You have manga as files: volumes in CBZ, a series in CBR, a folder of pictures for each chapter. On an iPhone or iPad, two problems show up straight away. The Files app and Apple Books can't read them. And manga reads backwards: opened in an ordinary comic reader, every page you turn takes you back in the story.
Here is how to read manga the right way round with Pagira, and what changes between the iPad and the iPhone.
The files a manga comes in
A digital volume is a series of pictures, one per page, stored in an archive or in a folder. Pagira reads every form you are likely to meet:
- CBZ, CBR, CB7 and CBT: ZIP, RAR, 7-Zip or TAR archives. Pagira recognises them by their first bytes, not their extension: a CBR that is really a renamed ZIP still opens.
- .zip, .rar or .7z archives that hold only pictures, read as a comic.
- A folder of pictures, sub-folders included: a volume split into chapters reads from start to finish.
- EPUB: a fixed-layout manga EPUB opens in the book reader, and its pages turn right to left when the book says so.
The formats are covered in detail in our guide to reading comics on iPhone and iPad.
Right to left: how the reader knows
A Japanese manga starts with what would be our last page. Panels read from right to left, and the next page comes with a swipe to the right. The reader still has to know the album is a manga.
Some CBZ files say so in a small ComicInfo.xml file. When it contains YesAndRightToLeft, Pagira opens the album right to left straight away. The value Yes alone says it is a manga, but not which way to read it: many Western editions have been flipped to read left to right. So Pagira doesn't guess.
Above all, most manga have no ComicInfo.xml at all. Then you say it once: Aa › Reading Direction, the left arrow. The choice is kept for that album, and follows you to your other devices through iCloud.
For a whole manga library, set it once: Settings › Comics › Reading Direction › Right to Left. Every album without a setting of its own then opens that way.
What follows the direction
Changing the direction does more than flip the swipe. The whole reader follows:
- Two-page spreads. With the iPad or iPhone held sideways, two pages side by side like the printed volume, the first one on the right. The cover stays alone, and a spread drawn as a single picture stays whole.
- The thumbnail strip at the bottom of the screen: page 1 is on the right, and you move left from there.
- Panel-by-panel reading: a page's panels are read in Japanese order, right to left, then top to bottom.
On iPhone: panel by panel
A manga volume is already a small book. On an iPhone held upright, a page shows at barely more than half its printed size, and the balloons get hard to read without zooming.
With Aa › Panel by Panel, Pagira first shows the whole page, then each panel enlarged in turn, the others dimmed. A tap moves to the next panel, in manga order. Pagira finds the panels itself, on the device: nothing is sent anywhere.
The weak spot is known, and it is precisely manga: open panels with no frame, and balloons that spill from one panel into the next. On the first reading, Pagira checks that the album suits it. If it doesn't, Pagira says so and reads it as pages, rather than cutting the story up wrongly. The details are in reading comics on iPhone panel by panel.
Webtoons and manhwa: vertical scrolling
Korean webtoons and some manhwa are not made of pages but of one long strip. Aa › Reading Direction › Scrolling puts the pages one under the other, at the screen's width, with zoom. Panel by panel works in the strip too.
A whole series, on two devices
Pagira reads your volumes where they are, in Files or iCloud Drive: one folder per series, one sub-folder per volume if you like. Nothing is imported, nothing is copied.
On Home, Currently Reading shows your volumes with their cover and your progress. The page, the reading direction and even the panel you stopped on follow through iCloud: started on the iPad in the evening, a volume carries on on the iPhone on the train. And for a trip without a connection, Download keeps a volume or a whole series on the device; an interrupted download resumes by itself.
In practice
- Install Pagira from the App Store (iPhone and iPad, iOS 17 or later).
- Tap Open a folder or file and pick the folder that holds your manga: On My iPad, iCloud Drive, or any location in Files.
- For a manga library: Settings › Comics › Reading Direction › Right to Left.
- Tap a volume: it opens full screen, the right way round, on the first page or where you left off.
Frequently asked questions
Does Pagira read manga right to left?
Yes. Pagira reads manga right to left on iPhone and iPad: pages, two-page spreads, the thumbnail strip and panel by panel all follow that direction. It is taken from the album when its ComicInfo.xml says so, and chosen in Aa › Reading Direction otherwise.
Do I have to set the direction for every volume?
No. Settings › Comics › Reading Direction › Right to Left applies it to every album. An album can keep a setting of its own.
Why does my manga open left to right?
Because most files don't say which way they read, and many Western editions are flipped to read left to right. Pagira doesn't guess: choose the direction once in Aa › Reading Direction, and it is kept for that album.
Which manga formats does Pagira read?
CBZ, CBR, CB7 and CBT, .zip, .rar or .7z archives that hold only pictures, folders of pictures, and EPUB.
Can I read webtoons or manhwa with Pagira?
Yes, with vertical scrolling: pages follow one another from top to bottom, at the screen's width, with zoom.
Does panel by panel work with manga?
Yes, in right-to-left order. Open panels with no frame are recognised less well: when an album doesn't suit it, Pagira says so and reads it as pages.
Does Pagira read manga bought on Kindle or an online platform?
No, they are protected by DRM. Pagira reads the DRM-free files you have on your device or in iCloud Drive.
