> ## Content Index > Fetch the complete content index at: https://itsfoss.com/llms.txt > Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further. # Linux eBook Reader Foliate 3.0 Upgrade: Improves UX With GTK 4 Port - URL: https://itsfoss.com/news/foliate-3-0/ - Published: 2023-11-15T10:07:40.000Z - Updated: 2023-11-15T10:07:40.000Z - Description: A GTK 4 port with nice UI refinements. - Author: Sourav Rudra - Tags: Application Releases, News, #Import 2025-11-08 21:15 Being one of the [best eBook readers for Linux](https://itsfoss.com/best-ebook-readers-linux/), Foliate has been progressing rather nicely over the years, receiving timely updates and bug fixes. However, it was looking a bit aged in recent times thanks to it featuring some old tech underneath. But, that has since changed with the release of **Foliate 3.0**. Let's see what kind of improvements are on offer. ## ๐Ÿ†• Foliate 3.0: What's New? ![a screenshot of foliate 3.0 about info](https://itsfoss.com/content/images/2023/11/Foliate_3.0_1.png) With the 3.0 release, **Foliate has been completely rewritten** by using the modern platform libraries like [GTK 4](https://blog.gtk.org/2020/12/16/gtk-4-0/?ref=itsfoss.com) and [Adwaita](https://gnome.pages.gitlab.gnome.org/libadwaita/?ref=itsfoss.com). The developers have mentioned to expect a refreshed interface and superior performance than before. Foliate now **uses its own eBook parser/render**, doing away with [Epub.js](https://github.com/futurepress/epub.js?ref=itsfoss.com) and [KindleUnpack](https://github.com/kevinhendricks/KindleUnpack?ref=itsfoss.com). Sadly, they were **unable to port a few features in time** for the 3.0 release, so this version **doesn't have support for** [**OPDS**](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Open%5FPublication%5FDistribution%5FSystem?ref=itsfoss.com) **catalogs and offline dictionaries**. As for the **key highlights** of this release: - **Revamped User Interface** - **Better Rendering** - **Improved User Experience** ### Revamped User Interface ![a screenshot of foliate 3.0](https://itsfoss.com/content/images/2023/11/Foliate_3.0_2.png) As you can see, the most significant change to Foliate has been its user interface. It now features **a new layout** where the Library and e-book viewer have been integrated into a single window. You will also notice that there is **a new sidebar** that features some important options such as the table of contents, annotations, and bookmarks. ![a screenshot of the new sidebar on foliate 3.0](https://itsfoss.com/content/images/2023/11/Foliate_3.0_3.png) There is also **a handy search bar** at the top that allows you to search for specific words or sentences in a book, and a โ€œLibraryโ€ button to take you back to your library of e-books. ๐Ÿ“‹ You can toggle the sidebar's visibility by accessing options in the header bar. Furthermore, the **paginated mode also sees some major improvements**. They have added **support for animation and 1:1 touchscreen/touchpad swipe gestures**, **support for more than two columns**, **better resizing behavior**, the **ability to configure the max width/height** and more. ### Better Rendering There have been many improvements on the book rendering side of things too, some key ones include: - If a page is not a valid XHTML one, it will be treated as HTML. - Mobipocket files are now divided into sections to greatly improve performance. - When a file is reloaded, it is now properly reloaded, rather than just being re-rendered. - Startup time and memory usage has been optimized by not loading the entire file into memory. ### Improved User Experience ![a screenshot of foliate 3.0 reader view](https://itsfoss.com/content/images/2023/11/Foliate_3.0_4.png) Besides the user interface upgrades, there have been some **really cool user experience tweaks** with Foliate 3.0. Take for instance the **bookmarking system**, the button for bookmarking pages has been moved to the header bar, and bookmarked pages now show a distinct ribbon at the top. The **image viewer** has also seen some updates, now when images are copied, they are stored in their original file format. Moreover, to open images, you simply double-click on them, the other options have been removed. The **progress slider has also been improved**, with it now supporting keyboards and mouse scrolls. You will also find the **updated narration functionality** there, which now uses [Speech Dispatcher](https://wiki.archlinux.org/title/Speech%5Fdispatcher?ref=itsfoss.com) at its back end. ### ๐Ÿ› ๏ธ Other Changes and Improvements As for the rest of the refinements, here are some worth noting: - You can now print specific chapters and text selections. - An experimental traditional title bar option was removed. - Annotations are now saved with their respective timestamps. - A security fix that has removed the sandbox escape permission for Flatpak. You may go through the [official release notes](https://github.com/johnfactotum/foliate/releases/tag/3.0.0?ref=itsfoss.com) to learn more. ## ๐Ÿ“ฅ Get Foliate This revamped version of Foliate is available via the [Flathub store](https://flathub.org/apps/com.github.johnfactotum.Foliate?ref=itsfoss.com) and the [Snap store](https://snapcraft.io/foliate?ref=itsfoss.com) (edge channel only, for now). [Foliate (Flathub)](https://flathub.org/apps/com.github.johnfactotum.Foliate?ref=itsfoss.com) You can also visit the [official website](https://johnfactotum.github.io/foliate/?ref=itsfoss.com) or the [GitHub repo](https://github.com/johnfactotum/foliate?ref=itsfoss.com) for the source code. ### Troubleshooting Tip If **Foliate refuses to load EPUB files** properly, and you are **using an NVIDIA GPU**, then you can run the app using either of the following commands: ``` WEBKIT_DISABLE_COMPOSITING_MODE=1 ``` ``` WEBKIT_DISABLE_DMABUF_RENDERER=1 ``` If you have the **Flatpak version of Foliate** installed, just add the same line to the environment variables by using [Flatseal](https://itsfoss.com/flatseal/). For me, the second command did the job. You can refer to the [GitHub issue](https://github.com/johnfactotum/foliate/issues/1093?ref=itsfoss.com) in question for further troubleshooting.