Database Users

[Q] What are the eReader options?

I just picked up a refurbed NC to add to my Android stable. Haven't done anything with it yet. I kind of like the stock ereader app in comparison with the Nook app that is on the Android Market. However, I do plan on rooting it and adding apps at a minimum.
My questions are:
1. Has anyone figured out how to get the stock ereader working on any of the custom ROMs?
2. If I want to retain the stock ereader and add capabilities to the device, do I only have two options (1. root stock, 2. dual boot)?
3. What are you guys doing for your ereading? How do you like the stock ereader in comparison with the alternatives? Has that influenced what you've done with the device? What are the best ereading apps?
I'd appreciate any feedback.

1. No; probably won't ever happen from what I've read.
2. Yes
3. I'm using FBReader and liking it. Never tried the stock reader. There are two or three other readers that are popular around here.

I may not fully understand the question...
My Nook Color is rooted with manual nooter, followed by an overclocked kernel.
The stock reader app works just fine, just like stock. All the stock features work just fine including B&N shopping and purchasing.
I did have some issue with program space, but once I moved all the android apps (Not the B&N apps!) to SD, space was freed up and all B&N apps installed and update just fine.
I have no reason to install any other reading application. The built in stock reader works great.

framitz said:
I may not fully understand the question...
My Nook Color is rooted with manual nooter, followed by an overclocked kernel.
The stock reader app works just fine, just like stock. All the stock features work just fine including B&N shopping and purchasing.
I did have some issue with program space, but once I moved all the android apps (Not the B&N apps!) to SD, space was freed up and all B&N apps installed and update just fine.
I have no reason to install any other reading application. The built in stock reader works great.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
He is asking about if you use a different rom the stock reader is only available on BN roms
I use either kindle app, nook app for magazines, and generic ones for epub and other such types. the stock one is nice but if you want to really expand the tablet it is a loss i was fine with.

Currently use FBreader for non-DRM'ed, Kindle for any Amazon purchases. Nook app is too buggy to use at the moment. Bluefire reader, which I really like on the iPad and iPod Touch, is only out for iOS atm but is supposed to be released for android in June -- I'm hoping it can read all DRM'ed books the way the iOS app can.

I'm using Moon+ reader
I am using the Moon+ reader and really like it. Biggest problem is lack of documentation (which I'm thinking of writing). Still needs some improvements, with book indexing, but has lots of nice features - automatic & locked screen orientation, finger slide for bright/dim settings, standard "squeeze" to change font size - tap & swipe & scroll paging - audio reading of books (like amazon, but voice not quite as good). It is very configurable - including fonts, backgrounds, margins, line spacing.
I already had all my books on the emmc card (sorry, I am running CM7 root off of my SD card) from my standard nook book and had no problems pointing Moon+ to look in the right location for my library.

Thanks for the feedback so far.

I've found Aldiko superior to NC stock both for reading and browsing my epub titles. It also handles pdf, but not as well as ezPDF. For me, it strikes the best balance between ease of use and customization. Call me nuts, but I find cinnamon-on-mustard with the barest margin the most readable arrangement in any light.

I rooted and overclocked a new NC with 1.2 pre-installed, with no change in ROM so far. Rooting broke the ereader as well as the preloaded 'shop' app. Fortunately, books downloaded before the rooting procedure can still be read on the ereader, but nothing else. A couple side-loaded versions of the nook ereader app also do not work, and I haven't found any posts where anybody has gotten theirs working after root.
I use primarily the kindle app, but need an ereader that allows you to borrow ebooks from the public library.

mjf0000000 said:
I use primarily the kindle app, but need an ereader that allows you to borrow ebooks from the public library.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Overdrive is generally the library-borrowing app of choice, though I haven't used it myself.

Thanks taosaur, i'll try it

As taosaur mentioned, Ezpdf reader is the best pdf ebook reader. I generally only use it due to my heavy pdf collection (sorry epub fans). However, for certain books that have been "scanned" in or are heavy on pictures, I find that Adobe Reader is best for those; it's hardware accelerated.

Another vote for moon reader, very good program. The kindle app works pretty good too. Ezpdf reader is about the best pdf reader out there.

Monitoring reading activity on the Nook Touch?

Dear XDA community,
First I apologize for the long post, if you want to see only my actual question, just skip the next 2 paragraphs.The stuff before is for context on why your help will be so crucial to us!
Friends and I have started a non-profit organization with the aim of bringing Nooks Touch loaded with literature and DIY books to Kenya (the website is readandprosper.org) The idea is to provide children in their last two years of secondary education with choice and easy access to both Kenyan, pan-African, and US/European literature, as well as replace their textbooks with electronic versions. Currently, up to 5 children share a single textbook (generally in bad shape as well). We also would like to include lots of Do It Yourself books to encourage children to learn useful trades (carpentry, irrigation, mechanical repair, etc).
We have made significant progress in our work, identified the school where we will pilot the project, identified the books we'd like to use (though publishers are giving us a hard time; shocker!) etc. Right now, we are working on the monitoring and evaluation plan and are looking into collecting data about the use of the devices by children and professors. This is where the XDA community's help would be crucial!
Our hope is that there is a way to record what books are being read and also basic information about basic reading patterns, like how many pages are being read in sequence vs. just browsing through the book. Do you guys and gals know any way this can be done via a script/app?
I have a pretty good understanding of Android, having rooted and tested lots of roms on my G2x and having done some basic customization work in the guts so I'm OK with a not super simple and easy solution. It would be really helpful for us to understand use patterns and what books have the most value so we can better tailor our approach!
Thank you so much for any suggestions/help!

Depending on how in-depth you wanted the info, this could get complicated.
You'd need to modify the reader.
You'd have to safeguard against logging as read when somebody holds down a side button continuously.
You can look in the Nook and check the content provider content://media/external/docs and see if a book was ever opened.
If you took occasional snapshots of this you might make some sense of reading.
There's also content://com.bn.nook.reader.providers.lastreadingpointprovider/
It's not what you want, but the easiest data that you can get is if people are using Adobe Digital Editions to borrow from libraries.
You can look in C:\Users\Whoever\My Documents\My Digital Editions and see all the books ever borrowed.

Renate NST said:
Depending on how in-depth you wanted the info, this could get complicated.
You'd need to modify the reader.
You'd have to safeguard against logging as read when somebody holds down a side button continuously.
You can look in the Nook and check the content provider content://media/external/docs and see if a book was ever opened.
If you took occasional snapshots of this you might make some sense of reading.
There's also content://com.bn.nook.reader.providers.lastreadingpointprovider/
It's not what you want, but the easiest data that you can get is if people are using Adobe Digital Editions to borrow from libraries.
You can look in C:\Users\Whoever\My Documents\My Digital Editions and see all the books ever borrowed.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thank you for the info Renate!
I think our first interest is in finding out which books are read most often. Number of pages read would be interesting, but as you said, it will be difficult to collect the data without getting a lot of "noise" or some kind of access to the reader's innards.
We are also open to installing a different reader than the Nook standard, like Moon+ or Aldiko (after root of course). Do any of these third party readers provide an API-type access that would enable more extensive data collection? Otherwise we might try to talk to the app makers and see if they might be able to cook up something for us.
The ADE aspect doesn't really work for us, there is no WiFi where the e-readers are going and we will be sideloading all the books.
We'll continue to think about all this. I got one of our refurbished Nook yesterday to play with, and so far I haven't really gone the rooting route just yet, but I think it will be happening pretty soon.

I just wanted to revive this thread on logging how students use their e-readers.
Since my last post, I haven't really been able to find much more information, which is incredible frustrating.
School libraries, public libraries, and so forth are all using or at least beginning to use e-readers and I can't believe that there exist no app or reading software that tracks reading habits or use. I understand there are some privacy issues, but anonymized data would carry incredibly useful information. In our case, we will have multiple kids using each reader, and no log-in so the privacy issues is essentially void. Plus the data will inform what books we should load up on our readers in the future.
Does anybody on XDA have any clue about an app that can collect reading data? I know Moon+ Pro has some reading statistics for example, but do you guys/gals know what data is available?

Looking for advice on root and apps for my new-to-me NST.

I picked up a like new NST without GlowLight and easel cover from an online acquaintance and I'm looking to make it work a little better for me.
I like the stock reader for ebooks. However, I have several PDF files with images and the stock reader just drops them completely. Looking around, it seems that ezPDF is a preferred app, but I haven't seen anything about it's image handling. A couple of them have color images and those aren't terribly important for clear viewing. Two others have black and white images and graphs and those need to be readable.
I'm also interested in a text editor of some sort. Does Google Drive work so I can use it's word processor app? Is there a good simple text editor app?
How about a spreadsheet app? Google Drive would be nice again, but anything basic work?
Calculator app? Doesn't need to be scientific, but extended operations would be nice.
I see a few game options, but not the most important. Anyone running a Spider solitare app on their phone?
Obviously I need to root it, but that's a tad . Does it matter which root I use (NST, N2E, other)? I've rooted 4 different phones, 3 Android and the HD2, so I'm not too worried about the act, just the correct procedure for my non-GlowLight NST.
So what are your suggestions?

MarkofT said:
[...] I like the stock reader for ebooks. However, I have several PDF files with images and the stock reader just drops them completely. Looking around, it seems that ezPDF is a preferred app, but I haven't seen anything about it's image handling. A couple of them have color images and those aren't terribly important for clear viewing. Two others have black and white images and graphs and those need to be readable.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Check out Mantano Reader. It handles PDFs reasonably well on the NST, at least for my needs. I also like that it will treat B&N books and sideloaded books equally, including covers and metadata display. I've completely replaced the B&N Library and Reader apps with Mantano on my NSTs.
I'm also interested in a text editor of some sort. Does Google Drive work so I can use it's word processor app? Is there a good simple text editor app?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I only did quick testing, but Evernote seems to work well. Documents to Go seems to work, but I never did a lot with it. (My device isn't with me, or otherwise I'd double check for you.)
How about a spreadsheet app? Google Drive would be nice again, but anything basic work?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Again, Documents to Go seems to work.
[...] Obviously I need to root it, but that's a tad . Does it matter which root I use (NST, N2E, other)?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have always have good luck with TouchNooter (use the latest) so long as I remember to:
1. Confirm that I'm using the appropriate version of TN for the B&N firmware I'm running. The latest TN works on B&N 1.1.2.
2. Read the instructions -- all of them -- carefully. The NST isn't exactly like any other device, and there are some quirks (e.g. 24 hour Market delay) you want to be aware of.
3. Back your device up correctly FIRST. Unlike a lot of other devices, there is some device-specific content on some of the partitions. If you do find yourself considering doing a wipe of any sort that affects partitions, be VERY SURE you have this backed up first!
Good luck! They're nifty little devices.

wow...Nook Touch on xda...? i'm confused

hi...
am confused to see nook touch on xda....i mean what improvement would rooting/installing custom rom on nook do?
i though nook touch is only used for reading and it does that already...what more improvement can be made...

jamaljan said:
hi...
am confused to see nook touch on xda....i mean what improvement would rooting/installing custom rom on nook do?
i though nook touch is only used for reading and it does that already...what more improvement can be made...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Spam post?
Anyway.. if you do it right you will get a full Adroid 2.1 e-ink tablet.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rP2CVXzpK5s
Don't create useless threads, read the forum etc.
"more improvement" = fast display mode, every PDF/chm/doc/epub... reader that runs on Android, google play, games , web browsing, email clients, video playback, audio playback using external USB audio card, image viewers, making notes using external USB keyboard, RSS/ATOM, VNC, additional dictionaries and fonts,
drawing apk's, flashcard apk's (ANKI)
the list goes on.

osowiecki said:
Spam post?
Anyway.. if you do it right you will get a full Adroid 2.1 e-ink tablet.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rP2CVXzpK5s
Don't create useless threads, read the forum etc.
"more improvement" = fast display mode, every PDF/chm/doc/epub... reader that runs on Android, google play, games , web browsing, email clients, video playback, audio playback using external USB audio card, image viewers, making notes using external USB keyboard, RSS/ATOM, VNC, additional dictionaries and fonts,
drawing apk's, flashcard apk's (ANKI)
the list goes on.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
thanks a lot. my intention was not to spam. i was just surprised.
will definitely check out the forum :good:
EDIT: I don't think we can make it an e-ink reader, you are joking, rite?

jamaljan said:
thanks a lot. my intention was not to spam. i was just surprised.
will definitely check out the forum :good:
EDIT: I don't think we can make it an e-ink reader, you are joking, rite?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
buy NST and it will show u that u have e-ink reader and we will convert it to a tablet.
i think u just spam .... and next post u will do and seemed it spam ..... unfortunately report moderators
PS: i have rooted NST and already convert it to tablet

speedman2202 said:
buy NST and it will show u that u have e-ink reader and we will convert it to a tablet.
i think u just spam .... and next post u will do and seemed it spam ..... unfortunately report moderators
PS: i have rooted NST and already convert it to tablet
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I already have Nook Simple Touch and yea its eink reader. I thought it was being referred that we can make it a colour ink reader... maybe i read it wrongly.

jamaljan said:
I already have Nook Simple Touch and yea its eink reader. I thought it was being referred that we can make it a colour ink reader... maybe i read it wrongly.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Of coarse we cant.
Just watch video, what is this thread about?

jamaljan said:
[...] am confused to see nook touch on xda....i mean what improvement would rooting/installing custom rom on nook do?
i though nook touch is only used for reading and it does that already...what more improvement can be made...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You've confused yourself by thinking all improvements have to be made to reading. Even in reading, though, there is room for improvement. The stock NOOK reader and library have a lot of limitations and problems:
Limited font selection.
Poor and fragile organizational capabilities with large collections
Mixed support for metadata in sideloaded, non-B&N content (e.g. covers, book summaries)
No support for synchronizing reading positions on non-B&N content.
Removed page numbering from table of contents.
Dropped support for Discover and Popular Science magazines.
I also got tired of B&N deciding that, because I hadn't purchased anything from them lately, I must be interested in novels with shirtless dudes and plastering them on my home screen. The first thing I did after rooting was replace the B&N library and reader with Mantano Reader Premium, which together with their cloud subscription service, keeps my reading synchronized across 5 devices, regardless of where I bought the book. Mantano can also read the newest Discover and PopSci formats with no problem. Mantano also supports additional dictionaries. I find the reading experience on my "Mantano Simple Touch" vastly superior.
Of course, there's the usual litany of performance and battery improvements:
Improved control of wifi usage and automated daily sync using Tasker. Wifi only turns on for the few apps I use that need it. No more leaving wifi on overnight by accident and finding battery down.
Improved control of wifi access using WiFi Manager. Much easier to search for wifi options.
Ability to log into captive web portals (e.g. hotels, airports) and automate login process using Wi-Fi Web Login. Unit can wake up at night and sync without manual intervention to access wifi.
Overclock, multitouch and fast screen modes (I don't use these much personally, but they work well with no perceptible battery impact.)
Automatic sync to local timezone using Clocksync (useful when traveling).
Improved keyboard with Smart Keyboard Pro.
And the usual litany of app selection:
Improved browser (Opera Mobile).
Corporate and private email (Touchdown, Maildroid)
Automated Dropbox folder sync (e.g. nightly news subscriptions using Calibre) using Dropsync.
Offline web reading using Instapaper with Instafetch client.
Travel info (Flight Track, TripIt)
RSS news feeds (NewsRob, My6Sense)
Google Voice (voicemail transcriptions as text).
And a few time-wasting games that work well on the eink screen:
Shredder Chess
Yukon Gold (there's an eink-optimized version here on XDA).
Crosswords
My question to you is, owning a device and having such capabilities, why would you NOT root it? A better start might have been to simply ask what people are doing with rooted devices rather than questioning the need to do so because you don't understand why. I can literally sit at the beach in direct sunlight and do these things (depending on wifi, of course). Why would I carry another device to do these basic tasks when the NST I already have does them just fine, anywhere, indoors or out? Do you find it more sensible for a corporation to define how you should use the device you paid for?

Thanks bobstro for the detailed answer. I'll definitely root my device as soon as I get some time. :good:

[Q] Sync last read page, notes, bookmarks between Nook ST and Galaxy S3?

I just purchased and successfully rooted (thank you experts here) my Nook Simple Touch.
I would like to create a streamlined reading experience between my Nook ST (where I will do majority of my reading), and my Galaxy S3 (which I will read while on the bus / in lines / etc). This is in fact why I purchased my own root-able Nook rather than continuing to side-load and use my girlfriend's kindle.
I have searched extensively and not come up with any solutions. The current Moon Reader Pro is not supported by the Nook ST, and reading others' posts it seems it does not work very well anymore even if you can find a place to download the old version apk's (http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1687208&highlight=sync+last+read+page)
I have tried PageTurner, which does not allow you to make notes or bookmarks, but at least is supposed to sync last page read, but it's not working for me across devices.
It seems like this really would be a common feature users would desire, has anyone found a good way to accomplish this?
Thanks for the help!

Forgot to say, I have also tried FBreader, but this would require me to root my Galaxy S3, and I have no other reason to want to do that at this point in time, so prefer a different option.

Found some solutions.
1.) Page Turner
This is what I settled on. The sync does in fact work, what I had to do was delete every book off my device first. Then on Calibre, change the settings so it would automatically manage the metadata (on each connect) on my devices. After doing this I re-uploaded the books to my phone and Nook Simple Touch, allowing Calibre to manage these devices. Since doing this, the sync feature has worked well.
Pros:
-best, most crisp display of any of the readers I have found which are capable of syncing
-sync feature works smoothly (after loading as above)
-developer of this software is very active and responsive
-the objective developer states for designing this software is consistent with my purpose - open platform for reading DRM free ebooks smoothly on multiple devices
Cons:
-does not support custom bookmarks or notes (I am told this is planned for the next version, but timeline is not certain)
-control of interface leaves room for improvement (have to navigate through cumbersome menu to adjust font size, can't put in all the cool finger swipe controls that Moon Reader has), however, as my GF put it, the purpose is to read not to have fancy controls, and bottom line is once I get the settings adjusted the way I want, this offers the most crisp, best visual reading experience.
2.) Moon+ Reader Pro (old version, can get the old APK that Nook will accept)
I was able to get this sync feature to work after clearing device content and re-uploading with Calibre managing devices and meta-data, as described above. Not sure what problem the people in the thread I linked to in my original post were having, but I did not have this problem when using the same version on both my phone and nook.
Pros:
-syncs
-amazing control options (adjust font by sliding up and down side, assign swipes across page to various functions - I liked left to right and vice versa for skipping ahead or back by chapters, swipe up to close app, swipe down to return to bookshelf), very feature rich
-allows for notes and bookmarks
Cons:
-display is horrible on Nook! absolutely terrible. This was the deal breaker for me, as even though I loved the ability to customize and control the interface, the fuzziness, lack of contrast and crisp screen was unacceptable for prolonged reading.
-the developer is not currently interested in supporting the Nook, so there will be no updates which will change anything. All the development is going into versions that will not run on the Android 2.1 (which nook uses)
3.) Aldiko using Aldiko sync
I must confess I did not try this very hard. I downloaded the latest version of Aldiko which the Nook would support, and found the control of the interface as well as quality of visual display to be inferior to the other two options.
However, you can make this work I believe. You need the separate app aldiko sync. Unfortunately, in the more recent versions (which are not supported on Nook), you need to have root access to the device (something I was not interested in doing on my phone). I did get it to work by loading the old APK, which did not require root access for aldiko sync, and this did work. But as above, I found this option inferior to both of the others.
Hope that helps anyone else with the same questions I had. I would like it if Page Turner would become more feature rich, the very most important feature needed being support for note taking, and custom book marks.