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This is a question about if there is a library/reading application for android that is as good as the library and epub support of the stock nook color application (i find the android market nook application lacking in a lot of areas). This is the only thing holding me back to stock 1.2 instead of CM7...
numus said:
This is a question about if there is a library/reading application for android that is as good as the library and epub support of the stock nook color application (i find the android market nook application lacking in a lot of areas). This is the only thing holding me back to stock 1.2 instead of CM7...
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Click to collapse
Search the threads. This has been discussed many times. You can start here:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1169284&highlight=reader
I find Aldiko to be even better than the stock app. The library system is easier to manage, it's incredibly easy to import books, and the brightness is controlled by sliding your finger up or down the left side of the screen. Also has a convenient night mode if you're like me and read often in the dark.
I've been holding off installing CM7 on the internal flash of my Nook for just this reason. The stock library/reader apps are quite nice, and none of the apps available on the market really match it. There are several decent ones, but none are as slick and simple as the stock Nook software.
Lately, though, I've been using CM7 on SD card more often, and using FBReader for my reading app. It's a very nice reader, but is a bit lacking in the library management area. But it's got some nice features (can use any TrueType font, brightness adjustment returns to normal when you leave the app, it automatically returns to the place you were in the book like the status bar icon on the stock firmware).
Someone linked above the thread I started about this as I'm in the same boat. I had two problems with Aldiko - it won't "library" in place, leaving two copies of every book on your sd card and I had a book that was cutting off sentences and not displaying right. I know it's only one book, but it was the only reader that had an issue.
For me, I think I've mostly settled on Moon Reader. Nothing's perfect, but this one seems to be the best balance.
Been using Aldiko (the latest version) and seems to be working very well.. Don't like the fact that it wont autoscan and update from my library storied ont he EMMC (that is were calibre likes to put my books it seems)... Otherwise it is a pain to navigate to the emmc library and update from it but it is possible. Only downside is there is no way to create a shelf of books you want to display.. it is either display everything, or recently opened. Also liked in moon+ that it gave the brief book description in list display...
doncaruana said:
Someone linked above the thread I started about this as I'm in the same boat. I had two problems with Aldiko - it won't "library" in place, leaving two copies of every book on your sd card and I had a book that was cutting off sentences and not displaying right. I know it's only one book, but it was the only reader that had an issue.
For me, I think I've mostly settled on Moon Reader. Nothing's perfect, but this one seems to be the best balance.
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I prefer the Nook app because of the way the text is formatted, but I agree with dc, Moon Reader is a good alternative.
I would like to pare down my Nook a bit.
I do like the native reader app and I borrow library books.
Yes, I could use the OverDrive reader, but the native reader is much better.
The first thing that went was Shop.apk
It was kind of annoying to search for stuff on my Nook and come up with 50,000 suggestions of books that I could buy.
Social.apk seems to go away painlessly too.
Deleting (or renaming) Home.apk breaks the "Last Read" icon on the desktop.
You can still get there by Library and hitting the top of most recent.
It gets you to the right page.
It probably would not be hard to write an app to do the last read function.
Moreover, you'd have a system icon to do with what you will.
(It sends an intent that is not handled. I'll have to make a receiver and see what it is.)
Okay, deleting Home.apk also breaks additions to Library.
But, you can still borrow books on Adobe Digital Editions and read them by clicking them in a file browser.
Oh, well, might as well delete Library.apk
Hmm, I guess that Library.apk is a search content provider.
Books no longer show up in global search.
I guess that I'll have to roll my own.
Re-enable Home.apk, disable Reader.apk and see what intent goes.
(Last page read is kept in /data/data/com.bn.nook.reader.activities/databases/lastreadingpoint.db
Select ean from lastreadingpoint order by lastupdated
I'm not trying to get around the DRM or anything. I just want to get rid of all the cruft.
I see what you're trying to do here
I've been playing with this some more.
Reader.apk keeps track itself of last page read.
If you just use a file manager to open your books you'll get the right page.
If you are a big library user and use Adobe Digital Editions,
then the info that ADE dumps on your Nook could be integrated nicely.
You could have your books listed and show the return date.
Hmm, do you think it could be possible to fully debrand the device and have it running a normal, common Eclair, but using the actual ROM as base? like, deleting the B&N apps and creating custom providers & intent receivers to avoid FCs and such?
Well, if you delete (or rename) Home.apk and Library.apk but still like to use Reader.apk (the native epub reader),
then you might need a convenient way to get to your last read book.
It's not rocket science and I haven't figured out the little book icon on the status bar yet,
but if you want to get back to your book here is a little app to go to last read.
Put the icon on your desktop and click the "L" to go to last read.
Did you replace library, or just completely delete it?
darkguy2008 said:
Hmm, do you think it could be possible to fully debrand the device and have it running a normal, common Eclair, but using the actual ROM as base? like, deleting the B&N apps and creating custom providers & intent receivers to avoid FCs and such?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I've also wondered this, I use my nook for Kindle more than I do B&N lol. It would be great if we could get a ROM to flash that removes everything from the device and just makes it run stock Android then use Kindle and B&N apps, as well as whatever other apps for reading epubs to read our books. Don't know if this is possible but it would be nice, then we could fully repurpose all the buttons on the device purely for Android OS
And make a custom e-ink friendly version of the android homescreen, possibly including no-refresh?
Right now I've got the following apps deleted:
DemoMode.apk
Home.apk
Library.apk
Shop.apk
Social.apk
I will be working on a replacement library app.
I don't use the Kindle app. Do people who do also use the Nook native reader?
At the lowest level, all you need is a file manager.
I presume that each of the readers keep track of last page.
(Regarding the Nook lastreadingpoint:
Going straight to the database is the wrong approach, using the content provider is the right way.
LastRead.apk uses that.)
Ok, it's a neat hack to watch video on the Nook, but you really wouldn't want your Nook in A2 mode all the time.
As I've said before, the best uses of A2 is when an app knows when to use it, when dragging, scrolling, zooming.
If you have the source code to a browser/viewer/whatever, putting wrappers around the dragging/scrolling/zooming operation would be an improvement.
Personally, I have no problem with my ADW Launcher.
That it blurs and trails when parking an app on the desktop is no big deal.
I've got the little book icon on the status bar to open the last book in the native Nook reader.
That is, if you don't have Home.apk or (B&N) Library.apk
Here is a stop-gap release.
It works fine for the "Currently reading" but there is not yet other functionality in it.
I left it as a complete application so that you can easily see if you have it installed.
The actual "application" part of it is a blank screen.
No need to run it or put it on your desktop.
Just install it and click the little book on the status bar.
Renate NST said:
I've got the little book icon on the status bar to open the last book in the native Nook reader.
That is, if you don't have Home.apk or (B&N) Library.apk
Here is a stop-gap release.
It works fine for the "Currently reading" but there is not yet other functionality in it.
I left it as a complete application so that you can easily see if you have it installed.
The actual "application" part of it is a blank screen.
No need to run it or put it on your desktop.
Just install it and click the little book on the status bar.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hm, looks interesting, seems like you've managed to already wrap some events to dummy workers we can attach to in the future and mod this thing up . Awesome!
I'll be testing it somewhere between today and tomorrow. Right now I'm trying to replace the stock keyboard. LatinIME.apk is deleteable but there isn't any working keyboard for it yet (I've tried GO Keyboard, GB Keyboard for Froyo/Eclair and HTC IME with no avail) and it's one of the biggest annoyances I have with it since I need more of a PC-keyboard-lookalike rather than an ebook keyboard
Although I am not getting the point of your mission :-D try Hacker's keyboard. It is possible to google out android 2.1 version. It is the best I have found so far although it is quite dark.
Just thought I'd drop this link here for hacker's keyboard.
http://code.google.com/p/hackerskeyboard/issues/detail?id=57
Also, make sure that after you install it you move it to /system/app
Googie2149 said:
Just thought I'd drop this link here for hacker's keyboard.
http://code.google.com/p/hackerskeyboard/issues/detail?id=57
Also, make sure that after you install it you move it to /system/app
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Click to collapse
Man, you rock! I've wanted that keyboard to work specifically. Thanks a lot!!
I've had some progress on the Library replacement.
It's not ready for prime time, but it is cute.
It will list the expiration date of your library books.
It's nice to be able to fit over 10 titles on the screen.
Renate NST said:
I've had some progress on the Library replacement.
It's not ready for prime time, but it is cute.
It will list the expiration date of your library books.
It's nice to be able to fit over 10 titles on the screen.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That's awesome!
When will you release it?
I've been working on two different approaches.
One is to use the Android native mediastore.
There are some bugs with this and it can get out of sync.
The other is to do all the searching for books myself.
That works ok as long as the books are found in the usual places:
/system/media/books
/data/media/B&N Downloads/Books
/media/My Files/Books
/media/Digital Editions
/sdcard/My Files/Books
Are there any other locations that I am missing?
darkguy2008 said:
When will you release it?
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Click to collapse
I really don't know if it suits anyone's needs besides my own.
Because the stock Home.apk, Library.apk and Shop.apk are all tied together,
to have my app work correctly you have to rename or delete the three of them.
As far as I know it should allow books bought from B&N to still work correctly,
but I don't know because I don't own any. I only get library books or Gutenberg.
Is it important for people to be able to buy B&N books directly on their Nook?
Renate NST said:
Is it important for people to be able to buy B&N books directly on their Nook?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Why not if it's free?
Naturally, I speak for myself only.
You need credit card added to buy B&N free books still...
From another hand you can get same free books somewhere else, right?
Apokrifx is right, also, that app would suit me too. I need a credit card to buy B&N books, which I don't have -and- I'm not interested at all in using it as a reader. If I want to read something I'll download it and slam it through a PDF reader installed on it.
My main use for it is to take out ALL of the B&N stuff and use it as an android tablet, so, to me, it's really useful
Does anyone have any solid suggestion for this?
I used to use InstaFetch Lite which pulled articles from Instapaper however now it only pulls 10 articles (I have 700+ in there) and does not support folders. Instapaper itself has an app now however it is a paid app and I do not have a credit card (WHEN is google going to sell topup cards like apple does?? *sob*). I tried "Read Later" another instapaper app but it just hangs and does not sync properly.
I have used the export feature to export to various formats and read on the Nook. However the formatting is not good, you don't link to each article like you would from within the app, instead it's basically just a very big ebook.
So I thought I'd look at Pocket instead. The app is really well done and it's a solid product but it requires 2.2 and up. The Nook, at least mine, is 2.1 I think... is there another version of Android that I can put on here that will make Pocket app work?
Or does anyone have any other alternatives? Folders or tags and offline reading are what I need.
I was looking for something like this early - found nothing.
Will keep an eye on this thread tho...
Manual Install of Read It Later
Try searching on the internet for a "read it later" .apk file of the version before it became pocket, and install it manually. The older version is compatible, and runs fine on the nook.
- NewsRob, gReader, Instafetch and even syncing things like email only need intermittent connectivity so you can get your articles and then carry them elsewhere when offline. Need a better offline article sync app: http://forum.xda-developers.com/show....php?t=1811873
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Click to collapse
I guess evernote and a clipper firefox addon might do it but evernote screws with the battery so would need freeze & refreeze every time you want to use it...
any of these?
-Goodreads
-Mantano
-Speed Reader
-gReader
-Documents to Go (paid office docs app)
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Click to collapse
jago25_98 said:
I guess evernote and a clipper firefox addon might do it but evernote screws with the battery so would need freeze & refreeze every time you want to use it...
any of these?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
gReader works great! But it's a rss reader and I am wanting something for reading articles that I saved FROM gReader (or wherever) to read at another time. I follow 100+ sites in gReader, I'm not sure how I would save and organize articles for reading later. Open to ideas though!
The rest of your list are just eReader apps which is not what I was looking for but in the interest of complete info:
Mantano worked GREAT when I tried it. I was so excited! Then the next day it crashed and despite a reboot, and a reinstall I can't import books into it now without it crashing so it's useless.
Documents 2 Go I can't try because I don't have a damn credit card so I can't use paid apps.
Goodreads installed...and I signed up for an account...but I can't figure out how to read books I already have on sd card.
Speed Reader is...weird. It shows ONE word at a time lol
----
The folks at Pocket suggested this service to me which lets you create custom epub files from your pocket items:
http://reading2ebook.com/pocket/choose
It's not ideal, as you can't mark the articles read one by one but at least it is a workaround that works.
From there I read it in either the native Nook ereading app or Cool Reader which is (so far) a eReader app that not only works on the Nook but also allows a person to make notes, highlight, share, etc in an easier way than the Nook's native app.
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I would still LOVE a solution if anyone has one. I am trying to figure out the read it later apk stuff in the meantime...
Instapaper's "Send to Kindle" function; buying w/o credit card
(Interested lurker speaking. I don't have a NST, but a rooted Sony PRS-T1, which is similar, but running Android 2.2. Please take what I say with a grain of salt.)
If you have a version of the Kindle app for Android running on your ereader, you could try experimenting with Instapaper's "Send to Kindle" function.
Personally, I am quite happy with InstaFetch Pro. If your only problem with buying it is the lack of a credit card, you could try finding another market that accepts the kind of payment you have. They also appear to sell licenses via PayPal directly from instafetch.com.
Instapaper + Calibre + Dropsync = Bliss
There is a Calibre recipe for Instapaper that I use and it works very well. I have it set up to pull my instapaper articles into an Epub file and then have it stored on my dropbox. I bought DropSync Pro and manually sync my Nook Simple Touch with that dropbox.
To save on battery, I only manually sync with dropbox - I suppose a person could schedule it for every morning or something.
The only downside is that I have to manually delete articles form my Instapaper account - if I don't do this regularly I get confused whether or not I've read the article. I suppose I could find an instapaper app for the NST to do this from my device if I wanted to.
Also, Instapaper has a great "save to epub" that you can do manually... if you're not too excited about setting up a Calibre instance running 24/7 on a machine...
spedinfargo said:
[...] To save on battery, I only manually sync with dropbox - I suppose a person could schedule it for every morning or something.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You can use Tasker to turn on wifi and sync at specific times. Dropsync Pro provides a plugin that can be called by Tasker. I set up a timed event to trigger at 6:00 AM every day, turn on wifi and wait for a connection. If connected, it will keep wifi on for 2 minutes and launch Dropsync to sync changes. It works very well on my 2 NST devices, using only minimal power for wifi during the actual sync.
I also set Tasker to only turn on wifi when needed by specific apps.
I just got a Nook UK in the last sale and it's my first one, so I'm a total noob to the e-book world.
However, I'm an android user and rom flashing addicted for long, so since I got my reader I've only been tweaking it and haven't actually read a word... haha.
So, already updated to 1.2.1, rooted, kernel tweaks and the whole lot. I haven't installed gapps on it to keep it minimal as possible, I'm dowloading the apks on my phone and installing via ADB.
So, on to the question:
by removing all these B&N apps does it mean I won't be able to sync/buy from their store?
I'm already getting to know Calibre and checking other places to buy books, but it looks like that if I remove the apps and one day would like to buy from B&N again the only option would be to re-install the apps in order to get the ebook or am I missing something?
Some of you disable all of the B&N apps, like:
Originally Posted by Mnurlan from the thread
Guide/HowTo/Tips'nTricks - The perfect Nook Simple Touch Setup w/ battery optimizations
AFfileDownloadService.apk (Hint: disables book covers, skip it if you like book covers)
AccountAndSyncSettings.apk
AirRuntime.apk
BnAuthenticationService.apk
BnCloudRequestSvc.apk
Browser.apk
CloudService.apk
DemoMode.apk
DeviceManager.apk
DeviceRegistrator.apk
Gallery.apk
GoogleSearch.apk
Music.apk
NookCommunity.apk
Phone.apk
PicoTts.apk
QuickStartActivity.apk
Shop.apk
Social.apk
TelephonyProvider.apk
TtsService.apk
WaveformDownloader.apk
tl;dr
Want to keep my NST minimal and remove all clutter, but:
how do you guys manage your ebooks and where do you buy them from without the B&N apps and what to do If I ever want to buy from them again?
Probably wouldn't be able to buy on device without having the B&N apps installed/enabled or maybe the standalone Nook Android app. Not sure if with that setup it'd be able to read DRM'd Nook books (probably wouldn't auto load them, but might be able to when sideloaded) but if it can't it's very easy to strip the DRM, and you can buy and download the book from your browser on your computer. Or if it's available DRM free in another store that might also be an option
neoman4426 said:
Probably wouldn't be able to buy on device without having the B&N apps installed/enabled or maybe the standalone Nook Android app. Not sure if with that setup it'd be able to read DRM'd Nook books (probably wouldn't auto load them, but might be able to when sideloaded) but if it can't it's very easy to strip the DRM, and you can buy and download the book from your browser on your computer. Or if it's available DRM free in another store that might also be an option
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thank you for your answer
I wouldn't mind having to download to my computer and then transfer to the reader, but at least the B&N store doesn't give me the option to download.
Anyways, when I dig more into the reading world I'll find out the best set up soon enough.
I'm not guaranteeing it'll still be able to read the DRM'd books as I haven't tried the guide in question, it's always been either a full root or stock for me. That said, the Nook desktop application allows you to download the encrypted file, and all my purchased books show a download option in many places, such as on the overview page and from the "My Nook" landing. Even if the Nook itself can no longer read them, again not saying it will or won't, stripping of the DRM is trivial, Python script (also a Calibre plugin available that incorporates it and will auto strip any Nook books you import, and you can set it to auto import from a certain directory so you could point that to, say, the place where the Nook desktop app downloads them) that computes the key needed to decrypt (requires you to enter the credit card linked to your B&N account since that's part of the hash used, but the CC# is never written to disk or sent anywhere) and you can use it on any device that will read epubs, including the Nook if it no longer decrypts on device as it'll be treated like any other sideloaded DRM free book.
miguelitu said:
Thank you for your answer
I wouldn't mind having to download to my computer and then transfer to the reader, but at least the B&N store doesn't give me the option to download.
Anyways, when I dig more into the reading world I'll find out the best set up soon enough.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sure you can download your books to your computer. Logon to your B&N Account. Click on My Account at the top of the page. In the Digital Content section click on Manage Your Nook Library to get a list of your books with links to download them.
neoman4426 said:
I'm not guaranteeing it'll still be able to read the DRM'd books as I haven't tried the guide in question, it's always been either a full root or stock for me. That said, the Nook desktop application allows you to download the encrypted file, and all my purchased books show a download option in many places, such as on the overview page and from the "My Nook" landing. Even if the Nook itself can no longer read them, again not saying it will or won't, stripping of the DRM is trivial, Python script (also a Calibre plugin available that incorporates it and will auto strip any Nook books you import, and you can set it to auto import from a certain directory so you could point that to, say, the place where the Nook desktop app downloads them) that computes the key needed to decrypt (requires you to enter the credit card linked to your B&N account since that's part of the hash used, but the CC# is never written to disk or sent anywhere) and you can use it on any device that will read epubs, including the Nook if it no longer decrypts on device as it'll be treated like any other sideloaded DRM free book.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Great advice again, thank you
straygecko said:
Sure you can download your books to your computer. Logon to your B&N Account. Click on My Account at the top of the page. In the Digital Content section click on Manage Your Nook Library to get a list of your books with links to download them.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I got an UK Nook and for some reason it works differently. I got a book I bought from the e-reader, it shows on my account library at nook.com without option to download it and using the same login at the barnesandnobles.com it shows my nook connected to my account but the book does not show at the library...it looks like they made some weird distinctions on how to handle books bought outside US or something like that.
For testing, I added a free book to my library via nook.com, and it shows on my library at the barnesandnoble.com, so it seems that the books purchased in pounds won't behave the same way and don't have a straightforward way of downloading it.
I mean, I already took the file from the device and removed the DRM, but annoying that I'm not just able to download it.
Hi,
Is there an app that will manage the library on the nook glow/simple touch better than the standard shelves? Adding a new book to a shelf is painful when you have to scroll through all the books already on the card! What I'd like is something like calibre where I can tag books and then create folders by tags.
I've found thread on fixed shelving but that app seems to be complex to use and maybe not finished.
I've also found this library thread but that too seems to be unfinished. V1.1 is the latest on the web site which doesn't look at the SD card.
Is there a free app in google play that works? I've failed to find one, most seem to want a later OS version.
Thanks
Renate's Library.apk 1.10 is the best I've found. Get it here : http://www.temblast.com/download/Library-1.10.apk
That said, you can search only authors and titles. You can't label your books like the B&N shelf function, as poorly executed as it is . I think the lack of a good retrieval system is a major problem with ebook readers. I have more than 1,000 books and sorting by subject would be very useful.