multiversal - an AI generated CBZ reader for Android
I'm moving my tablet setup to LineageOS. I ordered a Samsung Galaxy S6 Lite and when it arrives I'll get it setup. All I really use the tablet for anymore is reading comics (CB[Z|R] files) and watching stuff on the JellyFin server. JellyFin has a perfectly servicable app on F-Droid but there's a dearth of usable comic readers out there. I've been using CDisplayEx for a while as my default reader on Android, but I'm not willing to pirate it despite the fact that I have paid for it. So I spent a Saturday with Claude.
It's a reasonably simple app to build, but I'm not a Android developer really and frankly I don't really want to be. I just want to be able to read my comics on a tablet that's not constantly calling back to gender-non-specific-familial-authority-figure Google. A few hours with Claude and I've got a workable application that functions fine with my use case:
- Pick a folder
- List files & folders within my chosen folder
- Let me click on a file to read it
- Keep track of where I am in any given file
I sync my comics to my tablet via SyncThing Fork, and they go to a Comics folder on the SD card. They're already organized in the way I like them (in folders by title & title start year), and while apps like Panels are beautiful, I'm willing to live without thumbnails if it means I don't have Tim Apple or Tom Google looking over my shoulder.
Enter multiversal, likely the first entirely AI generated comic reader for Android. It does everything I want and nothing more.