How to read Ao3 fanfic on your iPhone without being online

[marycrawford]

The current OTW election wank has me sick to my stomach, and I like what morgandawn said:

My prescription: do something for fandom today: send feedback, leave a kudo, write some code, make a Fanlore entry, post a drabble.  Remind yourself - and others - why you love fandom - and fans.

I don't love everything about the AO3, but I love some things about it very much. The download-story-as-ebook feature is a godsend to me, as someone who reads books on three different e-readers as well as the iPhone.

So I thought I'd post this short guide on how to save AO3 stories on your iPhone to read offline. This can come in handy when you want to save your phone's battery, or when you're in transit and don't have an internet connection, and I use it all the time for longer stories.

You also don't need to use iTunes for this particular way of downloading ebooks.



What you need:

• initial internet access on your phone so you can go to the AO3 and grab fic there.


• an e-reader app on your iPhone. If you prefer to use iBooks to read on your phone, skip this step. Otherwise, I recommend the free iPhone e-reader app, Stanza. 

What you do:

• go to the Appstore and install Stanza on your iPhone.


• open Safari on your iPhone and go to the AO3. I know there were some recent issues with mobile display of the site, but the main bug has since been fixed.


• find the story you want to download, tap on the title.


• tap "download" at top right, then select "epub".


• select "Open in Stanza". (Or "Open in iBooks" if you prefer.)


• Stanza opens automatically and shows you the story you just downloaded.


• you can now read this story without being online, and it will be saved in Stanza until you delete it.

I really hope this is useful, and please comment if anything's unclear!

Comments

[dorinda]

This is definitely super-useful! As you know, since my phone and my laptop have irreconcilable differences, I cannot put anything onto the phone except for things I can download directly. And that used to mean, no offline fic-reading! But not anymore. ♥

Besides, it's also a handy one-step way to reformat the story. No zooming in necessary, none of the troubles that sometimes come with trying to read a webpage on something as small as a phone. It automatically gets reformatted according to my Stanza preferences, and looks very nice.

In short: thank you for spreading the good word! My phone thanks you, too.

[marycrawford]

I'm so glad I was able to help! And I agree, I like reading things on Stanza much better than on websites, even mobile-formatted ones. I have Stanza options set so that I need only tap the right side of the phone to turn the page, and I can zooooom through a story.

[(Anonymous)]

it doesn't work using iBooks?

[(Anonymous)]

It works in safary, not in chrome.

I love it!

[(Anonymous)]

Thank you so much! Now I can read my favorite books on Ao3 on the go!! <3

This Article

[(Anonymous)]

This was super helpful! I'm going to be away in a foreign country for a few weeks, and I can't survive without my fanfiction for so long. Just thinking about it.... *shudders* Thank you so much!