Related
Because I have such a large library, and a 60 GB max per month, I started uploading my library manually. I think next month I can switch it to use my iTunes library to finish off the rest. Does anyone know if the service is smart enough to know that the stuff I uploaded manually is the same as what I have in iTunes??
Why not just stream directly from your PC, with Audio Galaxy, or similar?
Well, I don't love the idea of leaving my desktop on all the time, and I like how you can manage your entire library from anywhere. I have used audiogalaxy so I know it has many of the similar capabilities. Also, I just like to try out new services, and I would imagine Google will only get better and better, and I am interested in getting started now. I have really come to prefer cloud based services over server based, I see more potential in this than audiogalaxy (personally).
I can respect that - I'm giving Googles music cloud a try at the moment also, but there are drawbacks with the file management.
For example:
If I notice an error in one of the file names on my PC and correct it, Google appears to think it's a new file, and uploads a new copy - keeping the old file, also...
If I notice an error in the id3 tags and correct that, Google thinks it's the same file, and does nothing...
Either way, I have to manually track all changes. It would be nice if there was a more intelligent interface...
Yeah, I haven't experienced that, but that's what I was afraid of. I have enough faith that Google will fix and improve all those things, and probably fairly quickly since it's Android related.
Would making some of those changes on the web interface help?
Has anybody got this to work? I have tried, but I sure can't get it to work. I've got videos, audio, pictures, but not a powerpoint. Thanks.
I'm unsure what you are asking, but if you want to view a PowerPoint from your computer just use the CC extension and cast the entire screen. Walla, PowerPoint on CC.
MOLON LABE
Vbukit for Chromecast is like this -
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S8ByLPXHnP8
I'll give PowerPoint a try later today and post back.
primetime34 said:
Has anybody got this to work? I have tried, but I sure can't get it to work. I've got videos, audio, pictures, but not a powerpoint. Thanks.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Chromecast only scenario PPT file:
Requirements:
Android device and chromecast on the same Wireless LAN
Vbukit for Chromecast (Android app)
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.creatingrevolutions.vbukitchromecast&hl=en
AND
Vbukit User (Android app)
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.creatingrevolutions.virtualbucket&hl=en
Procedure:
1. Run Vbukit for Chromecast, connect it to your chromecast device.
2. Press Send To TV - it will automatically open Vbukit User.
3. Choose Send file>send Business>Send File>Pick desired PPT file from phone
4. Scan bacrode from screen
5. Wait as it takes ages to upload file
6. Vbukit User app crashes all the time(and it shouldn't), but i can see first slide on the screen
If this crapp crashes. Connect, disconnect and connect again Vbukit for Chromecast, otherwise Vbukit User will not work.
Vbukit.com makes me wonder if it's not smart and efficient data mining project.
You upload file and they can do whatever they want with it.
Privacy policy means nothing in evil NSA age and connection to the site is just in http.
Intelligence, corporate espionage, sensitive personal info...
I did exactly what the above post recommends, but it always fails on uploading the pptx file. I can upload other file types, but not a powerpoint.
Sent from my GT-N8013 using Tapatalk
PowerPoint Question
primetime34 said:
Has anybody got this to work? I have tried, but I sure can't get it to work. I've got videos, audio, pictures, but not a powerpoint. Thanks.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Primetime34, I can help you concerning this issues.
But first please answer these questions.
1. Are you using the Vbukit User Android or iPhone version of the app with Chromecast?
2. Are you accessing the PowerPoint file from Phone Storage, Google Drive, or Dropbox from within the Vbukit User app?
3. Is the file a ppt or a pptx?
If you can answer these questions, i will be able to address your issue. As well, we did notice a recently introduced bug when accessing PowerPoint in the Android version of the app using Dropbox. We are on that bug and will have it resolved in the next update due out in the next 24 to 48 hours.
Thank you and I look forward to your answers so I can address this issue.
I will let you know that we have tested PowerPoint using over two dozen Android phone models from Samsung, HTC, LG, Asus, and many more, as well as testing with iPhone 5 and iPhone 5s.
So far all those phones are able to do all the file types great and cast them to not only Chromecast but also to other Smart Phones, Computers, Tablets, and Smart TV's via Vbukit.com.
I await your reply.
primetime34 said:
I did exactly what the above post recommends, but it always fails on uploading the pptx file. I can upload other file types, but not a powerpoint.
Sent from my GT-N8013 using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Application is buggy and it's programmers fault. PERIOD
If you want to see it with your own eyes just look at the comments:
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.creatingrevolutions.virtualbucket&hl=en
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.creatingrevolutions.vbukitchromecast&hl=en
Privacy Question
mathorv said:
Chromecast only scenario PPT file:
Requirements:
Android device and chromecast on the same Wireless LAN
Vbukit for Chromecast (Android app)
AND
Vbukit User (Android app)
Procedure:
1. Run Vbukit for Chromecast, connect it to your chromecast device.
2. Press Send To TV - it will automatically open Vbukit User.
3. Choose Send file>send Business>Send File>Pick desired PPT file from phone
4. Scan bacrode from screen
5. Wait as it takes ages to upload file
6. Vbukit User app crashes all the time(and it shouldn't), but i can see first slide on the screen
If this crapp crashes. Connect, disconnect and connect again Vbukit for Chromecast, otherwise Vbukit User will not work.
Vbukit makes me wonder if it's not smart and efficient data mining project.
You upload file and they can do whatever they want with it.
Privacy policy means nothing in evil NSA age and connection to the site is just in http.
Intelligence, corporate espionage, sensitive personal info...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
to answer your last question.
Vbukit is based on a technology we created called Virtual Bucket which is designed from the ground up to give you not only dramatic increase in security, but also total privacy and complete anonymity.
The system is completely blind to who or where the sender is, who or where the receiver is, and what you are sending.
I know its a new concept but we make sure you actually have real privacy.
So there is ZERO TRACKING, ZERO DATA COLLECTION, ZERO ADVERTISING!!!!
And we also don't charge you for using the system either.
That being said, to make a platform that allows this much privacy, security, and work with nearly every type of device and on nearly every OS is not an easy task.
we hope that clears up any concerns you might have and appreciate what we've built and that we are constantly improving the system which only recently fully came out for public use.
thank you from the Vbukit Team.
---------- Post added at 10:07 AM ---------- Previous post was at 10:03 AM ----------
We do not currently have pptx file type integrated.
We do offer ppt and you can also convert your powerpoint to pdf.
Both those should work perfect, but pptx we do not support right now.
Vbukit said:
We do not currently have pptx file type integrated.
We do offer ppt and you can also convert your powerpoint to pdf.
Both those should work perfect, but pptx we do not support right now.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Don't get me wrong man but
#1 just inform about formats supported on play store site and if app is not stable yet rebrand it to Vbukit BETA because user rating will reach rock bottom level and comments will stone app/brand to death.
#2 In app add filetype not supported prompt if someone select popular, but not supported format.
#3 It's also worth to mention other apps limitations like filesize limits
Edit:
Using HTTPS instead of HTTP would also be dramatic increase in security and anonymity you mentioned.
Also adding straight Privacy Policy would be nice. What you do to protect data, info about data retention.
Office 2010 formats (.docx, .pptx, .xlsx etc) are generally not well-supported by third party applications. I have trouble with them even in Salesforce.
The older Office 2007-compatible formats (.doc, .ppt, .xls, etc) work much better.
@Vbukit thanks for taking the time to reach out and clarify the issues here.
Pretty cool that you're not data mining, I admit that I wondered about that myself.
Answer
Chromecast's actual SDK libraries were released literally less than a week ago.
1. This is a public beta
2. This is a very complex platform that does many many things, and works on dozens of devices on multiple OS's
3. Unlike basically all others, we don't track you, advertise to you, or charge you.
So how about some positive support
---------- Post added at 12:03 PM ---------- Previous post was at 11:56 AM ----------
Thanks for the suggestion.
actually on chromecast it is running on HTTPS. Google mandates that.
the core system runs on HTTPS, but the front end hides that so that it can work on more devices.
we've found a good number of devices such as many smart tv's still don't like https, so we found a way to overcome that issue while still keeping the security.
but thank you for the suggestion, it is a good one and we're always open to other suggestions.
1. I am using the android version
2. From phone storage (I can't get anything to show up in the google drive on vbukit)
3. It is a pptx
Thanks!
Vbukit said:
Primetime34, I can help you concerning this issues.
But first please answer these questions.
1. Are you using the Vbukit User Android or iPhone version of the app with Chromecast?
2. Are you accessing the PowerPoint file from Phone Storage, Google Drive, or Dropbox from within the Vbukit User app?
3. Is the file a ppt or a pptx?
If you can answer these questions, i will be able to address your issue. As well, we did notice a recently introduced bug when accessing PowerPoint in the Android version of the app using Dropbox. We are on that bug and will have it resolved in the next update due out in the next 24 to 48 hours.
Thank you and I look forward to your answers so I can address this issue.
I will let you know that we have tested PowerPoint using over two dozen Android phone models from Samsung, HTC, LG, Asus, and many more, as well as testing with iPhone 5 and iPhone 5s.
So far all those phones are able to do all the file types great and cast them to not only Chromecast but also to other Smart Phones, Computers, Tablets, and Smart TV's via Vbukit.com.
I await your reply.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Solution
Great, this is very helpful.
Unfortunately, pptx is not handled well, so we do not support it.
What we do support currently support is ppt.
Additionally, you can save your pptx file as a pdf and we support that as well.
But unfortunately pptx right now we don't support.
As for Google Drive. If you don't see the file, Its because as stated, we don't support pptx.
I suggest you do a save as of your pptx and save it as either a ppt or pdf file format.
Then you should be good not only in seeing it in your Google Drive, but also in being able to cast it to the screen.
I hope this helps and i'll mark a note to inform you if in the future we offer pptx, which is on our road map.
Let me know if you need anything else and don't forget to comment and rate us positively.
Apps name before my suggestion:
Vbukit for Chromecast - Android Apps on Google Play and after Vbukit Chromecast Public Beta - Android Apps on Google Play
Vbukit User - Android Apps on Google Play and after Vbukit User (Public Beta)
@ https you're right, things are loaded from amazons cloud.
What meant and didn't say - in web browsers www.vbukit.com starts HTTP session not HTTPS so MITM is theoretically possible. Partial encryption will always be partial.
Good Idea
Oh, I get what you are saying now.
Thank you, that's helpful. I'll speak with my team and look to implement it.
Please let us know if you come up with other good ideas and have a great rest of the week.
Vbukit said:
Great, this is very helpful.
Unfortunately, pptx is not handled well, so we do not support it.
What we do support currently support is ppt.
Additionally, you can save your pptx file as a pdf and we support that as well.
But unfortunately pptx right now we don't support.
As for Google Drive. If you don't see the file, Its because as stated, we don't support pptx.
I suggest you do a save as of your pptx and save it as either a ppt or pdf file format.
Then you should be good not only in seeing it in your Google Drive, but also in being able to cast it to the screen.
I hope this helps and i'll mark a note to inform you if in the future we offer pptx, which is on our road map.
Let me know if you need anything else and don't forget to comment and rate us positively.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Just tried it with a ppt file and it still won't upload. It just says (after about 60 seconds of "Preparing Upload") "Can't upload file". I can upload other file types, but a ppt file just won't upload. Any other suggestions? Thanks.
We see the bug now, and are attacking it as we speak
Ok, we now see what you mean.
In the past week, we had a massive increase in the number of users and it has now revealed an instability specific to only android, in dealing with office files.
We are putting the whole team on this and will have a solution very soon, I promise. Its good you pointed this out, because oddly enough, you were the only one who said something.
having community members like you make things possible, so thank you for informing us.
So at this point i have two positive pieces of news for you.
1. If you convert your pptx to a pdf, you will be absolutely fine. That will work, i tested it myself. Its only the microsoft office files this bug causes problems with. So convert your pptx to pdf and you'll be set.
2. Because you've been so helpful and nice about this issue, unlike some internet trolls, i've stepped up work on not just solving the ppt problem, but also because of you, i've accelerated work to get pptx.
So for now, use PDF, and hopefully in a few days, you'll be able to use PPT and a very good chance we'll have PPTX.
Thanks again, and expect the fix in the next update.
have a great weekend.
Thanks for the quick response. I'll use the pdf alternative for now and hope to see the ppt/pptx support working on android soon. This is such a great app that I can think of so many different uses! Thanks again!
Vbukit said:
Ok, we now see what you mean.
In the past week, we had a massive increase in the number of users and it has now revealed an instability specific to only android, in dealing with office files.
We are putting the whole team on this and will have a solution very soon, I promise. Its good you pointed this out, because oddly enough, you were the only one who said something.
having community members like you make things possible, so thank you for informing us.
So at this point i have two positive pieces of news for you.
1. If you convert your pptx to a pdf, you will be absolutely fine. That will work, i tested it myself. Its only the microsoft office files this bug causes problems with. So convert your pptx to pdf and you'll be set.
2. Because you've been so helpful and nice about this issue, unlike some internet trolls, i've stepped up work on not just solving the ppt problem, but also because of you, i've accelerated work to get pptx.
So for now, use PDF, and hopefully in a few days, you'll be able to use PPT and a very good chance we'll have PPTX.
Thanks again, and expect the fix in the next update.
have a great weekend.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
PPTX
Well, we've worked hard to get a fast, stable, smart system to implement pptx and and its now released in todays latest update in the android market
so you can now use your PPTX files.
and i'll tell you, it was not easy to do.
enjoy
Edit: Sorry, I had to remove this app when it was brought to my attention recently and I found it was NOT the appI had thought it was :-( It does NOT display properly on the NST/G. Still looking for the one I remember and if I find it I will update this post.
I stumbled across a brief reference to this app buried in another thread from long ago and thought I'd bring it back into the light. Market apps for crossword puzzles seldom work well on the NST, many of them having issues with partially disappearing keyboards.
The app attached below is actually from the Nook Color! It installs and runs just fine on the NST (probably NSTG as well). It has a nice, clean UI--with a custom keyboard that doesn't disappear. Puzzles can be selected by difficulty level.
The drawback: there seems to be no way to get more puzzles. But for casual use, it's great--and the price is right
This app appears to work on the Glowlight Plus also. However, it seems to be pixel mapped, so it appears very small on the higher resolution screen.
are there any services that generate hints?
Great idea! I will gladly support any effort to port/fork/customize/make such app better.
On my Glow3...
Renate said:
On my Glow3...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I've actually learned a few things since my original post (shocking!). Just a cursory inspection of the apk file reveals the stored puzzles in res/raw. There appear to be 100 of them and they are actually in a known format (.puz)!
I've not tried adding anything yet (it's probably not that simple), but here is a site with lots of information about obtaining .puz files for use in Across Lite (a puzzle creating and solving platform): https://communicrossings.com/crosswords-sources-web-sites
Maybe I'll pursue this. I do actually have a very old Crossword app that works well across all my devices and can download new puzzles daily from a variety of sources. I don't even recall where I got it but it has clearly been "modified" in some fashion by someone. Most features work on the NST except for updating the list of puzzle sources. For some reason this fails on the NST although it works on other devices. Probably an SSL issue. But as there are quite a few sources in the "old" list, it's fine for the NST where I don't generally spend a lot of time doing puzzles. But it's there when I need a break from reading or just idle entertainment waiting in a doctor's office, etc.
Edit: I lied. There are actually 189 puzzles (easy, medium, hard, themeless).
nmyshkin said:
I've actually learned a few things since my original post (shocking!). Just a cursory inspection of the apk file reveals the stored puzzles in res/raw. There appear to be 100 of them and they are actually in a known format (.puz)!
I've not tried adding anything yet (it's probably not that simple), but here is a site with lots of information about obtaining .puz files for use in Across Lite (a puzzle creating and solving platform): https://communicrossings.com/crosswords-sources-web-sites
Maybe I'll pursue this. I do actually have a very old Crossword app that works well across all my devices and can download new puzzles daily from a variety of sources. I don't even recall where I got it but it has clearly been "modified" in some fashion by someone. Most features work on the NST except for updating the list of puzzle sources. For some reason this fails on the NST although it works on other devices. Probably an SSL issue. But as there are quite a few sources in the "old" list, it's fine for the NST where I don't generally spend a lot of time doing puzzles. But it's there when I need a break from reading or just idle entertainment waiting in a doctor's office, etc.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Is the crossword app that works across all of your devices same as the one attached to the first post of this thread? You have my support in doing this man. We think similar in approaching the problem. I would also have started from the file type and then go further. I need to look up that platform and attached link. Say if you need any help with this. I need to check crosswords in my language and is there any available site to download them. It might be futile effort for NST without keyboard change. As for SSL problem it starts to be such pain in the a$$ that someone is going to lose patience and find the way to solve it by programming or find the way to obfuscate it through NST as dashboard and any newer phone as server for example. That was also one of the approaches I proposed for missing GPS. Now I rarely need GPS on NST however making it better in terms of book and newspaper device I am all for it.
SJT75 said:
Is the crossword app that works across all of your devices same as the one attached to the first post of this thread?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No, that app of questionable origin is different.
SJT75 said:
You have my support in doing this man. We think similar in approaching the problem. I would also have started from the file type and then go further. I need to look up that platform and attached link. Say if you need any help with this. I need to check crosswords in my language and is there any available site to download them. It might be futile effort for NST without keyboard change. As for SSL problem it starts to be such pain in the a$$ that someone is going to lose patience and find the way to solve it by programming or find the way to obfuscate it through NST as dashboard and any newer phone as server for example. That was also one of the approaches I proposed for missing GPS. Now I rarely need GPS on NST however making it better in terms of book and newspaper device I am all for it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I started to look at this and got a couple of surprises. First, on initialization the app creates one binary file in the data folder. That's all. So any puzzle substitution/updating would have to be done by taking the app apart and then putting it back together with apktool. Not very convenient, but I suppose if you did a good number of puzzles at once it might be worthwhile.
However the real surprise was looking at the app running. It's nothing like I remember! So I'm not sure what I'm looking at now. Maybe I've got yet another crossword app among my files. Better download from the earlier post and see... Although the package does say com.encore.crossword. But the short of it is that the app I was looking at is a no-go on the NST. The puzzles are half-hidden behind the keyboard and no amount of persuasion in either word or gesture (rude or not) will convince the puzzle to scroll up.
Edit: nope, it's the same app I posted earlier in this thread so long ago. It seems impossible but there it is. I wouldn't have posted it if I had seen how it was bolluxed up on the NST. I have no explanation.
Huh. Your 15 x 15 looks better than mine.
I did a once over trying to fix the app.
I chopped down the keyboard a bunch.
Still, the whole layout is a mess.
Renate said:
Huh. Your 15 x 15 looks better than mine.
I did a once over trying to fix the app.
I chopped down the keyboard a bunch.
Still, the whole layout is a mess.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah, I did a little fiddling but could not convince it to show the entire grid as accessible along with the keyboard. It really must be coded just for the Nook Color/Tablet display.
I am baffled as to its appearance. I am getting older, but its nothing at all like I remember. I never would have posted if it had looked that way when I first tried it. But its definitely an app from the Nook Color, that much is evident from the package name. Just a mystery.
From little bit I have read about this ancient version of Android what nmyshkin reported about behavior of the application led me to believe that is developed as NDK app. I believe it is easier to make new app starting from scratch if you gathered enough knowledge about that crosswords file type and if download sources are not behind paywall. I would start with calculating size of standard on screen keyboard and then put rest of the screen for use by the crossword. It might be little small that way although but if field input is letter sized from some regular NST font I believe it can be squeezed. Other option might be that you do not make keyboard input at all but select input square and then use gesture in input field resembling writing. You would also need erase button. Then you would have more space for crossword but had to program input interface for the app. IIRC Opera does support gestures so maybe you could get the idea how to make that interface there.
Since the thread contain nonworking app can we consider it as place for discussion about either rigging that one or finding or developing new one for NST?
You already mentioned modified keyboard so I guess changing crossword layout is not out of question too. I didn't check .puz file type so obviously I have no idea about it but I did skim little through the site nmyshkin posted here. There are also other options there so it might be good to consider them also. Firstly using browser with JS woodoo. I do not know much about that but I have gained an impression you have previously make some good stuff using similar approach. Second option is using .PDF file type for puzzles. It might work considering that NST have some limited PDF reflow ability. Maybe that can allow us to adjust crossword layout? Problem is that it seems like it is slightly abandoned file format for puzzles although it was possible to have even interactive ones in that format. Can"t say what the term interactive means. Hint, letter reveals or something else. If it means connection to a server on net that will most likely be to big bite for old NST in the future.
Just a stray thought inside puzzle letters shown are real letter font used on NST or pictures generated in app?
Looked little about crossword file format. It seems that .puz is albeit old and easier to view/change using tools as simple as Notepad somehow proprietary. On the other hand it is claimed that .jpz is more versatile but even if it is so it seems to be some hybrid between Java and XML.There is also third format .ipuz that is completely free but as I understand it is originally for Mac which I do not have. Now if I delve into this what is the opinion of others? Consider it as a poll. 1, 2 or 3?
The New York Times apparently uses .puz
I'd give that some weight.
NYT links to this download: https://www.litsoft.com/across/alite/download/index.html
That file format seems to be (mostly) documented here: https://code.google.com/archive/p/puz/wikis/FileFormat.wiki
It could be edited by hand but there are binary parts and checksums.
Edit: Well, I take that all back. NYT (just yesterday!) stated that they are dropping .puz format.
NYT Games No Longer Available on Across Lite as of Aug. 10 (Published 2021)
Starting next week, we will no longer provide downloadable .puz files.
www.nytimes.com
I understand that up until now adoption by influential publisher (which regularly paid to owner of file format for software and rights to use) kept .puz in game. Format is simple and already have been reverse engineered by others which irked rights owner to the point of threatening with lawsuits left and right. They should have invested more in development of format and software instead. Second format .jpz is supposedly better but had so far lagged in adoption on the market.
Ha, ha!
Cross words over New York Times puzzle change
The US-based publication is cutting third party support for its popular crossword puzzles.
www.bbc.com
Well I can anticipate two things. First its a good time to start torrent search for old crosswords files archives. Second is that I believe we can find alternative sources on the link nmyshkin posted earlier. Still that doesn't resolve dilemma which file type is a way to go. Based on previous statement Rennate made on other topic I presume she would like .ipuz as open and free standard.
Just a link to share. If someone need old crosswords it appears someone already had made a database. link
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.
Edit 1-8-23: I've updated the Mantano apk file. Seems there were still some issues with the aspect ratio of the default.png (book cover) image. Fixed now at 1.5!
I keep my NSTG on FW 1.2.1 because there are issues with Tasker and plugins on FW 1.2.2. The resulting apps are OK, but development is a problem unless I do it on FW 1.2.1. So that one device has B&N apps removed. AlReader has been my go-to reader app. Until now.
While working on some thorny issues with a Tasker app update I came across a book I wanted to read. Unfortunately it was only available in PDF format and AlReader can't handle that. I soon found that something like EBookDroid really couldn't deal well with a PDF file that begged for text reflow (problematic as that is). I wanted something that was at least as good as the stock reader. I could have just picked up one of my other NSTs and read the book that way, but when you abandon the B&N system you should at least break even, not lose. So I went searching through the forum for some ideas.
Mantano Reader caught my interest. Not only can it reflow PDF text (pretty much like the stock reader-don't get too excited), it can also display PDFs as a continuous scroll, with zoom. It can handle Adobe DRM books! And the TTS works (not a big deal). So I looked around and started with version 2.2.12 from Apkpure. This is the last version for Android 2.1. I found that full-screen reading was broken in this version and I couldn't see why, so I worked my way back until it wasn't broken. That was version 2.2.3.
Not for everyone
Those are some of Mantano's virtues, but it's not for everyone. I think it's chief drawback is the absence of full font support. There is only the default (admittedly not bad) and although there is provision for user fonts, there are issues. More on that later. Then there is the really tiny user interface. The colors render somewhat muddy on the NST also. Those are really tough issues to address, certainly beyond my pay grade. Also, none of the syncing, cloud, downloading of dictionaries, OPDS books, fulfilling of .acsm files, additional fonts, user manuals, etc., works. Can't be fixed. I looked. Finally, the reader options are pretty simple, about what is available for the stock reader (except for fonts). So if you like the hundreds of setting combinations in something like AlReader or FB Reader, this app is not for you. If you want something straightforward so you can just read a book without all the B&N hoopla, Mantano may be worth a look.
Mods
When I started getting serious about this I decided to try to learn by doing. My goal was to remove (or at least hide/disable) stuff that did not work. Almost all of my modifications were in the resources folder of the apk file. There was also one annoying issue with the aspect ratio of book covers that required a minor change in two smali files (thanks to @Renate). Here's a short list:
1. Removed Bookstore (OPDS) tab on home screen (formerly "My Catalogs" as described in User Guide)
2. Removed menu icons for sync and cloud
3. Disabled sections in Settings that don't work (Login, Sync, Dictionary download, Fonts, User Manual download)
4. Corrected font colors in some local dialogs so text is visible
5. Made the page number black, smaller, and with a transparent background for less visual distraction
Also, there were a few dialogs with invisible text that used the system framework to generate the window. The only way to fix this was to make a few very minor changes in framework-res.apk. This worked well and even helped with a few other apps that formerly had invisible text. A win-win. You can update your framework-res.apk using the CWM zip provided below. Despite its filename, it is not an "update" zip. You'll just be installing a zip file with CWM.
Making do
Overdrive Library epubs: No app will be able to fulfill .acsm files on the NST/G. The SSL is just not up to it. So there's no point in registering the device with Adobe. That just wastes one of your allowed devices and so I disabled that first Settings selection. However, the app can read Adobe DRM books, understands due-dates, etc. You just need to introduce your device to ADE running on your PC (ver. 3.0 works well for me on Windows) and transfer fulfilled books from there, just as you would with the stock reader.
Fonts: You can, in theory, supply your own TrueType fonts and place them in /sdcard/Mantano/fonts. When a book is opened, the lower menu options include "Themes". This odd term is for adjusting the appearance of the book (fonts, margins, justification, line spacing, colors). You can make a new theme or edit the default one. Either way, you will get to select a font. You will see the font you added in the folder (you can copy any font you like from /system/fonts or from anywhere else). The problem is that Mantano has no way to deal with font families. For example, I prefer Malabar. Of course, there is the base font, the bold instance, italic, bold italic. Mantano makes you choose one of these. Clearly you choose the base font (no need to copy over the others). If there are italics or bold type in a book, the reader uses the default font. This would not be such an issue for small sections of emphasized text, but the font scales are not the same. Malabar is larger than the default font. So any italics is obviously smaller. I tried a software package for scaling the font but it just turned it into rubbish. I am learning to like the default font. This issue was fixed in version 2.4.6, based on what I've read. But that won't run on the NST, of course.
Dictionaries: The reader has the ability to go out to find definitions on the WWW. Big pain. Although you can't download any dictionaries from within the app, Mantano does play nicely with ColorDict and there are plenty of dictionary options for that. Easy fix.
User Guide: I poked around and found a guide labeled "Version 2.1". That was the best I could do. It seems pretty close, although what was the "Bookstore" tab in this version (which I have removed) is referred to as "My Catalogs" in the manual. Either way, it's non-functional and gone. The same goes for references to cloud, accounts and sync. None of it works and all of it has either been removed from view or disabled in this mod.
Extras
Unlike AlReader and FB Reader, Mantano's main activity is the library view. That means there is no simple way to use the "reading now" status bar button to go directly to your current book.
I also like to be able to use the current book cover as a screensaver. AlReader and CoolReader both have this capability. Mantano does not, but it does create thumbnails for each book (if you let it) and one of those is screensaver size (default.png). For some unknown reason, all the thumbnails of various sizes for display in the library have the correct aspect ratio except for default.png. I fixed this in the app with a view to using it as a screensaver image.
To address these issues, I have used Tasker to create two small apps. Mantano_Extras1 enables a listener for when the reader is closed (either by two presses of the back button or simply by pressing the "n" button). When that happens, the Mantano database is queried for the last reading point/book. This is stored in a variable. Accessing Mantano_Extras1 after setup sends a command to open that file. If Mantano is your default app for epubs and/or pdfs, the book will open automatically to the right place without passing through the library. Thus assigning Mantano_Extras1 to the "reading now" button with NookTouch ModManager restores the function of that button.
Mantano_Extras2 does everything described above. During setup it also creates the folder /media/screensavers/CurrentBookCover. When the reader is exited and the database information stored in a variable, it copies the default.png for the current book to that folder. If you select that folder in your NST Settings app for the screensaver, the current cover will be displayed during sleep.
I should add that both apps check to see if the current book has changed before they do anything. If there is no change, they simply stop.
As these are Tasker-generated apps (but don't require Tasker to run), they have a dependency on two small library files. If you don't have one of my other Tasker apps already, you need to copy the two files in the zip as 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.
The apps also use sqlite3 and busybox. If you rooted with NookManager you already have busybox. A few other special packages probably include it. If you have it, you will find it in /system/xbin. If it's not there, copy the file from the zip to that location and set permissions to rwx-rwx-rwx.
If you don't already have sqlite3, move the file from the zip to /system/bin and set the permissions to rwx r-x r-x.
When you have prepared the way, reboot and then install whichever of the two "Extras" apps you want. When you first tap on the app icon there will be a pause while things are set up and then a request for root access. Once that's done they are good to go. Use NTMM to assign the app to the "reading now" status bar button and set your screensaver directory to "CurrentBookCover" (if you installed Mantano_Extras2).
This is nice work. I have heard good thing about Mantano reader before. I believe it still exists although under new name I think. Its sad that you had to remove app options to make it work on NST. Still I am glad that you make some improvement that could if exploited properly make this device better than before. I believe that solving invisible text message is best of what you did and if understood properly can make number of apps that had this problem before usable again for this device. I would not dismiss even TTS working as I remember that someone tried to implement that on NST before yet I do not remember it was solved. So if it work out of box with Mantano reader it might be prudent to see what makes it work if it is fine TTS not some hardly intelligible sound generator. This options you removed how did you confirmed that they are not working? For cloud I believe it was NST lockout and now enforced TLS1.2 it can not reach that gives you hard time. Yet for syncing it is little harder to understand. For the rest like OPDS and such I guess my knowledge is not sufficient to guess how that even work so if you know more than me I am more than ready to listen.
SJT75 said:
I believe it still exists although under new name I think.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Now Bookari.
SJT75 said:
Its sad that you had to remove app options to make it work on NST.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I didn't so much remove options to make it work. It worked as-is, but not the login/download components, and they are not necessary for the reading functions.
SJT75 said:
I believe that solving invisible text message is best of what you did and if understood properly can make number of apps that had this problem before usable again for this device
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It's possible. I noticed improvement in dialog boxes for ES File Explorer. But there are other types of dialog boxes and I only dealt with what was needed for this app. Spillover is a gift.
SJT75 said:
I would not dismiss even TTS working as I remember that someone tried to implement that on NST before yet I do not remember it was solved. So if it work out of box with Mantano reader it might be prudent to see what makes it work if it is fine TTS not some hardly intelligible sound generator.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well, that could have been me. Pico TTS (if not removed) always worked on the NST if you downloaded some voices. I have a post about this somewhere with links. But the quality is really wretched. I looked at this further awhile back and found that Google TTS began with Android 2.2 (of course). There is a "bridge" system involving a custom settings app but each application must include this custom code to work. I did a MOD for AlReader to enable this, but it's not easy and would be (nearly) impossible for Mantano as very few of the smali files have descriptive names. Most are just "a.smali, b.smali", etc. So it's really difficult to track down what you want.
SJT75 said:
This options you removed how did you confirmed that they are not working? For cloud I believe it was NST lockout and now enforced TLS1.2 it can not reach that gives you hard time. Yet for syncing it is little harder to understand. For the rest like OPDS and such I guess my knowledge is not sufficient to guess how that even work so if you know more than me I am more than ready to listen.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It's not all SSL. Or it may be that also. The URLs in the apk file don't go anywhere, even on my PC browser. So far I've gotten up to version 4.5 and still no working URLs. Perhaps when Bookari emerged as the name the old URLs were abandoned and the old Mantano apps became crippled in this way.
Thanks nmyshkin you clarified some things. I agree that change to new platform and abandoning the URL domain for cloud use could be cause for that option not functioning anymore. Yet unless the syncing have not be performed through a same route (login account on the same domain) sync should function fine from one device to another for example. About the rest you are correct I have come to a same conclusion that even slight upgrade of Android on this device would make vast improvement in options available to exploit. Sadly B&N did not go that way. I will look upon PicoTTS to see if something about the way it actually work can be understood to evaluate if it is worth the effort or it maybe can be discarded as irrelevant for this device.
Just crossed my mind... nmyshkin did you tried to hunt down inside apk file exact spot where that URL is written/coded and change it to something else like IP address of your computer/drive/*/*/sync folder ?
SJT75 said:
Just crossed my mind... nmyshkin did you tried to hunt down inside apk file exact spot where that URL is written/coded and change it to something else like IP address of your computer/drive/*/*/sync folder ?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No, it didn't occur to me. I only read on one device so that's not the kind of thing that interests me. Also, I just transfer books over from my PC to the Nook when I get them, usually via FTP.
I did see cloud, sync, etc., URLs but I suspect that just changing them would not produce the capability you seem to be hinting at. It's likely a lot more complicated than that. It seems to me that syncing implies active communications from both ends. Teaching your PC to respond to the overtures of the Nook would be a whole other rats nest.
You are correct. Using URLs to connect to PC is not safe. Therefore some home workgroup network or SFTP access are more reasonable way. Maybe if you change cloud sink URL to Dropbox folder you get something?
SJT75 said:
You are correct. Using URLs to connect to PC is not safe. Therefore some home workgroup network or SFTP access are more reasonable way. Maybe if you change cloud sink URL to Dropbox folder you get something?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I don't think so. The app innards were designed for negotiating with certain remote servers and expect a certain dialog. Just changing the URL doesn't address these issues. Using Dropbox as an example, there are login credentials to be supplied and other issues to be addressed before files can be freely moved in either direction.
Well yes unless dropbox folder is public shared one what I wrote will not work. What if you link sync/cloud to internal folders on device inside Dropbox application that also initiate script written to execute Dropbox synchronization? Then login credentials would come from Dropbox app I think.
SJT75 said:
Well yes unless dropbox folder is public shared one what I wrote will not work. What if you link sync/cloud to internal folders on device inside Dropbox application that also initiate script written to execute Dropbox synchronization? Then login credentials would come from Dropbox app I think.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
1. I am not a Java programmer. What you are suggesting is going to require significant changes in the app. It's not in the same league as the modifications I made.
2. I have no interest in the feature. People who must have synchronization with myriad other devices would be better served by selecting an app that currently has this feature working (like FB Reader).
3. If someone who is a Java programmer and is interested in this feature wants to take a crack at it, more power to them. I personally think it's a dead end. Just about the time you get it figured out, Dropbox will no longer work on the NST. Any modification that relies on exchange with an external commercial server has a built-in self-destruct timer, just waiting for tightening external server access rules. It's over for Android 2.1.
nmyshkin said:
Just about the time you get it figured out, Dropbox will no longer work on the NST. Any modification that relies on exchange with an external commercial server has a built-in self-destruct timer, just waiting for tightening external server access rules. It's over for Android 2.1.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Amen to that. Making NST more cooperative with Calibre is much better option anyway. Commercial server could be also a trap. There was an outcry when Remarkable for example started charging access to their services out of blue and without warning.