Source: 爱上MAC | Download link: Plus Ultra: Legado for Mac
Plus Ultra: Legado (commonly referred to by users as “Legado”) is a popular open-source e-book reading and content aggregation app on the Mac platform. It is not a traditional authoring tool, but rather a powerful “reader framework,” whose core capability lies in allowing users to aggregate, organize, and elegantly read various types of text content from the web (such as novels, news, blogs, technical documentation, etc.) through custom book sources. It is renowned for its high degree of customization, pure ad-free reading experience, and powerful content management features.
I. Detailed Overview of the Core Interface and Workspace
Legado’s interface design is clean and focused on reading and management. It is mainly divided into the following core areas:
- Top Toolbar: Contains core action buttons such as Back, Home, Bookshelf, Search, Table of Contents, Font Adjustment, Background Switching, and More Settings.
- Left Navigation Sidebar (can be expanded/collapsed via shortcut keys or buttons):
- Bookshelf: Displays all added books or subscribed content.
- Book Source Management: The soul of the software, where all available content retrieval rules (book sources) are imported, enabled, disabled, grouped, and debugged.
- Replacement Cleaning: Manage rules for cleaning up body content, such as removing ad paragraphs and correcting typos.
- Download Management: View and manage background download tasks.
- RSS Subscription: Manage updates subscribed to via RSS feeds.
- Listen to Books: Settings and history related to the text-to-speech feature.
- Settings: Global preference settings for the app.
- Central Main Reading Area/Content Area:
- While reading, displays the book’s body text, supporting custom fonts, font sizes, line spacing, background color, page-turn animations, and more.
- In the book source management interface, displays the book source list or the JSON code for editing book sources.
- When searching, displays a list of search results from different book sources.
- Bottom Status Bar: Displays information such as current reading progress, chapter name, battery level, and time.
II. Complete Workflow: From Opening to Reading and Exporting
Step 1: Launch and Initial Setup
After launching for the first time, the app contains no content. The first task is to import “book sources.”
- Click “Book Source Management” in the left sidebar.
- Click the “three dots” or “Import” button in the upper right corner.
- Choose an import method:
- Import from Network: Paste a URL link containing a collection of multiple book sources (users typically obtain these links from the community).
- Import from Local: Import
.jsonformat book source files that have been downloaded locally. - After importing, check and enable the required book sources. You can place them into different groups for easier management.
Step 2: Search and Add Books
- Click the “Search” icon (magnifying glass) in the top toolbar, or use the shortcut
Command + F. - In the pop-up search box, enter the book title or author, and select the search scope (all book sources or a specific group).
- In the search results list, browse books provided by different book sources. You can click “Details” next to a book entry to preview information such as the latest chapters.
- Once confirmed, click the “+” sign or the “Add to Bookshelf” button on the right side of the book entry.
Step 3: Reading and Content Optimization
- In the “Bookshelf”, click a book cover to start reading.
- Bring Up the Control Panel: On the reading screen, tap the center of the screen or use the shortcut
Command + Lto show/hide the top toolbar and bottom status bar. - Switch Chapters:
- Click the “Table of Contents” icon in the top toolbar or use the shortcut
Command + T. - Select a chapter in the side table of contents to jump to it.
- Click the “Table of Contents” icon in the top toolbar or use the shortcut
- Adjust reading style:
- Tap the “Font” icon (the “A” icon) in the top toolbar.
- In the pop-up panel, adjust the font, font size, line spacing, margins, and background theme (day/night/custom).
- Use replacement and purification: If the main text contains ads or formatting issues, the system will automatically apply the enabled purification rules. Rules can be managed in the “Replacement and Purification” interface.
Step 4: Content updates and caching
- Update books: On the bookshelf, long-press (or right-click) a book cover and select “Update”. The app will automatically check all enabled book sources and fetch the latest chapters.
- Cache chapters: On the book’s table of contents screen, tap the menu in the upper right corner and select “Cache all chapters”, or check specific chapters and then cache them for offline reading.
Step 5: Export content
Legado is primarily a reader, so its “export” feature focuses on exporting book text or reading records.
- Export text:
- On the reading screen, select the text paragraphs you want to export.
- In the pop-up menu, select “Share” or “Copy”, then paste it into another editor.
- To export an entire book, long-press the book on the bookshelf and select “Export” -> “Export as EPUB/TXT” (this feature depends on book source support and specific versions).
- Back Up Data: In “Settings” -> “Backup & Restore”, you can back up all your data such as your bookshelf, book sources, and purification rules as a
.legadofile.
III. Advanced Tips for Common Features
- Book Source Debugging: In “Book Source Management,” click any book source and select “Edit” or “Debug.” You can test the four key rules—search, book details, table of contents retrieval, and body text parsing—which is the core tool for resolving book source failure issues.
- Custom Reading Themes: On the reading screen, tap the “Font” settings, and at the very bottom you can access “Custom Themes,” where you can finely adjust the colors of various elements such as text, background, and links, and save them as presets.
- Voice Reading (Listen to Books): On the reading screen, tap the menu in the upper right corner and select “Read Aloud.” You can adjust the voice engine (built-in or third-party), speech rate, and pitch in the “Listen to Books” settings.
- RSS Subscription: Add RSS feeds in “RSS Subscription” on the left side. You can aggregate and read updates from news, blogs, and more just like books, achieving true information aggregation.
- Network Import Update: You can add book source collection links to “Settings – Book Source Settings – Network Import” to update your book source library online with one click.
- Multi-Device Sync: Through “Settings – Backup & Restore – WebDav Sync”, configure a WebDav service (such as iCloud) to sync your bookshelf and reading progress across multiple devices.
IV. Common Issues and Solutions
| Symptom | Possible Cause | Solution |
|---|---|---|
| No books found when searching | 1. No book sources imported or enabled. 2. All book sources are invalid. 3. Network connection issues. |
1. Check “Book Source Management” to ensure there are enabled book sources. 2. Get new book source links from the community and re-import them. 3. Check your Mac network settings. |
| Book content displays as garbled text, fails to load, or contains excessive ads | 1. Book source rules are invalid or parsing errors. 2. No effective “replace and purify” rules configured. |
1. Try switching to another source for the book (switch on the table of contents page or book details page). 2. Enable or import new purification rules in “Replace and Purify”. 3. Debug the “content” rules of the book source in Book Source Management. |
| Unable to update chapters or updates are very slow | 1. The current book source updates slowly or is invalid. 2. Too many book sources are being checked simultaneously. |
1. Manually search for the same book and select a faster-updating source. 2. In the book’s “Book Source Settings”, disable some low-quality book sources. |
| App crashes or freezes | 1. Too many book sources (over several thousand). 2. Cache data is too large. 3. Bugs in the software version. |
1. Disable unused book sources, or manage them by groups. 2. Clear cache in “Settings – Other Settings”. 3. Check for and update to the latest version. |
| Keyboard shortcuts not working | Conflicts with system or other app shortcuts. | Check for conflicts in Mac’s “System Settings – Keyboard – Keyboard Shortcuts”, or try clicking within the Legado reading interface to bring it into focus. |
V. Keyboard Shortcuts Summary (Mac Version)
| Function | Shortcut | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Open/Close Sidebar | Command + B |
Toggle the display of the left navigation bar such as the bookshelf |
| Search | Command + F |
Global search for books |
| Show/Hide Toolbar | Command + L |
Switch to distraction-free reading mode in the reading interface |
| Open Table of Contents | Command + T |
Bring up the chapter table of contents for the current book |
| Previous Chapter | Command + ← or Control + PageUp |
Jump to the previous chapter |
| Next Chapter | Command + → or Control + PageDown |
Jump to the next chapter |
| Increase Font Size | Command + + |
Increase the reading font size |
| Decrease Font Size | Command + - |
Decrease the reading font size |
| Toggle Light/Dark Mode | Command + D |
Switch between preset light and dark themes |
| Add to Bookshelf | Command + S |
Quickly add the current book on the search or details page |
| Refresh/Update | Command + R |
Refresh content on the bookshelf or table of contents page |
| Quit Application | Command + Q |
Completely quit the Legado application |
Note: Plus Ultra: Legado is a tool driven by the open-source community, and its powerful features rely heavily on user-maintained and shared book source rules. The validity of book sources changes over time, and maintaining a high-quality book source list is the key to getting the best experience.
