YACReader - Comic Reader
reviews and complaints

I love the app, I really do, but I keep being forced into uploading to Google Drive because the import from YACReader Library breaks regularly — I’m not sure which end of the connection is the issue, but I’ve scanned the code multiple times, manually entered multiple times, and from version to version it seems like import is fixed, then it’s broken again.

I have the Library running in a Windows 10 machine. Configuration hasn’t changed in a year.

First off the reason I love this program so much is because it has a wonderful Mac Application called YACReaderLibrary. This ability to orginize and quickly wairlessly sync my commic books to my iPad is simply awesome. The progam has the abilty to download content direct to help create a richer experance. There are a few enhancments that I would like to see however the overall experance is awesome. Thanks for developing such an awesome application.

This is THE app to get if you want to read your .cbr/.cbz collection on the go! I have been using this app for several months now, so I can speak from experience. The big selling point to me was the Dropbox integration. I can put whatever comics I want on my device in my Dropbox then load them to my iOS device over wifi or my LTE service. This is my go to app for reading my comics! Though this is one of my most used apps, it still doesn't make a 5/5. There are a couple of little UI quirks that bug me, but overall you'll have a pleasant time with this app.

After using ComicFlow, I needed a new comicbook reader after they removed WebDAV and started charging for web uploads through an in-app purchase. I tried YACReader and it was more than I could have wanted. The YACReader library on my pc allows me to import new issues easier than ComicFlow, and it was cheaper and is more robust. You can set and view metadata, view the file names, manage folders in the app, all stuff I haven't been able to do with Comic Flow. Great app, great features, I'm glad to have found it (I heard of it through the comicbook subreddit).

Panels is a very aesthetic app. It's also fluid and fast, but so is YAC. I have a library of comics stored on a NAS, and instead of having to import comics every time, I just wanted the app to be able to view comics from the NAS while still providing the features of bookmarking and indicating a comic as read. YAC does this by having a remote library server source code. I've installed it on my raspberry pi and now I could view my comics from anywhere in the world without having to import them first
I've used YAC before and now I'm back at it again
Yeeee buddy

I tried couple of highly rated apps but none of them are this good (at least from what i saw). In one app fit width is a paid feature. Another one failed to decompress some comic pages.

I recently started using yaclibrary on PC, and really liked the zoom lock scroll feature in iOS app so had to try this app.

It connected to my PC in 10 seconds end to end through a QR code scan option. Immediately showed me all my comics and lets me read any comic in 0 seconds flat.

I am looking forward to using it more.

Thanks to the author for writing this delightful app.

Edit: they have fixed a lot and now it is great! My favorite comics reader. It rules.

Desperately needs and update. I LOVE the user interface, but it keeps randomly crashing and most import functions don't work.

More specific (response):
I have finally gotten the google drive and the iTunes methods of adding comics to work fine! Biggest issue for me was syncing with the yaclibrary desktop reader over wifi/IP address. If you don't care that much about being able to sync from your computer to your tablet/phone, you can still get the comics on and read them just fine. Crashes stopped for me.

My biggest problem with other readers is that my collection is HUGE. It can’t be on my devices all at once or stored in my Dropbox waiting to be downloaded. I need a way to organize it and read through what I have. YAC is this and so much more. The desktop app is drag and drop, with some of the best organizational abilities of any comics app. You can also run your desktop as a server to transfer comics. The iOS app allows you to easily import comics while maintaining the organization, and you can reorganize on the fly!

I can’t say enough good things. I’ve been with YAC since the beginning, and I’ll be a customer until the end.

I don’t often review apps but I had to come back and say what a joy it is to use YACReader. I especially wanted to point out the novel use of the Apple Pencil’s double-tap input to allow the reader to scroll to the next page or panel. (The panel-to-panel scrolling in this app works wonderfully, by the way.) I find it surprisingly satisfying to use the Apple Pencil in this way. It lets me keep my hands resting in a more comfortable position, and helps keep the screen free of fingerprints to boot! Whoever thought of this feature is a genius. In future releases, I would like to see image upscaling, and brightness/contrast/hue sliders, plus “auto” settings for these features.

My 10 yr old iMac is finally kicking it, so I’ve been transitioning my files to an external hard drive to use with my iPad Pro. I was excited to see that there was a version of YAC Reader for iPad, since I’ve been using the desktop version for a while.

When I connected my External drive to the iPad, the Comic files were initially not available for the import. I emailed the app’s support, and received an immediate response. They helped walk me through the issue in less than an hour (turns out I didn’t connect the drive properly and needed to restart the iPad). Now my comics are exactly where I need them.

As for the app itself, the import function works great, and the reader is very user friendly. I definitely recommend it.

I love that I can read my mangas on the iPhone and iPad from the YAC server on my Mac. I have the mangas in all formats - zip, car, rat, PDF and they work great. I’m not sure if epub is supported too - if so that would make this app even better because I have quite a few in epub format too.

It would be very nice for the controls in the app to be a little more friendly. I find myself skipping forward and backwards unintentionally. I also wish the rating and favoriting of mangas to be easier and more intuitive. Please keep refining and improving the user experience and user interface. I’m still learning the app but so far I haven’t found a way to organize my mangas by series and kind etc like I can do in comic zeal.

Thank you!

It is ok but I was counting on the advertised feature of syncing with Box. Unfortunately, it does not do it reliably. For example, I sign in to Box through the app, select import, and *somefiles import, other do not (even after setting up the auto import folder). They still do not want import after force closing the app and trying to import them one by one. There is not progress bar but these are smaller files and they do not take that long to even view online. I checked the files, and yes, I can see them in the files app or the browser, just on the reader . So that is a bit buggy. I don’t know about syncing with other services, I use Box so I would not know, but at least with this cloud provider, the app is a disappointment.

I’ve been using this app for 5-6 months and never had any real issues. I’m on a newish IPad, but still it’s never even had a hiccup. That being said the most recent update actually improved the U.I. of the library (where you view your comics).

I also think before considering the purchase of this app (I forget if it costs money) you should know that with a computer and the YACLibrary program/app it makes uploading comics simple and easy. I personally am returning to apple products and found apples version of data transfer slow and confusing. With a pc to transfer and organize all your .cbz and .cbr needs this app is a powerhouse of utility and sleek design.

This is a genuine review, and I will be contacting the app dev for compensation if any future updates are only equally as good as the last. Happy comic reading you buncha nerds ;)

This is by far the best comic book reader app that you are going to find. I love it’s interface and ease to use!

Don’t going trying to search for a free app because they will be ridden with ads and horrible programming. This app YACReader is the best $2.99 app that you will ever find, probably for any genre.

I just got this app and loaded my entire, The Walking Dead series on it, issues 1-188 in one folder. The ability to edit and name files once they are in is great as well as leaving notes, bookmarks, etc.

Then I created a few new folders for my other Walking Dead stuff like special editions, Here’s Negan, and so on.

This app is going to make me start reading other comic series because it’s so easy to copy and paste from one folder to another and organization is so important these days for IOS devices.

I’m going to enjoy reading comics when I’m in the sauna at the gym, at Starbucks, at the beach, etc.

This guy deserves a lot of credit for building the perfect comic book reader app for comic fans. If I could give 6 stars I definitely would.

I purchased the reader after a good review in a Spanish comics board. Just after download it was clear they don’t use real UI/UX professionals. The icons are not even close to the item (a circle for import?) and yellow thin text over light grey background make it almost invisible.
There’s no user journey, everything looks like made by a programmer that hates users.
The interface doesn’t have a cadence, there’s no user experience from downloading (a daunting task in every option, ended up creating a google account, upload the comics and then download them three times as it doesn’t show progress or completion) to reading, which can’t be sorted your way or renamed. Had to delete and download one by one to sort them as single ones.
There’s supposed to be a way to sync with your computer, but after an hour searching only found a Linux version, no instructions and vague references.
Good luck trying to get out of read mode, you need to keep pushing for a menu to appear.
The only good thing is the automatic white cropping, but definitely not worth the money spent.

I picked this up so I could have an app to read comics off my NAS. I have too many to fit on my current iPad, especially given it's small storage size and no convenient expandable storage options. YACReader seemed like the best bet. Setting up the backend was... more difficult than it should have been, owing mostly to extremely poor documentation (nearly lacking entirely, really). I'm happy that the functionality I hoped for is here, though. I can connect to my server and read my comics/manga without having to download them. The "streaming" works very well!

However, this app has some quirks that I *reallydon't like. Over 99% of my collection is manga. I can't just toggle a button and have it know to read right-to-left. I have to toggle that button. Every. Single. Time. Likewise, rather than fitting pages side-by-side, I have to click that setting. Every. Single. Time. There isn't any global setting for this, it's on a "per book" basis... but only for books that have been downloaded. I guess I wouldn't mind that, if it didn't default to literally the absolute worst settings. Please, in a future update, give us a way set the defaults to our preferences! That change alone would bring this up to a 4/5 easily (maybe even 5/5).

There are even more features I'd like, but at only $2.99, I can't complain too much. The current functionality *isgood, but it really needs settings for the default view mode.

Edit:
Updating to 5 stars because I found the Dekstop and it allows large imports and folder imports. It would still be nice to import folders from the iPad file system, but this is good enough

The reading and organization experience is very good on this app however there are some small changes that would make this app perfect. Coming from a windows tablet, Cover was the best comic reader I’ve ever seen. This is close but the following additions would make it perfect. Importing large series is a huge pain. You can only import comic files, not folders, so after you import the comic files you have to make a folder, then select each newly imported, and copy paste them into that folder. It would be much nicer to simply import a whole folder from the file system and have it automatically create a folder with the same name with the newly imported files inside. This way I don’t need to mark 100 files for import, then move all 100 files into a folder. It would also be nice to have a filter on the Home Screen that you could filter read, unread, reading, or all comics. This way I could see only the books I’m currently reading if I wanted to. I keep page animations turned off because I like just tapping and the next page appears, but sometimes I like to swipe to the next page instead of touch and I wish it animated that like marvel unlimited does, moving the page with your finger and showing part of the next page as you swipe. There should be a settings to allow for animations only when swiping to the next page.

As corny as it may sound, YACReader makes me happy, but the customer service keeps me happy. I have been using YACReader for several years. (6 years, if memory serves). It was my first digital comics reader. Andy Ihnatko chose it as his Pick of the Week back in 2012, when Bandette came out. I’ve been using it ever since. And honestly, even though I’m perfectly happy, from time to time, I have tried the other guys too. I’ve tried at least a dozen other comic book readers over the years. But not because of ANY other reason than “just in case” the other guys had that one killer feature I didn’t know I needed yet. FOMO, right? And each time I ask myself why am I wasting my time. Part of me puts a lot of stock in Andy Ihnatko’s picks anyway. But I still wanna know what else might be available. But here’s the thing. The killer feature is not in the app at all. It’s a near perfect app. The killer feature is the customer service. You see, over the years I’ve had some questions. A couple of times I sent in a compliment. Several times I had some human error going on and needed some direction. And once or twice I ran across a faulty file and needed some advice how to save my library. And each time my questions or comments were addressed efficiently and in a friendly manner. That means a lot to me. I feel like Luis has the best comic reader out there. And I know he really cares about my experience. And I absolutely LOVE carrying a few thousand comics around in my pocket. Try it. You’ll like it. And tell your friends. Get the word out. YACReader is where it’s at!

I used to think paying for an app with such a simple concept was too much, but it has DEFINITELY been worth it! It's especially useful in conjunction with the YACReaderLibrary on your computer (which is free) since it can be used as a server to read or download your comics. As someone with literally hundreds of manga volumes and thousands of comic issues and manga chapters, YACReaderLibrary has been the only way I can keep those efficiently organized and YACReader is the only app I use to read them. The developer is also quite prompt in replying to feedback and handling issues: I was having problems reading long-strip webcomics and he was able to fix issue in the next test release on TestFlight.

It's certainly not perfect: you can't automatically jump to a folder using its first letter when you're in a subfolder; when in the server view, webcomic chapters with very long "cover pages" cause the entire folder to be much more difficult to navigate; and moving through the file structure of the server view while downloading can sometimes cause the app the lag or crash. The YACReaderLibrary has even more issues, mainly dealing with how difficult it is to effeciantly manually update chapters/issues/volumes: exiting the edit dialogue automatically makes you select the top most issue which, when you're dealing with hundreds of issues, means you have to scroll back down and select the following issue to edit. It allows for the importing of metadata using the Comicvine API which is really useful, but Comicvine doesn't track manga chapters which is a lot of what I read. That means that, if I want to organize and present those chapters in a pleasing way in-app, I have to edit each one individually which is very tedious.

Regardless, based entirely on how thankful I am for this app and its desktop companion, I have to give it a full five stars. Even with my complaints I have zero plans of moving to a different app/service. I also, even after paying for the iOS app, joined the developer's Patreon because I was so happy with everything I was able to do.

Doesn't do dual page view on retina iPad. It's 2014. This is no longer acceptable on a paid app.

I keep dropping files into the app on iTunes. It lists the file in iTunes, but nothing shows up in the actual app. Waste of money. Stick with ComicFlow, it's free and works.

While a nice interface and a streamlined importing process set this app above many other comic readers, the inability to switch to a double page layout (even on an iPad in landscape mode) seriously hurts this app. Until this app supports a double-page view, allowing double-page splashes to actually look right, I cannot recommend anyone pay for this app.

Purchased. Imported my own handmade comics from my computer via iTunes. My PDF created comics appeared in my iTunes. But none of my ownhand made comics appeared in the app. I guess this app is just for commerical comics, and not for importing and viewing your own original, handmade comics. I was wrong. I guess. So I have deleted the app and will ask for a refund.

Pros :
- Nice UI
- Dropbox Sync
- Desktop apps

Cons:
- You have to hit the top left icon to see page count or exit the comic
- Instead if using system brightness, the app has its own settings. It's as if it thinks I only read comics in one lighting condition.
- No "mark read" option
- Folders look ugly
- Instead of touching the right side of the screen to turn pages, the hotspot is top half of the page. Why?!
- Can't import from other apps

I tap scan button for scan qr code and the app just crashes

Imported files don’t even appear in library. Wasted my money

Popping up a second “please rate” dialog immediately after I have dismissed the first one is rude.

Before you purchase this app you need to know there’s no option to put comics in full screen and other features.

On iPad the only file types that can be imported through the Files app are zip files. CBR files are grayed out. Comics aren’t automatically grouped by series.

I’m still looking for a replacement to ComicZeal but this app is absolutely worthless if it does not allow sorting by date added or any sort of sorting at all. Also, ComicZeal would automatically group the same titles into folders.

I can’t move comics in my ipad folders because I can’t figure out the little icons- no combo does ANYTHING. Give me words!

Add the fact that there’s no functioning wifi transfer (even with full firewall permissions) and I’m looking for a new app.

Such a shame. This app was awesome back in the day.

Great app but it keeps crashing while importing new comics lately.
I import comics through ITunes.
I noticed it crashes if the file name or the folder contains French characters like (ê , è, è ,ï ...etc) or non English characters.
Other times when I try to import large numbers of files.
Hopefully this can be fixed soon.

I don’t know what they did but when I access the files app through the import section of this app all the comic files are grayed out. I’ve deleted the app and redownloaded but the issue keeps coming back.

Every time I delete and redownload all the app it works for a few days then it won’t allow me to import my comic files.