Browsing Your Library¶

Alcove library window

Grid and List Views¶

Mac Alcove shows your books in two layouts. Toggle between them using the view buttons in the toolbar, or choose View → Grid / View → List. Grid and list sort independently and each remembers its last sort.

iPad Alcove shows your books in two layouts. Tap the View Options button (top-right toolbar) to switch between Grid and List, and to choose the list cell style (Basic or Dense).

Grid view displays cover art thumbnails — useful for visually scanning a large collection.

List view displays each book as a row — on Mac a table of columns, on iPad a small cover with the title, author and status.

Mac The list is a sortable table. It starts with the most-used columns, such as Title, Author and Rating; others, such as Series and Tags, are hidden until you Control-click any column header and check them. Drag column headers to reorder; drag column edges to resize. Alcove saves your column layout between launches.

iPad The View Options menu offers two row styles: Basic, and Dense, which adds more detail such as tags. Your choice is saved between sessions.

Sorting¶

Use the Sort menu in the toolbar to sort by title, author, date added, series, and other fields.

Tap or click the ↑↓ button to toggle ascending/descending order. Grid and list each remember their sort independently.

Mac In list view, clicking any column header sorts by that column and updates the sort menu to match.

Series sort orders books alphabetically by series name, then by series position within each series. Books with no series sort at the end.

Last Opened puts the books you opened most recently first, whether you read them in Alcove or opened them in another app, on this device or another of your devices. Books you've never opened sort at the end.

Mac The list also has a Last Opened column. Control-click any column header to show it.

The sidebar filters your library by reading status, tag, series, rating, and more. Tap or click an item to show only the books that match; a series shows its books in series order.

Filters from different sections combine: selecting "Reading" status and a tag shows only books that match both. Tap or click the active filter again, or select All Books, to clear it.

Below All Books, Recently Opened shows the books you opened most recently, newest first, and Recently Added the books you imported most recently. They keep that order whatever the sort is set to. To switch between a few books you're reading, pick one from Recently Opened.

You can hide sections you don't use and drag them into a different order. See Sidebar settings in Preferences.

Search¶

Tap or click the search field and start typing. Results update as you type, ordered by relevance — the books that match best appear first.

Search scope controls which fields are searched. The default is Title & Author. Other scopes narrow the search to one field, such as Series or Tags, or widen it to All Fields.

Mac Click the magnifying glass icon inside the search field to open the search menu, where you can choose a scope and see recent searches. Press ⌘F to focus the search field. Press Escape to clear the search and return to the full library. If a search finds nothing while the scope is narrowed to one field, Alcove offers a Search All Fields button so a scope left over from an earlier session won't hide matching books.

iPad Tap the search field in the toolbar to activate it. Scope buttons appear below the search bar — tap one to narrow the search to that field. Tap Cancel to dismiss search.

Opening Books¶

Mac Double-click a book, or select it and press ⌘↓ (Book → Open), to read it in Alcove's reader. To read it in another app instead, choose Book → Open in External App (⌥⌘O), which uses the external app chosen in Settings → Reader, or Control-click the book and choose Open With to pick an app for this time only.

iPad Tap a book to select it and show its details in the detail pane. Tap Read or the cover to read it in Alcove's reader. To read it in another app, tap Open In and choose the app; iOS does not let you set an external reader app, so you choose each time.

Selecting Books¶

Tap or click a book to select it and show its details in the panel on the right.

To select multiple books:

Mac ⌘-click to add individual books to the selection. Shift-click to select a range. Click an empty area to deselect all.

iPad Tap Select in the navigation bar to enter selection mode, then tap books to select them. Tap Done to exit selection mode.

With several books selected, you can change them all at once: set a rating or reading status, add tags, replace covers, and more. The detail panel, the Book menu and the context menu show what's available.

You can also drag a selection onto a tag, series, rating, or reading status in the sidebar to apply it to all the dragged books.

Deleting Books¶

Select one or more books and press Delete, or use the Book menu or context menu and choose Delete Book. A confirmation sheet appears before books are removed. Check Don't ask again to suppress future confirmations.

Mac Control-click a book to open the context menu.

iPad Touch and hold a book to open the context menu, or use the Book menu (⋯ button in the toolbar).

Deletion is undoable — use Undo immediately after to restore the deleted books.

Undo and Redo¶

Alcove can undo and redo every change to your library, such as a rating, a tag, an import, or a deletion.

Mac Press ⌘Z / ⇧⌘Z, or use the Edit menu.

iPad Use Edit → Undo / Edit → Redo from the menu (⋯ button in the toolbar), or shake the device.