IOS – sync iBooks page currently reading between iPhone and MacBook

booksdata synchronizationiosiphonemacos

I have a MacBook Pro (Retina, 15-inch, Mid 2015) (macOS Mojave 10.14.6) and an iPhone 7 (iOS 12.4.1).

I downloaded an ebook from the internet, and started reading it on my MacBook.

A few days later I copied it onto my iPhone (using iTunes on my MacBook when my iPhone was connected).

I thought bookmarks would sync between the two devices, so I could continue reading on one device from where I left off on the other.

Unfortunately that isn't happening.

How can I keep my two books in-sync?

Best Answer

To control some settings of Apple Books on your iOS device, you need to have iCloud Drive turned on: Go to Settings > [your name] > iCloud and turn on both iCloud Drive and Books. Then go to Settings > Books.

Under Syncing, you can change settings like these:

  1. Turn on Reading Now to sync your reading progress, current book, notes, and bookmarks using your iCloud account. Reading Now only syncs to other iOS devices, not your Mac. Turn on iCloud Drive to sync PDFs, EPUBs, and books created with iBooks Author that you didn't purchase from the Book Store that you added to your Library across all of your devices.

  2. Under Allow Books To Access, turn on Cellular Data to stream books while your iPhone or iPad is connected to the Internet via a cellular connection and using cellular data.

You can also change settings in the Books app. Tap Reading Now, then tap the Profile icon or your picture in the upper-right corner. From here, you can redownload your purchases, access Family Purchases, and redeem gift cards or content codes.