Comics and novels want different readers, so Boundless has two of them. The app picks the right one for what you opened, and both share the same gestures, the same auto-scroll, and the same careful handling of where you stopped. This page covers what you can do once a chapter is open.
Two readers
The webtoon and comic reader scrolls continuously in a vertical strip, which is how manhwa is drawn to be read. It also flows across chapters: when you reach the end of one, the next continues in the same scroll rather than dropping you back to a chapter list and making you start again.
The prose reader handles novels and other text. It adds two touches worth knowing about:
- An in-content chapter title card, so the start of a chapter reads like a page in a book rather than an abrupt change of text.
- A reading-progress hairline under the header, a thin indicator of how far through the chapter you are, without a bar chart across your page.
Tap zones
Both readers use the same three-zone tap layout.
- Tap the left or right edge to jump in that direction.
- Tap the middle to toggle the reader chrome, hiding or showing the controls around your page.
Every edge jump gives you a brief flash of color along the screen edge, red or green, confirming which direction you just moved. It is quick and easy to ignore once you trust it, and it saves you from wondering whether a tap registered.
Auto-scroll
Both readers have auto-scroll with a play and pause button in the reader controls.
- Start and stop it from the play/pause button.
- Set the speed to match your pace. There is no single correct value, and it will differ between a dense novel chapter and a fast action sequence.
- Hold to stop. Pressing and holding halts auto-scroll immediately, which is the natural reflex when something on the page needs a second look.
Auto-scroll suits long vertical chapters where you would otherwise be dragging the screen every few seconds. If you would rather scroll manually, leave it paused and it stays out of the way.
Picking up where you left off
Boundless stores a precise resume position, not just a chapter number. Close the app in the middle of a chapter and it returns you to that point rather than to the top of the chapter.
That position is stored locally on your device with the rest of your reading data, so it is exact on the device you were reading on and does not travel to another device. Your library covers what is stored and where.
Moving between chapters
The chapter list is reachable from the title's detail screen and from the reader chrome. It also supports multi-select for working through a long series quickly: a Select and Cancel toggle, quick-select chips for All, None, Invert, and Unread, and a bulk action bar with Download, Read, and Unread. The details are in Your library.
Reading offline
Downloaded chapters read exactly like online ones, with no connection required. Nothing is cached on a server anywhere, so downloading in advance is the way to read on a plane or in a dead spot. You can download individual chapters or use the bulk action bar to queue a batch.
Sources and the reader
The reader loads content directly from whatever site your chosen source targets, since Boundless does not proxy or host anything. If a chapter fails to load, the problem is usually at the source rather than in the reader itself. Two things help:
- The in-app browser button on the title's detail screen, which opens the source site inside the app so you can see what it is actually returning.
- Removing and reinstalling the source, which is harmless: your library, progress, and history are stored separately from the extension.
Troubleshooting walks through the failure cases in more detail.
On iPad and Mac
Long-form reading screens are width-capped and centered on larger displays, so a line of prose keeps a readable measure instead of stretching the full width of a monitor. The gestures, auto-scroll, and resume behavior are the same on every platform.
To change how the app looks while you read, see Appearance.