Related
I was wondering if there was some other eReader out there that I could install on my rooted NC. The one that comes with the NC is pretty basic I was also hoping that I could find one that has text-to-voice.
Any advice ?
The only one I know that can do text to voice is called Wordplayer but it's a pretty clunky app.
You can try Moon Reader which is pretty good and has a fancy 3d page turning affect.
But my ultimate recommendation is to stick to the build in app since no other app will have access to B&N purchased stuff. And if you don't use B&N, you should return your nook.
Pinesal said:
And if you don't use B&N, you should return your nook.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for the recommendations I will look those apps up. I would never return my NC. Even tho I don't use the B&N store I have 100's of books that are ePub and work perfectly well on my Nook. B&N is not the only source for books.
Cheers
FBReader is what I use.. I didn't like Moon+ because it's WAY too easy to flick when I want to turn; and I don't like flicking to scroll personally.. I like to just tap and let it change the page..
I've found the B&N Book app is slow as balls, has anyone else noticed that? I have some epub's that load fine on my computer, Moon+, FBReader... but they take 2+ minutes to open in the B&N reader app.
I'll just keep using FBReader. If I actually have some B&N books (buy or borrow from wife) I'll use the built-in but otherwise.. Oh, and for night reading, I like white on BLACK with the brightness down, TYVM. No more white on grey.
FYI, this is how I set up FBReader:
First off, you gotta have Softkeys working so you can hit the menu button as the notification/status bar is hidden by default. I personally set the Softkeys tool to Double-click home button and launch Softkeys, works pretty well when I need to access it.
So then hit the Menu, pick the More option, then the Settings option. Fiirst thing I do is to make it easier to get to settings and such, I go into Appearance and check Show status bar. Then in the Scrolling options, I uncheck everything. That makes it scroll on tap, and scrolls "up down", ie: you tap the bottom half of the screen anywhere, and it scrolls down. top half anyway, scrolls up. If you like the left/right (like the Nook app does), leave the "Horizontal Scrolling" option checked.
As for book locations, you guys might have a place you put them.. I left it /sdcard/Books and just put my epubs there for now. I might revise this later so the Nook app and FBReader are looking in the same place.
Pinesal said:
And if you don't use B&N, you should return your nook.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for telling us how to use our stuff.
Thibor69 said:
Thanks for the recommendations I will look those apps up. I would never return my NC. Even tho I don't use the B&N store I have 100's of books that are ePub and work perfectly well on my Nook. B&N is not the only source for books.
Cheers
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well, of you have a source of free ebooks then that's cool. But if you are buying books, B&N should be your first stop. They built the awesome tablet and some suspect that he hardware is subsidized by book sales. Just a recommendation. I mean if you can find book cheaper somewhere else, I guess the choice is obvious.
Thibor69 said:
Thanks for the recommendations I will look those apps up. I would never return my NC. Even tho I don't use the B&N store I have 100's of books that are ePub and work perfectly well on my Nook. B&N is not the only source for books.
Cheers
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Forget using the B&N store. If your going to buy a book i'd recommend Amazon solely based on their whispersync.
As far as ereaders apps, i have tried most of them. FYI the smoothest browser i've found so far has been Opera 10. With skyfire being second and dolphin HD third although its pretty slow. My current favorites ereaders are Aldiko, and the Amazon Kindle reader. Both run much smoother on the nook than the stock app.
Aldiko: It will read several different types and will allow you to import epub files directly which is great if your have a lot of epub books. I like the layout of the books a little bit better than fbreader but thats a personal preferance. Fb reader has a lot of the same features. They both allow you to change the brighness of the screen on the fly but sliding your finger vertically along the left side of the page. I think thats a great feature that i wish more apps would incoporate.
Amazon Kindle:
I use this a little bit differently. If you have an account with them it allows you to use their whispersync. This basically syncs up the page number you are on across different devices, this works for books you already have not just ones you buy from them. This allows me to read things on my nook and on my phone without having to chase down my current position in the book on each device. I also like that it offers a sepia background option.
Importing books you already have or books from other sources is a little more involved with the kindle app. I use a free program called calibre to convert my ebooks, any format, to a .mobi format. Then you have to copy them onto the sd card of each device you want to read them on. Dropbox is your friend with this.
If you buy the book off amazon you don't have to go through this as you can just download them from amazon. But i'm not one to buy books really so i have to go through all the steps.
Anyway good luck, this post got long quickly.
A side note, sightly off topic: The NC can view any epub or txt file uploaded to your SD card., so even if you don't get your material from B&N you can still use the NC very well.
http://www.androidtablets.net/forum/nook/3902-side-loading-books-not-buying-frm-b-n.html#post22438
Aldiko is my personal favorite. (epub format)
I did a search before posting but I was not able to find anything. When I first rooted my Nook to 1.0.1 the "Currently Reading" book icon in the lower left side of the screen stopped working (If I remember correctly it did nothing if I pressed it) if I picked a home launcher other than the B&N Home Launcher.
Fast forward to rooting my Nook to 1.1 using ClockWorks 1.1 about a month ago I think. The "Currently Reading" book icon worked even if I picked another home Launcher. As of the other day it stopped working but in a different way this time, even if I go back to the Stock B&N Home Launcher. Now if I press the icon it will open my current book, but it will always open it to the cover art page. If I open the book from the B&N library App the book will open to the correct page.
Has anyone experienced a loss of this feature in the save way I have? Any ideas on how to fix this?
Hi people,
Just wondering if you guys tried other readers?
I guess not all of them will work fine due to turn page animations and stuff (I didn't root mine yet).
The kobo one looks pretty slick, and you can import books into their library (though I'd prefer it to work with Calibre).
Well, just to gather some advices!
I find the stock reader to have the best contrast, so I usually use it. Aldiko works fine, but the black of the letters seems more washed out and the background is more white than the "grey" of e-ink.
Success so far with Ezpdf to read pdf (duh) and repligo.
I guess someone commented before that you can't get zoom and orientation change via software. Ezpdf changes orientation and repligo gets zoom.
I want both!!!
Will try epub this afternoon, and comics later on...
Great, thanks for the hints.
Could someone try Kobo? Looks really slick on my Nook Color, I wonder how it rates on the Touch.
Moonreader+ and Coolreader work well and page turns can be made with the hardware buttons. Kindle reader works well too.
I use Calibre and Calibre Library to get books onto the device. Mostly read with the 'stock' reader though.
disabling touch page turns
Do any of the alternative reader apps have the option to disable touch screen page turns, using only the hardware keys? I'm open to non-app software suggestions as well, but I can't really change my reading habits to stop using my finger.
I'm looking for a better reader me too.
After some weeks, what reader you recommend for epub?
Is there one that can read also lit files?
And for pdf?
Many thanks
I've tried a bunch of readers and went with Mantano Reader, available through the droid market: https://market.android.com/details?id=com.mantano.reader.android.trial&feature=search_result. This is for a 7 day trial. I like being able to pick the dictionary the program uses and the app is nice. I've been talking with the company about adding touch key support for our Nooks and I believe they might do it with the next update. It's not cheap, it's $8.00 but displays book info and IMHO worth the purchase price.
There is no player that is compatible with the lit format?
Both repligo and ezpdf accept hardware button, and have zoom and orientation change via menus (even though some of them need some guessing, as menus wording is white or missing - I don't know which). Droid comic viewer is a winner too, light and fast (with cbz - as cbr tend to be quite slow).
best reader
Hi, after some testing, I would highly recomend coolreader, due to a few functionalities that other readers lack:
- it's aware you are using nook touch so:
- it has screen refresh options, with the configurable number of refreshes before the full refresh. No more black screen during refresh, refresh is even better that in original B&N reader. No other reader can do that !
- it knows you have four hardware keys, and, it can remap them to anything ! also double and long click, so you can have up to 12 actions assiociated with the hardware buttons.
- screen has 9 tap zones, also configurable, including touch and long touch
- a nice small title bar, you can have some useful info as clock here
- current reading book screensaver buid in. Just have to choose it as any other nook screensaver. Curren book cover copied automatically to the csreensaver directory after opening a book. Simple, but lot of fun.
- registers itself to the android as the EPUB reader, so you can open book directly from B&N library, which is still the best library for nook touch I think.
- plus all other functions as fonts, dictionaries etc..
it's not perfect of course - little slow book opening, no DRM and PDF support. But can still read a lot of formats, as rtf, and doc. even docx.
kefir135:
Very nice review. I've been using CoolReader as well for the past week or so and have come to many similar conclusions. Your review pointed out a few features I was unaware of until now, too:
kefir135 said:
- registers itself to the android as the EPUB reader, so you can open book directly from B&N library, which is still the best library for nook touch I think.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I never thought of this! I agree the B&N library has the best "browseability". I don't really mind CoolReader's book list/browser, but two things annoyed me right from the start:
1. I had to open EACH book individually to get the covers to show up in the CoolReader library browser.
2. The CoolReader library listings would simply NOT hold the sort order I had given them (e.g., by author, title, etc.).
Other than that, though, I agree with your conclusion. And the HUGE selling point for me is the CoolReader has -- as you stated -- the refresh control. I don't like the slowness of having every page blink BLACK on each turn. It might be a total refresh and won't allow ghosting, but it simply doesn't look good to me.
Thanks again for your thoughts!
Nomad Reader is also very good.
It supports partial refresh, Nook's page turn buttons and you can adjust the contrast.
mdall said:
Nomad Reader is also very good.
It supports partial refresh, Nook's page turn buttons and you can adjust the contrast.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I recently came upon this app as well when I noticed that it mentioned the Nook partial refresh capability (which is why I like CoolReader). I'll have to give this one a try. Thanks for the recommendation!
kefir135 said:
Hi, after some testing, I would highly recomend coolreader, due to a few functionalities that other readers lack:
- current reading book screensaver buid in. Just have to choose it as any other nook screensaver. Curren book cover copied automatically to the csreensaver directory after opening a book. Simple, but lot of fun.
- registers itself to the android as the EPUB reader, so you can open book directly from B&N library, which is still the best library for nook touch I think.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have installed CoolReader on my rooted NTR, but the default reader that opens when selecting book from Nook library is still Nook reader. And screen saver is still taking from the current book opened in Nook reader. Is there any other step I have to do to achieve what you told above? Thank you.
The main reason that I use the stock reader is the page numbering - it seems like all of the other readers change the "number of pages" and "what page am i on" based on the current font selection. Stock reader must be able to determine what the "true" page number is so it feels more like a printed book.
I tried CoolReader but there were too many options - and besides the aforementioned page number issue, I didn't like the status bar at the top.
I really have no complaints with the stock reader...
spedinfargo said:
The main reason that I use the stock reader is the page numbering - it seems like all of the other readers change the "number of pages" and "what page am i on" based on the current font selection. Stock reader must be able to determine what the "true" page number is so it feels more like a printed book.
I tried CoolReader but there were too many options - and besides the aforementioned page number issue, I didn't like the status bar at the top.
I really have no complaints with the stock reader...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Status bar can be hide. I like the feature in the CoolReader that I can double tap the word then search the colordict dictionary.
thangnh said:
I have installed CoolReader on my rooted NTR, but the default reader that opens when selecting book from Nook library is still Nook reader. And screen saver is still taking from the current book opened in Nook reader. Is there any other step I have to do to achieve what you told above? Thank you.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
In my case nook asks me which application should open the book chosen in Library application. Maybe you have selected "Always use this app" in this dialog earlier. Try to install another reader or remove and install cool reader again.
Regarding the screensaver, cool reader stores the book cover in a screensaver directory. Just open nook settings and select Current book screensaver.
millertary said:
Do any of the alternative reader apps have the option to disable touch screen page turns, using only the hardware keys? I'm open to non-app software suggestions as well, but I can't really change my reading habits to stop using my finger.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You can use fbreader, then customize the zones of the touch screen to disable any action on touch.
ace7196 said:
You can use fbreader, then customize the zones of the touch screen to disable any action on touch.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
the same applies for coolreader too.
I recently got my NST and I simply love it. So much lighter and easier to carry than my Nook Color... So my question is: is there an alternate library app available? Something that has a bookshelf display like the B&N app, but can launch any ereader program I specify? Reason being, Fbreader is my reading app of choice, but it does not show up as a launch option from the B&N library. But when I launch epubs from something like ES file manager, the option to use Fbreader pops up. I would love to be able to select my book from a bookshelf and launch into Fbreader if possible... any advice would be great!
I use cool reader and I am asked to choose a reader when opening a book from B&N library. Are you sure that you didn't set the stock reader as default previously?
There are a few in development, such as EpubBrowser and eBookLauncher. Both have their own problems, some are just features that have yet to be implemented, others are severe and cause the screen to flash continuously even in the screen saver. I'm thinking the eBookLauncher will go farther though.
cceerrtt said:
I use cool reader and I am asked to choose a reader when opening a book from B&N library. Are you sure that you didn't set the stock reader as default previously?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I've had the same experience with cool reader, but for some reason I don't like the font quality. It doesn't look really sharp like real type to me. Also, it seemed to add big line spaces between paragraphs on some of the books I was reading. I have Fbreader, cool reader, mantano reader currently loaded, but fbreader does not show up as a choice when I launch from the B&N bookshelf.
Googie2149 said:
There are a few in development, such as EpubBrowser and eBookLauncher. Both have their own problems, some are just features that have yet to be implemented, others are severe and cause the screen to flash continuously even in the screen saver. I'm thinking the eBookLauncher will go farther though.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks, I like these too, the issue is that I am really happy with the customizations I made with my go launcher setup, I really just want a library bookshelf like the B&N one....
Personally I think that the native Reader.apk is just fine.
This thread started about alternative libraries.
I have a Library.apk replacement that I've been working on.
It probably only suits me, though.
I don't keep a lot of books on my Nook, just a handful.
I don't use bookshelves.
I don't care for cover thumbnails since they are not supplied with many books.
I do care about lending expiration dates for books from my library. It shows those.
How many books do you folks keep on your Nooks?
Renate NST said:
How many books do you folks keep on your Nooks?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Anywhere between 3 and 15 at a time. Not many, and most I'm never going to read, I just keep them there because I 'want' to read them.
Hi, i find standard library.apk almost perfect too, but i wish a way to incorporate the calibre description for sideload books like those purchased trough B&N site
someone has succeded?
rawos said:
Hi, i find standard library.apk almost perfect too...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Actually, I hate Library.apk. It's Reader.apk that I can live with.
It's Shop.apk that show you the info on books.
It's responsible for that really lame screen when you hit "More" on the Reader screen.
That's the one where it can only tell you the local file path of the book that you're reading.
This is through my own Library.apk, which replaces Home.apk and Shop.apk also.
You can either long click on a book in the search list or hit "More" in Reader.
Since I play it straight with library books, I like to know when they expire.
Just to show you all the stuff going on under the hood.
Here is a diagram of all the intents used in Home/Library/Reader/Shop.
Oh! It reduced it to nothing, even when you click on it.
The full version (3000 x 1250 pixels) is attached as a zip.
Here's a better version of the intents of the B&N reader stuff.
derelict said:
I've had the same experience with cool reader, but for some reason I don't like the font quality. It doesn't look really sharp like real type to me. Also, it seemed to add big line spaces between paragraphs on some of the books I was reading. I have Fbreader, cool reader, mantano reader currently loaded, but fbreader does not show up as a choice when I launch from the B&N bookshelf.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I tested quite a number of apps and I really like that Cool Reader has an incredible amount of options to configure how it looks. In the image you can see how I configured it, totally minimally.
Cool Reader does a great job of reflowing the text with justification, hanging punctuation, hyphenation, kerning... I have not found any other app that could do this. The photo is what Cool Reader made from a simple textfile. And it even supports the buttons of the NST without any hacking.
But as you said, the rendering quality of the font is not that great. You can add custom fonts, on the photo it is the Windows version of Garamond (strangely, Adobe Garamond Pro looks significantly worse).
For the moment I am sticking with the default reader app and use it on PDFs that I prepared manually on my PC. That way I get really good type (using Garamond Pro). But of course that is more work.
Was liest du?
Renate NST said:
Was liest du?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kafka_on_the_shore
Renate NST said:
Personally I think that the native Reader.apk is just fine.
This thread started about alternative libraries.
I have a Library.apk replacement that I've been working on.
It probably only suits me, though.
I don't keep a lot of books on my Nook, just a handful.
I don't use bookshelves.
I don't care for cover thumbnails since they are not supplied with many books.
I do care about lending expiration dates for books from my library. It shows those.
How many books do you folks keep on your Nooks?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
So... newby here. I love my nook touch glow, but i hate the library, i wish i can see more info, (series, autor, genre), any sugestions? pretty please?
Well, my app is just a boring list of books, about 15/page, sortable a couple of ways.
A long press brings up some metadata, including when the library book expires.
I've never run into series, so it doesn't do that.
I've modified Reader.apk so that it uses the "Back" button, handy for returning directly to the library.
After seeing the screenshots of some of the nice graphical libraries folks have produced, I'm loath to oversell my app.
It's really quite minimal.
Renate NST said:
Well, my app is just a boring list of books, about 15/page, sortable a couple of ways.
A long press brings up some metadata, including when the library book expires.
I've never run into series, so it doesn't do that.
I've modified Reader.apk so that it uses the "Back" button, handy for returning directly to the library.
After seeing the screenshots of some of the nice graphical libraries folks have produced, I'm loath to oversell my app.
It's really quite minimal.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for the response. You are so kind. Since I dont know almost anything about android progamming, (and english isnt my first languaje) I hoping you can help me (or point me somwhere) to do this. I tried to remap the buttons but when i did replace the android.policy.jar i bricked my nook (glow) so i had to restore it.
I also wish i could have a quick way to navigate the library, (like lists) or something because a i like to read 3 or 4 books at the same time.
Any Ideas? I tried relaunch but its to slow...
Anyway, Im rambling.... thanks!
A quick response:
Yes, the android.policy.jar is incompatible between the Touch and the Glow.
I use edited smali which causes the "n" button to go directly to the launcher.
With that, the QuickNav, the buttons at the bottom never appear.
I think that you need the QuickNav to turn on the glow, correct?
Renate NST said:
A quick response:
Yes, the android.policy.jar is incompatible between the Touch and the Glow.
I use edited smali which causes the "n" button to go directly to the launcher.
With that, the QuickNav, the buttons at the bottom never appear.
I think that you need the QuickNav to turn on the glow, correct?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, well the n button also turns off/on the light, but i would like anyway to put shortcuts ther for another apps, like cool reader, because the way i have it its just to much fuss to change readers!!! any suggestions!!!
I like the look and feel of the standard library app, but I hate the way you have to search through it. I have all my metadata set up but you can't access it. FBreader does allow the reading of tags, but I'm not sure if I like the gui yet.
Which apps support metadata?
I posted recently about the weather section of GenieWidget dying. Now it looks like the whole shebang is gone
I even updated mine (which had the dedicated browser) to what appears to be the last version for Eclair (1.3.04) (which opens selected stories in your default internet browser). Still no dice. Google has left this old version on the ash heap of android history.
So...now what? I still have a working BBC News app (though the annoying ticker at the top is stuck on an ancient story...), a copy of the once-free NewsHog that still works, and the NPR app. All three of these have scrolling issues even worse than those of the old GenieWidget (which was actually almost tolerable with the OC kernal).
I've been looking around. Anyone have news apps with some breadth like the old GenieWidget that still work?
And the winner is......
Well, maybe not exactly a "winner", but it's sort of an OK substitute. After much searching and trying out, I've come up with two candidates. One is the old NewsHog (the older free version that will still run on the NST). This is the most similar in coverage and some sources to the Google GenieWidget. No weather, though. It has longer article summaries than GenieWidget did and you have the option of opening the full story in either the built-in reader or your browser. The built-in reader has scrolling issues. You need to keep your gutters really clean and develop a quick thumb flick at the bottom right corner of the screen (similar to the BBC News app)--or open stories in your browser. The issue there, of course, is the slowness of the entire process every time you want to pursue a story.
A second candidate is called News Republic. The market version will not run on the NST but I did find an older one that will. The interface is completely graphic. You choose news categories that you arrange in tiles on the app "homescreen". Each category tile takes you to pages (swipe across to move from page to page) that look like newspaper pages, with varied length columns (some with images) mushed together to make a rectangle. The columns have teasers to the stories. Selecting a column brings you to a nice reader which--TA-DA--actually scrolls beautifully (makes you wonder why these other people could not get it right.....). The downside is that it takes a long time to get it set up the way you want it (you do not need to set up an account). Also, there are a lot of fluff tabloid-like sources and categories, so you end up removing a lot in the initial set-up (the video section wants to work with its own player, but then just gives up and says the video could not be opened). And...there are not as many solid traditional news sources. No custom categories. AdAway works to block ads as I occasionally see a blank rectangle with the words "advertisement" along the bottom.
So, that's what I have found so far. I've attached both older apps in case you want to try them for yourself.
Edit: Some time in July 2016 this version of NewsHog stopped updating custom news categories so you only have the provided categories to choose from
Edit: Some time in February 2017 all versions of News Republic that will run on the NST became unable to log in. Another dead one. App removed from the attachments below