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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...
Click to expand...
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.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I prefer the Nook app because of the way the text is formatted, but I agree with dc, Moon Reader is a good alternative.
hi folks.
gonna be getting me one of these when they go on sale in a week or so here in the uk.
i want one to root because it looks like the perfect ereader to use with pdfs.
my question is once rooted and touchnooter is installed multi touch and no refresh are enabled and the very few apps i want installed are on the deivce can i then somehow remove the market app?
the plan is to simply install a few other ebook apps some pdf apps gmail skydrive and then never install another app ever. i want it as minimal as possible to help with the battery and the less that is on there the better
if anyone knows please let me know.
cheers
You could remove Market after using TN, or simply root without it. I've spent a lot of time looking at battery consumption on my NSTs, and have never noticed Market causing any drain worth worrying about.
With the recent release of Amazon's Kindle Paperwhite, you might want to wait to see how B&N responds. The NST is nice enough, but a capacitive screen would be nice.
bobstro said:
You could remove Market after using TN, or simply root without it. I've spent a lot of time looking at battery consumption on my NSTs, and have never noticed Market causing any drain worth worrying about.
With the recent release of Amazon's Kindle Paperwhite, you might want to wait to see how B&N responds. The NST is nice enough, but a capacitive screen would be nice.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
thanks for the reply. yes i did see the tinynoot root solution after i originally posted this thread.
my question about that is if i used that method can i still install the multi touch and no refresh hack (i am guessing i can but confirmation would be nice). if i can then i will most likely go down that route. it isnt all about battery life but i know the market does check very often when wifi is enabled for updates and what not and i would rather not have to worry about that at all. bottom line i want to keep the reader as close to a reader as possible. pdf email web browser ebook reader and file manager is all that is needed. nothing more is required or wanted and therefore i want it is minimal as possible with no bells or whistles.
not really too fussed about any new future nook and will take the plunge as soon as i can here in the uk. if they bring out something extra special later then i will simply sell the old and buy the new but i will do that as and when i want/ have to. the reason the nook gets my vote over my kindle is the page turn buttons. i have a keyboard 3g at the moment and it is great but it doesnt handle pdfs very well. i bought the new kindle touch but i missed the physical buttons and so bought another keyboard but amazon have crippled the pdf functionality and although i could jailbreak it and install one of the pdf viewer hacks that improve the situation i cant be bothered with all the faffing around. however i was willing to do this but then i saw the multi touch no refresh hack on the nook and watched how it handled pdfs when the hacks were installed and that was me sold. i have a lot of pdfs that i would to view on an e ink screen and the nook is by far and away the best solution for the job.
"can i still install the multi touch and no refresh hack" (after rooting with tinynoot)
Not clear that you can, but if you look at the thread on the overclock kernel that's just been posted, the dev who posted that
also posted an APK that gives you much/most of hte benefit of the no refresh hack, in terms of screen speed.
I am not sure if that work also gives multitouch.
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:
Using a rooted NST 1.2.1 with cool reader.
Is there a library app compatible with this apart from the stock library? The app is just to view the books present on the device. Something like bookshelves, like the moon reader kinds.
Also, is there a NoRefresh compatible with 1.2.1 ? The other NoRefresh apps dont work with this version.
Well, you can try my Library (see signature).
I've never used CoolReader (or seen the manifest out of it) so I can't say how it will work.
Thank Renate, Your Library app is amazing, I love its simplicity. Besides, It also helps me to break the habit of putting a lot of book on my nook =).
Btw, Can it be launched on startup like default library. I hate to see Nook Launcher .
Renate NST said:
Well, you can try my Library (see signature).
I've never used CoolReader (or seen the manifest out of it) so I can't say how it will work.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks!
But, is there any app which will present the library in the form of bookshelves?
Also, is there s NoRefresh version of NST Root 1.2.1 ?
shriramks said:
Thanks! But...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Does that mean that it works with CoolReader?
I guess that you could make my library the default home screen,
but then how would you launch all the neat apps on your Nook?
Hint: A long touch on a book in my Library brings up the full metadata.
It works
Selection of the book from the library prompts me for the option of reading, i.e, cool reader or the native B&N reader. Not sure how exactly to make Cool Reader the default option.
Have a lot of books on the device, so, it is a bit tedious to keep scrolling down the list. Hence the interest in shelves. B&N Library has shelves, but manual addition everytime i download a book is a pain.
Also, any other settings available on your library app apart from the metadata on long press?
Renate NST said:
Does that mean that it works with CoolReader?
I guess that you could make my library the default home screen,
but then how would you launch all the neat apps on your Nook?
Hint: A long touch on a book in my Library brings up the full metadata.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Indeed, by putting coolreader in /system/app, When I choose a book from library, A pop up shows me which reader will be used.
Can you show me the way to make your library the default home screen ? I really love its features :fingers-crossed::fingers-crossed:
PS:// I removed a lot of apps from /system/app, put FBreaderJ and CoolReader in, now my nook seems enhanced ( boot faster..). The battery seems better ( It lost 2%/day in idle mode)
Whenever multiple apps could handle an intent but no app has been specified as default, a "picker" window pops up.
It lists all the possibilities and at the very bottom there is a checkbox.
The checkbox has text in white which says, "Use this app as default app in the future" (or something).
Of course you can't read the white text.
Just click the box, then carefully select which app to use in the future.
To undo what you selected can be difficult because you will never see that dialog again if you check the checkbox.
There are tools to fix that, non-B&N Settings.apk or you can edit /data/system/packages.xml
Uhm It seems that we are misunderstanding. I read all your posts about alternative library app.One of them mentioned that if I want to use your Library app, I have to remove default Home, Shop and Library of my Nook. I did then when my nook started, It showed a launcher with your Library Icon.
Can you modify your app that when my nook start, it will be run at the same time and disable the HOME button ( used to get back to launcher)?
If you modified your "n" button it should go to whatever you selected as the default app for home.
Apparently that is the default launcher.
My question remains, if you make Library the default home, how will you get to your browser, email, etc?
Right now Library does not handle the home intent.
Renate NST said:
If you modified your "n" button it should go to whatever you selected as the default app for home.
Apparently that is the default launcher.
My question remains, if you make Library the default home, how will you get to your browser, email, etc?
Right now Library does not handle the home intent.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Not making it the default home. Configuring the physical button for switching pages as a shortcut to the library.
Also,are anyone having problems with connecting to the wi-fi?
Renate NST said:
If you modified your "n" button it should go to whatever you selected as the default app for home.
Apparently that is the default launcher.
My question remains, if you make Library the default home, how will you get to your browser, email, etc?
Right now Library does not handle the home intent.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Actually, I do not use my Nook for email, browser, I have an ipad for those tasks. I love the nook because I can focus on just reading. The combination of your library and coolreader makes my nook perfect.
Not making it the default home. Configuring the physical button for switching pages as a shortcut to the library.
Also,are anyone having problems with connecting to the wi-fi?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Which firmware are you using ? 1.0 or 1.1. I heard that 1.1.2 comes with Wifi bug fix.
Btw, Today I upgraded into 1.2.1. The reader renders text much better than 1.1.2's one howerver, the battery is a pain. I lost 4% in just one hour even in sleeping mode @@ Does any one know why ? ( I removed all unnecessary apps like phone.apk, telephony...)
I agree with you.
Without putting my finger on it the text or page turns or something is better in 1.2.1
They redid the EpdController (which handles eInk modes) in 1.2+
The Nook Touch has always had an intermittent problem with not sleeping.
I have even caught it with the screen's IR touch sensors still running in sleep.
Lore and legend says never to use the power button to put your Nook to sleep.
Let it time out on the screen saver.
I'll see about doing something on that Home issue.
Right now my Nook is not booting up and I have to hook up the console to see why.
Renate NST said:
I agree with you.
Without putting my finger on it the text or page turns or something is better in 1.2.1
They redid the EpdController (which handles eInk modes) in 1.2+
The Nook Touch has always had an intermittent problem with not sleeping.
I have even caught it with the screen's IR touch sensors still running in sleep.
Lore and legend says never to use the power button to put your Nook to sleep.
Let it time out on the screen saver.
I'll see about doing something on that Home issue.
Right now my Nook is not booting up and I have to hook up the console to see why.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If I replace 1.1.2 reader with 1.2.1's one, can it work?
PS:// Can't wait to see your works. :victory::victory:
A question. Your app reads files present in sdcard\my files\books.
Any way to broaden the file structure?
Thanks!
I'm trying to figure out what to do with Library.apk
Currently it only handles epub files.
It could handle any kind of file but the problem is extracting metadata.
If it's not extracting metadata you might as well be just using a file manager.
Extracting metadata out of epubs is pretty simple.
Extracting metadata out of pdfs can be difficult.
There is a nice (computer-type) library that can do this though.
The Nook Reader also handles pdfs.
I have lots of technical references in pdf but they are better accessed from a file manager.
Another topic I wanted to raise elsewhere:
Are people happy with their pdf reading capability/apps?
Are there problems with opening some pdfs or formatting?
Are the pan/zoom/orientation options sufficient?
I'm working (a bit) on a ground-up rewrite of the Reader.
It's still lacking a lot of features, but it also doesn't have all the B&N cruft in it.
Right now it has portrait/landscape of PDFs with overscan (to get rid of the paper margins).
Even this small step makes reading easier.
I've got about 200+ PDFs on my Nook, one that is 3700 pages long.
Renate NST said:
I'm working (a bit) on a ground-up rewrite of the Reader.
It's still lacking a lot of features, but it also doesn't have all the B&N cruft in it.
Right now it has portrait/landscape of PDFs with overscan (to get rid of the paper margins).
Even this small step makes reading easier.
I've got about 200+ PDFs on my Nook, one that is 3700 pages long.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I love and use Library.apk and I hate to be critical about such good free software but on my nook sometimes the app doesn't capture the same title and author (or even getting the author) as does Calibre and the standard nook Library. Also, sometimes the author sorting is by first name, sometimes by last name even on the same page. I'm using the 1.9 version.
The problem is always the lack of good metadata.
Even figuring out how to split a name is not easy.
Jethro Tull should be filed under J for the band or under T for the historical person?
Gabriel García Márquez, is his last name García Márquez or Márquez?
This is the way it is supposed to be filled in:
Code:
<dc:creator opf:file-as="Alcott, Louisa May">Louisa May Alcott</dc:creator>
If you can paste me the metadata that causes problems, I'd be grateful.
@mergen3107 Yes, I've noticed a lot of those problems.
The footnote one is the most annoying to me right now.
The current state of things is that I use my reader for PDFs and still use the stock reader for epubs.
Renate NST said:
The problem is always the lack of good metadata.
Even figuring out how to split a name is not easy.
Jethro Tull should be filed under J for the band or under T for the historical person?
Gabriel García Márquez, is his last name García Márquez or Márquez?
This is the way it is supposed to be filled in:
Code:
<dc:creator opf:file-as="Alcott, Louisa May">Louisa May Alcott</dc:creator>
If you can paste me the metadata that causes problems, I'd be grateful.
@mergen3107 Yes, I've noticed a lot of those problems.
The footnote one is the most annoying to me right now.
The current state of things is that I use my reader for PDFs and still use the stock reader for epubs.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Here is a link to examples some (of many) problem files: https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/20746013/Problems.zip
They all look ok in Calibre and in the stock Lilbrary app.
Hi All,
Have you ever had such a problem with FBreader? (see attached pic)
It happens every few times you launch the app.
It's quite annoying, because you have to hit the cancel button and restart the app few times to get it working.
Initially I though it might be related to a lack of memory or something, but after freeing more that 100MB of ram it still crashing.
Thanks,
m6
moosix said:
Hi All,
Have you ever had such a problem with FBreader? (see attached pic)
It happens every few times you launch the app.
It's quite annoying, because you have to hit the cancel button and restart the app few times to get it working.
Initially I though it might be related to a lack of memory or something, but after freeing more that 100MB of ram it still crashing.
Thanks,
m6
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Damn, I posted it in wrong category
Can someone move it to i.e. "Nook Touch General" ?
Thx
Moved.
I'm rooting now with the primary objective being FBreader. I'll let you know how it goes.
Have you found a solution or an older version that is stable? Which android version did you use? My understanding is that the Nook Touch is based on Android 2.0 so I'm trying that one first. There are three versions of each build available: http://fbreader.org/FBReaderJ
moosix said:
Hi All,
Have you ever had such a problem with FBreader? (see attached pic)
It happens every few times you launch the app.
It's quite annoying, because you have to hit the cancel button and restart the app few times to get it working.
Initially I though it might be related to a lack of memory or something, but after freeing more that 100MB of ram it still crashing.
Thanks,
m6
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sim2 said:
I'm rooting now with the primary objective being FBreader. I'll let you know how it goes.
Have you found a solution or an older version that is stable? Which android version did you use? My understanding is that the Nook Touch is based on Android 2.0 so I'm trying that one first. There are three versions of each build available: http://fbreader.org/FBReaderJ
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
From what I've read about NST, it's running Android 2.1 (but some apps that require 2.2 also works).
At the moment I'm playing with FBReader 2.0 beta 8 for Android 2.* devices, so far it works pretty good. The only thing that doesn't work is search. Wherever I try to search for a book app does a quick restarts of the device!!! (maybe it requires some system application that I've disabled when using a "Disable all B&N apps" option in NookManager).
Apart from FBReader I can recommend some other ereaders:
Prestigio ereader 3.1 - it's a nice clone of FBReader but only if you don't mind a rather poor visibility in the bookshelf view
EBookDroid very good PDF DJVU reader
txt reader It only reads txt files
btw. GO Book is also nice ereader. There's only one problem with it. It always opens a book in a fullscreen mode, which prevents you from using the statusbar "go back/menu" buttons.
To overcome this nasty feature use Smart Statusbar
Thanks for the reply, I settled on the same version of FBReader with good results. It crashes under one rare circumstances (that I can't actually remember atm..) but not while I'm reading.
I also got Colordict 3 working so I'm happy about that. had to install the Google App store to get it as it's not in the Amazon store.
I use FB on all of my other devices so I'm sticking with it. Great reader, IMO. And since I'll rarely if ever leave the app, I'm quite satisfied now. FBreader in-book search works for me. Are you talking about the B&N book search?
The only FB annoyance I've noticed is that I've been unable to get FBreader to access the on-board book location which seems to be /media/My Files/books. I can only get FB to access the /sdcard. Not delved to deeply into this yet as Its not a big deal.
Would be nice if there were complete ROMS with only E-reader and related software installed. This doesn't seem to be the case for the NST. I had to jump through a few hoops to get this rooted & install apps and I've rooted quite a few android devices before.
moosix said:
From what I've read about NST, it's running Android 2.1 (but some apps that require 2.2 also works).
At the moment I'm playing with FBReader 2.0 beta 8 for Android 2.* devices, so far it works pretty good. The only thing that doesn't work is search. Wherever I try to search for a book app does a quick restarts of the device!!! (maybe it requires some system application that I've disabled when using a "Disable all B&N apps" option in NookManager).
Apart from FBReader I can recommend some other ereaders:
Prestigio ereader 3.1 - it's a nice clone of FBReader but only if you don't mind a rather poor visibility in the bookshelf view
EBookDroid very good PDF DJVU reader
txt reader It only reads txt files
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
---------- Post added at 08:22 AM ---------- Previous post was at 08:17 AM ----------
moosix said:
btw. GO Book is also nice ereader. There's only one problem with it. It always opens a book in a fullscreen mode, which prevents you from using the statusbar "go back/menu" buttons.
To overcome this nasty feature use Smart Statusbar
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I actually prefer full screen. I re-mapped the right side buttons to android 'back' and 'menu' so I can navigate android and other apps more easily. Pressing menu in FBReader also brings up the status bar.
BTW, I rooted with NookManager, and then installed a google apps package to get the (somewhat broken) G app store.