Fanfic
Apogee treats a fic EPUB (an Archive of Our Own download, or one made with FanFicFare) like any other ebook, plus a few things fic needs that novels don’t. Everything here works from build 278.
Adding a fic
Section titled “Adding a fic”Share the EPUB from Safari, Files or Mail and choose Apogee, or use Add Book in the Library. The confirm screen shows the title, author, series and summary from the file. See Importing books for the basics.
A fic with no cover gets a generated one: the title and author in the app’s warm brown and gold, the chapter count along the bottom, and a folded corner when the fic isn’t finished yet. The count and the corner come from the “Chapters: 14/20” line in the file.
Updating a fic with new chapters
Section titled “Updating a fic with new chapters”Share a newer download of a fic you already have and Apogee offers to update it in place instead of making a duplicate. The update card shows a bar with the chapters you have and the chapters the new file adds.
Update carries over your reading position, highlights, bookmarks, shelves, rating, tags, reading status and personal note, and your custom fields (below). You can keep your current cover or take the new one, side by side. When it’s done, Continue reading opens at the first new chapter. If the old copy was downloaded, the app drops it and downloads the new file so you’re never reading the stale one.
Source URL, fandom and chapters as fields
Section titled “Source URL, fandom and chapters as fields”BookOrbit lets you define your own metadata fields (Custom metadata, on the server). Apogee shows them in a Details section on the book page and lets you edit them in Edit Metadata. A URL field is tappable and opens in the app’s browser, and the book’s ••• menu gets an “Open Source URL” shortcut when there’s one link.
When you import or update a fic, Apogee reads the fic’s preface and fills three fields if your library has them:
| Field name on the server | Type | What goes in |
|---|---|---|
| Source URL | URL | The work’s archiveofourown.org address |
| Fandom | Text | The fandom list, as the fic names it |
| Chapters | Text | The chapter count the way AO3 writes it: 14/20, or 15/? for a work in progress |
Create those three fields on your BookOrbit server with exactly those names and enable them for the library that holds your fic. The app only fills fields that already exist; it never creates any. Libraries without them see no change.
A Fandom with several names shows one per line on the book page.
Fanfic Updates: chapter tracking from your AO3 subscriptions
Section titled “Fanfic Updates: chapter tracking from your AO3 subscriptions”From the next TestFlight build, Apogee can watch the fics you follow on AO3 and tell you when they grow.
Sign in first: Settings, then AO3, then Sign In to AO3. The app opens AO3’s own sign-in page and keeps the session on your device. Once you’re signed in, a Fanfic Updates row appears in the More tab.
Checking for new chapters
Section titled “Checking for new chapters”Pull down on the Fanfic Updates page and Apogee reads your AO3 subscriptions, then checks each unfinished work one at a time. The first pass takes a while: the app goes slowly on purpose, to keep the load off AO3. Later checks are quicker, because finished fics drop out of the list.
Fics with new chapters appear at the top, newest first. Each row shows how many chapters you’re behind, the latest chapter’s name, and a bar comparing your copy against AO3’s count. Swipe a fic to mark it as seen; it comes back when the author posts again.
Up to date and Not in your library
Section titled “Up to date and Not in your library”Below the updates, a selector splits the rest of your subscriptions in two. Up to date lists the fics in your library that match AO3’s count; tap one to open its book page. Not in your library lists fics you follow but don’t have. Tap one and it opens in place with the fic’s summary and two buttons: View on AO3 opens the work in the app’s browser, and Download fetches the EPUB, generates a cover, and files it in your library. Pick which library fics go to in Settings, then AO3.
Updating a fic from the list
Section titled “Updating a fic from the list”Tap a fic with new chapters and you get the same update card as a shared file: the chapter bar, the summary, and What carries over. One tap updates your copy in place, and everything listed under Updating a fic with new chapters, above, comes along. When it’s done, Start Chapter N opens the book at the first new chapter.
The three fields, without the server trip
Section titled “The three fields, without the server trip”The Chapters field is how the app knows which chapters your copy has, so the update check depends on it. If your account can manage libraries, the app offers to create Source URL, Fandom and Chapters for you after you sign in to AO3, and the Fanfic Updates page reminds you if they’re missing. If you can’t, ask whoever runs your server; the fields are described above.
What the app will and won’t do
Section titled “What the app will and won’t do”Apogee only ever reads from AO3, at a gentle pace, and only when you ask it to check. It never posts, subscribes, unsubscribes, or leaves kudos, and there’s no background checking and no notifications. Your AO3 session stays on your device.
Series
Section titled “Series”A fic series shows up under Browse, then Series, and on the series page you’ll see how many of its works you’ve read (Read 4 of 12). Where the server knows a series is missing numbered entries it lists them as greyed placeholders, if you turn on Settings, then Library, then Show books the server is missing.
Read Aloud
Section titled “Read Aloud”Read Aloud works on fic like any ebook, and flows between paragraphs without pausing. See Reading ebooks.