Reading: Books, Uploads, and Look-Up Tools
Discover public-domain books, upload your own EPUB, PDF, or TXT files, and read with tap-to-translate word lookup.
1. What You Can Read in Talkey
Reading has two sources. Discover surfaces public-domain books from Project Gutenberg (via Gutendex) by genre, author, and topic. Your own library holds books you upload yourself.
Supported upload formats are EPUB, PDF, and TXT on both the web dashboard and the iOS app.
Uploads sync across devices
A book uploaded on iOS appears in your web library and vice versa, once the file finishes uploading to your account's cloud storage.
2. Add a Book to Your Library
- 1On the web, open Dashboard → Reading → Discover to browse Gutendex titles, or use Library → Upload to add your own EPUB, PDF, or TXT file.
- 2On iOS, open Reading and use the add button to import a file from your device, or use Discover to browse and download a public-domain title.
- 3Newly added books appear in your Library tab immediately; large uploads may take a moment to finish syncing to the cloud.
3. Reading a Book
Each format has a dedicated reader: a paginated EPUB reader, a PDF reader, and a plain-text reader for TXT files. All three track your position automatically.
- Tap or select a word to look it up. Talkey shows a definition from Wiktionary (and a summary from Wikipedia on the web) without leaving the page.
- Adjust font, size, line height, theme (light, sepia, dark, or black), and page layout from the reader's settings so long sessions stay comfortable.
- Reading settings are saved to your account and apply the next time you open any book on that device.
Turn a looked-up word into a flashcard
After looking up a word, save it or add it to a deck so vocabulary you meet in context becomes part of your spaced-repetition review.
4. Collections and Bookmarks
- Group related books into collections, such as by course, author, or reading level.
- Bookmark a page to jump back to it later without losing your main reading position.
- Collections and bookmarks sync with your account like the rest of your library.
5. Reading Time and Daily Goals
Talkey tracks reading minutes while a book is open and applies them toward your daily reading goal and reading streak, the same way listening minutes count toward the listening goal.
- Set or adjust your daily reading target in Settings → Daily Goals.
- Reading progress contributes to your overall streak alongside flashcards and listening.
6. iOS-Only Reading Features
| Feature | Availability |
|---|---|
| Articles and RSS feeds | iOS only. Add a feed URL and read articles alongside your books. |
| File deep-link import | iOS only. Open a PDF, EPUB, or TXT file from another app directly into Talkey. |
| Uploaded-book storage management | iOS only, in Settings → Uploaded Books. On the web, manage uploads from the Library tab itself. |
These are being evaluated for web
Articles/RSS and direct file-share import are not yet available on the web dashboard. Use the iOS app for these workflows today.
7. Troubleshooting and Sync
- If a book fails to open, confirm the upload finished (check your connection) and try reopening it after a few seconds.
- If a book is missing on another device, confirm you are signed in with the same account and that the original upload had time to sync while online.
- Large PDF or EPUB files can take longer to process than plain text; keep the app open until the upload completes.