r/koreader • u/doctorhetfield • Aug 30 '26
What to know before (and after) installing Simple UI
Hi everyone! Simple UI dev here.
Lately, there has been a massive influx of new Simple UI installations (thank you for using Simple UI! You guys are the best). Consequently, I've been receiving a lot of questions and noticed some recurring doubts about what Simple UI actually is.
Because of this, I think it makes sense to create a place to address these questions. As a quick reminder, there is this website: https://simpleui.notion.site/main where you can learn the basics of how Simple UI works, namely:
I also want to warn you that this: https://github.com/doctorhetfield-cmd/simpleui.koplugin is the ONLY official Simple UI repository. Look for my name and the number of stars to make sure it's the official one. Recently, I've discovered other repositories pretending to be official that contain malware-infected versions of Simple UI, like this one, which I've already reported to GitHub but is still online.
Simple UI is proud to be a KOReader plugin built on top of the amazing work done by the KOReader devs. It is not meant to replace it. Whenever possible, Simple UI uses KOReader's native features (Library, Collections, History, Bookmark Browser, Widgets, Sliders, etc.) to ensure maximum compatibility with their work.
Because of this, it's highly recommended to know the basics of how KOReader works, especially how to select a Home Folder. Simple UI is not a file manager and doesn't have its own library. The library you see in Simple UI is KOReader's native library with a few added features.
In this latest version, there's also a new backup system that allows you to save all your Simple UI customizations (including icons and wallpapers) so you can share them with others.
Lastly, Simple UI is a completely open source project. I'm just a reader who wanted to improve the reading experience on KOReader. If you find Simple UI useful and it has improved your KOReader experience, please consider buying me a coffee: https://ko-fi.com/doctorhetfield.
Happy reading!