WeRead on Mac and Windows as a desktop app

Popular sites · October 18, 2026 · 6 min read

WeRead does not offer a dedicated desktop download for Mac or Windows. On a computer, you read at weread.qq.com, run the iPad app on an Apple silicon Mac, or run the phone app through Tencent's app store. A Pake app puts the web reader in its own window with a Dock or Start menu icon, and a handful of settings make it comfortable for long reading.

What WeRead offers on a computer

The web reader at weread.qq.com has the store, the charts and the reader itself. Its download prompt points to the iOS app, the Android app and a WeChat mini program, and lists nothing for Mac or Windows. The web help says what stays on the phone: the web version cannot buy a membership card or top up coins, manage your shelf or set private reading, although member benefits do apply on the web.

On a Mac, the App Store listing shows the app as designed for iPad and says it runs on a Mac with macOS 12 or later and an Apple M1 chip or newer. On Windows, Tencent's Yingyongbao page calls WeRead a phone app that needs Yingyongbao installed first to start on a computer, with Windows and Apple silicon Mac versions of Yingyongbao.

	Where	What you get
Web	weread.qq.com	The web reader, in any browser
Apple silicon Mac	App Store	The iPad app on a Mac
Windows, Apple silicon Mac	Yingyongbao	The phone app, through Tencent's app store

If you want the full app, with your shelf and purchases, use one of the last two. If the web reader is enough and you want it apart from the browser, including on an Intel Mac, which Pake supports on macOS 14 or later, make a Pake app. On Windows it also saves you installing Yingyongbao.

Make it from the gallery

WeRead is in the gallery under Reading. On the Create tab, type WeRead into Search apps or paste a web address, or paste https://weread.qq.com. If the tile is missing, paste the address instead. The gallery entry carries the address, name and icon only, with no tuned size or injected code, so the choices below are yours. All the options are described in Create an app.

With the CLI, after the setup guide, the same app is one command:

pake https://weread.qq.com --name WeRead --width 900 --height 1000

Pick a window size for reading

The default window is 1200 × 780, wide like a screen and short for a page of text. Size on Mac, Window size on Windows, sets the starting width and height. Try something narrower and taller, such as 900 × 1000, then open a book and see how the reader lays out the page. If you resize the window by hand afterwards, the app remembers that size, and changing Size later from My Apps with Edit and Save Changes clears it, as Manage your apps explains.

Text size is easier to change with the page zoom every Pake app has: Cmd = and Cmd - on Mac, Ctrl = and Ctrl - on Windows, and Cmd 0 or Ctrl 0 to reset.

Turn on Find in page if you want to search the page you are reading with Cmd F or Ctrl F. The reader also has its own search in the table of contents.

The web sign-in shows a QR code to scan with WeChat on your phone. Scan it once, then quit and reopen the app to check that you are still signed in.

That only works with Incognito off. Incognito starts each session clean, with no sign-ins or cookies, and the FAQ explains that the gallery's WeChat app runs in it, which is why that one asks for a scan every time. Check that Incognito is off before you click Create App. A second WeRead account goes in a second app, as in Two accounts on one website.

Dark window only darkens the frame

Dark window darkens the title bar and the window frame, not the page. The page keeps the colors WeRead chooses, as the FAQ says. For a dark page, use the reader's own toolbar: WeRead's web help describes dark and light mode buttons, a moon and a sun, in the toolbar at the bottom right of the reader. Turn on Dark window too if you want the frame to match.

Read beside your notes

Always on top keeps the window above other windows, so a narrow WeRead window can sit next to your notes app while you write down what you are reading. Pair it with a small Size, and on Mac with Hide title bar if you want the page to run up to the top edge. See Keep a web app always on top for more uses, and Customize a web app's window for how window options compare.

With the CLI, after the setup guide:

pake https://weread.qq.com --name WeRead --width 900 --height 1000 --always-on-top

How the window works

The app is a native shell around the system web view: WKWebView on Mac, and Microsoft Edge WebView2 on Windows, which Windows 11 already includes. It loads weread.qq.com, so the reader behaves as the site is written, and it can differ from what you see in another browser. Cookies sit in the app's own storage, separate from your browser, so a browser sign-in does not carry over. The app reopens at the page you last viewed, which is handy for picking up a chapter, and changing the address clears that memory (Manage your apps).

When something goes wrong

You scan the QR code every launch. Check whether Incognito is on; if it is, edit the app, turn it off and save, which keeps the app in place. If it is already off, check whether the site has expired the session or requires sign-in again.
The reader does not lay out the way you expect. Try another Size, and reload with Cmd R or Ctrl R.
The page looks wrong or a feature is missing. The window is not Chrome, so compare with the site in your browser to check whether the problem occurs only in the app. If the site shows an unsupported-browser notice, User agents in web apps explains when a user agent helps.
Purchases, shelf management or private reading are missing. The web help says those stay on the phone, so use the iPad app on a Mac or the phone.

FAQ

Is a Pake app the same as WeRead's iPad app on a Mac?

No. The iPad app is the full app from the App Store. A Pake app is the web reader, with its web-only limits.

Do I need an Apple silicon Mac?

Not for a Pake app, which supports Intel Macs on macOS 14 or later. The App Store route needs Apple silicon.