If you frequently switch between a dedicated e-reader and a smartphone app, you’ve probably come across one of the most annoying software problems for e-readers: sync issues. For years, moving from a Kobo e-reader to the mobile app—or the other way around—often meant manually turning pages to find where you left off, since bookmarks wouldn’t update properly.
But now, Rakuten Kobo has completely rebuilt the entire bookmarking and progress syncing system from the ground up, removing the outdated syncing framework in place since the company’s earliest days of making ereaders.
How Kobo fixed its sync issues
This has always been a thorn in my side
In Kobo’s early days, the system was simple: most users bought one device, purchased their books directly on that device, and that was it. But as the company grew over the years by launching a continuous range of new hardware models, web readers, and mobile applications, the original cloud infrastructure became overloaded.
On Bluesky, Michael Tamblyn, Kobo’s CEO, joked that the old system was in a “scary part” of the code that the team avoided modifying for a long time. He explained: “We know that some of you have been driven slowly crazy by the fact that your reading progress in the Kobo app doesn’t always sync correctly with your e-reader or with your e-reader and the app. It’s annoying. It’s a bad experience. No one liked it. So we’ve rebuilt the entire bookmarking and progress syncing system from the ground up.”
The new backend uses a more modern approach to identify the most recent timestamped change to a book’s progress. This ensures seamless consistency across devices.
The next month is going to be busy for us here at Kobo, but here’s a little something that snuck out in advance: We know some of you have been driven slowly crazy by the way your reading progress on the Kobo app doesn’t always correctly sync with your ereader…
— Michael Tamblyn (@mtamblyn.bsky.social) 10 September 2026 at 21:35
For users who manage reading on multiple devices, or who hate being confined to walled gardens, this update gives Kobo, in my opinion, a big advantage over Amazon’s dominant Kindle ecosystem. Although the Kindle app works well for single-device tracking, Amazon’s ecosystem is known for rigid proprietary restrictions, clumsy ad-supported interfaces, and a refusal to allow open file formats. In contrast, Kobo has always supported open ecosystems, offering native sideloading, library integration through OverDrive and Libby, and now a new sync engine that accounts for multi-device users. Would that be enough to make you give your Kindle? Well, it’s your choice, ultimately.
How to fix your Kobo’s sync issues right now
Since the changes are entirely backend and depend on a new set, you’ll need to do a one-time manual refresh to remove the old data. If you only read on a single dedicated device and never use the mobile app, there’s nothing you need to do. But if you switch between devices, follow these simple steps:
On a Kobo E-Reader: Go to Settings > Device Information and choose Repair Your Kobo Account. (Alternatively, logging out and then logging back in will work, but the repair tool is quicker.)
On Mobile Apps: Sign out of your account, then sign back in. You only need to do this once per device. After you complete the process, your library will reload with the new progress system, keeping your page position in sync from now on.
If the syncing problems continue after completing the steps above, restart both your e-reader and your mobile device, then log back into your Kobo account. If you still have trouble, visit the Kobo Help Centre or contact Kobo customer support for further help.