Over a month after its previous 7.26 release, Calibre, the beloved open-source eBook management software, has rolled out version 8.0, offering a blend of fresh features, bug fixes, and noteworthy improvements.
One of the most exciting features is the substantially improved Kobo support. Users can now natively edit, view, and convert KEPUB files, which are widely used by the Kobo platform.
Moreover, Calibre 8.0 automatically converts EPUB files to KEPUB whenever sent to a Kobo device—though this behavior is configurable for those who want a different setup.
Another major highlight is the new “Connect to folder” functionality that lets the software treat a folder like a USB device. This is especially helpful on systems like Chromebooks, where an attached USB device is recognized as a folder rather than an external drive.
Furthermore, Calibre 8.0 enhances its naming completion feature for fields containing hierarchical data in prefix mode. Essentially, it matches prefixes after every period to ensure more accurate results. Additionally, the Table of Contents (ToC) editor now supports selecting and moving multiple items simultaneously, allowing users to reorganize lengthy ebooks conveniently.
Mac users will notice that the Calibre application icons in the dock are displayed in a crisp white frame, reflecting Apple’s current recommended icon style. Meanwhile, the Kobo driver gains support for new firmware on Tolino devices, and there is now an option to suppress author search links within book details for those who prefer a cleaner layout.
On top of all that, this release squashes several bugs to offer a more stable experience. These fixes include a solution for a regression that blocked tabbing to edit cells in the book list under certain column settings, better handling of author names containing commas, and a resolution for indexing text in ZIP and RAR archives.
It also improves Table of Contents tracking in the ebook viewer, addresses an issue with downloading external resources under generic content headers, and corrects publisher or series transformations with commas in the metadata.
Last but not least, Calibre 8.0 has upgraded its built-in news source integrations, including Linux Weekly News, Spectator, Economist, Granta, Hindu, 1843, Barrons, Frontline, Zaobao, and Strange Horizons.
Check out the changelog for more details and the complete list of novelties in the Calibre 8.0 open-source ebook management tool.
