--- title: "Describe — 80,000 free books to read via streaming" description: "Describe, by Dealmood & Solutions LTD (London): nearly 80,000 public-domain books to read via streaming on the web, Android and iOS, with synced reading." url: https://dealmood-solutions.com/en/products/describe lang: en alternates: fr: https://dealmood-solutions.com/produits/describe de: https://dealmood-solutions.com/de/produkte/describe it: https://dealmood-solutions.com/it/prodotti/describe --- Digital reading · Web · Android · iOS V1.0Release on September 22, 2027· Autumn 2027 # Describe Nearly 80,000 free books, streamed to read. Describe opens up Project Gutenberg's public-domain library: novels, poetry, philosophy and science, in French, English and dozens of other languages. Open a book and read it page by page, with nothing to download, on the web, Android and iOS; your reading picks up where you left off, on all your devices. [See the app](https://dealmood-solutions.com/en/products/describe#captures) · [See the architecture](https://dealmood-solutions.com/en/products/describe#architecture) Free · Web, Android and iOS · Synced reading Real screenshots of the app The concept ## An entire library, in your pocket The great public-domain texts are free, but often poorly presented. Describe brings them together in a single polished app that is fast and a pleasure to read. ### A vast catalogue Nearly 80,000 public-domain works, updated every day from the official Project Gutenberg catalogue. ### Streamed reading Nothing to download: only the displayed page arrives, and the next one is already preloaded. ### Pick up where you left off Without an account, your reading stays on the device; with an account, it syncs across the web, Android and iOS. In pictures ## The app, exactly as it is The full catalogue A book's page The reader Sepia theme and settings The table of contents My library Search The home page shelves - Home - Search - Book page - Reading ## Designed for long reading, without fatigue Full screen, typography built for long reads, pages that turn in 3D around the spine on mobile: the book stays centre stage while the interface fades away. - Three moodsLight, sepia or night; text from 14 to 32 pixels, serif (Literata) or sans-serif font. - Pages that turnOn mobile, the page turns in 3D around the spine, just like a real book. - Table of contentsEach chapter starts a new page; jump from one chapter to another in a single gesture. - Keyboard-friendly tooLeft and right arrow keys turn the pages; your position is saved automatically. Features ## Find, read, and pick up where you left off Instant search Multiple words, accent-insensitive, across the whole catalogue. Languages and themes Seven reading languages and ten themes (novels, poetry, drama, crime…); the catalogue state stays in the URL, easy to share. Detailed book pages Authors, subjects, summary and recent read count, so you can choose before opening. Books you start are added automatically, with the page where you stopped and your reading statistics. Optional account Read without an account; create one to find your library everywhere. Native apps Android and iOS share all their code with Kotlin Multiplatform. 3D rotunda The site's home page is a Three.js library you move through as you scroll. Fast Local catalogue, cached pages, next page preloaded. Technology & architecture ## Under the hood of Describe A Kotlin (Ktor) API with a hexagonal architecture enforced by the compiler: each layer is a separate Gradle module, and the domain cannot import Ktor, the database or an HTTP client. The API contract is a Kotlin Multiplatform module shared by the server and the Android and iOS apps. Architecture diagram · Product coreData flow 1. 01 Apps - WebAngular, Tailwind CSS 4, a Three.js library rotunda driven by GSAP - Android + iOSKotlin Multiplatform and Compose Multiplatform, all code shared - coreKotlin API contract compiled for the server and mobile 2. 02 Describe API Ktor · /api/v1 - HTTP presentationRoutes, JWT, errors, composition root - ApplicationCatalogue, reading, accounts, library, sync - DomainModels, ports, pagination, no technical dependencies 3. 03 Infrastructure - PostgreSQL / H2Local catalogue, accounts, libraries, reading progress - Project GutenbergDaily CSV (78,000 books in ~25 s) and texts, cached - GutendexSummaries and popularity, in the background ### The journey of a page being read 1. 1 · The reader requests /books/{id}/manifest: page count and table of contents. 2. 2 · It loads the displayed page from /books/{id}/pages/{n} and preloads the next one. 3. 3 · On first access, the server downloads the text from Gutenberg just once and keeps it cached on disk. 4. 4 · The text is split into pages of around 2,500 characters; each chapter starts a new page. 5. 5 · The position is saved: on the device for a visitor, on the server for a signed-in account. ### Architecture choices - Hexagonal, checked by the compilerOne layer per Gradle module: importing Ktor or the database into the domain breaks the build. - A local catalogueGutendex took 40 to 70 s to respond: the official catalogue is imported and resynced every day, so search is local and instant. - Paginated streamingOnly the displayed page travels; pages are cached by the browser and the raw text is served in byte ranges. - Secure by designBCrypt passwords, signed JWT, Gutenberg URLs built from the ID (no SSRF), capped text size. ### Every technology, by family Backend - Kotlin 2.4 - Ktor 3.6 (Netty) - Exposed 1.6 - Flyway 13 - HikariCP 7 - kotlinx.serialization - Coroutines - JVM 21 Front-end - Angular 22 - TypeScript 6 - Tailwind CSS 4.3 - GSAP 3.15 + ScrollTrigger - Three.js - Signals - Zoneless Mobile - Kotlin Multiplatform - Compose Multiplatform 1.12 - Material 3 - Ktor Client - Coil 3 - Android - iOS Data & storage - PostgreSQL 17 - H2 - Disk cache for texts - LRU page cache Payments & third-party services - Project Gutenberg - Gutendex - Apache Commons CSV Authentication & security - BCrypt - JWT (HS256) - SSRF protection - CORS Quality & tooling - JUnit / kotlin-test - Ktor test host - Vitest - Prettier - Test pyramid DevOps & CI/CD - Docker - Docker Compose - Nginx - Gradle 9 Monitoring - /api/v1/health - Docker healthchecks - Logback Inventory taken from the product's source code and configuration. Frequently asked questions ## Everything about Describe Yes. The books come from Project Gutenberg and are in the public domain; you read them freely, with no subscription. ## A reading app for your readers? Library, publisher, school or media outlet: Describe shows what our team can do with a catalogue, content streaming and cross-platform apps. Tell us about your project. [Discuss my project](https://dealmood-solutions.com/en/contact) · [Back to products](https://dealmood-solutions.com/en/products)