Quick start guide
This guide will walk you through downloading your first book using ReUCM, from initial setup to exporting the final FB2 file.Before starting, make sure you have ReUCM installed. See the installation guide if you haven’t installed it yet.
Download your first book
Launch ReUCM
Open ReUCM on your device. You’ll see the main screen with:
- List of supported portals (book resources)
- Recent books section (empty on first launch)
- Settings and update buttons in the app bar
Choose your method
There are two ways to open a book in ReUCM:Method 1: Using the built-in browser
- Tap on a portal card (e.g., “Author.Today”)
- The built-in browser will open
- Navigate to the book you want to download
- Open your browser and navigate to a book page
- Tap the Share button
- Select “ReUCM” from the share menu
- ReUCM will automatically detect and open the book
- Copy the book URL from your browser
- In ReUCM, look for the link input field
- Paste the URL and open
The share menu method is the quickest way to open books on Android devices.
Authenticate (if required)
If the book requires authentication:
- The built-in browser will display the portal’s login page
- Sign in with your credentials (username/password or social login)
- Your session is saved locally on your device
- Go to Settings → Portal Settings → Author.Today
- Enter your authentication token
- Save settings
View book details
Once the book is loaded, you’ll see:
- Book cover and title
- Author name(s)
- Book annotation/description
- Series information (if applicable)
- Available chapters
The book details page adapts to your screen size - it has different layouts for portrait/landscape and desktop views.
Configure save settings (optional)
Before downloading, you can customize the save settings:
- Tap the Settings icon
- Navigate to “Save Settings”
- Configure:
- Save directory - Where books are saved (Windows only)
- Filename template - How downloaded files are named
- Author separator - Character between multiple authors
- Tag placeholders - Use variables like
{title},{author},{series}
{author} - {title}On Android, books are saved to your device’s Downloads folder by default.
Download the book
- Tap the “Download” button on the book page
- ReUCM will:
- Fetch all available chapters
- Convert content to FB2 format
- Include metadata (title, author, series, cover)
- Save the file to your configured location
- You’ll see a progress indicator showing:
- Current chapter being downloaded
- Total chapters
- Download percentage
Download speed depends on the portal’s server and the number of chapters in the book.
Access your downloaded book
After download completes:Windows:
- Books are saved to your configured save directory
- Default location shown in Settings → Save Settings
- Books are saved to the Downloads folder
- Access via Files app or any file manager
- You can share the book directly from the completion notification
Using the share menu (Android)
The share menu integration is one of ReUCM’s most convenient features:Navigate to a book page
Open your browser and go to any supported book resource (e.g., author.today/work/12345)
Recent books
ReUCM automatically tracks your recently viewed books:- Recent books appear on the main screen
- Tap any recent book to open it again
- Swipe to delete books from recent history
- Recent books include cover, title, author, and portal information
Recent books list is stored locally and persists between app launches.
OTA updates
ReUCM includes automatic update checking:- When a new version is available, you’ll see a bottom sheet notification
- View the changelog to see what’s new
- Tap “Update” to download and install
- On first launch after update, the full changelog is displayed
Updates are downloaded directly from GitHub Releases without requiring app store approval.
Tips and best practices
For best results
- Authenticate before downloading - Log in to the portal first to access your purchased books
- Check book status - Ensure the book is available and not region-locked
- Use share menu - On Android, sharing from the browser is faster than copying URLs
- Customize filenames - Set up a filename template that works with your e-reader’s library organization
Troubleshooting common issues
Book won’t load:- Verify you’re logged in (check with the built-in browser)
- Ensure the book URL is correct and accessible
- Try refreshing the page in the built-in browser
- Check your internet connection
- Verify you have storage permission (Android)
- Ensure the book isn’t DRM-protected beyond ReUCM’s capabilities
- Try downloading individual chapters to identify problematic sections
- Some portals may restrict certain chapters
- Verify all chapters are visible in the built-in browser
- Check if you need a premium account for full access
- You’ll see an alert if authentication is required
- Tap “Open in browser” to log in
- After login, return to the book page and try again
File format information
ReUCM exports books in FB2 format with:- Complete book metadata (title, author, series, ISBN if available)
- Cover image embedded
- Proper chapter structure
- Series information and sequence number
- Author information with links
- Android: FBReader, Moon+ Reader, PocketBook
- iOS: FBReader, KyBook 3
- Windows: Calibre, FBReader, ICE Book Reader
- E-readers: Most modern e-readers with Calibre conversion
Next steps
Now that you’ve downloaded your first book:- Explore the architecture guide to understand ReUCM’s design
- Check the GitHub repository for source code
- Join the BooksFine Telegram channel for updates and community support
- Consider contributing new portal modules for additional book resources
ReUCM is open source and welcomes contributions. See the repository for information on adding new resource modules.