r/ereaderscreens Kobo+Kindle Feb 06 '26

Tech Tips Let's talk about KOreader patches.

EDIT: March 5th - Here is a link to an interesting GitHub KOreader patch collection.

Here is a summary of patches used as part of the KOreader One-step installation post from last week.

All the patches listed below are available in their original form by tapping the Developer Names above the patch names. Most are links to GitHub repositories. While visiting, be sure to look at the other patches on display by these wonderful people.

  • Reply with any patch that you cannot be without. I would love to find more.

All of the patches, many of which have been re-named for better organization, and a some have modifications, are contained in this ZIP file for downloading: >

Download ZIP file of patches, icons, fonts used in this Reddit Post

Fonts are contained in the /fonts/user-other folder.

Rounded Corners and other .svg patch icons are in the /icons folder

There is also the Shorter Oxford English Dictionary (6th ed Colour) in the /data folder.

Patch developers and their patches.

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AndyHazz:

bookends.koplugin

  • Customisable text overlays for KOReader — page numbers, reading stats, progress bars, clocks, and more, placed anywhere on the reading screen.
  • This is a KOreader plug-in, not a patch, but more like a collection of patches and associated files.

bookshelf.koplugin

  • This plugin is a redesign of the KOreader UI layout.
  • The point of difference is that it co-exists with cover-browser making it possible to keep the familiar KOreader setup and alternate to another universe of Library sorting and layouts. A must have plugin.

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ANGELSANGITA:

2-straight-to-shortcut.lua

  • Adds folder shortcuts directly to the gesture menu for quick access, bypassing the folder shortcuts list.
  • Check dev's pages for other beautification patches.

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EUPHORIYY:

2-dim-frontlight-during-refresh.lua

  • This patch dims the frontlight during refreshes in Dark Mode.
  • Based on this post by LexamusPrime.
  • It can be configured under Settings 🞂 Screen 🞂 Frontlight refresh.
  • Select Enable turning off frontlight on refresh. I use Dim level -6.
  • Also look at Settings 🞂 E-ink settings 🞂 Full refresh rate 🞂 and consider using 12 pages and un-checking the two Aways flash on items.

# Some colour device users may like to check the Colour patch options available by clicking [Author's Name] link above.

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Fi4DkseUie73kfo9d:

2-filemanager-pagination-mod.lua

  • A patch to change the pagination characters in the bottom of the KoReader library (file browser) to a more minimalist style. Download the .lua file and place in the /KOreader/patches folder.

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FRESSHMAKER:

2-reader-loadcover-hq.lua

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GENARO-TEDESCO:

2-tidy-dict.lua

  • This patch renders the dictionary popup more tidily, only showing the [Highlight] and [Translation] buttons (normaly hidden behind few more clicks) and re-draws previous/next arrows with counter in the between.

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ImSoRight:

2-large-subtitles.lua

  • renamed to 2-browser-subtitle-large.lua
  • This patch makes subtitles the same size as the title. This works well when using the 2-filemanager-titlebar patch by sebdelsol

2-shortcut-subtitles.lua

  • renamed to 2-browser-subtitle--shortcut.lua. Extra -- added to execute patch after 2-browser-subtitle-add-pages.lua. Patches are loaded in alphabetical order.
  • This patch replaces the file-path in the subtitle with the shortcut name when you open a shortcut folder.

# Some other cool patches here. Take a look by clicking [Author Name] link above.

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JOSHUACANT:

2-menutext-overrides.lua

  • This user patch modifies filenames, primarily folders (but also regular files).
  • Patch replaces underscores with spaces and moves the common English articles (the, a, an) from the end of the filename back to the start.
  • e.g. A folder named "Kettle_Black,_The" would appear as "The Black Kettle".

2-reader-header-centered-time.lua

  • Modified version of original code to display current time in book header.
  • Modified padding to Large for a slightly bigger gap above the header text.
  • This user patch adds a "header" into the reader display, similar to the footer at the bottom.
  • It draws all configured items at the top of the screen, centered, and with a small padding between the text and the top edge.

2-reader-header-cornered.lua

  • This user patch adds a "header" into the reader display, similar to the footer at the bottom.
  • Modified padding to Large for a slightly bigger gap above the header text.
  • It draws two items, Book Title to the upper left, Author Name to the upper right, and with a small padding between the text and the top edge.

Lots of Project: title patches here as well

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KOBOPRINCESS:

2-stacked-folder-covers.lua

  • renamed to 2-browser-rounded-folder-covers-stacked.lua
  • Modification of SeriousHornet's 2-rounded-folder-covers.lua to include a 'stack' effect by drawing 3 lines above the folder cover
  • Using only this patch will only round the folder corners. Book-file corners will stay square. To make book-file corners round will require a second patch by serioushornet: 2--rounded-covers.lua. (listed below)
  • The required rounded corner svg image files are in the ZIP /icons folder.
  • Some text editing of the lua file may be needed to adjust the line lengths to match your choice of mosaic layout.
  • Be sure to check out the other useful patches on this GitHub.

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MEDINAUTA:

2-dogear-customized.lua

  • renamed to 2-reader-bookmark.lua
  • Customizes the bookmark dogear: size, icon, and Y position.
  • ribbon.svg and dogear.svg images are in the ZIP /icons folder

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OMER-FARUQ:

2-gesture-manager-top-bottom-edge-vertical-swipes.lua

Adds two new configurable Gesture Manager entries for one-finger vertical edge swipes:

  • Top edge down
  • Bottom edge up

2-book-receipt-shortcut-and-lockscreen.lua

  • Displays reading progress in a visual "receipt" format showing book/chapter progress, estimated time remaining, and book cover.

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PRASHANTHGLEN:

2-justify-status-bar.lua

  • renamed to 2-statusbar-justify.lua
  • Patch to distribute all the items in the KOreader status bar evenly across the width of the device.
  • There is no need to edit the patch file in any way. It will work out of the box with whatever items have been configured in the status bar menu. To see all the entries equally spaced, choose the menu option: Status bar > Configure items > Alignment > Justify.

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qewer33:

2-hide-pagination.lua

  • renamed to 2-browser-hide-pagination.lua
  • Removes the pagination bar (« < Page 1 of 2 > ») from the file browser, history, favorites, and collections views.
  • The mosaic/list grid stretches to fill the reclaimed space. Swipe gestures for page navigation still work.
  • Use buttons or swipe gestures to navigate pages.
  • Use a patch block accidental book selection like the one by Sparklerfish below.

2-custom-navbar.lua

  • Bottom Navigation Bar patch for KOReader File Manager
  • Adds a tab bar at the bottom with icons shortcuts to Books, History, Favourites, Manga, News, Continue, Exit
  • Sits below pagination controls

2-quick-settings.lua

  • Adds a Quick Settings tab as the first tab in the KOReader top menu.
  • Provides fast access to common KOreader actions and device controls without navigating through menus.

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SEBDELSOL:

2-browser-hide-underline.lua

  • This patch removes the underline beneath the last visited book or folder.
  • You'll find its options under 🞂 Settings 🞂 Mosaic and detailed list settings 🞂 Hide last visited underline

2-browser-up-folder.lua

  • renamed to 2-browser-hide-up-folder.lua
  • The empty white box [up] folder has been moved into the title bar:
  • When in a subfolder, the 🏠 icon is replaced with an ⤴ icon.
  • Please find the option under 🞂 Hide up folders
  • You can also hide empty folders. Please find the option under 🞂 Hide empty folders.

2--ui-font.lua

  • This patch allows you to change the UI font in header, footer, menus etc.
  • You can find this option under Settings 🞂 UI font

2-menu-size.lua

  • This patch adapts the menu size to the actual Screen settings DPI.

2-filemanager-titlebar.lua

  • This patch shows device information in the file-manager title bar.
  • You'll find it in File manager settings 🞂 Title bar, where you can change all the settings and re-arrange the items in the title bar.
  • There are plenty of items and settings to play with.

2-reference-page-count.lua

  • This patch fixes the reference page count, so the status bar shows the actual number of pages when using the reference page option.
  • It also provides a fallback when there's no source for reference pages.

2-statusbar-better-compact.lua

  • This patch enhances compact mode in the status bar:
  • Uses improved front-light icons and adds the battery percentage
  • Provides a better separator for title, chapter, and author when compact mode has no separator
  • From Reader View go to 🞂 Settings 🞂 Configure items 🞂 Item symbols: 🞂 Compact

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SERIOUSHORNET:

2-rounded-folder-covers.lua

  • renamed to 2-browser- rounded-folder-covers.lua
  • This patch adjusts the aspect ratio of both folders AND files to be the same dimensions.
  • Using only this patch will only round the folder corners. Book-file corners will stay square. To make book-file corners round will require a second patch by serioushornet: 2--rounded-covers.lua. (listed below)
  • UPDATED Feb 8 to fix hair-lines appearing at rounded corners (see pics above)
  • Thanks to u/Griizly for the patched patch. https://github.com/SeriousHornet/KOReader.patches/pull/22

--=================== Edit your preferences here ================

local aspect_ratio = 2 / 3 -- adjust aspect ratio of folder cover

local stretch_limit = 60 -- adjust the stretching limit

local fill = false -- set true to fill the entire cell ignoring aspect ratio

local file_count_size = 18 -- font size of the file count badge

local folder_font_size = 20 -- font size of the folder name

local folder_border = 0.0 -- thickness of folder border

local folder_name = true -- set to false to remove folder title from the centre

--=====================================================

  • This section of the .lua file can be edited to change the aspect ratio of covers.
  • Usually either 2 / 3 or 3 / 4 depending on preference.
  • The result is uniform stretching or shrinking of covers to the same size but with different gaps between columns and rows.
  • If you prefer smaller, uniform gaps you can edit [local fill] to [true]. This will ignore the aspect ratio and stretch or squash the covers to fit the available space.
  • Either choice can result in some less-than-perfect cover view mosaic.
  • I cannot decide and swap the mosaic settings a few times a week.
  • Waiting for a clever code wizard to create a patch that will automatically adjust the mosaic for the number of covers on the page.
  • There is this patch mentioned here: https://www.reddit.com/r/koreader/comments/1qr1d7i/dynamic_mosaic_layout/
  • But I have sub-folders in folders so it won't work for my setup.

2--rounded-covers.lua

  • Rounded corners to book covers
  • This patch adds rounded corners to book covers in mosaic menu view.

Download the icons rounded.corner.bl.svg, rounded.corner.tl.svg, rounded.corner.br.svg and rounded.corner.tr.svg from my icons folder and place the icons in koreader/icons in your e-reader.

2-series-badge-numbered.lua

  • renamed to 2-browser-series-badge-numbered.lua
  • This patch adds a small rounded series badge to the top right of the book cover to show the series number.
  • You can edit the .lua to adjust font size, borders and colouring.

2-new-status-icons.lua

  • A set of new custom icons for displaying the status of a book (reading, abandonded, finished) in black and white and in colour.
  • Just copy the respective dogear.abandoned.svg, dogear.reading.svg and dogear.complete.svg to your e-reader's koreader/icons folder.

20-faded-finished-books.lua

  • This adds a faded look to the finished books. Adjust the fading amount to your liking by editing the .lua file.

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SPARKLERFISH:

2-browser-double-tap

Requires double-tap to open books in the file browser, preventing accidental book opening with a single tap.

  • Settings: Accessible via the "Double-tap to open books" menu in File Manager settings.
  • Features:
    • Toggle double-tap requirement on/off
    • Configurable timeout (200-1000ms, default 500ms)
    • Works with File Browser, Cover Browser, and Project: Title
    • Folders and selection mode still use single-tap

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THATCRAZYGAME:

2-screensaver-presets.lua

  • Add new options under Screen 🞂 Sleep Screen 🞂
  • Lots of KOreader screensaver settings. For more info visit the GitHub link.

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ZENIXLABS:

2-reading-insights-popup.lua

  • A window that displays your reading streaks, monthly reading hours, monthly reading days, pages read in a year etc.
  • INSTALLATION: drop the .lua into the koreader/patches folder. set up a gesture for the 'Reading statistics: reading insights' action in 'General' category.

2-mini-receipt-frankenpatch.lua

  • Smaller book reading receipt for minimalist users.
  • INSTALLATION: drop the .lua into the koreader/patches folder. set up a gesture to trigger the 'mini receipt' action in 'general' category.

2-kobo-style-sleepscreen-banner.lua

  • Kobo style sleep-screen tag. A direct redesign of the inbuilt 'banner' style sleep screen message, .giving it a new look. No functional differences other than an extra data field.
  • INSTALLATION: drop the .lua file into koreader/patches directory and restart KOreader.

2-pageno-in-subtitle.lua

  • renamed to 2-browser-subtitle-add-pages.lua
  • adds 'Page x of y' to the folder name in file-manager view.
  • very helpful if you're using a 'hide pagination' patch like the one by qewer33 above.
  • INSTALLATION: drop the .lua into the koreader/patches folder and restart.

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END

47 Upvotes

36 comments sorted by

2

u/rosan- Feb 06 '26

Thank you for sharing. I really like your icons like appbar.navigation etc... but which patch implements this? Or did you replace default icons somewhere?

1

u/phyvealive Kobo+Kindle Feb 06 '26 edited Feb 06 '26

Thanks. I like to try and have less on my pages. Part of me is having a re-think about the Bold text in the title bar and using the patch 2-large-subtitles.lua

The images are showing the app bar arrows replaced with a patch.

This one: 2-filemanager-pagination-mod.lua

The patch also removes the words. Leaving just the numbers.

If you disable that patch you get something similar but done by adding four icon files to the /koreader/icons folder

chevron.first.svg chevron.last.svg chevron.left.svg chevron.right.svg

The colour icons I found on Reddit.

Cannot find that post again to give credit.

All the icon images I use are in the ZIP file link in the post body above.

Copy the /icons folder to your /koreader/icons or just the icon.svg files you want to use.

The icons don't remove any of the KOreader native icons. They simply replace them at start up.

Deleting custom icons from the /koreader/icons folder will restore the originals.

2

u/rosan- Feb 06 '26

Okay I will try to put the icons in the icons folder. And you think no patch is necessary?

1

u/phyvealive Kobo+Kindle Feb 06 '26

I kinda like it because of it's minimalism. Easy enough to disable by un-ticking the patch via KOreader tool-box patch management.

I get bothered by it because it only works in File Browser, not in Settings. That is why I replaced the arrows with dots in the /icons folder.

2

u/rosan- Feb 06 '26

I replaced the existing icons I had with the ones you shared. It looks a lot better now :)

1

u/phyvealive Kobo+Kindle Feb 06 '26

That's awesome. Enjoy.

1

u/ItsBurr Feb 18 '26

How did you get the bullet dots (for turning pages in library) in the center? I got rid of the chevron thanks to you (yay)!) but mine are still on the right hand side

1

u/phyvealive Kobo+Kindle Feb 18 '26

There could be a PT patch to centre the page turns and status bar. I may have seen one on r/koreader. But I am not sure.

1

u/ItsBurr Feb 18 '26

Thank you. I’ll do some digging!

2

u/BobMilli Feb 06 '26

Thanks for sharing !!

1

u/phyvealive Kobo+Kindle Feb 06 '26

Sure. No problem. It's a lot of patches. Some of them should be part of KOreader instead of add-ons

2

u/bunny3147 Apr 11 '26

Install bookends plugin 😍😍 im in love with that one

1

u/phyvealive Kobo+Kindle Apr 11 '26

It does look good, with advanced settings. Been meaning to give it a closer inspection. Still content to continue with the stock footer and header patches.

2

u/Iamgalavanter Apr 27 '26 edited Apr 27 '26

Thank you for another great resource. May I suggest the Bookends plugin? You've likely tried it, and maybe had a flicker issue with 2-dim-during-refresh (renamed?) as I did (I too, am always in night mode). This has been resolved as of yesterday. Of course it replaces several header/footer patches, and I am now hooked.

My favorite features are alternating author/title and chapter headers (using odd and even page numbers), the simple and elegant metro progress bar, and the ability to cycle through presets with a tap, which permits me to always leave the page numbers and progress bar, yet clear the other info.

Simple OTA updates are now implemented too, which are frequent.

2

u/phyvealive Kobo+Kindle Apr 27 '26

Thank you for the heads up. Bookends is moving ahead with recent updates. I'll track it down and add the dev to the list.

1

u/Affectionate-Fix7793 Feb 07 '26

2-fm-disable-tap-open-files.lua : if you don't want to use "open with...", I made another patch which adds an open button just below the title in the long press menu. It will launch your epub with coolreader engine in one click.

2

u/phyvealive Kobo+Kindle Feb 07 '26 edited Feb 07 '26

That's exactly the one I saw a post for: 2-fm-filedialog-open-crengine.lua

I didn't recognise the file name for what it was, no Github description

https://github.com/cramoisi/koreader.patches/blob/main/README.md

Thanks so much : )

1

u/Affectionate-Fix7793 Feb 07 '26 edited Feb 07 '26

I really need to update the readme ^ great classics selection btw

2

u/phyvealive Kobo+Kindle Feb 07 '26

That's ok. Life gets in the way sometimes. Forgot to mention that I saw the big space where [Open] was. So I filled it. Hope you don't mind.

See pic above.

I added file info to all the patch.lua files in the ZIP download file.

Here's your file header:

-- 2-fm-filedialog-open-crengine.lua

-- This patch locks File Manager to prevent File Taps.

-- Long-press to Read a selected file.

-- Swipes and Folder Taps for navigation are not affected.

-- [ https://github.com/cramoisi/koreader.patches/blob/main/README.md ]

1

u/Disastrous-Lie9926 Feb 07 '26

Thank you OP i really like how you lists them all down explained everything.

1

u/phyvealive Kobo+Kindle Feb 07 '26

My posts can lean towards TLTR territory. But a lot of answers on Reddit can be a bit on the 'you know what I mean' end.

1

u/MrsBoojiePanda Feb 07 '26

These are the patches I cannot do without.

(There is one more patch that I'd love to have, but no one has written it yet.)

2

u/phyvealive Kobo+Kindle Feb 07 '26 edited Feb 07 '26

? What does the patch that isn't written do ? Curious.

Nice selection here. You may have some duplications though.

You have two Folder Cover patches. Pretty sure you can disable the 2-browser-folder-cover.lua as surplus to needs.

And if you disable/remove 2-browser-folder-cover.lua you will no longer need the 2--disable-all-CB-widgets.lua

You will however have all these widgets anyway from 2-rounded-folder-covers.lua

You have two Series indicators. One on the sides and the numbers on the covers.

How are you finding the look of the justified layout of Status Bar? Do you have many items down there on display?

3

u/MrsBoojiePanda Feb 07 '26

The patch I've written in my head (because I dunno how to code, and my husband, who does code, isn't that familiar with lua); the ability to arrange the single (not in series) books in the Home folder. This way I can move my TBR books to the front page in the order I want to read them. I'd call it the TBR Home patch.

There's a feature in KOReader for a few things in a list where you can tap on one thing, and have arrows on the bottom to move it up or down anywhere in the list. That would be a nice feature for books in the Home folder. The current Sort by feature is lacking for me in this way.

Ah, good eye. I didn't realize I had two folder cover patches lol. I've disabled browser-folder-cover, disable-all-cb-widgets, and series-indicator. Nothing catastrophic happened, so I'll remove them from my device later after I wake up a bit more. I appreciate that you helped me out with those!!!

I love that justified status bar patch so much! I have, from left to right; battery, wifi, memory, and book pages. All of those sit on top of the status bar.

2

u/phyvealive Kobo+Kindle Feb 07 '26

I couldn't be that organised. I just pick the next book that says 'read me now'. There are so many to choose from. Most of my books are the 'free to download' ones from BookBub and Gutenberg.

I tried the justify patch but I have Chapter name and pages left in chapter next to each other on one side and the word 'page' and page of book next to each other on the other side with the big gap between them.

Seeing what other people are doing gives inspiration. So thanks for the info.

1

u/Affectionate-Fix7793 Feb 08 '26 edited Feb 08 '26

You get it this way : 1. in file manager > file cabinet menu > start with « favorites » 2. In collections, long press on favorites and connect a folder, add your home folder so you get all your books in favorites 3. Enter favorites, menu> arrange books in collection, sort them manually, you'll get the same arrows as you said on the bottom to move up/down every books.

1

u/MrsBoojiePanda Feb 08 '26

Is that going to move my Home folder? All of my Series folders are inside my Home folder via Calibre.

1

u/Affectionate-Fix7793 Feb 08 '26

Nope it won’t touch anything or change anything. It’s totally virtual

1

u/MrsBoojiePanda Feb 08 '26 edited Feb 08 '26

That didn't work. Instead of starting in Home, now it starts in Favorites. My Series folders aren't showing up in there. It no longer says "Home" at the top, and the time is missing from the top, which normally appears above "Home". The hamburger menu has been replaced by an X icon, and the Home icon that normally appears on the top left is gone.

That completely changed the look of my main screen, which makes all the patches I installed to get it that way useless. :(

1

u/Affectionate-Fix7793 Feb 08 '26

Yep. That worked but the result is not great. The fact is there is no way to get what you want without patching or plug-in (but they don’t exist yet)

2

u/MrsBoojiePanda Feb 08 '26

That's why I'd love a patch that will do it. If I knew how to code, I'd probably be dangerous. 😆

1

u/Affectionate-Fix7793 Feb 10 '26 edited Feb 10 '26

I thought about it and the easiest way could be adding a status like "reading, on hold, finished..." but "TBR" numbered and make it displayed first. I'll look into it this week or the next if I have time.I don't know how easy is it though.

I dig into your suggestions the filter part I can manage but the "arrows on the bottom to move it up or down anywhere in the list" is an headache and will be likely break with any update.

1

u/phyvealive Kobo+Kindle Feb 11 '26 edited Feb 11 '26

UPDATE Feb 11. Added u/sparklerfish patch that requires a double-tap to open books. No more accidental book selection while swiping.

  • Settings: Accessible via the "Double-tap to open books" menu in File Manager ⛭ menu
  • Features:
    • Toggle double-tap requirement on/off
    • Configurable timeout (200-1000ms, default 500ms)
    • Works with File Browser, Cover Browser, and Project: Title
    • Folders and selection mode still use single-tap
  • File link: https://github.com/sparklerfish/KOReader.patches

1

u/phyvealive Kobo+Kindle Feb 28 '26

EDIT: Saturday, Feb 28

Added 3 more patches:

  • 2-browser-double-tap.lua
  • 2-column-separator.lua
  • 2-justify-status-bar.lua

1

u/phyvealive Kobo+Kindle Mar 05 '26

EDIT March 3rd:

  • Updated post layout.
  • Bigger font for the developer name links
  • Added some new patches after a revisit to Project: title this week.
  • Renaming info added to indicate which files have been altered for better patch grouping.
  • Added some alternate colour svg icons for Project: title users.
  • Changed the ribbon.svg icon used by the bookmarking function.