Hi Product Hunt! I’m Tianyu, the indie developer behind Common Reader. 👋 I read mostly ebooks. Whenever a novel left me with a question, my usual workflow was to leave the reader, take a screenshot or photo, crop it, wait for OCR, open an AI app, and rebuild the context. I also had to explain what I was reading, what I had read recently, and the kind of answer I wanted. Those conversations then disappeared into the same chat history as everything else, detached from the passage that started them. I first imagined a note-taking app with a private library and contextual conversations. It gradually became Common Reader: a full ebook reader built around the idea that reading, thinking, and asking questions should remain connected. Today it runs on iOS, iPadOS, macOS, Windows, Android, and Linux. It supports EPUB, AZW3, MOBI, TXT, Markdown, and PDF with limited support. You can highlight and take notes, ask AI about a selected passage without leaving the page, and later jump from the conversation back to the original text. Your library, reading progress, notes, highlights, and settings can sync through iCloud, OneDrive, or WebDAV. I wanted Common Reader to feel calm and focused—not like a bookstore or a social feed. Your data stays under your control, syncs through providers you choose, and Common Reader does not collect your information. This is still a solo project, and I’d especially love feedback on the reading experience, cross-platform sync, and how useful the in-context AI feels during real reading. What would make Common Reader replace your current ebook app?

Common Reader

Your ebooks, notes, and AI—connected across every device

Your ebooks, notes, and AI—connected across every device