AAhead Reader

A calm pocket library: EPUB, TXT, and CBZ on the real 480×272 screen.

Version	recovery package in progress
Platforms	PSP / PSP Go — recovery and hardware acceptance pending.  Other platforms — paused until V1 ships.
Requires	PSP build needs custom firmware (6.61 PRO-C or ARK-4).
Download	No recovery package published.
Release gate	Clean source build, version/commit manifest, checksum, and physical PSP hardware matrix.

What it does

• Reads EPUB, TXT (UTF‑8, UTF‑16LE/BE with BOM, or CP1251), CBZ comics, and PDF in the development build.
• Uses 111 MHz while reading and temporarily raises the PSP to 333 MHz for PDF/CBZ rendering, ZIP extraction, cover decode and text pagination/reflow; all completion, failure and cancellation paths restore the reading clock.
• Stores persistent page progress for up to 128 admitted books and resumes on open.
• Caches library metadata and extracted EPUB/CBZ shelf covers.
• Three themes (Paper / Night / Contrast), adjustable font size and margins from the text quick panel or Settings.
• Bookmarks, an idle standby timer (off / 5 / 15 / 30 minutes without input), and a portrait mode for text and comics.
• Page turns: Instant, plus Slide or Curl in landscape text view.
• PDF remains required. The upstream MuPDF 1.28 development backend passes functional, hostile-input, real-document and JPEG2000/JPX QA.
• The PDF engine is not yet published: release requires either an AGPLv3-compliant Reader/source package or an Artifex commercial MuPDF license.

Controls

D‑pad	Navigate the library and menus
Left / Right	Turn pages while reading
L / R	Turn pages while reading
Confirm button	Open / confirm; text quick panel; comic zoom (Cross or Circle per setting)
Back button	Close / back (the other of Cross or Circle)
Triangle (△)	Options from text, detail, or a comic; Settings from Library
Square (□)	Bookmark; remove a selected Marks entry; toggle Books/Comics shelf view
Start	Rescan while Settings is open; text quick panel while reading
Select	Toggle landscape / portrait while reading
Analog stick	Pan a zoomed comic page

Recovery package installation

After publication, verify the recovery ZIP on a computer, unzip it, and copy its PSP folder by USB or Memory Stick to storage root. PSP browser TLS/download installation is not a verified release flow. Launch from Game > Memory Stick on a standard PSP, or Game > System Storage on a PSP Go installed to internal storage.

Known issues

• EPUB is rendered as spine‑ordered text. CSS layout, inline images, tables, and chapter/TOC navigation are not rendered.
• EPUB text and pagination are rebuilt on every open. Only library metadata and extracted EPUB/CBZ shelf covers have a persistent cache.
• EPUB and TXT text is bounded to 8 MiB per open; excess text is not loaded.
• TXT accepts strict UTF‑8, UTF‑8 with BOM, UTF‑16LE/BE with BOM, and valid CP1251 fallback. Malformed or ambiguous input fails closed.
• CBZ accepts JPEG/PNG pages in a classic single‑volume ZIP using stored or deflated entries. ZIP64, encrypted archives, GIF, and WebP are not supported.
• A CBZ/EPUB archive may contain at most 1024 entries. Each compressed and uncompressed entry is limited to 8 MiB. CBZ source images are limited to 8192 px per dimension and 32 MP, then scaled to a 512 px texture. The old approximately 2 MP full‑frame rejection no longer applies.
• DRM‑protected EPUB is not supported and will not open.
• PDF is unavailable in the recovery package until one of the documented MuPDF licensing paths is selected and packaged compliantly.
• MOBI and AZW are not supported.

Changelog

The older 0.2.0 development snapshot is not a recovery release. The next package will document its exact version, commit, payload hashes, and known limits. Full history: CHANGELOG.TXT.