Calibre Companion

3.8 3.8 out of 5 stars | 609 ratings

Price: 4.99

Last update: 12-22-2024


Latest updates

What's new in version 5.4.4.19
  • -Fixed Box authentication issue

Product Details

Release Date: 2012
Date first listed on Amazon: October 11, 2012
Developed By: Samuel Cohen
ASIN: B009OD5I88
Customer reviews:
3.9 out of 5 stars609 customer ratings

Developer info

Product features

  • Calibre Companion (CC), recommended by calibre developers, is three applications in one:
  • a superb device-based calibre library organizer
  • a high-performance WiFi-based calibre device emulator
  • a client that can access calibre content servers and fetch information from calibre libraries stored in the cloud.

Product description

Calibre Companion (CC), recommended by calibre developers, is three applications in one:
- a superb device-based calibre library organizer
- a high-performance WiFi-based calibre device emulator
- a client that can download books from calibre content servers and calibre libraries stored in the cloud.

1) CC is a device-based calibre library organizer. Once you put books on your device using one of the connection methods described below you can:
- view a book's metadata (author, tags, series, rating, dates, etc.).
- sort and group books by their metadata.
- see book lists by cover or by list.
- mark books read and sync this information with calibre.
- launch your book reader application to read a book (works with most reader applications except for Amazon Kindle for Android used on non-Fire devices).

2) CC can connect to calibre over WiFi and be detected by calibre as a device. Once connected, you use calibre to move books to and from your device. Calibre automatically updates all the book metadata stored by CC to match the latest in your library. No other app, reader or browser, offers this level of integration with calibre.

3) CC can connect to calibre’s content server over WiFi to browse your library and download books to your device. It can also download books from calibre libraries stored in the cloud (several providers).

For more information see our FAQ (http://cc_faq.multipie.co.uk/)


Notes:
1) CC is not a reader app. You must install and use one of the many excellent reader apps available.
2) CC requires that you use calibre calibre 0.9.02 or later, available at http://calibre-ebook.com/. Some CC features such as syncing book read information require newer versions of calibre.

****
Permissions explanation:
- Allow Wi-Fi multicast reception: multicast is required to be able to find calibre without requiring you to enter an IP address.
- Users with Jellybean (Android 4.1): You will also see a permission about “Test access to protected storage”. This is caused by a change Android is making regarding SD card access, and simply means our app can save books on your external storage.

A free demo version is now available. Search for Calibre Companion Demo Version.

User Data Privacy

Information not provided by the developer.
To learn more, visit the developer’s privacy policy.

Technical details

Size: 10.5MB
Version: 5.4.4.19
Developed By: Samuel Cohen ( Privacy Policy )
Application Permissions: ( Help me understand what permissions mean )
  • Access coarse (e.g., Cell-ID, Wi-Fi) location
  • Access information about networks
  • Access information about Wi-Fi networks
  • Enter Wi-Fi Multicast mode
  • Change Wi-Fi connectivity state
  • Open network sockets
  • Read from external storage
  • Get notified that the operating system has finished booting
  • PowerManager WakeLocks to keep processor from sleeping or screen from dimming
  • Write to external storage
  • com.android.alarm.permission.SET_ALARM
  • Allows installation of home screen shortcuts
  • Allows an application to receive messages via Google Cloud Messaging
  • Receive message via Amazon Device
Minimum Operating System: Android 5.0
Approximate Download Time: Less than 90 seconds

Top reviews from the United States

Reader2
5.0 out of 5 stars Great App, Works Well
Reviewed in the United States on June 19, 2016
I tried the free demo app first and loved it so much I bought the full app. If you're unsure about whether or not you'll like this app, I highly recommend trying the free demo version before you buy the full version. They work exactly the same. The only difference is that you can only transfer 20 books at a time with the demo version. (You can delete the first 20 books and add 20 more but the demo app will never hold more than 20 books at a time.)

I have more than 3,000 books on my PC and couldn't survive without the Calibre program. I use this app to wirelessly move books from my Calibre program on my PC to my Kindle Fire HD7. (2015) It works great. I've transferred books that I purchased from many different sources with no problem. (All of the books that I've transferred have been properly converted/formatted within the Calibre program before I transferred them.)

I noticed that if the cover picture in Calibre was too small it wouldn't show up on my Kindle. (A generic photo and the title appeared on my Kindle in place of the "real" cover.) When I discovered the problem, I went back to Calibre and edited the metadata for the book with the missing cover. I replaced the small cover photo with a larger one, and sent the new version to my Kindle, the cover appeared correctly. (Cover photos need to be about 600 x 800 pixels in size to show up correctly.)

When you first install the app on your Kindle, it will locate and list all of the "non-Amazon," DRM free, books currently on your device. So if you have a lot of books on your device that are DRM free and did not come from Amazon, it may take awhile for the app to completely install. It will "not" list any books already on your device that were downloaded directly from Amazon. Once the app is installed, it "will" list "any" book that's been correctly converted and sent from the Calibre program on your computer.

This app allows you to transfer books three ways, either as a wireless device, as a content server or a cloud server. To use either of the first two methods, you have to have your Calibre program open on your computer. (On the computer click "connect/share" at the top, then from the drop down menu, click "start wireless" and then click "start content server.") In the Calibre Companion app (CC) on your Kindle, tap "connect" at the top on the right. Then from the drop-down menu choose how to use the app, "as Wireless Device," "To Content Server" or "to Cloud". (I haven't done anything with the cloud.)

Choosing "as Wireless Device" means you'll be using the Calibre program on your computer to transfer your books. After you tap "as Wireless Device" the app will connect to your Calibre program and you can set your Kindle aside. Go to the Calibre program on your computer and click the book/books you want to send to your Kindle and then simply click the large "Send to Device" icon on the top menu. A drop-down screen will pop up, allowing you to choose the format you wish to send. Click the correct format for your Kindle (or other device) and the book will be sent to your Kindle. (If the correct format isn't available, Calibre will give you the option to convert the book to the correct format before sending it.) The books will appear on your Kindle within the app and also in your "book" library on your Kindle.

In the CC app, if you tap "connect" and then choose "To Content Server," you'll be adding books to your Kindle directly from the Kindle, itself. (You'll still have to have your PC on and connected to Calibre.You'll just being doing all the work from the Kindle instead of the PC. I think this method is slower if you have a lot of books.) A menu will appear on your Kindle screen with various options for finding the books in your Calibre program that you want to transfer. (For example, you can search Calibre by "title, " "author," "most recent" and so on.) Once you choose how you want to search your books, you can then select the books to be transferred to your Kindle by simply using a "long" tap on "download." Once again, the books will appear on your Kindle within the app and also in the "book" library on your Kindle. (If you have more than one library in your Calibre PC program, the correct library must be open for the app to find and transfer your books.)

Once your books are transferred, you can close the app and read your books in your Kindle library just as if they'd been sent from Amazon.

The app doesn't allow you to search your "virtual" libraries in your Calibre program without doing a bit of programming on the Calibre program itself. Other than that the app works well. For additional help with the app, just Google "Calibre Companion Android App instructions" and select "Calibre Companion FAQ."
CRussel
5.0 out of 5 stars Works well on Fire HD 8.9 and HDX 8.9
Reviewed in the United States on April 10, 2014
I love Calibre Companion (CC), because it is a great companion to Calibre. Duh. With ~2,000 books in Calibre, I can't imagine using anything else to manage them all. And having CC makes it easy to transfer books to my Fire without having to plug it in. That's a big plus since the weak link in any Fire is that Micro USB cable connection. The more you use it, the more likely it will eventually fail. Plus, CC lets me see all the metadata associated with a book, which formats I have available, and all sorts of other useful things. This very well supported app is regularly updated, and the updates in the Amazon store appear to be keeping up to date with those on Google Play, which is good. And the Fire automatically updates without intervention on my part, even better.

A tip for new CC users: Change the default folder to the Kindle or Books folder so that your books show in both CC and the native Books interface. This is easy to set -- go to Formats and Folders at the top of the Settings menu and change the location to /mnt/sdcard/Books. (It's different on the FireHDX but it's still <internalstorage>/Books, I just don't have my HDX in front of me to remember what the <internalstorage> folder is.)
LivEm
4.0 out of 5 stars Wonderful app, needs help in user friendliness
Reviewed in the United States on May 28, 2014
This app is not for the faint of heart if you're trying to get it to work on a Kindle Fire (before HD generations). Learning how to get it to detect where your PRC books are so they show in the catalog was tough. Even worse, I deleted the program off my Kindle Fire after figuring out that it cannot work with the Kindle default reader, so any convenience you did get in the Calibre app to find a book was wasted since you couldn't then click "read" to view the book, UNLESS you install a SECOND app.

So yes, if you install this for Kindle Fire, you will be forced to use a second reading app, which is recommended, and what an amazing thing it was too that I caved and installed Moon+ Reader to support Calibre Companion. Because wow! Learning that I can now install EPUBS and LIT files and others to my Kindle Fire to read through Moon+ Reader, and browse and search through with Calibre Companion easily was such an eye opener for me! I discovered the realm of how much more improved other reader apps and book organizer programs can be outside of the default Kindle world. I can now access notes and highlights from ANY book regardless if it's an "official Amazon" book or not! I can price-shop my ebooks and get cheaper versions of them from other retailers without worrying that I cannot read the formats, and not having to waste my time converting the formats in the original PC Calibre! I CAN DIRECTLY EXPORT NOTES TO EVERNOTE ON MY KINDLE NOW!!! And if anything, sad, though true, Calibre Companion and Moon+ Reader are now responsible for my decision to never buy a DRM style ereader again. When I consider the price I paid for my Kindle compared to how much the cheapest 10" full tablets are which will work with an app like this, or a reader like Moon+ Reader.... I'm done with Amazon's Fire price gouging me and limiting my choices on where I get my copies of my books. So Calibre Companion changed my choices in ereading in a very huge way.

CON: The technical support and FAQ is seriously lacking. If you are not a technological whiz, you're going to have a hard time getting this to work on a Kindle Fire. Setting menus are not intuitive. The developers of the Calibre Companion strike me, in their responses (or lack thereof) to requests for help on their forums as those sorts of brilliant geniuses who simply don't know how to dumb themselves down enough to make instructions and setup guides for people who need assistance. Simple step by step setup guides and how-to's would have been a huge help in setting this up. Stuff like "now you have a reader that lets you read any format, you'll have to go into your Preferences and Send to Device setting and fine-tune which formats you allow Calibre PC to send to your Kindle!" and there is confusion in their tech help notes when they're talking about android phones versus a kindle ereader. I would have given up completely with their "it's impossible to do anything with Android Phone readers" mentality if I hadn't seen two tiny lines at the bottom that mentioned "oh hey, new version of android sorts prc books different, maybe now it works!" line. So yeah, the FAQ and tech support is NOT friendly and because they are not the same people who wrote the Calibre PC program, there's no cross support or guides between the two on setups except very bare bones connection options.
Catherine Lehman
1.0 out of 5 stars Wasted Money On Calibre Companion
Reviewed in the United States on January 2, 2016
I just wasted $3.99 buying this app that I can't use on my new Kindle Fire 7 2015 version. If I would have known that you can only use it on an android device, I never would have bought it. The only reader program you can use on the new basic Kindle Fire 7, is the Kindle reader that comes on the device. I just don't understand why the app even downloads on non-android devices. This Calibre Companion should have it's own built in reader for all devices, android and non-android. It wirelessly imports all the books you have on the PC Calibre program, but doesn't let you read any of them on your Kindle Fire 7.

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