[Sverigevader]

It's thanks to this site that I learned that Kobo uses a really bad renderer for epubs unless converted to their own ebook format (Kepub). It make a huge difference in appearance and performance on a Kobo device.

https://standardebooks.org/help/how-to-use-our-ebooks#kobo-f...

[Uvix]

You don't even have to convert it, just rename the extension to .kepub.epub. https://github.com/kobolabs/epub-spec?tab=readme-ov-file#sid...

[acabal]

This is not entirely correct - Kobo also expects a bunch of special <span>s inserted for things like highlighting and page numbers to work.

It kills me that Kobo is so close to having plain epubs rendered with Webkit but for some reason they just won't take the leap!

[stog]

I discovered this too. However, I now use Plato Reader on my Kobo with standard ePub and it’s lovely.

[lazyeye]

You can use kepubify to convert epubs to kepubs (and calibre will do this as well)

https://pgaskin.net/kepubify/

[_shantaram]

And https://send.djazz.se automatically performs the conversion for you with kepubify and sends it to your ereader! No affiliation, just a happy camper chiming in

[crtasm]

I assume KOReader has a better renderer for epub but will have to test how it compares to the stock software+kepub. So far I've only used KOReader on my device.

[contact9879]

the only issues i've found with koreader is its default margin size and its display of standard ebooks' titlepages but (I believe) these can be fixed with a fairly simple user tweaks css

[_emacsomancer_]

You can set default margins in the user interface of KOReader too.

[RVuRnvbM2e]

Wow I never knew this!

[robin_reala]

Yeah, if you just load normal epubs it defaults to an old version of Adobe Digital Editions unfortunately.

[wyclif]

Yes, though I understand Kobo is working on correcting these issues with the epub format.

[crashingintoyou]

Are they? Where have you heard that?

Recently Calibre was updated to convert things to kepub when loading to Kobo devices - see https://www.omgubuntu.co.uk/2025/03/calibre-update-convert-k... - but I haven't anything about Kobo itself doing anything to improve this.