{"slug": "kepubify", "name": "Kepubify", "category": "media", "category_name": "Media and creative", "description": "", "recommenders": 3, "commenters": 3, "warners": 0, "score": 2.794, "rising": 0.02, "first": "2026-04-20", "latest": "2026-08-31", "why": "you'll get a bit more out of them if you convert your EPUBs to KEPUBs with Kepubify", "why_is_quote": true, "has_verdict": false, "sentiment": {"recommend": 4, "neutral": 0, "compare": 0, "warn": 0}, "spark": [0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 1, 0, 2, 0, 1, 0, 0], "listed": true, "loved": [], "caveat": "", "short_quote": "you'll get a bit more out of them if you convert your EPUBs to KEPUBs with Kepubify", "kind": "", "icon": true, "domain": "pgaskin.net", "github_repo": null, "official_url": "https://pgaskin.net/kepubify/", "pricing": "", "aliases": ["Kepubify", "kepubify"], "verdict": null, "praise": [{"label": "", "summary": "", "quotes": [{"id": 792188993, "item_id": 49511812, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49511812", "by": "MrDOS", "date": "2026-08-31", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "run the file through Kepubify", "excerpt": "> plain old epubs Kobo devices ship two different rendering engines: the obsolete, appallingly bad Adobe Reader Mobile SDK (RMSDK), and their own, bespoke, WebKit-based renderer. By default, files with an .epub extension are rendered with RMSDK. Consequently, you'll get all sorts of weird issues. Some of the ones I've encountered: I've had cover images not displaying in the library, misbehaving internal links (footno", "context": "", "use_case": "Converting epubs for Kobo", "switched_from": "", "story": "Rakuten Kobo returns to U.S. retail as sales double"}, {"id": 776594256, "item_id": 48537141, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48537141", "by": "latexr", "date": "2026-06-14", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I\u2019m curious if simply running the original EPUB through Kepubify fixes the problem.", "excerpt": "I\u2019m curious if simply running the original EPUB through Kepubify fixes the problem. https://pgaskin.net/kepubify/", "context": "", "use_case": "", "switched_from": "", "story": "Your ePub Is Fine. Kobo Disagrees. Blame Adobe"}, {"id": 776554688, "item_id": 48534668, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48534668", "by": "lidavidm", "date": "2026-06-14", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I personally run ePubs through kepubify", "excerpt": "AIUI, Kobo devices have a more advanced rendering engine if you name the file with .kepub.epub. (I think it's based on ePub 3?) Not sure if it would fix the problem here. But I personally run ePubs through kepubify (https://pgaskin.net/kepubify/try/) before transferring them to my Kobo.", "context": "", "use_case": "Converting ePubs for Kobo", "switched_from": "", "story": "Your ePub Is Fine. Kobo Disagrees. Blame Adobe"}, {"id": 765441872, "item_id": 47840117, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47840117", "by": "MrDOS", "date": "2026-04-20", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "you'll get a bit more out of them if you convert your EPUBs to KEPUBs with Kepubify", "excerpt": "Not to mention that those devices all support regular EPUBs out of the box, and so you can still put new content on them today. Of course, you'll get a bit more out of them if you convert your EPUBs to KEPUBs with Kepubify[0], but the point remains that Kobos are supplemented by their cloud/connected features, not inherently dependent on them. 0: https://pgaskin.net/kepubify/", "context": "", "use_case": "EPUB to KEPUB conversion", "switched_from": "", "story": "I'm never buying another Kindle, and neither should you"}]}], "caveats": [], "who": [], "tags": [], "use_cases": ["converting epubs for kobo", "epub to kepub conversion"], "compared": [], "makers": [], "threads": [{"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48533848", "title": "Your ePub Is Fine. Kobo Disagrees. Blame Adobe", "mentions": 2}, {"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49510532", "title": "Rakuten Kobo returns to U.S. retail as sales double", "mentions": 1}, {"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47835775", "title": "I'm never buying another Kindle, and neither should you", "mentions": 1}], "sentiment_by_month": {"2025-11": {}, "2025-12": {}, "2026-01": {}, "2026-02": {}, "2026-03": {}, "2026-04": {"recommend": 1}, "2026-05": {}, "2026-06": {"recommend": 2}, "2026-07": {}, "2026-08": {"recommend": 1}, "2026-09": {}, "2026-10": {}}, "quotes": [{"id": 792188993, "item_id": 49511812, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49511812", "by": "MrDOS", "date": "2026-08-31", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "run the file through Kepubify", "excerpt": "> plain old epubs Kobo devices ship two different rendering engines: the obsolete, appallingly bad Adobe Reader Mobile SDK (RMSDK), and their own, bespoke, WebKit-based renderer. By default, files with an .epub extension are rendered with RMSDK. Consequently, you'll get all sorts of weird issues. Some of the ones I've encountered: I've had cover images not displaying in the library, misbehaving internal links (footno", "context": "", "use_case": "Converting epubs for Kobo", "switched_from": "", "story": "Rakuten Kobo returns to U.S. retail as sales double"}, {"id": 776594256, "item_id": 48537141, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48537141", "by": "latexr", "date": "2026-06-14", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I\u2019m curious if simply running the original EPUB through Kepubify fixes the problem.", "excerpt": "I\u2019m curious if simply running the original EPUB through Kepubify fixes the problem. https://pgaskin.net/kepubify/", "context": "", "use_case": "", "switched_from": "", "story": "Your ePub Is Fine. Kobo Disagrees. Blame Adobe"}, {"id": 776554688, "item_id": 48534668, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48534668", "by": "lidavidm", "date": "2026-06-14", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I personally run ePubs through kepubify", "excerpt": "AIUI, Kobo devices have a more advanced rendering engine if you name the file with .kepub.epub. (I think it's based on ePub 3?) Not sure if it would fix the problem here. But I personally run ePubs through kepubify (https://pgaskin.net/kepubify/try/) before transferring them to my Kobo.", "context": "", "use_case": "Converting ePubs for Kobo", "switched_from": "", "story": "Your ePub Is Fine. Kobo Disagrees. Blame Adobe"}, {"id": 765441872, "item_id": 47840117, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47840117", "by": "MrDOS", "date": "2026-04-20", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "you'll get a bit more out of them if you convert your EPUBs to KEPUBs with Kepubify", "excerpt": "Not to mention that those devices all support regular EPUBs out of the box, and so you can still put new content on them today. Of course, you'll get a bit more out of them if you convert your EPUBs to KEPUBs with Kepubify[0], but the point remains that Kobos are supplemented by their cloud/connected features, not inherently dependent on them. 0: https://pgaskin.net/kepubify/", "context": "", "use_case": "EPUB to KEPUB conversion", "switched_from": "", "story": "I'm never buying another Kindle, and neither should you"}]}