Introduction
What Reinvent the Wheel is, what it does today, and what it doesn't.
Reinvent the Wheel (RTW) turns a Mac or an Android device into an offline knowledge library. You download useful collections while you’re online — an encyclopedia, books, maps, manuals — and RTW serves them as ordinary web pages. Nearby devices can read the same library over local Wi-Fi, with no internet connection.
What it does today
| Section | What you put in it | Where readers find it |
|---|---|---|
| Wikipedia | Kiwix .zim files |
/wiki/ |
| Books | PDF, EPUB and similar | /books/ |
| Notes | Markdown or plain-text files | /notes/ |
| Maps | One .pmtiles vector map |
/maps/ |
| Downloads | Anything — APKs, PDFs, archives | /downloads/ |
| Sites | Static HTML sites | /sites/ |
| Admin | Upload and manage all of the above (password) | /admin/ |
What it is not
- Not a native app. RTW is a small set of scripts and web pages around proven tools: nginx, kiwix-serve, Python’s standard library and MapLibre. On Android it runs inside the Termux terminal app.
- Not a content distributor. RTW doesn’t bundle or mirror third-party material. It helps you fetch content from its original publishers, under their licenses.
- Not a replacement for professionals or emergency services. Reference material is for learning and preparedness.
Platform status
- macOS — available from source and tested end to end.
- Android — available from source, tested end to end on a tablet through Termux, including sharing over its own hotspot and downloading content on the device. See Android Installation.
Next
- Quick Start — running in a few minutes.
- How It Works — the architecture in plain language.