Lithium alternative
GemReader vs Lithium · Android · Updated September 2026
The short answer
GemReader is a free Android reader for EPUB and PDF. Choose it over Lithium when you have outgrown an EPUB-only app: lecture PDFs, MOBI and AZW3 files and comics share one library, highlights become a spaced-repetition flashcard deck, and any book can be read aloud.
Stay on Lithium if you only read EPUBs and want the lightest, quietest reader on Android, or want reading position and highlights synced through Google Drive (a Lithium Pro feature). It does one thing and does it cleanly.
Why people look for a Lithium alternative
Lithium is an EPUB reader and nothing else. That is its appeal until the first PDF arrives — a lecture handout, a paper, a scanned chapter — and has to go to a second app. Highlights and notes are there, but they stay inside the book they were made in.
GemReader keeps the EPUB side just as uncluttered, with typography set automatically per book, and adds the rest of a reading life to the same shelf: PDF with highlighting and forms, MOBI and AZW3, CBZ comics. Every highlight and note then becomes a flashcard on a Review page, and the whole library's highlights sit in one searchable list.
Feature by feature
A dash means partial — the feature exists with a caveat given in the note.
| Feature | GemReader | Lithium |
|---|---|---|
| PriceGemReader: free, no paid tier. Lithium: free and ad-free, Pro is a paid unlock for sync, custom themes and more highlight colours | ||
| No adsNeither shows third-party ads | ||
| PDFLithium opens EPUB only | ||
| MOBI, AZW3, CBZ comicsLithium opens EPUB only | ||
| Finds books already on the phoneLithium detects EPUBs on the device. GemReader imports a copy and encrypts it | ||
| Highlights and notesBoth. GemReader has six colours free; Lithium adds colours with Pro | ||
| Highlights → flashcardsBuilt-in spaced repetition, plus Anki .apkg/.txt import | ||
| Workbook answers savedForm fields in interactive EPUBs persist between sessions | ||
| Read-aloudAny book, lock-screen controls, custom audio per chapter | ||
| Pages or scrollingBoth switch between page turns and continuous scroll | ||
| Cloud syncLithium Pro syncs position, highlights and notes via Google Drive (not the books). GemReader has no cloud — device-to-device transfer only | ||
| Free book catalogs (OPDS)Gutenberg, Standard Ebooks, Wolne Lektury and any HTTPS catalog, in-app | ||
| Books encrypted on deviceAES-256 on import; never stored as plaintext | ||
| PIN-locked private foldersHidden shelves that wipe after 3 wrong PINs |
Where Lithium is still better
- Simplicity. Lithium has fewer screens and fewer features, which for a reader who only wants to turn pages is the point. GemReader carries a study system, catalogs and a privacy vault whether you use them or not.
- No importing. Lithium picks up the EPUBs already on the phone and reads them in place. GemReader keeps its own encrypted copy of each book, which takes an import step and the storage to go with it.
- Sync, if you pay. Lithium Pro keeps reading position, highlights, notes and bookmarks in step across devices through Google Drive. GemReader has no cloud at all; Gem Beam moves a library between two devices over local Wi-Fi, once.
What GemReader does that Lithium doesn’t
- More than EPUB. PDF with highlighting, notes and saved form answers, plus MOBI, AZW, AZW3 and CBZ comics, all in the same library.
- Highlights become flashcards. Every highlight and note is a card on a built-in spaced-repetition Review page. Existing Anki decks (.apkg, .txt) import and drill alongside them.
- Read-aloud. Text-to-speech on any book with lock-screen controls, or attach your own recording to a chapter.
- Free books in-app. Project Gutenberg, Standard Ebooks and Wolne Lektury are browsable and downloadable without leaving the reader.
- Encrypted library. Every book is AES-256 encrypted on import and decrypted only in memory. PIN-locked folders hide sensitive reading and wipe their keys after three wrong guesses.
Switching from Lithium
Lithium reads books where they sit, so your EPUBs are still in their folders — usually Downloads or Books. Install GemReader and import them, along with the PDFs Lithium couldn’t open. GemReader encrypts its own copy and leaves the originals in place. Not sure whether a file will open? Drop it into the free Book Checker first; it flags DRM and corrupt containers in your browser without uploading anything.
Highlights and notes made in Lithium stay in Lithium. There is no importer for them, so keep the app until you have re-marked what matters.
Questions people ask
If you need PDFs alongside your EPUBs, or want to study what you highlight, yes: both formats share one library, highlights become a spaced-repetition deck, and read-aloud works on any book. If you only read EPUBs and want the most minimal reader possible, Lithium is still a fine choice.
No. Lithium is an EPUB-only reader. GemReader opens EPUB, PDF, MOBI, AZW, AZW3 and CBZ in the same library, and PDFs can be highlighted, annotated and read with forms intact.
Yes, and there is no Pro tier either. Lithium is free and ad-free with a paid Pro unlock for sync, custom themes and more highlight colours. GemReader has no paid version: every feature is in the free app.
Your book files, yes — import the EPUBs from the folders Lithium read them from. Highlights, notes and reading positions do not transfer.
Not through the cloud. GemReader has no account and no server. To move to a second phone or tablet, use Gem Beam: the two devices connect directly over Wi-Fi and the whole library — books, highlights, notes, reading position and study progress — is sent across encrypted. It is a one-time transfer, not continuous sync.
The reader built for studying
Textbooks, lecture PDFs and workbooks in one library. Highlight as you read, then study those highlights as flashcards — without exporting anything or leaving the app. Free, no ads, no account.