Android already treats it as an archive
Android identifies files by MIME type, and .cbz has no registered type. The system usually falls back to a generic ZIP or binary type, both of which Chrome can pass to a web page. That is why Android rarely blocks a CBZ the way iOS does.
Nothing is installed and no storage permission is requested: the picker grants the page read access to exactly the file you choose.
Step by step
- Download the archive, or move it into Downloads from a chat app or cloud drive.
- Open this site in Chrome, tap Choose a CBZ file, then pick the file under Downloads, Recent, or your SD card.
- If the entry is greyed out, the picker is filtering on a MIME type it cannot map. Rename a copy to .zip, which every Android build recognises, or open it from a file manager that reports ZIP.
- Add the site to your Home Screen for quicker access. It still opens the same picker; the site does not register a share target.
Where Android files usually are
Downloads is the default target for Chrome. Chat apps keep files in their own folders, which the picker can still reach. SD cards and USB drives appear as separate roots. Google Drive and other providers show up through the system picker once their app is installed, and a large file may need to download locally first.
Scoped storage on Android 11 and later hides other apps’ private directories from file managers, but it does not affect a file you pick yourself.
Zip handling on the device
Files by Google and most OEM file managers can extract a ZIP and rename files. To turn a folder of images into a CBZ on the phone, compress the images and rename the result from .zip to .cbz; the extension is the only difference.
Some managers hide extensions by default. If the rename produces .zip.cbz, the real name is now wrong; enable extension display and rename again.
Android vs iPhone in practice
- Getting the file in: Android is usually one download away; iOS often needs Save to Files plus an iCloud download check.
- File association: neither OS opens .cbz on double-tap, so both routes start at the site.
- External storage: Android is more direct with SD cards and USB drives; iOS supports them through Files but with more steps.
- Memory: low-RAM Android phones and older iPads both reload heavy tabs. Downsampling keeps a large page inside the tab budget on either platform.
- Gestures: Android back closes the menu or leaves the reader, while the iOS back gesture belongs to Safari and behaves differently.
Tablets, foldables, and keyboards
On a wide screen, double-page mode pairs spreads after the cover, and arrow keys from an external keyboard turn pages. Split-screen reduces available memory, so keep very large archives in full-screen mode.