Cloud libraries: how they work

Kevra reads what's in your cloud without downloading it all: it identifies every book, and you download or read only what you want.

When you connect a cloud (Dropbox, Google Drive, OneDrive, Box or R2), Kevra doesn't download all your books to your phone. It looks at which files are there, finds each one's cover, title and author, and shows you a catalog. Only what you choose gets downloaded.

Plus plan: cloud libraries need the Plus plan.

The first sync

Connect the cloud from Remote library → Add a library (see each service's article).
Open the new library. Tap Choose folders to look only in some folders, or Sync now to look at the whole account.
The sync carries on in the background: you can close the app. When it's done you get an email with a summary (how many books, which formats, which ones are new).

After that, to sync again, use the library's ⋮ menu → Sync. Also, any cloud that hasn't been checked for more than 14 days syncs by itself when you open Kevra.

Choosing folders and what's in them

In Choose folders (the library's ⋯ menu in Remote library) you browse your folders like in a file explorer and tick the ones you want. Everything inside a ticked folder counts too. If you tick none, Kevra looks at the Whole account.

Each chosen folder can be Books, Magazines or Comics. That way magazines go to their own place, sorted by title and issue, and comics go to the Comics tab even if they're PDFs. Tap Save and sync when you're done.

Inside the catalog

Tabs All, Books, Comics, Magazines and Audio (only the ones that have something).
Tap a book to see its page and Download it. If you have the same book in several formats, it shows as one cover and you choose which version to download.
PDF magazines and comics can be Read without downloading: Kevra fetches only the pages you need. More in Magazines and Comics.
MOBI and AZW3 files are converted when you download them so you can read them. More in Formats.
Long-press a book to Add to favorites (without downloading it), Hide it, Add to collection, Correct match, or say It’s a comic, It’s a magazine or It’s a book.
In Filters you'll find Favorites only and your Hidden books, in case you want to show them again.
Anything that arrived in the last day has a New label.

Collections

A cloud library's collections are the same for all its members; admins create and order them.

They appear in a strip at the top: COLLECTIONS · N. Each card shows the first four covers, how many books it has and how many are new (from the last day). Tap the header to see them all in a grid.
In the library's gear you choose Collections: On top, Hidden (still in ⋮ › Collections) or Collections only (the library shows just its collections).
Inside a collection, the gear has the same view as the library (grid or list and cover size, remembered per collection) and the Order: Manual, Title, Author, Series or Added. Subcollections appear at the top.
In that same gear, admins have New subcollection, Move into…, Upload cover and Delete collection.
Reorder (admins): drag by the handle in list view, or in grid view press and hold a cover and drop it in place. Tap Done and everyone will see it. Books added later go to the end. Collections in the strip are reordered the same way from the all-collections grid.

How books are identified

By the file name and, if needed, by the details stored inside the file. Anything that isn't recognized goes to To review, where you can fix it.

Pro plan: Deep scan (the library's ⋯ menu) looks inside your EPUBs to get the series, title and author right.

Common questions

Can Kevra delete or change my files? No. Dropbox, Google Drive, OneDrive and Box are connected Read-only. If you remove the library from Kevra, nothing changes in your cloud.
I deleted a book from my cloud and it still shows up. Sync: when you open it, Kevra will tell you it's gone and offer Sync.
It says "Connection expired". See Connection expired in a cloud.
Is there a limit? Kevra identifies up to 100,000 books per account.