Related
I was wondering if there was a open source base app that I could use to make my own app?
What I want out of an app is just for it to pull in the feeds from my blog and alow me to read them from there.
If not, how hard is this to make?
I am going to be starting a new site soon and I just think it would be really cool to have an Android app to go with it.
chaos67731 said:
I was wondering if there was a open source base app that I could use to make my own app?
What I want out of an app is just for it to pull in the feeds from my blog and alow me to read them from there.
If not, how hard is this to make?
I am going to be starting a new site soon and I just think it would be really cool to have an Android app to go with it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Try this... I'd give this a low-moderate level of difficulty.
Android simple RSS reader tutorial
And Google themselves just released their own Google Reader app so just add your feeds to Google Reader and use their app. Google Reader has a nice feature to scroll up/down through the feed articles using the volume rocker. It just doesn't have a widget yet. I'd like to see a Google Reader widget/shortcut for this app that would update every so often showing at least the number of unread articles. Anyway, it's Google and it's FREE!
I will look at the google reader but I was thinking more along the lines of Engadget so it is only my feeds being pulled in.
But I would be more than happy with a phandroid new style.
I've taken in creating PDFs of my school textbooks from the eBooks I purchase from the publisher. It simply more convenient to carry my GTab with four or five textbooks, rather than the books themselves. Unfortunately, the PDF reader supplied by Adobe really basically sucks. Specifically, there doesn't seem to be a way to go to specific pages, expect by a slider bar (rather than typing a page), and worse still, does allow the use of bookmarks and chapter labels that I put in the book.
Can anyone recommend a PDF reader that works well on the GTab, that allows me to directly reference page numbers, bookmarks, chapters, search functions, etc.? Free is better than not, but I'll don't mind paying for an actually useful app.
Please help.
hellsreach said:
I've taken in creating PDFs of my school textbooks from the eBooks I purchase from the publisher. It simply more convenient to carry my GTab with four or five textbooks, rather than the books themselves. Unfortunately, the PDF reader supplied by Adobe really basically sucks. Specifically, there doesn't seem to be a way to go to specific pages, expect by a slider bar (rather than typing a page), and worse still, does allow the use of bookmarks and chapter labels that I put in the book.
Can anyone recommend a PDF reader that works well on the GTab, that allows me to directly reference page numbers, bookmarks, chapters, search functions, etc.? Free is better than not, but I'll don't mind paying for an actually useful app.
Please help.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Try ezPDF Reader. Has bookmark, search, and slider bar. It's not perfect, but works pretty well overall.
Nathan
Ezpdf reader works great on vegan 5
Sent from my PC36100 using XDA App
I'm liking Ezpdf and Aldiko 2.0 (Aldiko Premium)
WickedStyx said:
I'm liking Ezpdf and Aldiko 2.0 (Aldiko Premium)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Aldiko 2.0? That hasnt been released yet has it? They said 2.0 will have PDF support and I signed up to receive the alert, but I didnt get one yet.
You have it?
I use my g tab for the exact same purposes. Am in university and the new semester starts on Monday in this part of the globe.
Just bought repligo for 2.99. USD today. Very happy - does highlighting and bookmarks and notes for my notes and etextbooks.
(Btw I'm in Singapore (not a part of China xD ) - got a friend to bring it back for me last month, probably the first in Asia to have the g tab?)
cscotty said:
Aldiko 2.0? That hasnt been released yet has it? They said 2.0 will have PDF support and I signed up to receive the alert, but I didnt get one yet.
You have it?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Aldiko Premium on the market is version 2.0: http://www.appbrain.com/app/aldiko-book-reader-premium/com.android.aldiko
I assume the free version will be updated to 2.0 eventually.
What's wrong with Acrobat Reader X? It's Robust, does searching, supported by Adobe, available free...
Just go to Adobe.com, get Acrobat reader, pick "other operating system" and select Android. Works great on every build and kernel I've tried so far.
Hi,
I published a BETA of my new ebook reader, Bookviser. If you want to test it, please email me your Live ID associated with your Windows Phone 7 device, I will add you to the beta testers list and send you the Marketplace download link. My email is [email protected]
Bookviser can read EPUB, FB2 and TXT files. You can download books using incorporated Feedbook search or upload books from your computer.
Thank you.
Alex
Ebook readers without OPDS support are nonsense today. Also, you don't support hyphenation (especially for Russian), don't you?
New ebook reader app may have some sense, if you (at least!) implement all functionality of Jim Chapman's "Freda" ebook reader...
sensboston said:
Ebook readers without OPDS support are nonsense today. Also, you don't support hyphenation (especially for Russian), don't you?
New ebook reader app may have some sense, if you (at least!) implement all functionality of Jim Chapman's "Freda" ebook reader...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thank you for your comment . Honestly I did not think about OPDS support, but will add it for sure.
As to hyphenation, it was planned and will be added in new versions as well. This is only the beginning. I just decided to publish a version with basic features first and then add new one by one.
If there is dropbox support, that's enough for me.
UI looks way better than freda.
Also, single book pinning to start screen is a must.
Just used the app for some time. UI is smooth and beautiful. Page transition is smooth too.
Sent from my SGH-i917 using XDA Windows Phone 7 App
What about navigation and font sizes ?
help
I am trying to use bookviser and even downloaded the sync tool, there is no confirmation it is uploaded, can't view online library. And it appears to be available to download on my device but then it errors out am I doing something wrong, epub is about 170mb
sp_sheffield said:
What about navigation and font sizes ?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The font sizes are going from 25 to 40, but I will add smaller sizes by the time of release.
What do you mean by navigation?
Loving this app, just what I needed.
The "goto page" is great, nice interface, smooth page flip. Once you get the skydrive support working (or do folders/management of Bookviser account storage) this thing will be top shelf!
Looking good! Serious alternative to Freda and Raccoon. But please add DropBox support! All my books are there.
I think there's a bug somewhere. When I try to open a book in epub, downloaded from net, 1.74 mb of space, the app crashes. And also, a dropbox support would be great. In rest, if dropbox will be added, I will uninstall FREDA and never even try other ebook reader. Cross my heart. Cheers and great work
shtresatu said:
... I will uninstall FREDA and never even try other ebook reader. Cross my heart. ...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well I hope you'd at least take a look at the new Freda update (2.5) and send me feedback about how you'd like it to be improved
still needs settings for line spacing to be usable
Hey guys, can anyone recommend a good ebook reader that I can use to read downloaded books and PDFs?
Moon reader is my new favorite. Have used aldiko and nook before.
My life for Aiur
Moon+ looks to be pretty good, what I'm wondering is if the pro version is worth forking over 5 bucks for?
Moon + pro its the only one that has both text to speech and can synch across devices (using dropbox). Its the only one I use. (Use calibre on your PC with dedrm plugins to convert to epub and you can buy books from anywhere.)
You just have to wait for the upcoming update, because the current version doesn't work with jelly bean. However the update should be released any time now, since the developer has a version that fixed the disappearing text in jelly bean. If you email the developer I'm sure he would send you a link. I would post it, but I'm not sure its OK with him. I think the free version doesn't have text to speech, otherwise it seems the same. When you upgrade, make sure to try it with ivona voice to read to you, all other voices are way too robotic. Ivona is good enough to use on long drives, out during mindless chores.
Thanks for the tips, gonna check out Aldiko and Moon. Seems like Moon for jelly bean is out on market now!
I actually Like the Kindle App... But I'm a little Biased... I have a eInk kindle that I read on and all my books are stored on the amazon cloud (I just convert ePub to Mobi) also I love that my Spot in books is synced across my kindle iPhone and Nexus 7 (yes I have a little bit of everything)
Mantano is my reader of choice at the moment. I was previously using Aldiko. Can't stand Kindle or Nook apps, margins are way too wide and pointless book titles at the top of every page.
kisrita said:
Moon + pro its the only one that has both text to speech and can synch across devices (using dropbox). Its the only one I use. (Use calibre on your PC with dedrm plugins to convert to epub and you can buy books from anywhere.)
You just have to wait for the upcoming update, because the current version doesn't work with jelly bean. However the update should be released any time now, since the developer has a version that fixed the disappearing text in jelly bean. If you email the developer I'm sure he would send you a link. I would post it, but I'm not sure its OK with him. I think the free version doesn't have text to speech, otherwise it seems the same. When you upgrade, make sure to try it with ivona voice to read to you, all other voices are way too robotic. Ivona is good enough to use on long drives, out during mindless chores.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I think you may have just helped me decide what to spend some of the $25 on . The dropbox sync alone is worth it. I've been using aldiko premium, but moon+ seems to have a lot more options.
For anyone else looking for solutions,
i tried aldiko and moon and they were great but I had a ton of .mobi files from my OG kindle days and it seems like FB reader is the best one that supports the most formats.
I noticed these programs do not have the page turner smooth animation like Google Play (Books) blue icon. Any app that has this smooth animation?
Is google books nice to? cant install it on my nexus one
is there a way to import books into google books?
Try GO Book reader. I have tried quite a few and found it to be the best. Aldiko is quite good too.
mparack said:
Try GO Book reader. I have tried quite a few and found it to be the best. Aldiko is quite good too.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
+1 on Go Book, this would be my e-reader of choice
You can try Kindle, it has plenty of reading options and text spacing etc.
I tried allot of readers, and I'm using them often
So if you ask me, have a look at mantano reader!!!
Best Allroundtalent to read PDF and epub books.
Moonreader pro is my second reader but I only use it to read epub books.
Hint: try tts option within both readers and use ivona tts engine from playstore!!!
Sent from my sweet little Blackbox
ky0nkyon said:
Moon reader is my new favorite. Have used aldiko and nook before.
My life for Aiur
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I use Moon+ reader. It syncs settings and book positions with dropbox (has to be activated within the settings) which is great if you hop from one rom to another. I've been using it on my phone for months and love it.
phoneaddict13 said:
I noticed these programs do not have the page turner smooth animation like Google Play (Books) blue icon. Any app that has this smooth animation?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Moon Reader has page transitions. What's more, they are even better than Google Books' transitions, because they vary based on the direction of your swipe, and from what position, if you pull from the bottom right hand corner, the page "turns" from the bottom right hand corner.
Just dig around in the settings, the page animation is there.
---------- Post added at 03:02 PM ---------- Previous post was at 03:00 PM ----------
Alkido or whatever it's called sucks. They haven't updated it since march, and all 7" tablets revert to phone interface, which makes the menu button inaccessible. They haven't released a fix for this, despite 2 very high quality 7" tablets being released in this timeframe (Gtab 2 7.0 and the Nexus 7).
I would refrain from buying Alkido until the fix this problem.
Moon Reader all the way.
I've been using moon for awhile now too. You have several types of page turning animations if that your thing and in landscape you can set it up for dual pages like a regular book. Just play around with all the options there's tons. Since I have a kindle also dropbox is what really won me over so I can just convert everything or I even like the kindle app but more out of convenience, but since they've updated it alot lately you can mail yourself pdfs or other docs which will be converted for you and look perfect,which was a feature I missed from the actual kindle.
Any reader app out there (besides Moon) that supports syncing page positions? That's the only thing I miss from iBooks
ctbear said:
Any reader app out there (besides Moon) that supports syncing page positions? That's the only thing I miss from iBooks
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Mantano Reader Pro?
Sent from my sweet little Blackbox
5-31-21 I've ceased development on this app because I think there is a better alternative. See post #7.
*updated to version 1.3, adding error trap for discontinued or blank feeds*
It's been awhile since the demise of the last working version of Genie Widget (aka Google News and Weather) but not so long since the big G retooled news.google.com so that our browsers can no longer deal with it and also put the kibosh on the Google News RSS feeds. Sigh.
I have a work-around
Google News 1.3 for the NST/G exploits the "alerts" that Google offers on news topics. These alerts can be optioned in the form of RSS feeds. My app downloads the HTML source for the feed, picks out all the good stuff and trashes all the rest, then builds up a local HTML document which is easily displayed by our browsers (I highly recommend Opera Mobile for ease of scrolling and general all-around function). You can build up your own topics, change your mind, mix them about, read that one more story you didn't get to the first time around, etc. I'm not saying that your browser will negotiate every target link. Some newspaper sites have just become too much. That was true even when Genie Widget was still working. But updating Opera Mobile for TLS 1.2 solves much of that. See this post for details.. The beauty of this app is in the simplicity. It's entirely browser-based once the feeds are downloaded, so you're not going back and forth between the app and your browser (like the current Google News app.......). Designed for both portrait and landscape.
Requirements
1. Android 2.1 has a security issue with opening local HTML files. In order for Google News to work properly you need to address that. Included in the zip below is a tiny app, android-open-in-browser-0.0.4-4-debug. Install that. It's not my app but I have used it for years and wish I could credit the originator.
2. This is a Tasker-generated app. If you already have one of my other Tasker-generated apps or have previously installed GApps, you don't need the two Google maps library files included in the zip and can delete them. If you do need them, copy the two files into the locations shown below:
/system/etc/permissions/com.google.android.maps.xml
/system/framework/com.google.android.maps.jar
Set permissions for both files to rw-r--r-- and reboot. Without these files resident, the app will not install.
3. Create a folder in the root directory of your sdcard: Google News (exactly as shown)
4. Install the app itself, Google News.1.apk
How to use
Before you run the app you need to select some news categories, set up the feeds, get the URLs, blah-blah-blah. All of this is covered in the PDF included with the zip. It may seem a little annoying at the start, but it goes quickly once you get started and it's not like you have to do it every time you use the app. You're just setting up your news topics, just as if you were using the current Google News (either the app or the web version). Once you have your topics and URLs and have edited the included text file google_rss_feeds.txt, copy that into the Google News folder of your sdcard.
Note: recently (June 2019) the big G has not been very consistent with the RSS feeds. Some days they are "empty" but come back the next day with lots of stories. Some feed topics simply "die" and a minor change in the topic will resurrect them (change "World" to "World news", as an example). Version 1.3 includes a trap for these eventualities so that the app should not crash, even if your first feed comes up empty. To inspect/edit your feeds, point your browser (on your PC) to your Google Alerts page. If you are signed in this will be found among the options on the Google home page, in the upper right corner where the "apps" grid is shown.
Now you're good to go. Start the app, make sure you're connected to WiFi. There are only three buttons on the app screen. The first one, "Fetch the news" does just that. You will see a little toast that the first news category is being prepared. Once that is done, you will be taken to the browser and that page will open. Meanwhile the remaining pages are being downloaded and reconstructed in the background.
The news page is very simple. I tried to aim for readability over all other considerations (this is the reason the news items are in bold black, even though they are the external links). I have my Opera Mobile set to 100% page zoom. It looks good to me, but you could probably get away with 75%. External websites are another matter. At the title bar left is a drop-down menu button that gives you access to your other news topics. Since no fixed navbar schemes work under Android 2.1, there is a duplicate drop-up menu bar at the end of the page. The use of NoRefresh, or to a lesser extent FastMode, is a plus.
Edit: you cannot use this app with Opera Mini. It lacks the ability to open local HTML files.
The second option on the opening screen, "Read old news" sounds a bit daft, but I just thought maybe someone might have been looking at the topic pages, saw something that interested them and then got interrupted. So this option opens the first local file in the browser again and you can navigate from there. Strictly speaking, WiFi is not needed to browse the local files once they have been created, but it is needed to pursue any stories.
The third option simply dismisses the app screen.
Whew! So this is new...and I think I exterminated all the bugs, but I did not try other browsers. I'm open to suggestions and would appreciate feedback.
Google alert change? No option for RSS alerts anymore...
First off, thanks so much for putting the time and effort into this app. I would love to have a more "future-proof" news reader solution for my NST. Sadly however, in typical Google fashion of constantly dropping/messing with feature support, it seems that there is no longer an option to deliver Google alerts to RSS feeds (only email addresses). If I'm reading this thread and your PDF correctly, I'm worried that this may break the app. In any case I'm stuck on page 3 of your setup PDF since I can't figure out how to get the RSS alert string from Google anymore. Any advice you can offer would be greatly appreciated!
v619284 said:
First off, thanks so much for putting the time and effort into this app. I would love to have a more "future-proof" news reader solution for my NST. Sadly however, in typical Google fashion of constantly dropping/messing with feature support, it seems that there is no longer an option to deliver Google alerts to RSS feeds (only email addresses). If I'm reading this thread and your PDF correctly, I'm worried that this may break the app. In any case I'm stuck on page 3 of your setup PDF since I can't figure out how to get the RSS alert string from Google anymore. Any advice you can offer would be greatly appreciated!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm away from home right now but my copy of the app is working so the RSS feeds must still exist. I'll have to sit down with my instructions in front of the computer and see what mischief they've done. Thanks for letting me know.
v619284 said:
If I'm reading this thread and your PDF correctly, I'm worried that this may break the app. In any case I'm stuck on page 3 of your setup PDF since I can't figure out how to get the RSS alert string from Google anymore. Any advice you can offer would be greatly appreciated!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
OK, so I've run through the instructions sitting at my PC. Everything is correct although Firefox no longer wants to open the RSS feed page as anything other than an xml "text" file. That just means the image on page 4 needs updating.
As far as page 3, everything is currently exactly as shown. Just to be sure, you have to be signed in to Google on your browser before you do any of this. Then when you get to the screen depicted on page 3 you need to change the "Deliver to" option to RSS feed. But even before that, it's important not to get sucked into the email alert business back on page 2. Do NOT click on "Create Alert" there, only on "Show options". That's how you get to the screen I show on page 3.
When you finally get to click on the little RSS symbol shown on the lower half of page 3, you (at least on Firefox) may end up at a page of xml code, or perhaps your browser may show a news feed page. Regardless, the URL shown for the page is the same and it's what you need to copy, just as described on page 4.
Let me know if you are still having issues with this.
v619284 said:
First off, thanks so much for putting the time and effort into this app. I would love to have a more "future-proof" news reader solution for my NST. Sadly however, in typical Google fashion of constantly dropping/messing with feature support, it seems that there is no longer an option to deliver Google alerts to RSS feeds (only email addresses). If I'm reading this thread and your PDF correctly, I'm worried that this may break the app. In any case I'm stuck on page 3 of your setup PDF since I can't figure out how to get the RSS alert string from Google anymore. Any advice you can offer would be greatly appreciated!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
So a few days after I wrote my last post, the app stopped working for me. It just hangs on "Preparing......News"
Google has apparently changed the format of their RSS xml file. Right in the middle of something else at the moment, but I will get it fixed.
Nope, nix that. After fooling around with the app and an xml file from the Big G, I find nothing out of place and it seems the app is now working again
They're just messing with us.
Edit: Indeed they are. Today I caught another malfunction but this time looked at the Tasker routines for an error. Google is sending out (at least today) RSS feeds with empty content fields. That messes up my app. So I wrote an error trap for that. Updated in first post. Have to watch the big G like a hawk....
v619284 said:
If I'm reading this thread and your PDF correctly, I'm worried that this may break the app. In any case I'm stuck on page 3 of your setup PDF since I can't figure out how to get the RSS alert string from Google anymore. Any advice you can offer would be greatly appreciated!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Whilst looking around for a solution to a different issue, I came across this: https://medium.com/@cassandragraft/...tion-not-appearing-heres-the-fix-bf842ca32b88
It appears to address the issue you describe. I never encountered the issue, but obviously some people have.
The Big G is making me very angry lately. Even version 1.2 with a new error trap is crashing. I'm finding that some of my feeds are "empty". The skeleton of the RSS file is there but there is no content populating the file. A category as ordinary as "world" is simply blank. This is new and very annoying. Just a change of topic to "world news" brings up a list of stories longer than your arm. I encountered this before with "science" and fixed it with a slight change in name, so I should have seen this coming. It's a nasty game Google seems to be playing....
Anyway, if the app crashes on the first topic it leaves an overlay artifact behind when you exit. To remove this, go to the App Manager and force stop the app. I will work on a fix which will alert you to the effect that the feed appears dead but allow the app to complete the download of whatever is still working and exit properly.
Grr....
Edit: App updated to v1.3 in first post. I hope that solves the problems. For now.
As I mentioned in my edit of the first post, I think my app is exhibiting creakiness already owing to Opera Mobile's increasing difficulty negotiating many websites.
I have an alternative to suggest, however, that is totally browser based. It seems to work "OK" with Opera Mobile although text display is a bit small with a default zoom of 100%. In Opera Mini, however, it shines, especially with NoRefresh.
Thanks to XDA member @SJT75 , I found out about a list of text-only news sites. One of them is a text version of Google News! The list is at: https://greycoder.com/a-list-of-text-only-new-sites/
While the Google News option does not allow for custom categories (hey, there's an app for that!), it does cover all the usual suspects. Even better, all of the links lead to text-only versions of the sources. Occasionally you go to a page and find it could not be fetched by whatever mechanism the author is using, but pages (even those error ones) include a link to the original source
Also notable on the list are the NPR and CNN sites. Both work well.