BookAtlas Desktop
A native app for macOS 15 or later.
The desktop companion to the open-source Bookatlas. Drop a markdown file or a whole folder and read it as a zoomable atlas: files and chapters on strips up top, sections as tiles, click to zoom into a reading view with neighbouring sections on side rails. Open straight from Finder, adjust the text size, switch light and dark, and make quick edits in place — click any block to edit its markdown, click away to save.
What it does
- Reads what is on disk. Your markdown files stay where they are; nothing is imported or uploaded.
- Folders and single files. A folder becomes a book of chapters; a long structured file becomes chapters and sections.
- Finder-native. Right-click ▸ Open With, or drag onto the window. Sub-folders show up as a tree.
- Read with the keyboard. → opens the first tile and reads on section by section, then on to the next book in the folder; ← walks back; Esc goes up a level.
- Sample books included. A short user guide, American history, two adulting handbooks and a music theory course to try before opening your own files.
- Edit in place. Click a paragraph or heading to edit its markdown; leaving the block saves that part of the file.
- Private by design. No account, no network, no tracking. The app reads only the files you open.
Open source at the core
BookAtlas is built on Bookatlas, MIT-licensed. The web version and the parsing engine are free and open; the Mac app packages them as a polished, sandboxed desktop reader. To publish a book online instead of reading it locally, Bookatlas Cloud hosts it at a shareable URL.