Database Develop

[HOW-TO] Work-arounds for issues with stock Nook Color ROM

Since the same questions seem to be getting asked a lot, here are some methods for getting past stock NookColor ROM limitations in a single thread:
1. How do I keep wifi from turning off when the screen goes to sleep?
- download Spare Parts from the market and set wifi sleep policy to never.
. . . mixed results have been reported with this method, but this appears to be the best known fix at the moment.
2. I restored and re-rooted, now I can't log in to my B&N account!
- get NookColorTools app (if not installed during root, it's on xda). Under All Settings, open the 2nd (of 3) setting called Wireless near the bottom. This will begin their registration process again.
3. How do I install a different keyboard?
- if it's in the market, first purchase/install it-- if it's a stand-alone apk, skip that and move on to the next paragraph. If you just downloaded it from the market, find the apk somewhere in data/app/ and copy from there.
Now place the app's apk (Root Explorer works great) in system/app (mount system as r-w first). Look at the file's permissions (long hold on it and choose Permissions from the menu), and match it to the permissions of the other files in that folder. Reboot. Then open your trusty NookColorTools, select keyboard, and you should be able to switch to it. Not all keyboards are currently working, but this is a great way to find out if it does that doesn't require renaming or deleting your current keyboard.
4. How do I get Swype on here?
- right now, you can't. Swype requires a copy that matches your device's resolution, and the only version of Swype that matches ours (1024x600) is the copy that ships with the Galaxy Tab, but, to my knowledge, nobody has gotten it completely working on here without causing major system crashes (not to mention the apk couldn't be posted on xda even if it was eventually hacked to work).
SlideIT keyboard is another trace keyboard that DOES work on the NookColor, and I've been very happy with it (it's come a long way since I tried it last summer and quickly uninstalled it). The method in #3 above should work to install it.
5. Wait, I can't copy and paste on the NookColor??
- not through the OS, no. There is a solution though. It involves getting an app called Copy Paste It from the market (paid, but there's a trial version). You'll probably need to set it to rotate clockwise (in settings), or it'll get screwy.
When you want to copy, activate the function from the notification, and it'll let you frame the text to copy:
{
"lightbox_close": "Close",
"lightbox_next": "Next",
"lightbox_previous": "Previous",
"lightbox_error": "The requested content cannot be loaded. Please try again later.",
"lightbox_start_slideshow": "Start slideshow",
"lightbox_stop_slideshow": "Stop slideshow",
"lightbox_full_screen": "Full screen",
"lightbox_thumbnails": "Thumbnails",
"lightbox_download": "Download",
"lightbox_share": "Share",
"lightbox_zoom": "Zoom",
"lightbox_new_window": "New window",
"lightbox_toggle_sidebar": "Toggle sidebar"
}
The second part, pasting, requires having a keyboard with a Paste setting in it. Again, SlideIT has this on the special characters keyboard (I'm not a troll for SlideIT, just a happy customer). I'm not sure which other keyboards have this feature, if any (if you know, post, and I'll update this). Assuming you have a keyboard with paste, it'll paste what the Copy Paste It app copied.
6. Why is everything on my screen so small?
- this is because the NookColor's stock LCD density is 169.333, which is pretty low (Galaxy Tab is 240). Unlike resolution, which is hardware-based, density is software-based and can be changed. If you search the market for LCD density, there are a couple apps that will do this--a free one that won't survive a hard reboot, and a paid one that (supposedly) will.
If you want to make it permanent for free, you can edit your build.prop file. Again, use Root Explorer to open system/build.prop (BACKUP FIRST!), find the following two lines:
ro.sf.lcd_density.xdpi=169.33333
ro.sf.lcd_density.ydpi=169.33333
If you wanted your density to be 250, you'd replace them with the following single line:
ro.sf.lcd_density=250
Save the edited file, and reboot.
Here are two of my Galaxy Tab-esque homescreens set to 250:
. . . Now, jacking up your LCD density much above 200 will make your status bar look wonky and cut-off. One solution for this is to set it to 250, like above (by changing build.prop - I think the apps I mentioned only allow multiples of 20), which will make it look clean (as long as wifi is on). The only problem there is that you'll lose your status bar clock and Notifications in portrait mode . . .
. . . the solution for THIS is to get two apps: hellostatusbar, and quick launch. Set quick launch to open hellostatusbar on a home- button double press, and it will display your Notifications.
Also note that raising the density can cut-off parts of the stock Barnes & Noble software (they're designed for the lower density), so this mod is probably better for people like me who use the Kindle app and ezPDF for reading.
7. If I don't want to use softkeys, can I remap the hardware buttons to do something different?
Yes. In Root Explorer, navigate to system/usr/keylayout, make a backup of TWL4030_Keypad.kl, then open the original with text editor and change the entry for key 115 ( volume up) and/or key 114 (volume down) with something like BACK, MENU, or SEARCH. Save the file. Reboot, and they'll be whatever you changed the entry to.
If you want easy volume controls after remapping these buttons, a market app called Volumer++ can be set to live in your notifications for easy access. Otherwise, you can change them from settings.
8. How do I set my wallpaper so that the resolution looks good?
- I used a market app called Wallpaper Set & Save. It's easy, and resolution looks great. I think it cuts off the image a little bit, but not much. I think this method will suffice for many people, but if you want it to be sized perfectly, do the following (credit to swapdotavi for the instructions):
[Get an image that is at least 1200x1024, crop it (without scaling) to 1200x1024. If you're using Photoshop, copy the entire image, then create a new file sized 1200x1024. Then paste the image and use the arrow to drag it around to whatever looks best to you. Save the file as a .png, transfer to your nook, and use Wallpaper Set & Save to choose the new file.]
. . . Since we share the same resolution with the Galaxy Tab, the wallpapers that came with it look phenomenal (in my opinion) on the NookColor. Follow this link to pick them up:
http://galaxytabwallpapers.net/original-galaxy-tab/
9. Can I change the lockscreen slider to look like stock Android or Sense?
- yes - get an app called WidgetLocker. Set it to look how you want. Then, under Behavior, set Homehelper as your system home. Still under Behavior, go to Home to Launch, and pick your real launcher (Launcherpro, ADW, etc.). Also, under Advanced, be sure to check both the Root Bypass of 5 Second Rule, and Retain Keyguard.
10. My NookColor seems sluggish - is there a way to speed it up?
Most of you will already know this, but Setcpu is a market app that can speed things up and improve battery life. CPU Tuner is a free alternative that's similar, but I've had more experience with setcpu, and can vouch much more for it.
My recommended settings:
Min 600
Max 800
Governor: OnDemand*
check 'set on boot'
... And one profile enabled:
Screen Off
Min 300
Max 600
Governor: Ondemand
... And another optional setting (for even a little more extra zip):
under Advanced:
change "Up Threshold" to 35
* for the fastest setting, set the governor in the main CPU setting to Performance (with 800 max). It may drain your battery quicker, but mine still holds up surprisingly well on performance--and the nook is very fast.
These are just settings that work for me. Feel free to experiment. Also, some people were having their Nook randomly reboot, and changing the governor from conservative to ondemand helped.
11. Any other battery-saving tips?
In case you missed the rival xda threads arguing over who thought of it first, there was a potentially useful battery-saving trick in there:
Go back in Root Explorer, and in system/app, mount as r-w and rename Phone.apk and TelephonyProvider.apk to anything else (adding .bak onto the end would be fine).
Basically, you're removing android system files that may be wasting juice looking for a non-existent cell service. It's unsure if or how much this actually improves battery life, but it very well could, and it certainly won't hurt anything changing their names.
12. Why aren't my favorite live wallpapers working?
I'm not sure, but here's how to get the rest of them going:
Download this file: http://db.tt/ur0c98s
It will fail installing, but if you use Root Explorer, copy it from your download directory, go to system/app, set as r-w... Then long-press on any file in that directory, and look at its permissions. Now paste your LiveWallpapers.apk there and change its permissions to match the others. Your live wallpapers should work now!
The Nexus wallpaper won't work, but just install Nexus Revamped from the market - it's identical, it's free, and it has customization.
If you're using one of the more system-intensive Live Wallpapers (like "Water"), I'd recommend using all of the Setcpu changes from #10 above to keep things snappy (also know that LWP's can drain battery quicker).
13. How can I get my Google contacts in here?
If you aren't concerned with them showing up in the B&N Contacts app, and are more interested in having them come up as auto-suggestions when typing an email address or Google Voice text number, there's a way (credit to jadambpharm):
- Go to gmail on the web, click on contacts (left side), then More Actions, then Export. Choose .vcard format. Transfer that file to your SD card.
- get a Market app on your Nook called Import Contacts. Point it to the contacts.vcard file you just got, and they'll now come up for auto-fill suggestions!
14. How can I prevent the Nook from automatically updating the firmware?
- Change the name of etc/security/otacerts.zip to anything else (doing this in Root Explorer works fine). So far, this had looked pretty solid in successfully disabling OTA updates.
15. Why won't YouTube play videos in HD?
For some reason, the YouTube that's installed from rooting won't do it. To get a version that plays HD:
- uninstall your current YouTube via Titanium Backup
- download this version from the Evo (credit aludal): http://db.tt/y5vVvI2
- rather than installing this one, rename it youtube.apk and copy it into system/app (w/permissions matching the other apk's in that folder)
It should be there now, ready to play HQ clips. If not, reboot first.
I'll update as I think of more. Enjoy your modestly-priced, unintentional Android tablets!

Reserved 10 chars

How about "What size should wallpaper images be?"
I suggest this because I dont know

swapdotavi said:
How about "What size should wallpaper images be?"
I suggest this because I dont know
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I didn't resize them manually, I just used an app - will update OP in a minute with that, and again later when I get the chance to research manually setting them . . .

I don't know either, but I've had good luck with searching for 'wallpaper' on Google images with size set to 1024*1024 and then using 'set as wallpaper' from dolphin browser HD.
Sent from my NOOKcolor using XDA App

pest789 said:
I don't know either, but I've had good luck with searching for 'wallpaper' on Google images with size set to 1024*1024 and then using 'set as wallpaper' from dolphin browser HD.
Sent from my NOOKcolor using XDA App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The Galaxy Tab wallpapers I've used all look phenomenal too. Same resolution, so its tailor-made. Easy to find them with a google search.

For some reason changing the lcd density didn't do a damn thing through build.prob after reboot. What did I do wrong?
Edit:
And I did save it before rebooting so I'm not sure what I did wrong...

wvcachi said:
3. How do I install a different keyboard?
- if it's in the market, first purchase/install it-- if it's a stand-alone apk, skip that and move on to the next paragraph. If you just downloaded it from the market, find the apk somewhere in data/app/ and copy from there.
Now place the app's apk (Root Explorer works great) in system/app (set system as r-w first). Reboot. Then open your trusty NookColorTools, select keyboard, and you should be able to switch to it. Not all keyboards are currently working, but this is a great way to find out if it does that doesn't require renaming or deleting your current keyboard.
Can you please explain the 'set system as r-w'?
Thanks
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Click to expand...
Click to collapse

@beejis - make sure you're losing the xdpi and ydpi parts and merging it into a single entry. Look closely at the example in the OP. Also, make sure you're editing the entry that isn't commented out (don't bother editing the lcddensity entry with a # in front of it) a few lines earlier. If for some reason that didn't work, then use the free app from the market to change it.
@k8108 - if you're using Root Explorer, it's a little button up top when you're navigating system/, which lets you toggle mounting system as 'read-write' and 'read-only.'

Beejis said:
For some reason changing the lcd density didn't do a damn thing through build.prob after reboot. What did I do wrong?
Edit:
And I did save it before rebooting so I'm not sure what I did wrong...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Comment out these lines (add # to beginning):
# ro.sf.lcd_density.xdpi=169.3333
# ro.sf.lcd_density.ydpi=169.3333
Add this line:
ro.sf.lcd_density=254
I already had a line similar that I uncommented, and I run mine at 254.
169.3333 / 2 = 84.6666
169.3333 + 84.6666 = 254
I am probably overthinking it, but it looks good. You can make that number 250 if you want.
The Program LCD Density lets you select specific densities as well, but is only soft. Nice for testing.

k8108 said:
Can you please explain the 'set system as r-w'?
Thanks
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
http://nookdevs.com/NookColor_Making_system_partition_Read-Write
From adb shell, run this code:
Code:
mount -o rw,remount -t ext2 /dev/block/mmcblk0p5 /system

ThrowingKs said:
http://nookdevs.com/NookColor_Making_system_partition_Read-Write
From adb shell, run this code:
Code:
mount -o rw,remount -t ext2 /dev/block/mmcblk0p5 /system
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
...I got the impression he was using Root Explorer, in which case it's a little button that says r-w.

I have used the free market app to change the lcd density and it makes most of the interface fantastic except for a couple things. As noted the status bar doe mess up but that I am not worried about but the screen density change to, 250 in my case, really screws up the formating of my nook library and shop. I use them quite a lot to read newspapers and such so if anyone else has this experience let me know how/if you deal with it.
Sent from my LogicPD Zoom2 using XDA App

foethalove said:
I have used the free market app to change the lcd density and it makes most of the interface fantastic except for a couple things. As noted the status bar doe mess up but that I am not worried about but the screen density change to, 250 in my case, really screws up the formating of my nook library and shop. I use them quite a lot to read newspapers and such so if anyone else has this experience let me know how/if you deal with it.
Sent from my LogicPD Zoom2 using XDA App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Good point - I'll note that in the OP. I don't use the B&N stuff, so it's easy for me to forget that not everyone on xda is in the same boat.

Where does the SlideIT.apk go after you install it from the market? I can't put it in the system/app folder because i can't find it. Any ideas?
NookColor+ XDA 4 ever

cgtombstone said:
Where does the SlideIT.apk go after you install it from the market? I can't put it in the system/app folder because i can't find it. Any ideas?
NookColor+ XDA 4 ever
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Look in data/app, and find the file named com.dasur.slideit.apk. Copy/paste that into system/app (hit r-w first of course), then reboot and switch keyboards via NookColorTools.

My bad I was searching for it in root explorer and I gues the search function was skipping the data folder for some reason ( or I'm missing something). Thanks anyway.
NookColor+ XDA 4 ever

Thanks bookmarking this thread

wvcachi said:
I didn't resize them manually, I just used an app - will update OP in a minute with that, and again later when I get the chance to research manually setting them . . .
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ah perfect did not see your update. I see you found Set and Save, but you mentioned you might update with exact size instructions later. I actually went and did a bit of research, so maybe I can save you some time
To get an perfect wallpaper using 5 screens, like in ADW:
- Get an image that is at least 1200x1024
- Crop (dont scale) it to 1200x1024. A really easily way to do this is open the file in Photoshop, copy the entire image, then create a new file that's exactly 1200x1024. Then just paste the image and use the arrow to drag it around to whatever looks best to you.
- Save the file as a .png
- Get it on to your nook. (SD card transfer, email and download, whatever)
- Open Wallpaper Set & Save
- Point it towards the folder you have your wallpapers in
- Select the wallpaper you want
- Hit apply
Bam. Perfect wallpaper, no stretching, no compression. Looks great! I'll post screens later today if I remember
I used a 1920x1200 wallpaper I had on my PC, cropped it, emailed it to myself, then used Set & Save to place my wallpaper. It's really crisp.
edit: And thanks for the lock screen information! Going to do that tonight; sick of the stock screen

MOD, can we get this stickied? Lots of good info!

[APP] Connectivity Shortcuts -[R]- 09-08-2011 -[U]- 09-08-2011 -[V]- 1.0

Name: Connectivity Shortcuts
Connectivity Shortcuts allows Windows Phone 7.5 (Mango) users to quickly access their Wifi, Bluetooth, Cellular and Airplane Mode Settings Page. Additionally it allows users to put a direct link to any of those Settings Pages as a Live Tile directly on their start screen.
E.g.: You touch the Wifi Tile and are taken directly to Wifi Settings where you can enable/disable Wifi or choose a Wifi network.
This App is available right now for all Windows Phones running Mango through the Windows Phone Marketplace.
The visuals will be improved in an update which should arrive early next week and due to initial user feedback new (more beautiful) icons are currently in the works.
Additional projects for the near future includes a german localisation.
Any feedback and feature suggestions are welcome.
Source: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?p=17370388
Download Link: http://windowsphone.com/s?appid=430cf007-731f-4357-af7b-b897bff25a2c

Awesome job, thanks a lot. I really missed that since I switched to Mango.
Will the new icons be more metro like? Then it would be perfect

The Function of the App is nice.
But the Design is awful
The Icons are way to big n not metro style and the App itself should look like the Settings design.
Only Text and Switches.
Other than that its nice to have Shortcuts.
I appreciate your work but i wanted to give u feedback.

I have not finally decided what exactly the new icons will look like.
Due to popular request the icons will be smaller than they are now. Wifi will most likely be changed to look similar to the Icon found in Windows Phones Task Bar. Similarily the Cell-Settings icon will most likely mimic a phone's reception indicator.
Bluetooth will remain roughly the same as well as the Airplane mode albeit smaller (which better matches with the looks of e.g. the Zune and IE Tiles).
The next update (v 1.1) though will not feature those but some minor changes in the application (it was already submitted prior to todays Marketplace availability).
V 1.2 will have new Icons and I'm currently thinking about some tile customizations that users can do themselves but there's nothing definitive on this at the moment.
Another thing people often ask for in comments is shortcuts to other settings. As much as I would like to provide those - Microsoft did not include the needed APIs so we're stuck with those 4 for now.
@Knochen: Your feedback is much appreciated. New Icons are already in progress as I already said. Concerning the application design I went with the tile interface because pinning those to the start screen will be the way most people will use the App and I believe it is most intuitive that way. Putting switches in there would not make much sense as the App can not change the settings itself (like Connection Manager in Windows Mobile did) but can only link you to the Systems Settings page (which is the way this App works). So I hope you agree that putting a switch in there that would take you to another settings page would only be confusing.
@all: Keep the feedback coming. It is unfortunate that many of the shortcomings of this App are due to limitations I have to live with. Still I'm trying to improve it to suit your needs as much as possible.

How about this for Wifi?
It's a transparent png file so you should download it, otherwise it's only white on white.
{
"lightbox_close": "Close",
"lightbox_next": "Next",
"lightbox_previous": "Previous",
"lightbox_error": "The requested content cannot be loaded. Please try again later.",
"lightbox_start_slideshow": "Start slideshow",
"lightbox_stop_slideshow": "Stop slideshow",
"lightbox_full_screen": "Full screen",
"lightbox_thumbnails": "Thumbnails",
"lightbox_download": "Download",
"lightbox_share": "Share",
"lightbox_zoom": "Zoom",
"lightbox_new_window": "New window",
"lightbox_toggle_sidebar": "Toggle sidebar"
}

singularity0821 said:
How about this for Wifi?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The Icon that is in my current build (which should be in the second update) is already looking pretty similar to the Icon you provided.

StevieBallz said:
@Knochen: Your feedback is much appreciated. New Icons are already in progress as I already said. Concerning the application design I went with the tile interface because pinning those to the start screen will be the way most people will use the App and I believe it is most intuitive that way. Putting switches in there would not make much sense as the App can not change the settings itself (like Connection Manager in Windows Mobile did) but can only link you to the Systems Settings page (which is the way this App works). So I hope you agree that putting a switch in there that would take you to another settings page would only be confusing.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I think you didnt understood
I mean a switch for activating each tile.
So like now where you have to hold down d the tile a simple switch with the same effect like
now:
icon you press n hold and get to your homescreen with the new icon
settings like design:
text: wi-fi shortcut switch off (when you switch this on you'll get to the homescreen with the tile, next time you open the app the switch is set to on, so you know wich tile is activated)
underneath a short description
maybe i create a design example with photoshop
Thx for takin feedback serious

I don't have Mango yet, so I obviously don't know what the app can or can't do in its current form, but here is what would be fantastic, if possible:
Have the live tile show the current state of the setting (different icons for on versus off), and tapping the tile acts as a toggle, changing the setting and updating the tile (without the need to open any settings page).
Do the new APIs allow direct control of the individual connection settings by an app, or just a shortcut to the OS settings app?

Mango does still not allow Applications to simply interfere with system settings, which is why I only can open the settings page (I would prefer it differently as well). That way Microsoft ensures that the users always has a GUI presented to him when such settings change.
Concerning the display of the current state of a connection. My personal development version sets the tile Background inside the App to on the Wifi and Data connection tiles if the services to belong to are deactivated.
I was thinking about displaying that state on the start screen tiles as well but as users might not always switch the settings by going through my app and there is no way of getting an App notified of such changes the tiles might display incorrect information which is why I'm not including that feature.
Regarding the on/off switches. I like the idea per se as it would allow people to quickly place tiles on the start screen an would not yank them out of the App for tiles that are already on the start screen. My development version now displays a message when the according tile is already on the start screen. I will think about a way to display that a tile is already pinned to start visually beforehand. The switches would still be weird in the handling as WP7 upon creation of a tile always moves from the App to the start screen.

StevieBallz said:
I was thinking about displaying that state on the start screen tiles as well but as users might not always switch the settings by going through my app and there is no way of getting an App notified of such changes the tiles might display incorrect information which is why I'm not including that feature.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You could always create a Background Agent that checks the status and updates the tiles accordingly. Though, I think that you can only schedule those to run as frequently as every 30 minutes so there would still be a fair amount of time where things could be out of sync.

I'm more thinking along the lines of making that display a configurable option which tells people when they activate it, that the tiles display might be inaccurate if they change their settings without opening the App.
What I want to avoid is anything that behaves odd without any possibility to explain to the user what is happening or why that is (because it leads to confused users => bad reviews).

That is a valid concern. Hopefully, though, people would have enough common sense (yeah, I know ) to realize that changing a setting outside of your app could cause a delay in the live tile update, but I think your disclaimer pop-up idea should be enough, advising people that if they DO change a setting outside of the app, then the live tile may take up to 30 minutes to reflect the change. Then you could add the background agent component to provide the auto-refresh every 30 minutes.
As for Microsoft not allowing you to change the setting directly, well, that sucks. As much as I like WP7, I sometimes get tired of being treated like little children by Microsoft.

Nice app.

I kind of understand why Microsoft is not allowing Apps to do certain things on their own. E.g. someone could write an App that is downloading huge amounts of data but before doing so disables the Wifi connection. The outcry of affected people would be enormous.
That's why everything that might impact anything aside from the App itself is only accesible through Choosers and Tasks. That way Microsoft knows that the setting only changes when the user sees a suitable UI. (Code analysis might fail at this task due to Reflection invocation of those APIs).
The world would be a better place if it were not for the black sheep in the computer industry but at least I know I can feel quite safe using WP7.
Back To Topic - I'm not sure wether I will include a background agent because it would only be necessary to run IF the user decides to go the other route which he is warned not to do. I'd stick with correcting the tile whenever the App launches and not waste any processing time on checking that value every half hour.

RE: background agent, that's cool, and you're right, it probably doesn't make a lot of sense to consume CPU cycles for something that only might happen.
As for the safety from black sheep issue, the solution seems simple to me. Just as with apps that use personal and/or location data, an app that has the ability to adjust connection settings would require the user to confirm that they want it in the marketplace before purchase/download, and it could also be implemented in a way that the app can't actually do it until you have confirmed it on the phone during the first run. Safety still maintained, and better flexibility achieved, in keeping with the "glance and go" philosophy of WP7. With that said, I still give kudos to MS for even implementing the shortcut APIs. As I understand it, Apple still hasn't allowed them on iOS (at least that is what I have been told by some iPhone users).
BTW, your app sounds great! I just wish Microsoft and AT&T would get off their collective backsides and GET MANGO OUT THERE ALREADY so I could use it!

Background agent will just be confusing.
The most important thing is that you need to close the app directly if you click on a live tile (if possible). Because now your app stays in the stack which is quite annoying. It would be nice if it only went to wifi f/e and just closes the app after it switching. (you could add it to the on navigate from function f/e).
The behaviour should be like this:
click the tile --> wifi settings --> toggle wifi on/off --> click back button --> start screen. unfortunately now your app is in between the "back sequence", it would be cool if it will auto close if not opened trough the Maintile

Wow, it's really weird that I announced and released an app REALLY similar to this last week. It seems odd that two of us would have nearly the same idea at the same time.
Apparently I can't post links, but you'll find the post (first one on the main page) on my site at twistontech dot com. I don't know about you, but your app looks an awful lot like mine, don't you think?
Regards,
sirtwist

interjuncture said:
I don't know about you, but your app looks an awful lot like mine, don't you think?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Mine released yesterday and in another forum (PocketPC.ch) someone brought it to my attention that your App exists. I actually downloaded it then and was astonished at how similar they looked.
I guess it simply made sense to visualize all of this that way. (As people say: sometimes a certain idea is in the air and just waits to materialize).

in all cases, great job you have done
good luck

Good job! thanks.

My nook experience (Aldiko+Fora)

I've made a small low-res Youtube video showing how I customized my Nook reading experience:
- customization of hard buttons: R Page up - back, R Page down - menu, N button;
- "start scanner" functionality of Fora Dictionary, my fav Stardict app, which automaticly displays the meaning of a copied word;
- Aldiko with WP7 font, which I find the best for e-reading.
How is yours?

Thanks for the vid. I haven't used Aldiko in a while, having switched to CoolReader because of the screen refresh control.
However, I noticed in your video that Aldiko wasn't refreshing the screen on each page turn. What version of Aldiko are you running (and is it the paid version)?
Again, thanks for your insight as well as the video.
P.S.: I, too, like the Wp7 font's appearance. I went to download it from a thread on XDA, but noticed it didn't contain an italicized variant. Do you know where I could find a package that includes it?

[DIY] Making The Most Of A Locked Bootloader [LT30p]

I was going to make a ROM for y’all but my kitchens a mess and the cookers not working
I would have called it something like XTassy :laugh: ​
THIS IS NOT A GUIDE
Its a record of the changes that I have made to a perfectly good ROM.... So that it better suits my needs.
Everything here has the potential to break your phone and make it smell like fish.
If this happens you should PM me immediately so I can laugh at you
I'm always interested to know if there's a better way of doing something
and perhaps you might find something here that's useful to you​
My Model: Xperia T - LT30P
Bootloader: Locked (Theres no reason why this stuff shouldn't work on an unlocked bootloader)
Carrier: Three (Yea they did it.... Gits)
Post 2: The Core
Post 3: Pebble Dash Removal
Post 4: Silent Camera Hack
Post 5: Advert Removal + Security
Post 6: Apps I Use And recommend
Post 8: Some Ringtones I Made
Post 9: Things Im Currently Working On / Would Like To Change

The Core
My stock rom was non-updateable, overheated, and I was able to kill a full battery in less than 3 hours.
I did an antutu stability test and it was all over the shop.
After trying out loads of stock and custom roms the one that had the highest benchmark
and was the most stable for me (according to antutu) was TiMiN8R's XperimenT
What I like about TiMiN8R's Rom? XperimenT 3.1.1
. Phone no longer overheats
. Battery Life has improved
. Its pre rooted
. Installs ClockWorkMod
. Has smaller on screen buttons (the black bar at the bottom)
. Comes with a file manager (why no stock roms have this?)
. He’s changed the menu background and it works for me
. Has a better battery icon with percentage
. Has a reboot option when powering down (ohhh that’s bliss)
. Has the older google maps with a blue arrow launcher for navigation (I really missed that! but can be updated according to preference)
. Has some fancy customizable toggles on the notification bar
Antutu Benchmark v4.0.1 score was 16892 Without an SD Card
That’s a massive portion of the hard work done. Cant thank him (and all persons involved) enough for making my phone usable. :good:
Before flashing the ROM I backed up my apps to my internal storage with Android Assistant

Pebble Dash Removal
My goal here is to rip out everything I can. My old phones Rom (x10 mini pro)
was 100mb in size, with all my apps installed and it did everything I wanted it to.
The way I see it... everything past 100mb must be battery draining, spyware, adverts and pebble dash.
Apologies to the the people that put time and effort into the apps I just called pebble dash
​
TiMiN8R has already removed a fair amount of bloatware from this rom. But as hes made it available for the majority im sure he didn’t want to remove apps that people might want.
Note! I will be removing the default keyboard and home screen (as far as I can tell it doesn’t have landscape mode)
If you decide to do this YOU MUST FIRST INSTALL REPLACEMENTS. I use the keyboard from gingerbread
& Launcher Pro as my home-screen. (Go Launcher seems popular but iv never tried it)
Ill also be removing all themes and lots of things you might miss... like the walkman, nfc, bluetooth, backup software.
Be aware that removing an application will affect others that depend on it... for example removing “live wallpaper picker”
will make ALL live wallpapers unuseable and you wont be able to use any live wallpapers that you get from the play store in future.
To do this I used root uninstaller
The safest way to do this is to enter ClockWorkMod by pressing the volume down but 2 or 3 times when you first turn your phone on and make a back up (of your entire setup) remove a few applications at a time... check everything still works. And repeat the process. If something goes wrong.... do a restore and start over. Its not advised to try and uninstall them all in one go
Current total of installed APK's 223 afterwards 126
<----- data use before and after
Here’s the list of apks that I was able to remove from this rom without errors or crashes (after a reboot)
in the order they appear in root uninstaller
About PlayStation Certified 1.0 (just a notice in the setting menu?)
Adobe Flash Player 11.1 11.1.115.34 (youtube and firefox work without it)
Amber 5.0.A.0.6
Amethyst 10.0.A.0.9
Android live Wallpapers 4.1.2-bvt_tw
Back up & Restore 1.0
Backup over MTP 1.1
Backup-Restore 1.0
Black Hole 1.0
Bluetooth Share 4.1.2-bvt_tw ( I don’t use bluetooth )
Browser 4.1.2-bvt_tw ( I prefer Firefox )
Bubbles 1.0
Chrome 28.0.1500.64 ( I prefer Firefox)
Clocks 3.0.a.0.2 (its a widget I use ClockQ)
Content Sharing 2.2.0 (NFC)
Cosmic Flow 1.3.A.0.4 (wallpaper?)
CrashMonitor 1.0.A.0.1
Download music info 3.0.A.0.6
Email 4.0.1 (I use gmail instead)
Emerald 10.0.A.0.9
Exchange services 5.0 (dunno what it is looks like email?)
FM radio 4.2.A.0.4
Face unlock 4.1.2-509230
File Manager 1.0.1 (I use Root Browser)
File Manager Themes 1.0.0
General Data Disclaimer 3.0.A.0.14
Gmail 4.5.2-714156 ( I prefer the old gmail )
Google calendar sync 4.1.2-509230 (app works without this)
Google One Time Init 4.1.2-509230
Google Search 2.6.7..721924.arm
Gps satellites Notification 1.0.0
HTML Viewer 4.1.2-bvt_tw
Hangouts 1.0.2.695251
Infinite view qo.1.A.0.0
InitialBootSetup 1.0
Japanese keyboard layout 1.0
Key Chain 4.1.2-bvt_tw
Live Wallpaper Picker 4.1.2-bvt_tw
Location-Based Wi-Fi 1.1.A.0.6
lock screen 1.0 (safe to remove reverts to basic jb lockscreen I use the pin unlock and media player widgets work)
MHL 2.0
Magic smoke wallpapers 4.1.2-bvt_tw
Market Feedback Agent 4.1.2-509230 ( No feed market my battery)
Movie Studio 1.1
MusicFX 1.4 (I use MortPlayer instead of walkman it works fine without this)
NFC Service 4.1.2-cvt_tw
Phase Beam 1.0 (wallpaper?)
photo slideshow 1.0.A.0.6
Picaso Uploader 1.1.40000
Picture Effect 1.0
Picco TTS 1.0 (navigation uses google text to speech engine?)
Quarts 10.0.A.0.9
Recorder 9.1.A.0.14
Remote Control Service
Ruby 10.0.A.0.9
Sim toolkit 4.1.2-bvt_tw (cant find it in the menu just for orange?)
Sapphire 10.0.A.0.9
Screen Mirroring 1.0
SensMetm slideshow 2.0.A.0.9
Silk 10.0.A.0.9 (think this is a keyboard theme)
Skyfall 3.0
SmartConnect 5.1.5
SmartSearch 7.1.A.0.4
Sound Recorder 4.1.2-bvt_tw
Street View 1.8.1.2 (maps and nav work without it)
SuperSU 1.45 (don’t need it for root access will probably make your phone less secure)
SuperSU NoNag 1.00 (don’t need it for root access will probably make your phone less secure)
Tv Launcher 1.3.A.0.4
Tags 1.1
Tether Entitlement Check ( Tethering works fine for me without this )
Themes 1.0.A.0.20
Tools 2.0.A.2.0
Torch 2.1.8
Update Service 1.0 (will probably break updates via pc companion)
User Dictionary 4.1.2-bvt_tw
Voice Dailer 4.1.2-bvt_tw
Walkman 2.0.A.0.26 (I use mort player instead)
Walkman 7.6.A.0.1 (I use mort player instead)
WarrentytimeService 1.0
Weather Widget 2.0.A.0.36
World Clock 1.0.A.0.11
XthemeEngien beta5 (sorry I dont use it)
Xperia Share 1.0.A.0.10
Xperia Home (must install alternative before uninstalling)
Xperia extention for Throw
Xperia Keyboard 6.1.A.0.4 (must install alternative before uninstalling)
Xperia Wallpapers 3.3.A.0.5
XperimenT 10.0.A.0.9(sorry I don’t use it)
Xposed installer 2.1.4 (sorry I don’t use it)
Youtube 4.5.17 (theres a newer version would rather have fresh clean than updated)
com.android.backupconfirm 4.1.2-bvt_tw
com.android.browser.res.overlay 1002.0
com.android.providers.partnerbookmarks 4.1.2-bvt_tw
com.android.providers.partnerbookmarks.res.overlay
com..android.sharedstoragebackup.4.1.2-bvt_tw
com.android.wallpaper.holospiral 4.1.2-bvt.yw
com.google.android.voicesearch 4.0.0
com.sonyericsson.home.res.overlay 1002.0 (must install alternative before uninstalling)
com.sonyericsson.res.setupwizard.overlay 1002.0
com.sonyericsson.res.trackid.overlay 1002.0
com.sonymobile.connectivitycenter 1.0.A.0.15
devicemonitor 1.1 (no monitoring my device)
Theme-manager 1.0.A.0.8
I couldn’t find a list like this for the Xperia T
It took me a hell of a long time to test the removals and reboot over and over as well as typing it up.
So please don’t copy and paste it elsewhere. The next two lines are for googlers
Xperia T bloatware removal lt30p
Xperia T safe to remove list lt30p (safe if you understand what your doing)
Step 2
After removing all those apks I use a file browser to navigate to
/ > system > framework
and remove any .jar files that relate to the apks that I just uninstalled
like Bluetooth, NFC, Facebook, Music, Music Visualizer ect.ect.
Then I go to my settings and change the ringtone to PYXIS
This is the only pre installed ringtone I want to keep
Its no good dropping beats in a room full of suits so I use this tone when im at work to keep things professional
Then I go to / > system > media > audio > ringtones and delete all but pyixs
and paste my own .ogg ringtones (ill attach some of the ringtones I made to post 8)
I do the same for alarms and notifications
first set the ones that I use then delete the rest and paste my own
/ > system > media > audio >alarms
/ > system > media > audio >notifications
I don't like to use ringtones from sd card/storage locations because if I were to accidentally delete them maybe my alarm wont go off in the morning Not a risk I wanna take lol
why I removed the lockscreen and all themes / theme manager?
I removed every single theme & theme manager
so now instead of my phone looking like this
it looks like this!
iv made a dreadful mistake :crying:
I also removed the lock screen 1.0 app which reverted the lock screen to basic jb
lets add a wallpaper
and change it to pin
Much better! (settings > security > screen lock > pin)
Dont panic the music widget still works
I also like to add: If Found Please Call - 07MYMUMMY505
To the lock screen Found in settings > security > owner info
(you have to enter the pin when connecting the phone to a usb cable)
One thing I miss from cyanogen mod was "skip on security" meaning you don't have to press ok when you enter the correct pin. id also like to remove the grey and maybe make it more transparent (Dam locked bootloader) that's something ill have to come back to tho (think it would involve decompileing the system UI)

Silent Camera Hack
Be aware this may be illegal where you live and Don't go using it for "up skirts"
I don't like my camera to make a noise, with some snaps its best to be discreet..... after all this is the James bond phone
This phone was surprisingly easy to mute my other Xperias were a pain in the backside
/ > system > media > audio > camera > sound0
there's a file there called no_sound.m4a (how convenient)
I copied this and pasted it 3 times into this location / > system > media > audio > camera > sound1
Then Deleted: shutter.m4a , start_rec.m4a & stop_rec.m4a
and renamed the 3 no_sound.m4a files to shutter.m4a , start_rec.m4a & stop_rec.m4a
the same can be done with the files in / > system > media > audio > camera > common
(or see attached files)

Advert Removal
I cant stand adverts especially the ones that take up half the screen.
for the last 3-4 years iv been using an app called AdFree by Bigtincan
Its awesome just set it up and forget about it. no More annoying flashing google ads taking up half the screen
Unfortunately it keeps getting banned from the google play store (cant think why )
Here is their homepage http://www.bigtincan.com/en/
Here is their download page http://www.bigtincan.com/adfree/ (that no longer works)
And attached to this post is a little bit of love in the form of an apk
Select > Boot Normally > Skip Registration > Download & Install Hosts
If you use launcher pro you can hide the app from the app drawer
If you use the FireFox web browser there's an add-on called Adblock plus (also a version for the desktop firefox) that removes all adverts from all webpages including youtube videos (you know the ones that make you watch adverts about tampons for 15 seconds)
<<<< [BEFORE] [SETTINGS] [AFTER]
Security
Have you ever read some of the permissions that apps request when you install them?
Why the hell random apps want to read my text messages and contacts I don't know
Iv tried changing permissions and it just caused problems.... so heres what I do
I install this app Android Firewall
and I white list the apps that I want to be able to access the internet
(make sure you enable the firewall as well)
{
"lightbox_close": "Close",
"lightbox_next": "Next",
"lightbox_previous": "Previous",
"lightbox_error": "The requested content cannot be loaded. Please try again later.",
"lightbox_start_slideshow": "Start slideshow",
"lightbox_stop_slideshow": "Stop slideshow",
"lightbox_full_screen": "Full screen",
"lightbox_thumbnails": "Thumbnails",
"lightbox_download": "Download",
"lightbox_share": "Share",
"lightbox_zoom": "Zoom",
"lightbox_new_window": "New window",
"lightbox_toggle_sidebar": "Toggle sidebar"
}
<<< img from google play
YouTube requires MediaServer as well to function. This is not a bug. YouTube is working as designed by Google and requires the Android MediaServer.
The Internet Permission is required for LAN Support so that AF can access the subnet address information. AF in no way makes any calls out to the Internet.
Please refer to the help section of AF for further information.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I don't use any kind of anti virus software for these reasons:
Android is based on Linux
I have an arsenal of hacking software they complain about every 5 minuets
They send reports of whats on your phone for "analysis"

Apps I Use And recommend
Seen as this thread was titled Making The Most Of A Locked Bootloader ill start with a big one
Cpu Manager and Saver Pro
It limits the cpu when when your not using the phone (when the screen is off) and restores it when you are using it (when the screen is on)
Iv only found out about it recently but it seems to be working as it should. We have 1.5gz CPU so we don't need to overclock.
But underclocking! Anything we can do to save the battery is a god send :victory:
Launcher Pro (cannot resize widgets with free version)
I keep banging on about it... this is the home screen I use.
I cant really show you it coz.... you cant see it... its more how it works and what it dose
Landscape Mode
Massively customizable
Can easily hide / show apps from the app drawer
App-drawer scrolls parallel (in one slide rather than separate panels)
Has Counters for Missed Calls,Emails,Texts
182,430+ 5 Star ratings
Well worth checking out.
Digitally Imported - Internet Radio
www.di.fm is the homepage for my laptop (they recently updated it looks mint)
Been listening to di.fm for a good 8 years, my fav channel is progressive and there's many more
Need to make an account to use the app but its free
Jota Text Editor
Simple .txt editor, love the dark background
Gingerbread keyboard
From Android 2.3
after installing go to > settings > language and input > and set as default
I Like to disable word suggestions, dictionary, and auto correct
I cant get on with any other keyboard.... very happy to get this back
Tiny Flashlight
The reason I like this one over all others is because there's an option to have the light come on when the app is opened
This is super useful when remapping buttons to launch the light on a long press

I have an unlocked bootloader, so this guide isn't necessary for me. But, if I didn't, I would find this a Godsend. You are awesome sir, great work.

Some Ringtones I Made
I made these with acid pro
Iv converted them from stereo mp3 to mono ogg (Default ringtones were in ogg format I assume there's a reason for it)
and tweaked the volume to as loud as I could without it distorting (on my phone)
It only takes me 2 minuets to do this so im more than happy to do requests and id be interested in what you think would make a good ringtone.
Chaos Theory.ogg Ringtone (by conspiracy)
Tone starts at 2.34 in this vid
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7PRbA9ltKX4
Blue Anthem.ogg Ringtone (by plus system)
Tone starts at about 33 seconds into this vid
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pwDGUuUn888

Things Im Currently Working On / Would Like To Change
I want to stop the volume keys from changing the Ringtone volume (I want that on max all the time)
and remap them to open apps on long press (calculator and torch)
Without affecting media volume functions
change the pin lock screen to skip on security
meaning you don't have to press ok when you enter the correct pin
while I was testing roms I found a cyanogen mod variant by peetr that worked with my locked bootloader
ill paste the link here when i find it >>>>>>>>> http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2240485&highlight=hybrid
id like to pinch the dialer, messenger, calculator and contacts apks from it but.... im not sure if it would be that simple and haven't the time right now

Throbin Wood said:
One thing I miss from cyanogen mod was "skip on security" meaning you don't have to press ok when you enter the correct pin. id also like to remove the grey and maybe make it more transparent (Dam locked bootloader) that's something ill have to come back to tho (think it would involve decompileing the system UI)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This can be achieved with some theming as you suggest, and does not require an unlocked bootloader.
Throbin Wood said:
It limits the cpu when when your not using the phone (when the screen is off) and restores it when you are using it (when the screen is on)
Iv only found out about it recently but it seems to be working as it should. We have 1.5gz CPU so we don't need to overclock.
But underclocking! Anything we can do to save the battery is a god send :victory:
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
When the screen is off your phone should automatically go into "deep sleep" which has the minimum cpu setting already applied so need to use this for that.
When your phone is on it is safe to have the cpu at stock speeds. However, if you do need to conserve battery (As I sometimes do when away on expedition) I do lower clock speeds but I am not sure this can be done without a custom kernel.
It definitely cannot be done to overclock without the unlocked bootloader, but I am still unsure if you can under clock without it. The app may report its set, but you need setcpu (Or some other app) to check which frequencies your phone has been running at. It may work, but I have never tried it with a stock kernel.

Nice thread mate, and thanks for the creds :good:
Maybe not a real guide (yet) but definitely some great pointers for other users looking to modify their ROM.
Too bad you can't get the kitchen set up right, there's probably some people around here who'd like to see it as a full-on ROM.
Like the name XTassy!
@gregbradley I tried CU Saver and kept an eye on the clocks with CPU Spy. Maxed the clock at 1242MHz and according to CPU Spy it never went over so seems to work well. Mind you, it also works with screen on, not just screen off!

Cheers for testing that, was it done on a stock kernel though
Sent from my LT30p using xda premium

gregbradley said:
Cheers for testing that, was it done on a stock kernel though
Sent from my LT30p using xda premium
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes stock kernel, locked bootloader.
Sent from my LT30p using xda app-developers app

I even changed active CPU Governor with No-frills CPU on stock fw.
Anyone know of some working performance tweaks like this? Any governor better than stock? Any magic script boosting Android like (in) famous Supercharger etc? That's kind of the modifications most users with locked bootloader will surely find interesting.

I didnt know people had replied! Guess I didnt subscribe to the thread lol. ill ad more to this tonight. Iv had a little bug (i think with cpu saver) screen would turn itself off right after wake up it did it over and over till i rebooted. But hasnt happend since. Other than that underclock seems to work fine
Sent from my LT30p using xda app-developers app

TiMiN8R said:
Nice thread mate, and thanks for the creds :good:
Maybe not a real guide (yet) but definitely some great pointers for other users looking to modify their ROM.
Too bad you can't get the kitchen set up right, there's probably some people around here who'd like to see it as a full-on ROM.
Like the name XTassy!
@gregbradley I tried CU Saver and kept an eye on the clocks with CPU Spy. Maxed the clock at 1242MHz and according to CPU Spy it never went over so seems to work well. Mind you, it also works with screen on, not just screen off!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
THIS IS NOT A GUIDE
Its a record of the changes that I have made to a perfectly good ROM....
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
id rather it was more "I did this" than "this is how to do it"
lol and thanks for the rom:good:

i have the same problem of overheating

djtj0989 said:
i have the same problem of overheating
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
My phone got so hot it was on the verge of burning me and I was worried it was going to damage itself.
and that's just with everyday tasks like sending texts and web browsing
Do you have this apk installed?......... Overheat control 1.0
I noticed that after I flashed Tims rom..... not had a problem since and it barley even gets warm

When I tried xperiment I got a antutu score of 7000?
Sent from my LT30p using xda app-developers app

[APP] [NST/G][2.1+] E-ink Optimized Ebookdroid - excellent PDF CBZ FB2 DJVU reader

[APP] [NST/G][2.1+] E-ink Optimized Ebookdroid - excellent PDF CBZ FB2 DJVU reader -- Great for reading comics!
Here I am posting an amazing app tweaked by @nivieru a few years ago specifically for the Nook Simple Touch which is by far the best PDF reader I have found for this device. I have not messed with using it for CBZ, FB2, or DJVU formats, but I would assume it would perform just as well on those. I primarily use this app to read comics in PDF format. And I have found it to be more than great. I have tried other many other apps for reading PDF; the two runners up being: EzPDF Reader and AVP PDF Viewer.
My criteria for calling this a good PDF reading:
1. Auto-Cropping Pages: This app will automatically crop dead space out of the pages. This is crucial when reading comics in PDF. It is best to read on the NST in landscape, and this auto-crop feature allows you to maximize the use of the screen while not having to fiddle so much with some kind of scroll-lock. I can load my comics and go.
2. Better Contrast: Nivieru really set this up nicely. I downloaded the last installable version of ebookdroid, and without Nivieru's tweaks I found it to have huge potential but to be wanting in this department. The app has the ability to change contrast, brightness, and exposure. After a few hours of fiddling with it and getting it as best as I could get it, my results were sub-par. For example, AVP Viewer showed small text better then ebookdroid without Nivieru's tweaks. Now, it is superior to AVP Viewer in sharpness, crispness, contrast, and vibrancy. The text and images just pop right off the e-ink screen! Blacks are very black. Whites are white. There is no loss in the gradient of grayscales possible with Nivieru's tweaks to this app.
3. Very customizable taps/button usage on the app: One thing I found superior to AVP Viewer and EzPDF Reader was that I had more options to turn the page with buttons than simply programming the side buttons to be android volume buttons. I use the Right and Left Tap programming in Nook Simple Touch Mod Manager to turn pages on my epub reading app (@Renate NST's Temblast Reader--the best and simplest epub reader I've found).
With this app, you can program the pages to turn using these very same buttons by: 1. tapping the menu key 2. More-->Settings-->Configure taps. At this menu, simply tap the desired page button, tap the dropdown for Single Tap, then choose Scroll Forward and Scroll Back for the right and left button you wish to program for each respective action.
4. The Ability to Determine the scroll height for taps or button presses:
Access this by: 1. tapping the menu key 2. More-->Settings...-->All Settings-->Taps, swipes, and keys
You can determine how far that a tap (or button press) to scroll up or down will move the viewing area. I find this extremely useful when I want to use @nmyshkin's newly created IROff app which allows you to turn off the IR to save battery. I find that this combination of being able to effectively scroll up and down without touching the screen having the IR sensors turned off has significantly lowered the battery drain while reading PDF documents because the IR array isn't repetitively reading finger swipes to scroll the viewing region up or down.
This option is much more useful than the two other runner up PDF apps. APV PDF Viewer jumps an entire screen when you scroll with the buttons (this is very difficult to read comics without touching the screen). EzPDF Reader Jumps the viewing area a shorter distance, and is more easy to read with buttons only, however, in EzPDF Reader, there is no way to get rid of the task bar at the top of the screen which takes up valuable reading real-estate.
With this option in ebookdroid, you can easily read PDF documents with the IR turned completely off. Thanks again @nmyshkin.
@nivieru made the defaults of the app better than the original version of ebookdroid, which makes it more install and go rather than install, tweak for a few hours, and go. This app runs pdfs quickly and smoothly, and also it does not leave ghosting on the screen while reading comics.
All in all, I am extremely happy with this app, and am happy to share nivieru's app with the community here. I hope it is just as useful to you as I have found it to be.
Here are some pictures I took with my cellphone comparing the rendering of the same document to other PDF readers. I will say that I have NOT enhanced the photos in any way. If you notice there is a noticeable difference in contrast and clarity from the other three examples.
Un-tweaked "stock" ebookdroid app:
APV PDF Viewer:
EzPDF Reader:
And finally the featured app tweaked by @nivieru--notice the difference in contrast!:
Well done on all counts. May this app be used by all who wish to read comics on the Nook Simple Touch.
I've attached the apk file on this app as well as @nmyshkin's app to turn off the IR sensors for a super efficient PDF reader. This app disengages the touch screen but the touch screen will automatically re-engage when the Nook goes into deep sleep after being asleep for 10 seconds; if for some reason your nook can't go into deep sleep, do a hard reset by holding the power button for 15 seconds and turning back on.
For IRoff to function, you need to have these files that nmyshkin has provided (attached) in their proper locations:
/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 IRoff app will not function. They are attached.
Note: You do not need those files in place to run nivieru's ebookdroid.
Here is nivieru's github page that has the apk for download with the source code: https://github.com/nivieru/ebookdroid/releases
Thank you to the xda community and all who made the NST such a wonderful, affordable, efficient, and functional e-ink reader. I will not buy another one, maybe ever. Thanks so much.
Peace

Time for a second look
I'm going to take another look at this app. Maybe the first time around I just installed whatever Ebookdroid I could find that would work. I ended up settling on AVP (after ditching Orion Viewer) because I liked that in scrolling the image would stay in the screen frame instead of slopping around. I get that good behavior with Ebookdroid on my Nook Tablet, but it wasn't my experience on the NST. But maybe I missed a setting. I have used AVP to read PDF newspapers mostly. For comics (which I haven't looked at in awhile) I have used Perfect Viewer, but that was for CBR or CBZ files.
Anyway, I need to revisit Ebookdroid in this version and see how it behaves. Thanks for the info.

My pleasure. Thanks for all you have done as well.

You're absolutely right about the display with EBookDroid. It's much clearer and with excellent contrast compared to AVP. Unfortunately neither is very good at handling a large PDF file like a newspaper. I'm finding myself arriving at blank pages and waiting until something shows up. Maybe about the same for both there, and it might be that some of the more esoteric settings like "pages in memory" or similar will help. Have to experiment more. Tap zooming with EBD often gives no result until the page is moved a bit, or goes to a black screen--again perhaps a sign that the system is overloaded with a large file.
Do you know:
1. if there is a way to set the zoom %? On more current versions of EBD you can select the zoom % that occurs with a tap. I can't seem to locate that on this version.
2. what the [0%, 90% - 100%, 100%] and similar options are for on the Tap Configuration menu? There isn't anything like those on the current EBD
Edit: OK, so I have sort of answered my own questions when I installed the current market version on my KitKat device. On that version you can actually see the selections in the tap configuration screen. The default for the funny numerical thing was [0%, 0%, -100%, 100%] so I decided this was good enough for me and set the NST the same way.
As for the zoom settings, still nowhere to be seen, but much experimentation has led me to conclude that the only tap-zoom setting that works reliably and reasonably well is the "zoom to column"--at least for a newspaper or magazine for which it almost seems designed. The other options like "zoom" (does nothing but show the inoperative zoom toast at the bottom of the screen) and "quick zoom" (does nothing until the page is moved slightly and doesn't release after tapping until the page is moved a little again) result in either no effect or much delay.
Edit:Edit: Oh, LOL! Who would have suspected that the "zoom" toast at the bottom of the screen functioned with a swipe from right to left!!! So the "1.00x" at the left end is actually the setting at the far right, and as you swipe toward the left the zoom increases! Now this bears looking at further

nmyshkin said:
You're absolutely right about the display with EBookDroid. It's much clearer and with excellent contrast compared to AVP. Unfortunately neither is very good at handling a large PDF file like a newspaper. I'm finding myself arriving at blank pages and waiting until something shows up. Maybe about the same for both there, and it might be that some of the more esoteric settings like "pages in memory" or similar will help. Have to experiment more. Tap zooming with EBD often gives no result until the page is moved a bit, or goes to a black screen--again perhaps a sign that the system is overloaded with a large file.
Do you know:
1. if there is a way to set the zoom %? On more current versions of EBD you can select the zoom % that occurs with a tap. I can't seem to locate that on this version.
2. what the [0%, 90% - 100%, 100%] and similar options are for on the Tap Configuration menu? There isn't anything like those on the current EBD
Edit: OK, so I have sort of answered my own questions when I installed the current market version on my KitKat device. On that version you can actually see the selections in the tap configuration screen. The default for the funny numerical thing was [0%, 0%, -100%, 100%] so I decided this was good enough for me and set the NST the same way.
As for the zoom settings, still nowhere to be seen, but much experimentation has led me to conclude that the only tap-zoom setting that works reliably and reasonably well is the "zoom to column"--at least for a newspaper or magazine for which it almost seems designed. The other options like "zoom" (does nothing but show the inoperative zoom toast at the bottom of the screen) and "quick zoom" (does nothing until the page is moved slightly and doesn't release after tapping until the page is moved a little again) result in either no effect or much delay.
Edit:Edit: Oh, LOL! Who would have suspected that the "zoom" toast at the bottom of the screen functioned with a swipe from right to left!!! So the "1.00x" at the left end is actually the setting at the far right, and as you swipe toward the left the zoom increases! Now this bears looking at further
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm glad you figured it out. Sorry I didn't notice that you had commented on this. It's definitely THE clearest comic reading app I have found. It also autocrops nicely. No need to re-zoom every time a file is opened.

ALinkToTao said:
[APP] [NST/G][2.1+] E-ink Optimized Ebookdroid - excellent PDF CBZ FB2 DJVU reader -- Great for reading comics!
Here I am posting an amazing app tweaked by @nivieru a few years ago specifically for the Nook Simple Touch which is by far the best PDF reader I have found for this device. I have not messed with using it for CBZ, FB2, or DJVU formats, but I would assume it would perform just as well on those. I primarily use this app to read comics in PDF format. And I have found it to be more than great. I have tried other many other apps for reading PDF; the two runners up being: EzPDF Reader and AVP PDF Viewer.
My criteria for calling this a good PDF reading:
1. Auto-Cropping Pages: This app will automatically crop dead space out of the pages. This is crucial when reading comics in PDF. It is best to read on the NST in landscape, and this auto-crop feature allows you to maximize the use of the screen while not having to fiddle so much with some kind of scroll-lock. I can load my comics and go.
2. Better Contrast: Nivieru really set this up nicely. I downloaded the last installable version of ebookdroid, and without Nivieru's tweaks I found it to have huge potential but to be wanting in this department. The app has the ability to change contrast, brightness, and exposure. After a few hours of fiddling with it and getting it as best as I could get it, my results were sub-par. For example, AVP Viewer showed small text better then ebookdroid without Nivieru's tweaks. Now, it is superior to AVP Viewer in sharpness, crispness, contrast, and vibrancy. The text and images just pop right off the e-ink screen! Blacks are very black. Whites are white. There is no loss in the gradient of grayscales possible with Nivieru's tweaks to this app.
3. Very customizable taps/button usage on the app: One thing I found superior to AVP Viewer and EzPDF Reader was that I had more options to turn the page with buttons than simply programming the side buttons to be android volume buttons. I use the Right and Left Tap programming in Nook Simple Touch Mod Manager to turn pages on my epub reading app (@Renate NST's Temblast Reader--the best and simplest epub reader I've found).
With this app, you can program the pages to turn using these very same buttons by: 1. tapping the menu key 2. More-->Settings-->Configure taps. At this menu, simply tap the desired page button, tap the dropdown for Single Tap, then choose Scroll Forward and Scroll Back for the right and left button you wish to program for each respective action.
4. The Ability to Determine the scroll height for taps or button presses:
Access this by: 1. tapping the menu key 2. More-->Settings...-->All Settings-->Taps, swipes, and keys
You can determine how far that a tap (or button press) to scroll up or down will move the viewing area. I find this extremely useful when I want to use @nmyshkin's newly created IROff app which allows you to turn off the IR to save battery. I find that this combination of being able to effectively scroll up and down without touching the screen having the IR sensors turned off has significantly lowered the battery drain while reading PDF documents because the IR array isn't repetitively reading finger swipes to scroll the viewing region up or down.
This option is much more useful than the two other runner up PDF apps. APV PDF Viewer jumps an entire screen when you scroll with the buttons (this is very difficult to read comics without touching the screen). EzPDF Reader Jumps the viewing area a shorter distance, and is more easy to read with buttons only, however, in EzPDF Reader, there is no way to get rid of the task bar at the top of the screen which takes up valuable reading real-estate.
With this option in ebookdroid, you can easily read PDF documents with the IR turned completely off. Thanks again @nmyshkin.
@nivieru made the defaults of the app better than the original version of ebookdroid, which makes it more install and go rather than install, tweak for a few hours, and go. This app runs pdfs quickly and smoothly, and also it does not leave ghosting on the screen while reading comics.
All in all, I am extremely happy with this app, and am happy to share nivieru's app with the community here. I hope it is just as useful to you as I have found it to be.
Here are some pictures I took with my cellphone comparing the rendering of the same document to other PDF readers. I will say that I have NOT enhanced the photos in any way. If you notice there is a noticeable difference in contrast and clarity from the other three examples.
Un-tweaked "stock" ebookdroid app:
APV PDF Viewer:
EzPDF Reader:
And finally the featured app tweaked by @nivieru--notice the difference in contrast!:
Well done on all counts. May this app be used by all who wish to read comics on the Nook Simple Touch.
I've attached the apk file on this app as well as @nmyshkin's app to turn off the IR sensors for a super efficient PDF reader. This app disengages the touch screen but the touch screen will automatically re-engage when the Nook goes into deep sleep after being asleep for 10 seconds; if for some reason your nook can't go into deep sleep, do a hard reset by holding the power button for 15 seconds and turning back on.
For IRoff to function, you need to have these files that nmyshkin has provided (attached) in their proper locations:
/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 IRoff app will not function. They are attached.
Note: You do not need those files in place to run nivieru's ebookdroid.
Here is nivieru's github page that has the apk for download with the source code: https://github.com/nivieru/ebookdroid/releases
Thank you to the xda community and all who made the NST such a wonderful, affordable, efficient, and functional e-ink reader. I will not buy another one, maybe ever. Thanks so much.
Peace
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Click to collapse
Bumping this thread up, as it deserves to be noticed. Thank you for bringing this to our attention and for the files you attached (thanks to @nmyshkin for his contributions.) I have found eBookDroid the few days I have been using it to be a superb PDF and DJVU reader. I tested CBZ (comic) files too and it seems equally good. This is now my app of choice to read PDF and DJVU books. I use FBReader for EPUB and MOBI books.
I was hoping to have FBReader's PDF and DJVU plugins work on the Nook Simple Touch, but I was getting a Parse Error when trying to install, so I suppose they are not compatible with Android 2.1. However, eBookDroid more than makes up for that problem. A great reader!

My pleasure. I'm glad you are enjoying it.