You can install a browser eextension (i think name is kiwix only) which can load offline zim files. problem is that ux is very bad (you need to load a zim file each time, or manually change). on desktop, my answer was to manually unpack all zim files (using zimutils) and then arrange them in a controlled dir structure, then recompress them into a mountable file format, and separately, maintain a list of all files in side, and while using, i have something hand rolled to mount the archive, select suitable file, and open in browser - yes it is a lot of work, but i do kinda have a offline search engine now.
Note also that kiwix-serve provides a local Web server so that also helps all machine on your local network, even while offline, to browser through that content.
PieFed
You can install a browser eextension (i think name is kiwix only) which can load offline zim files. problem is that ux is very bad (you need to load a zim file each time, or manually change). on desktop, my answer was to manually unpack all zim files (using zimutils) and then arrange them in a controlled dir structure, then recompress them into a mountable file format, and separately, maintain a list of all files in side, and while using, i have something hand rolled to mount the archive, select suitable file, and open in browser - yes it is a lot of work, but i do kinda have a offline search engine now.
Huh… I wonder if I could instead just unpack the UBports application and use it on Mobian…
That’s an option, https://linuxphoneapps.org/apps/dev.geopjr.archives/ can also read zim files, but I’ve found it to be a bit clunky - still, I recommend giving it a try.
Why client when web work?
To have access when web does not work.
Web client works offline assuming your browser support PWA, cf https://pwa.kiwix.org/
Note also that
kiwix-serveprovides a local Web server so that also helps all machine on your local network, even while offline, to browser through that content.