Maktabah Android

Maktabah is an Android application for reading and managing collections of classical Islamic books. This project is a port of the iOS version, featuring cross-platform synchronization via CloudKit.

We are currently raising funds for the Google Play Console registration fee so that the app can be officially distributed via the Play Store. Any support, no matter how small, means a lot — see the Support section below. Donors will be displayed inside the App when it is released on the Play Store.

Download

Features

• Book Library — Browse and download book collections from a centralized repository
• Arabic Text Reader — Comfortable Arabic text rendering with full RTL support
• Search — Search text across the entire book collection with Arabic letter normalization
• Annotations — Add notes and highlights to text
• Reading History — Track the last read page
• CloudKit Sync — Sync annotations with iOS via Firebase FCM + CloudKit bridge
• Automatic Updates — Check and download the latest version directly from within the app

Requirements

• Android 8.0 (API 26) or higher
• Android Studio Meerkat or newer
• JDK 17
• CMake 3.22.1 (for building native SQLite via JNI)

Installation & Build

Clone & Open in Android Studio

git clone https://github.com/bismillah-100/Maktabah-Android.git

Open the project in Android Studio, wait for Gradle sync to complete, and run using Shift + F10.

Build via Command Line

# Debug build
./gradlew assembleDebug

# Install to device/emulator
./gradlew installDebug

local.properties Configuration

Create or update the local.properties file in the root of the project with the following configuration:

# Signing (for release build)
signing.storeFile=app/release-key.jks
signing.storePassword=YOUR_STORE_PASSWORD
signing.keyAlias=YOUR_KEY_ALIAS
signing.keyPassword=YOUR_KEY_PASSWORD

# Backend URLs
cloudflare.worker.url=https://your-worker.workers.dev
firebase.rtdb.url=https://your-project-default-rtdb.firebaseio.com

# CloudKit
cloudkit.container.id=iCloud.Maktabah
cloudkit.debug.token=YOUR_DEBUG_TOKEN
cloudkit.release.token=YOUR_RELEASE_TOKEN

# GitHub (default is provided, change only if necessary)
github.kitab.index.url=https://raw.githubusercontent.com/bismillah-100/Kitab/main/index.json
github.kitab.version.url=https://raw.githubusercontent.com/bismillah-100/Kitab/main/version.txt
github.release.base.url=https://github.com/bismillah-100/Kitab/releases/download
github.app.repo=bismillah-100/Maktabah-Android

Note: local.properties is already added to .gitignore. Do not commit this file to the repository.

Project Structure

Maktabah-Android/
├── app/
│   └── src/main/
│       ├── cpp/                  # Native SQLite via JNI (C++)
│       ├── java/com/maktabah/
│       │   ├── cloudKit/         # FCM sync & CloudKit bridge
│       │   ├── database/         # SQLite data access
│       │   ├── downloader/       # Book download & decompression (OkHttp + Zstd)
│       │   ├── manager/          # Library data manager
│       │   ├── models/           # Domain models & data classes
│       │   ├── search/           # Arabic text search logic
│       │   ├── ui/               # Compose screens (library, reader, search, settings, etc.)
│       │   ├── update/           # Automatic app updates
│       │   ├── utils/            # Common utilities (Arabic normalization, etc.)
│       │   └── MainActivity.kt
│       └── res/                  # Resources (layouts, strings, drawables, etc.)
├── build.gradle.kts
├── settings.gradle.kts
└── gradle.properties

Architecture

The project uses the MVVM (Model-View-ViewModel) pattern:

Layer	Technology
UI	Jetpack Compose + Material 3
State Management	ViewModel + StateFlow
Database	SQLite native via JNI
Concurrency	Kotlin Coroutines
Networking	OkHttp 5
Synchronization	Firebase FCM + CloudKit bridge
Decompression	Zstd-jni

Contribution

1. Fork this repository
2. Create a feature branch: git checkout -b feature/feature-name
3. Commit your changes: git commit -m 'feat: short description'
4. Push to the branch: git push origin feature/feature-name
5. Open a Pull Request

Read RULES.md for coding and project architecture guidelines.

Support

Maktabah is developed and maintained independently, without corporate sponsorship.

Currently, donation funds are prioritized for:

• Google Play Console Registration — a one-time fee to officially release this App on the Play Store
• Infrastructure costs (Android-iOS CloudKit synchronization)

Support via SociaBuzz would be greatly appreciated:

License

GPL 3.0. See the LICENSE file for details.

Contact & Technical Support

Found a bug or have questions? Open an Issue.