Enable text selection in eBook reader

[Dibbes 514]

 

Summary: Text in eBooks cannot be selected, which blocks copy, highlight, notes, and dictionary lookups.

Steps to reproduce:

• Open any eBook

• Try to drag to select a word or sentence

Expected: You can select text and get a context menu to copy, highlight, add a note, or search.

Actual: No text selection is possible.

Request: Add text selection for ebooks on all clients, with standard actions (copy, highlight, note, search). Respect DRM no-copy flags and expose selection-based annotations via API.

[Luke 42077]

@Protected

[Protected 86]

Oops, wrong tab.

Edited August 25, 2025 by Protected

[Dibbes 514]

39 minutes ago, Protected said:

Oops, wrong tab.

I prefer the ebooks part 

Edited August 25, 2025 by Dibbes

[Protected 86]

You haven't read any of that, and you certainly haven't posted about it any more than I have, right? Embrace the magic of editing 

[Dibbes 514]

And the magic of the update emails

[Protected 86]

I figured. It's OK. While you're at it you can respond to the things directed to you if you like (no guarantees of anything getting implemented):

• Do you envision selection working on TVs?
• Are you thinking of notes attached to highlights Kindle-style? What would this feature look like? Are notes searchable? Are highlights colored?
• Is it important for this stuff to work on PDFs? Why? (Consider that we only care about PDF support for reading e-books, not general PDF support.)
• Do you have an argument why notes or highlights should be stored server-side?

[Dibbes 514]

27 minutes ago, Protected said:

I figured. It's OK. While you're at it you can respond to the things directed to you if you like (no guarantees of anything getting implemented):

• Do you envision selection working on TVs?
• Are you thinking of notes attached to highlights Kindle-style? What would this feature look like? Are notes searchable? Are highlights colored?
• Is it important for this stuff to work on PDFs? Why? (Consider that we only care about PDF support for reading e-books, not general PDF support.)
• Do you have an argument why notes or highlights should be stored server-side?

Selection on TVs
I don’t see much of a use case for text selection or highlighting on TVs, or even having ebook support at all on a TV. I don't think most people will be doing deep reading on that kind of device. At best, it could be useful in very specific scenarios like enterprise presentations or classroom demos, but for a personal media server it feels like a low-value, niche feature. If it requires extra development effort, I would deprioritise it compared to features that benefit everyday reading on laptops, tablets, and mobiles.

Notes and highlights (Kindle-style)
Yes, Kindle-style notes and bookmarks would be ideal. Highlights should be colour-coded (so users can, for example, distinguish between important passages, references, or to-dos). Notes should be attachable to highlights and fully searchable. This would make the feature genuinely useful for both personal reading and professional study. In an ideal implementation, notes could also be shared with other users on the same server, which would be particularly valuable for collaborative environments (Example: research groups, students working on the same material, or colleagues reviewing documentation).

Importance of PDF support
PDF is by far the most critical format for note-taking and highlighting, in my opinion even more so than EPUB or comics. The majority of professional and educational material, especially study books, technical manuals, academic papers, and workplace documents, are published in PDF. Without robust PDF support, the feature loses a significant part of its value. Even though Word support isn’t currently available, it’s in the same category: practical, text-heavy documents where highlighting and note-taking are essential. For this reason, implementing notes/highlights for PDFs should be considered a priority.

Server-side storage
Notes and highlights should absolutely be stored server-side. This makes them device-independent, ensuring users always have access regardless of whether they’re on their laptop, tablet, or mobile. Syncing across devices is critical, otherwise, people risk losing track of their work if they switch contexts. Server-side storage also enables advanced features like centralised searching across all notes, easy backup, and the possibility of sharing notes with other users. Without server-side storage, the feature becomes fragmented and significantly less useful.

Edited August 25, 2025 by Dibbes

[Dibbes 514]

@ProtectedWas this what you were looking for? 

[Protected 86]

Yes, thank you for your ideas.

[brothom 177]

I would personally prefer to be able to activate/deactivate this functionality. I can imagine that this might interfere with default touchscreen functionality like scroll, swipe, tap, hold, etc, even if incidentally. Maybe some sort of "edit" mode to add / append data?

Edited August 28, 2025 by brothom

[Protected 86]

I believe traditionally, in an ebook reader, you have to click and hold for a moment to start selecting. There is no scrolling for text-based e-books (only tapping), so there would be no overlap?

[Dibbes 514]

1 hour ago, Protected said:

I believe traditionally, in an ebook reader, you have to click and hold for a moment to start selecting. There is no scrolling for text-based e-books (only tapping), so there would be no overlap?

Yes, that's how Kindle works