hello! quick backstory which i feel like is relevant to my question: i'm in the market for a new e-reader and was originally looking at an android e-reader cause i like to read fanfics, novels, webtoons and manga. i learned about calibre from the e-reader subreddit after asking for different takes on an android based so i can download epubs and read mainly offline during my commute to work.
after being fixated on a boox and bigme, i realized i can just upgrade my ipad and use that as an e-reader. based on my understanding on calibre, there is no actual ios app for calibre and the best way is to use plugins that assist the calibre on your laptop (in my case my macbook). are these plugins like bookfusion wifi dependent since my original goal was to read offline.
i like the idea of using calibre and starting my library cause it can be used on any device, but i think i'm having trouble understand exactly what the best workflow is for a macbook to ipad pipeline using calibre and its overall compatibility with apple products.
also, how much storage does calibre take up once you start building your library? i don't have the most open storage available on my macbook but do have an external hard drive that i could use to essentially store the books and plug it in when i want to add more books or access calibre on my macbook. has anyone done that as well or is it fine if i were to just keep everything locally on my machine?
TLDR: was planning to get an android e-reader for offline reading, but now considering using my ipad—confused about how calibre works with ios (macbook → ipad workflow), whether transfers require wi-fi, and how much storage a fully built calibre library typically takes (and if it’s manageable long-term on a macbook)