CrossPort vs Athene Reader

CrossPort is the companion iOS app for e-ink readers running CrossPoint, an open-source third-party firmware for Xteink X4, X3, and compatible devices. Also works with alternative firmwares based on CrossPoint. Manage your books, wallpapers, and files — all over WiFi. LIBRARY & READING • Browse your full book library with cover art from Open Library, Apple Books, and Google Books • Track reading progress synced bidirectionally with your device • Built-in EPUB reader for reading on your phone with automatic progress sync back to the device • Download books to read on the go, upload from your phone to the device WALLPAPER • Add custom sleep screen wallpapers from your photos or files • Preview how wallpapers look on your device with a realistic e-ink display simulation • Send wallpapers to your device with one tap FILE MANAGEMENT • Browse, upload, rename, move, and delete files on your device • Upload progress tracking for large files • Automatic EPUB optimization with image compression • Smart filename cleanup for archive downloads SMART FEATURES • Automatic device discovery on your local network • Book cover art from multiple sources with EPUB fallback • XTC/XTCH file upload and management • Home screen widget showing your current read • Deep link support for quick access from widgets Requires a device running CrossPoint or a compatible firmware with WiFi file transfer mode enabled. Works with the Xteink X4, X3, and other supported devices.

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.