A free comic reader for iPad, in the app or in Safari
To read comics on an iPad, install Live Comics: Comic Book Reader from the App Store, or open livecomics.to in Safari, and add your CBR, CBZ or PDF files from the Files app. Each issue reads as whole pages, one panel at a time, or read aloud with sound, and your place follows you to your phone and your computer. The app and a free account cost nothing, with no card.
How do I start reading comics on my iPad?
- Install Live Comics: Comic Book Reader from the App Store, or open livecomics.to in Safari. Both run the same reader.
- Make a free account, or sign in to the one you have. No card needed.
- In your library, tap + Add Comics and pick your comics in the Files app: On My iPad, iCloud Drive, your Downloads or any folder Files can reach.
- Choose Pages only, Panel view or Voiced, then press Add. The issue lands on your shelf, ready to read.
The app needs iPadOS 15 or later. If you would rather not install anything, Safari opens the same library.
Is there an iPad app?
Yes. Live Comics: Comic Book Reader is a free app on the App Store, made for iPad as well as iPhone, and it turns with the iPad, upright or sideways. It shows the same library, shelves and reader as livecomics.to in Safari, so you can use either one, or both.
Whole pages or one panel at a time on an iPad?
On a full-size iPad a whole comic page reads close to print size, so many readers keep whole pages. On an iPad mini, or when the lettering is small, Panel view frames one panel at a time to fill the screen, in reading order, and the whole page is always one switch away. Panel view is free on every issue, in beta.
How do I get comics onto my iPad?
Save them anywhere the Files app can see. A DRM-free comic you download in Safari lands in the Downloads folder in Files, and a file you put in iCloud Drive from a Mac or PC shows up there too. Then add it in Live Comics. A comic shared with you as a Google Drive or Dropbox link can be added straight from the link instead, with From a link in your library.
Can an iPad read comics aloud?
Yes. Choose Voiced when you add an issue and every speech balloon is read in order by two synthetic narrators matched to each speaker, with sound effects and a score, while the panels turn on their own and subtitles show each line as it is spoken. Full cast, where every main character gets their own voice, is a paid upgrade. Every issue on the free streaming shelf is voiced already, free to stream with a free account.
Does my place follow me to my other devices?
Yes. Your library, shelves and reading place belong to your account, not to one device, so an issue you start here opens where you left off on any other screen you sign in on: the iPhone and iPad app, the Android app, the Windows app or a web browser.
What does it cost?
Reading is free. A free account holds 1 GB, about 20 issues, and imports 30 comics a month, with no card. Pages only and Panel view, which shows one panel at a time framed to fill the screen, are free on every issue. Voiced is priced per issue in credits, and you see the price before you press Add.
Straight answers
Is there a free comic reader for iPad?
Yes. Live Comics is free on the App Store and in Safari, and a free account holds 1 GB of comics, about 20 issues, with no card. Pages only and Panel view are free on every issue; voices are priced per issue in credits.
Does it work on iPad mini and iPad Pro?
Yes. The app is made for every iPad that runs iPadOS 15 or later, from iPad mini to iPad Pro, upright or sideways.
Can I read PDF comics on an iPad?
Yes. Add the PDF from the Files app like any other comic, and it reads page by page, one panel at a time, or aloud.
Can I read my Humble Bundle comics on iPad?
Yes, when the bundle gives you DRM-free CBZ, CBR or PDF downloads: save them to the Files app, then add them in Live Comics. Comics bought inside another store's own app stay in that app.
Does it read manga right to left?
Yes. Choose Manga as the reading type when you add it and the panels run right to left, the way it was printed.
Do I need an account?
Yes, a free one, to keep your comics on a shelf and your place on every device, with no card. To open a single CBR or CBZ file with no account at all, use the viewer on the page about opening CBR files.
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