHMate brings the quiet focus and tactile elegance of a real book back to your screen.
Native EPUB and CHM reader with rich typography customization, instant search, and paper themes.
Trusted by readers for over a decade, now rebuilt natively for modern iOS.
Download free. Unlock unlimited bookshelf with a one-time purchase.

CHMate is a local EPUB and CHM reader for iPhone and iPad. Import the books and documents you already own, arrange them into a library you enjoy, and read each one in the way that suits it best.

CRAFTED FOR FOCUSED READING
• Paper Texture & Themes: Curated paper backgrounds, customizable fonts, line spacing, margins, and dark mode
• Distraction-Free: Clean interface designed to put nothing between you and the text
• Tactile Gestures: Smooth chapter transitions and fluid page-turning that respect your reading rhythm

DUAL FORMAT POWER: EPUB & CHM
• EPUB: Perfect for literature, novels, and reflowable publications
• CHM & MHT: Read technical documentation, programming references, and compiled help manuals with structured tables of contents

POWERFUL, PRIVATE UTILITIES
• Instant Search: Lightning-fast full-text search across chapters
• Highlights & Notes: Capture the quotes that move you and review annotations easily
• iCloud Theme Sync: Seamlessly sync your typography themes across your devices via CloudKit
• Local Wi-Fi Transfer: Drop books directly from your computer browser to your device over Wi-Fi without cables

HONEST PRICING
• Free to download and read
• Pay once to unlock the unlimited bookshelf forever
• No subscriptions. No ads. No tracking.

## Key features

- Organize eBooks into collections
- Add bookmarks and notes
- Customizable fonts and line height
- Fast scrolling and pagination
- Highlight favorite passages
- Built-in search functionality
- Share quotes with friends

## Pricing and in-app purchases

Base price: Free.

**One-time purchases**

| Purchase | Price | Type |
| --- | --- | --- |
| CHMate Premium | $9.99 | one-time |


## What do users think of CHMate?

Overall sentiment: mixed

**Pros**

- 👍 Excellent UI/UX design and interface
- 📖 Best CHM file reader available
- ⚡ Fast and smooth performance
- 🎨 Customizable text formatting and fonts
- 🔍 Powerful search functionality
- 📝 Highlighting and annotation features
- 📚 Supports multiple file formats (CHM, EPUB, PDF)
- 🏆 Responsive and attentive developer support
- 🎯 Clean, uncluttered reading experience
- 💾 Efficient file organization and management

**Cons**

- 🐛 Frequent crashes and stability issues
- ⚠️ iCloud sync deletes files irreversibly
- 💰 Expensive pricing for functionality
- 🔄 Highlighting and annotations don't persist
- 📱 Compatibility issues with iOS updates
- 🚫 File import/integration problems
- 🖼️ Image rendering issues in some files
- 🌍 Poor support for non-Latin character encoding
- 💾 Files disappear after updates
- 🔐 In-app purchase restoration failures

**Commonly reported bugs**

- App crashes when searching CHM files
- Crashes when using tap-hold for bookmarking
- Highlighting functionality broken after iOS updates
- Notes and bookmarks not saving properly
- Highlights disappear or move between chapters
- App crashes on startup or when opening files
- Table of contents index expansion broken
- Custom fonts blocked after iOS 14.5 update
- Files not accessible via iCloud or Dropbox
- Missing icons after updates
- Images display as half-dark or missing
- Text formatting changes not visible without page reload
- First line spacing issues

**Most requested features**

- Dark mode and additional color themes (Sepia)
- Book cover display instead of text-only library view
- PDF support
- Text-to-speech functionality
- Better pagination options
- iPad Pro resolution support
- iOS multi-window support
- Better bookmark functionality
- Separate highlighting and annotation tools
- Support for Cyrillic and Arabic text encoding
- Collection/folder organization for multiple files
- Zip file support for documentation sets

## Recent user reviews (10 of 195)

All indexed reviews: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/chmate-epub-and-chm-reader/id335157929/reviews.md

### 1/5 — Enabling iCloud sync will result in immediate and irreversible file deletion

*2025-09-15*

I backup the file before turn on the sycn yet it recover nothing

### 5/5 — 搜索功能很给力

*2025-06-20*

如题

### 5/5 — Flexibility with Fonts

*2024-12-13*

It’s a simple app, but what makes a big difference for me is being able to use my own fonts and typography instead of being stuck with the built-in ones.

The only thing I feel is missing is a more visual library where you could browse the covers, either in a list or a gallery.

### 5/5 — Very useful app!

*2023-09-23*

I've been using this app for years and I was very happy with the update; I think it's the only application of its kind on Apple Srore; Congratulations to the developer who believes in his work and doesn't give up.

### 5/5 — Favorite UI of any reader. Would be nice to have more features

*2023-09-19*

Perhaps I’ll get the paid version at some point, but the UI and the layout of the books that I am reading right now are perfect

### 5/5 — My favorite app for EPUB documents

*2023-07-25*

After posting a problem I was having, the Developer quickly responded. The problem was solved and now I’m happily loving this app again.

**Developer response:** Sorry for the inconvenience, please update to 7.0.2 to check if your issue has been resolved. Thanks for your feedbacks.

### 5/5 — ios上少有的chm格式阅览器

*2023-06-27, version 7.0.3*

ios上少有的chm格式阅览器

### 2/5 — 以前的版本更好

*2023-06-06*

当前版本搜索无法跨页翻找

**Developer response:** 您好，感谢您的反馈。请试试全书搜索（右上角第二个图标），跨页没有问题。

### 5/5 — Was my favorite app for EPUB documents

*2023-05-27*

It crashes every time I try to open it. Please help! I used to use this app on a weekly basis. I will have to find a replacement if it can’t stop crashing. This is sad.

**Developer response:** Sorry for the inconvenience, please update to 7.0.2 to check if your issue has been resolved. Thanks for your feedbacks.

### 4/5 — CH Mate custom fonts

*2021-05-13*

iOS 14.5 update is blocking custom fonts in CH Mate app. How we can fix this problem. Please update the app. Thanks

**Developer response:** We've fixed this issue on 7.x.

## Frequently asked questions about CHMate

### What file formats does CHMate support?

CHMate is designed to read eBooks in EPUB and CHM formats. These are common formats for digital books and documentation.

### How can I organize my books with CHMate?

You can organize your CHM documents into personal collections that sync across your devices via iCloud. This helps keep your library tidy and accessible.

### Is CHMate free to use?

The base version of CHMate is free, but it allows only one book at a time. For managing and reading multiple books simultaneously, you will need to purchase 'CHMate+' via an in-app purchase or the standalone app.

### Can I add notes or highlights to my books?

Yes, CHMate allows you to add bookmarks and notes to your favorite passages. You can also highlight sections and keep your current page updated across devices using iCloud.

### How do I add books to CHMate?

You can add files to CHMate using the desktop web browser or through iTunes File Sharing. This provides flexibility in how you transfer your eBooks to the app.

## Version history (last 5 releases)

### 260821.0 — 2026-08-24

New in this update:
• Browse and download curated public-domain books directly in CHMate, with real covers and visible download progress
• Books appear immediately on your shelf while downloading; pause, resume, retry, or remove them at any time
• Improved Chinese and Japanese typography, including vertical layout, ruby spacing, and progress-preserving layout switches
• Reworked Find in Page so matches stay visible, result counts remain clear, and the keyboard gets out of the way
• A clearer Add Book menu, Recent sorting by default, and many reading and stability fixes

### 25.10.20 — 2025-10-20

- Support for iOS 26

### 8.0.0 — 2024-09-18

- Support for vertical text layout books (Chinese and Japanese)
- Support for iOS 18

### 7.1.0 — 2024-04-21

- Maintenance update

### 7.0.9 — 2024-03-02

- Fix an incorrect setting name

## Apps similar to CHMate

| App | Rating | Price | Category |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| [Epub Reader -read epub,chm,txt](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/epub-reader-read-epubchmtxt/id1296870631) | 4.5 (11,089) | Free | Books |
| [Summit Reader](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/summit-reader/id1307517930) | 4.8 (1,299) | Free | Books |
| [A FB2 Reader](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/a-fb2-reader/id964428346) | 3.4 (5) | Free | Books |
| [Books Reader - Pocket Library](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/books-reader-pocket-library/id1550557954) | 4.7 (22) | Free | Books |
| [KedaReader](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/kedareader/id1545372338) | 4.5 (198) | Free | Books |
| [Interchange - eBook Converter](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/interchange-ebook-converter/id1198053063) | 4.3 (212) | Free | Books |

## More apps by 贤安 陈

- [CHMate+: EPUB & CHM Reader](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/chmate-plus-epub-and-chm-reader/id324516521)
- [WorldABC Blue — The CIA World FactBook](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/worldabc-blue-the-cia-world-factbook/id329676510)
- [The CIA World Factbook](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/the-cia-world-factbook/id412637620)
- [一饭——岁静饭否客户端](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/id541110403)
- [FondFont · System Font Setup](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/fondfont-system-font-setup/id842109099)

All apps by 贤安 陈: https://appshunter.io/developer/318015371

## Related topics

[chm reader](https://appshunter.io/ios/topics/chm-reader) · [hoshi reader](https://appshunter.io/ios/topics/hoshi-reader) · [cengage ebook](https://appshunter.io/ios/topics/cengage-ebook) · [khaki classics](https://appshunter.io/ios/topics/khaki-classics)

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*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 2026-08-28.*