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What is CrossPoint? The open-source reader for Xteink e‑readers

· 3 min read

CrossPoint is free, open-source reading software for tiny e-ink readers. Dave Allie started it soon after the Xteink X4 shipped in 2025, to get more out of the device than the stock software did. It now has more than 200 contributors, and Xteink itself has become an official partner of the project (LWN, CNX Software).

It runs on: Xteink X4 Pro, X4 Classic, X4 and X3, Seeed reTerminal Sticky and M5Stack PaperMono.

Reading

  • EPUB 2 and 3 with hyphenation, kerning, chapter navigation, footnotes and bookmarks. It also opens TXT files and BMP images.
  • Your choice of fonts, sizes, spacing and alignment, plus custom fonts from the SD card.
  • Dictionary lookups from StarDict dictionaries you put on the card.
  • Go to %, auto page turn (up to 12 pages a minute), focus reading and rotation.
  • Night mode and themes, button remapping and status bar options.
  • Touch extras on touchscreen readers: tap links and look up words.
  • 34 interface languages, with right-to-left and Chinese, Japanese and Korean text.

Wireless and library

  • Wi-Fi file transfer. Open File Transfer on the reader, then drop books on it from a browser on your phone or computer. WebDAV works too.
  • Calibre. A CrossPoint plugin sends books from Calibre over Wi-Fi.
  • Online catalogs (OPDS). Save up to 8 catalogs, then search and download books right on the reader.
  • Reading sync. Your place syncs with KOReader-compatible servers, so it follows you between devices.
  • A searchable library with title and author search, recently added, folders and recent books.
  • Updates over Wi-Fi, straight from CrossPoint's releases.

CrossPoint vs the stock software

Xteink's own software works, and Xteink keeps updating it. People switch to CrossPoint because the stock reader has been slow to render EPUBs, offers fewer font and justification options, and has clunky navigation with unlabeled buttons (LWN).

Stock XteinkCrossPoint
PriceFree, preinstalledFree, you install it
EPUB pagesSlower and plainerFaster and better looking
Fonts and justificationLimitedMany options, plus your own fonts
NavigationUnlabeled buttonsRemappable buttons
Who makes itXteinkOpen-source community

Its limits. CrossPoint is built only for reading, with no PDFs, RSS or writing tools. Novels and non-fiction read well, but technical books with code, many subheadings or links are weaker. That's why clean EPUBs matter on these readers.

Good to know

  • It's a community project. It's MIT-licensed, the code is on GitHub, and you can go back to Xteink's software any time.
  • It has offshoots. Because it's open source, others build on it. CrossInk is a popular variant. ReadMe.club tracks dozens more.
  • The Wi-Fi transfer page uses plain HTTP, so only use it on a network you trust.

Get started

Installing takes a few minutes from a computer with Chrome or Edge. Follow our step-by-step guide on how to install CrossPoint on your Xteink e-reader.

Getting books onto it. Epubby turns PDFs and messy EPUBs into clean ebooks, then sends them straight to your reader over CrossPoint's Wi-Fi transfer. In Epubby, tap Send to e-reader, choose CrossPoint sync and tap Send EPUB.

Sources