Calibre 8.7 released: a powerful tool for e-books
On July 18, Calibre 8.7 was released, marking a new version of the popular cross-platform software for managing e-books. This open-source solution enables users to read, create, and conveniently store e-books in various formats within a personal library. Calibre is available for Windows, macOS, and Linux, with its source code, written in Python and C, published on GitHub under the GNU General Public License v3.0. The project has been under development for over 10 years, with Calibre 7.0 released in November 2023 and Calibre 8.0 in March 2025.
As explained by project author Kovid Goyal, Calibre serves as a versatile e-book manager capable of viewing, converting, editing, and cataloging books in all major formats. The software can also interact with e-reader devices, extract metadata from the internet, and download newspapers, converting them into e-books for convenient reading.
The project team noted that significant work has been undertaken over the past year since the release of version 7.0. The primary new features in Calibre 8.7 include a neural engine for more realistic text-to-speech conversion and read-aloud functionality, as well as integrated support for the Kobo KEPUB format.
Key Changes and Enhancements in Calibre 8.7:
• Kindle Improvements: Added support for creating page number (APNX) files for 2024 and newer Kindle models with MTP support.
• Search Enhancements: When searching for similar books by author, the suffix "et al." in author names is now ignored.
• Device Fixes: Resolved an issue that prevented older Kobo devices (pre-Touch) from functioning with Calibre. A workaround has also been implemented for problems displaying serial numbers of MTP devices on certain systems.
• Book Editing Fixes: Corrected errors with text search buttons and incorrect handling of commas during metadata downloads.
• Interface Improvement: In the metadata editing dialog, custom comments can now be vertically stretched if they are concise.
• New News Sources: Added New York Magazine, World Archaeology, Minerva Magazine, Military History, and Ancient Egypt.
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