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Introduction
Calibre has a built-in web server that will give you a directory of you books so you can move them to your phone in a single tap. But at least on a Mac, that web server is buried.
Although the process will sound complicated when I spell it out in this note, it really is about the same effort as syncing your phone with iTunes.
* Turn on Calibre's web server
* Connect to that web sever from your iPhone's Safari.
* Tap on books to move them from Calibre to your iPhone's Safari.
* Use the iPhones share sheet to move them to Books.
* Turn off Calibre's web server
Caveats
Calibre is an open-source catalog of ebooks where you can find them, read them, and convert from one format to another. It copies the books into it's own directory tree, but doesn't alter them: they are still the same file format as before, you can find them with a Finder a search, and Calibre's additional information is stored in a metadata.db file, an sqlite database that can be read with the sqlite3 command line tool already present in macOS. (And in your own programs that link to /use/lib/libsqlite3.dylib )
Most home WiFi setups use a router that allows network devices in the home to see each other. Many businesses set up their routers so that only the outside world is accessible. This note is assuming a home WiFi router.
Ever since the iPhone had a Books app I've been using iTunes to move books to it.
Then App changed iTunes so you had to add Books to the Mac Books app first, then connect the iPhone by a USB cable to the Mac, put iTunes in a mode for syncing to that device, and only then select which books would be copied.
Most recently, iTunes stopped showing all the books from Mac Books. The list of books it showed seemed to change each time iTunes was restarted.
I get that Apple would prefer I just buy books from them. I get that Apple would prefer I used iCloud Sync to move books between Macs and iPhones.
I want to own my copies of my ebooks. I keep them on my hard disk, and on my hard disk backups. I use .epub format because it is an open format, a zip'ed directory of HTML files. I even make my own epub ebooks. I sure don't want Apple to be a gatekeeper of which books I buy.
I don't want to use a cloud sync engine that has the power to add, and to remove, books from my devices.
So I now use Calibre to move books to my iPhone.
But, when I searched online for directions on how to do it, I did not find anything useful, so I'm posting about it here.
How to upload epubs to iPhone's Books using CalibreI don't want to use a cloud sync engine that has the power to add, and to remove, books from my devices.
So I now use Calibre to move books to my iPhone.
But, when I searched online for directions on how to do it, I did not find anything useful, so I'm posting about it here.
Calibre has a built-in web server that will give you a directory of you books so you can move them to your phone in a single tap. But at least on a Mac, that web server is buried.
Although the process will sound complicated when I spell it out in this note, it really is about the same effort as syncing your phone with iTunes.
* Turn on Calibre's web server
* Connect to that web sever from your iPhone's Safari.
* Tap on books to move them from Calibre to your iPhone's Safari.
* Use the iPhones share sheet to move them to Books.
* Turn off Calibre's web server
Caveats
Calibre is an open-source catalog of ebooks where you can find them, read them, and convert from one format to another. It copies the books into it's own directory tree, but doesn't alter them: they are still the same file format as before, you can find them with a Finder a search, and Calibre's additional information is stored in a metadata.db file, an sqlite database that can be read with the sqlite3 command line tool already present in macOS. (And in your own programs that link to /use/lib/libsqlite3.dylib )
Most home WiFi setups use a router that allows network devices in the home to see each other. Many businesses set up their routers so that only the outside world is accessible. This note is assuming a home WiFi router.
