Does this sound like you or someone you know:
"I currently have hundreds of ao3 tabs open on my phone"
"when ao3 goes down I cry because I can't read anything"
"I've had a beloved fic vanish when an author deleted their ao3 works"
"the amount of fics in my ao3 Marked for Later category is unknowable"
then let me introduce you to the ReadEra app!
This is a free app, with no ads (at least not the version I have*) that is available for both Android and Apple devices!
*I have auto-update turned off on my apps and I haven't updated this one in years. It still functions perfectly. And there is a premium version of ReadEra but I can't say if it's worth it since I've never paid a cent for this app.
Make custom Collections (I sort by ship but you could do fandom or trope. And you can have multiple Collections per fic! So some of mine are "Stony, Fluff" or "Stony, Smut")
Change font size, typeface, and background page color to your liking
Add fics to your Favorites list with the star icon ★
Fics in a series get automatically named and numbered with a clickable link in the app so you can easily move from one story to the next in a series
Bookmark your favorite pages in a fic by tapping the top right corner as you read
Leave notes and reviews on a fic (that only you can see). You can use these to remind yourself what parts you liked to comment on (positive ofc!) or to jog your memory when you're searching through your Collections later for a specific story
Once fics are downloaded you can read from your device even without wifi (like airplane mode or during a power outage)
To be able to easily read fics from ao3, first download the app to your device.
Then when you find what you want to read on ao3 download the fic as an EPUB file.
MOBI and PDF files also work for the most part, and if you have existing files in these formats the app will read them, but the formatting for fics is much better with an EPUB file. Trust me on this! For example, whatever the author has written for the fic's ao3 Summary will show up on the About Document screen in ReadEra as an Annotation (a lifesaver if you're like me and have 300 fics for your otp and don't remember them all by title)
Note: If you add this app to your phone it will also read any PDF's you might have downloaded. I've never found this to be a problem but if you want you could make a "Non Fic" Collection or something to sort them into.
The downloaded EPUB files should be automatically brought into your ReadEra app (you might have to refresh your Books and Documents page) and then you can read, bookmark, and sort by collection to your heart's content!
Remember: Follow the link on the Afterword page to leave kudos and comments on the fics you read!
Above example fic: Piece of Work, by Orbing_Arrow: Stony, G-rated, 2k, and in my personal Deserted Island Collection!
If this guide helped you in any way come back and let me know with a comment! Or consider following my photography blog to help me out. Thank you! 💜