{"slug": "storyteller", "name": "Storyteller", "category": "selfhosted", "category_name": "Self-hosted and home server", "description": "", "recommenders": 4, "commenters": 4, "warners": 0, "score": 3.615, "rising": 1.02, "first": "2025-11-07", "latest": "2026-08-25", "why": "You should check out Storyteller. It aligns ebooks with audiobooks to create EPUB3s with media overlays so you can do immersive reading.", "why_is_quote": true, "has_verdict": false, "sentiment": {"recommend": 5, "neutral": 1, "compare": 0, "warn": 0}, "spark": [0, 0, 1, 0, 1, 0, 0, 0, 1, 2, 0, 0], "listed": true, "loved": [], "caveat": "", "short_quote": "You should check out Storyteller. It aligns ebooks with audiobooks to create EPUB3s with media overlays so you can do immersive reading.", "kind": "", "icon": true, "domain": "storyteller-platform.dev", "github_repo": null, "official_url": "https://storyteller-platform.dev", "pricing": "", "aliases": ["Storyteller"], "verdict": null, "praise": [{"label": "", "summary": "", "quotes": [{"id": 790978336, "item_id": 49436146, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49436146", "by": "tcoff91", "date": "2026-08-25", "version": null, "stance": "recommend", "quote": "Yes, that's it.", "excerpt": "Yes, that's it. Also here are the links to the mobile apps: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/storyteller-reader/id6474467720 https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=dev.smoores.Storyteller&hl=en_US", "context": "", "use_case": "ebook platform and reader apps", "switched_from": "", "story": "Bookshelf \u2013 Self-hosted eBook library that runs on object storage"}, {"id": 790863920, "item_id": 49428995, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49428995", "by": "tcoff91", "date": "2026-08-25", "version": null, "stance": "recommend", "quote": "You should check out Storyteller. It aligns ebooks with audiobooks to create EPUB3s with media overlays so you can do immersive reading.", "excerpt": "You should check out Storyteller. It aligns ebooks with audiobooks to create EPUB3s with media overlays so you can do immersive reading. It also gives you a place to organize your audiobooks and epub library.", "context": "", "use_case": "ebook and audiobook alignment", "switched_from": "", "story": "Bookshelf \u2013 Self-hosted eBook library that runs on object storage"}, {"id": 785586672, "item_id": 49099167, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49099167", "by": "tcoff91", "date": "2026-07-29", "version": null, "stance": "recommend", "quote": "This then allows you seamlessly switch back and forth between your e-reader and listening to the audiobook", "excerpt": "There's a KOReader plugin that lets you sync your progress to a Storyteller server. https://github.com/Sirozha1337/storytellersync.koplugin https://storyteller-platform.dev/ This then allows you seamlessly switch back and forth between your e-reader and listening to the audiobook on your phone with automatic position syncing.", "context": "", "use_case": "audiobook sync", "switched_from": "", "story": "KOReader"}, {"id": 757535360, "item_id": 47345960, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47345960", "by": "Meleagris", "date": "2026-03-11", "version": null, "stance": "recommend", "quote": "some great existing software to create EPUB3 files", "excerpt": "For those interested in doing this themselves, there\u2019s some great existing software to create EPUB3 files with the audiobook aligned with text. https://storyteller-platform.gitlab.io/storyteller/ https://codeberg.org/richwaters/StoryAlign", "context": "", "use_case": "EPUB3 audio-text sync", "switched_from": "", "story": "Show HN: Free audiobooks with synchronized text for language learning"}, {"id": 747040768, "item_id": 46690048, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46690048", "by": "tefkah", "date": "2026-01-20", "version": null, "stance": "recommend", "quote": "i use Storyteller to sync an audiobook and ebook", "excerpt": "i use Storyteller to sync an audiobook and ebook, then prop up my phone/ereader and have it navigate automatically while reading/listening. very comfy", "context": "", "use_case": "sync audiobook with ebook", "switched_from": "", "story": "There Is No Comfortable Reading Position"}]}], "caveats": [], "who": [], "tags": [], "use_cases": ["ebook and audiobook alignment", "readaloud books platform", "ebook platform and reader apps", "audiobook sync", "epub3 audio-text sync", "sync audiobook with ebook"], "compared": [], "makers": [{"id": 792075282, "item_id": 49504705, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49504705", "by": "smoores", "date": "2026-08-31", "version": null, "stance": "recommend", "quote": "The current Storyteller alignment algorithm actually does do just that!", "excerpt": "Oh, cool! Yeah that seems like a good application. The current Storyteller alignment algorithm actually does do just that! We use Whisper to transcribe the audio to text, and then use error-align[1] to align on the text. There are a few disadvantages to this approach: 1. Whisper only supports ~25 languages, and only about 10 of those very well. We want to support more languages, and Massively Multilingual Speech supp", "context": "", "use_case": "ebook/audiobook alignment", "switched_from": "", "story": "Automating Immersive Reading"}], "threads": [{"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49497854", "title": "Automating Immersive Reading", "mentions": 3}, {"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49427001", "title": "Bookshelf \u2013 Self-hosted eBook library that runs on object storage", "mentions": 3}, {"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49095865", "title": "KOReader", "mentions": 1}, {"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47341970", "title": "Show HN: Free audiobooks with synchronized text for language learning", "mentions": 1}, {"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46682931", "title": "There Is No Comfortable Reading Position", "mentions": 1}, {"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45789405", "title": "Why I love my Boox Palma e-reader", "mentions": 1}], "sentiment_by_month": {"2025-11": {"neutral": 1}, "2025-12": {}, "2026-01": {"recommend": 1}, "2026-02": {}, "2026-03": {"recommend": 1}, "2026-04": {}, "2026-05": {}, "2026-06": {}, "2026-07": {"recommend": 1}, "2026-08": {"recommend": 2}, "2026-09": {}, "2026-10": {}}, "versions": [], "version_unnamed": 0, "family_ref": null, "runs_on": null, "lines": [], "quotes": [{"id": 791988448, "item_id": 49499278, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49499278", "by": "smoores", "date": "2026-08-30", "version": null, "stance": "neutral", "quote": "the EPUB spec that Storyteller uses for readaloud", "excerpt": "You can use a KOReader plugin, https://github.com/stradichenko/audiobook.koplugin, which has work-in-progress support for Media Overlays (the EPUB spec that Storyteller uses for readaloud)!", "context": "", "use_case": "", "switched_from": "", "story": "Automating Immersive Reading"}, {"id": 791965680, "item_id": 49497855, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49497855", "by": "smoores", "date": "2026-08-30", "version": null, "stance": "neutral", "quote": "Storyteller[1] is an open source, self hosted platform", "excerpt": "I took a week of from work recently to reimplement Storyteller's forced alignment algorithm. Storyteller[1] is an open source, self hosted platform for creating, managing, and reading/listening to \"readaloud\" books \u2014 books that have audiobook narration built in and can highlight each sentence (and/or word, with this new algorithm!) as it's read aloud. Forced alignment is the process of determining where each piece of", "context": "", "use_case": "readaloud books platform", "switched_from": "", "story": "Automating Immersive Reading"}, {"id": 790978336, "item_id": 49436146, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49436146", "by": "tcoff91", "date": "2026-08-25", "version": null, "stance": "recommend", "quote": "Yes, that's it.", "excerpt": "Yes, that's it. Also here are the links to the mobile apps: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/storyteller-reader/id6474467720 https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=dev.smoores.Storyteller&hl=en_US", "context": "", "use_case": "ebook platform and reader apps", "switched_from": "", "story": "Bookshelf \u2013 Self-hosted eBook library that runs on object storage"}, {"id": 790900176, "item_id": 49431261, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49431261", "by": "e12e", "date": "2026-08-25", "version": null, "stance": "recommend", "quote": "", "excerpt": "https://storyteller-platform.dev ?", "context": "", "use_case": "ebook and audiobook alignment", "switched_from": "", "story": "Bookshelf \u2013 Self-hosted eBook library that runs on object storage"}, {"id": 790863920, "item_id": 49428995, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49428995", "by": "tcoff91", "date": "2026-08-25", "version": null, "stance": "recommend", "quote": "You should check out Storyteller. It aligns ebooks with audiobooks to create EPUB3s with media overlays so you can do immersive reading.", "excerpt": "You should check out Storyteller. It aligns ebooks with audiobooks to create EPUB3s with media overlays so you can do immersive reading. It also gives you a place to organize your audiobooks and epub library.", "context": "", "use_case": "ebook and audiobook alignment", "switched_from": "", "story": "Bookshelf \u2013 Self-hosted eBook library that runs on object storage"}, {"id": 785586672, "item_id": 49099167, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49099167", "by": "tcoff91", "date": "2026-07-29", "version": null, "stance": "recommend", "quote": "This then allows you seamlessly switch back and forth between your e-reader and listening to the audiobook", "excerpt": "There's a KOReader plugin that lets you sync your progress to a Storyteller server. https://github.com/Sirozha1337/storytellersync.koplugin https://storyteller-platform.dev/ This then allows you seamlessly switch back and forth between your e-reader and listening to the audiobook on your phone with automatic position syncing.", "context": "", "use_case": "audiobook sync", "switched_from": "", "story": "KOReader"}, {"id": 757535360, "item_id": 47345960, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47345960", "by": "Meleagris", "date": "2026-03-11", "version": null, "stance": "recommend", "quote": "some great existing software to create EPUB3 files", "excerpt": "For those interested in doing this themselves, there\u2019s some great existing software to create EPUB3 files with the audiobook aligned with text. https://storyteller-platform.gitlab.io/storyteller/ https://codeberg.org/richwaters/StoryAlign", "context": "", "use_case": "EPUB3 audio-text sync", "switched_from": "", "story": "Show HN: Free audiobooks with synchronized text for language learning"}, {"id": 747040768, "item_id": 46690048, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46690048", "by": "tefkah", "date": "2026-01-20", "version": null, "stance": "recommend", "quote": "i use Storyteller to sync an audiobook and ebook", "excerpt": "i use Storyteller to sync an audiobook and ebook, then prop up my phone/ereader and have it navigate automatically while reading/listening. very comfy", "context": "", "use_case": "sync audiobook with ebook", "switched_from": "", "story": "There Is No Comfortable Reading Position"}, {"id": 733667376, "item_id": 45854211, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45854211", "by": "tcoff91", "date": "2025-11-07", "version": null, "stance": "neutral", "quote": "I run the Storyteller app on it.", "excerpt": "I love my Boox Go, I run the Storyteller app on it.", "context": "", "use_case": "Reading on e-ink device", "switched_from": "", "story": "Why I love my Boox Palma e-reader"}]}