Database Develop

[Q] Which eReader for a rooted N2E?

Hi people,
Just wondering if you guys tried other readers?
I guess not all of them will work fine due to turn page animations and stuff (I didn't root mine yet).
The kobo one looks pretty slick, and you can import books into their library (though I'd prefer it to work with Calibre).
Well, just to gather some advices!

I find the stock reader to have the best contrast, so I usually use it. Aldiko works fine, but the black of the letters seems more washed out and the background is more white than the "grey" of e-ink.

Success so far with Ezpdf to read pdf (duh) and repligo.
I guess someone commented before that you can't get zoom and orientation change via software. Ezpdf changes orientation and repligo gets zoom.
I want both!!!
Will try epub this afternoon, and comics later on...

Great, thanks for the hints.
Could someone try Kobo? Looks really slick on my Nook Color, I wonder how it rates on the Touch.

Moonreader+ and Coolreader work well and page turns can be made with the hardware buttons. Kindle reader works well too.
I use Calibre and Calibre Library to get books onto the device. Mostly read with the 'stock' reader though.

disabling touch page turns
Do any of the alternative reader apps have the option to disable touch screen page turns, using only the hardware keys? I'm open to non-app software suggestions as well, but I can't really change my reading habits to stop using my finger.

I'm looking for a better reader me too.
After some weeks, what reader you recommend for epub?
Is there one that can read also lit files?
And for pdf?
Many thanks

I've tried a bunch of readers and went with Mantano Reader, available through the droid market: https://market.android.com/details?id=com.mantano.reader.android.trial&feature=search_result. This is for a 7 day trial. I like being able to pick the dictionary the program uses and the app is nice. I've been talking with the company about adding touch key support for our Nooks and I believe they might do it with the next update. It's not cheap, it's $8.00 but displays book info and IMHO worth the purchase price.

There is no player that is compatible with the lit format?

Both repligo and ezpdf accept hardware button, and have zoom and orientation change via menus (even though some of them need some guessing, as menus wording is white or missing - I don't know which). Droid comic viewer is a winner too, light and fast (with cbz - as cbr tend to be quite slow).

best reader
Hi, after some testing, I would highly recomend coolreader, due to a few functionalities that other readers lack:
- it's aware you are using nook touch so:
- it has screen refresh options, with the configurable number of refreshes before the full refresh. No more black screen during refresh, refresh is even better that in original B&N reader. No other reader can do that !
- it knows you have four hardware keys, and, it can remap them to anything ! also double and long click, so you can have up to 12 actions assiociated with the hardware buttons.
- screen has 9 tap zones, also configurable, including touch and long touch
- a nice small title bar, you can have some useful info as clock here
- current reading book screensaver buid in. Just have to choose it as any other nook screensaver. Curren book cover copied automatically to the csreensaver directory after opening a book. Simple, but lot of fun.
- registers itself to the android as the EPUB reader, so you can open book directly from B&N library, which is still the best library for nook touch I think.
- plus all other functions as fonts, dictionaries etc..
it's not perfect of course - little slow book opening, no DRM and PDF support. But can still read a lot of formats, as rtf, and doc. even docx.

kefir135:
Very nice review. I've been using CoolReader as well for the past week or so and have come to many similar conclusions. Your review pointed out a few features I was unaware of until now, too:
kefir135 said:
- registers itself to the android as the EPUB reader, so you can open book directly from B&N library, which is still the best library for nook touch I think.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I never thought of this! I agree the B&N library has the best "browseability". I don't really mind CoolReader's book list/browser, but two things annoyed me right from the start:
1. I had to open EACH book individually to get the covers to show up in the CoolReader library browser.
2. The CoolReader library listings would simply NOT hold the sort order I had given them (e.g., by author, title, etc.).
Other than that, though, I agree with your conclusion. And the HUGE selling point for me is the CoolReader has -- as you stated -- the refresh control. I don't like the slowness of having every page blink BLACK on each turn. It might be a total refresh and won't allow ghosting, but it simply doesn't look good to me.
Thanks again for your thoughts!

Nomad Reader is also very good.
It supports partial refresh, Nook's page turn buttons and you can adjust the contrast.

mdall said:
Nomad Reader is also very good.
It supports partial refresh, Nook's page turn buttons and you can adjust the contrast.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I recently came upon this app as well when I noticed that it mentioned the Nook partial refresh capability (which is why I like CoolReader). I'll have to give this one a try. Thanks for the recommendation!

kefir135 said:
Hi, after some testing, I would highly recomend coolreader, due to a few functionalities that other readers lack:
- current reading book screensaver buid in. Just have to choose it as any other nook screensaver. Curren book cover copied automatically to the csreensaver directory after opening a book. Simple, but lot of fun.
- registers itself to the android as the EPUB reader, so you can open book directly from B&N library, which is still the best library for nook touch I think.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have installed CoolReader on my rooted NTR, but the default reader that opens when selecting book from Nook library is still Nook reader. And screen saver is still taking from the current book opened in Nook reader. Is there any other step I have to do to achieve what you told above? Thank you.

The main reason that I use the stock reader is the page numbering - it seems like all of the other readers change the "number of pages" and "what page am i on" based on the current font selection. Stock reader must be able to determine what the "true" page number is so it feels more like a printed book.
I tried CoolReader but there were too many options - and besides the aforementioned page number issue, I didn't like the status bar at the top.
I really have no complaints with the stock reader...

spedinfargo said:
The main reason that I use the stock reader is the page numbering - it seems like all of the other readers change the "number of pages" and "what page am i on" based on the current font selection. Stock reader must be able to determine what the "true" page number is so it feels more like a printed book.
I tried CoolReader but there were too many options - and besides the aforementioned page number issue, I didn't like the status bar at the top.
I really have no complaints with the stock reader...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Status bar can be hide. I like the feature in the CoolReader that I can double tap the word then search the colordict dictionary.

thangnh said:
I have installed CoolReader on my rooted NTR, but the default reader that opens when selecting book from Nook library is still Nook reader. And screen saver is still taking from the current book opened in Nook reader. Is there any other step I have to do to achieve what you told above? Thank you.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
In my case nook asks me which application should open the book chosen in Library application. Maybe you have selected "Always use this app" in this dialog earlier. Try to install another reader or remove and install cool reader again.
Regarding the screensaver, cool reader stores the book cover in a screensaver directory. Just open nook settings and select Current book screensaver.

millertary said:
Do any of the alternative reader apps have the option to disable touch screen page turns, using only the hardware keys? I'm open to non-app software suggestions as well, but I can't really change my reading habits to stop using my finger.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You can use fbreader, then customize the zones of the touch screen to disable any action on touch.

ace7196 said:
You can use fbreader, then customize the zones of the touch screen to disable any action on touch.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
the same applies for coolreader too.

What is best ereader?

I use the NC as a 50% ereader and though I installed the Mirage-Kang ROMwhich has given it fantastic Android performance and stability, none of this changes an iota in terms of the best app to read with. I've installed a wide variety of apps, and will share my favorites, but would like yours on which is your favorite and why.
Obviously ebook format is not an issue with Calibre. I don't view using it as an ordeal either and usually have fun perusing the Amazon or Google pickings for the best cover. In any case, spending a few minutes before spending many an hour with a good book is obviously nothing.
Among the ereaders I have installed and tested are Aldiko, Kobo, Moon, Cool Reader, FBReader, and Kindle. I live in Brazil, so the Android market Nook app is not available to me.
My top two are Aldiko and Kindle. They are my favorites for proper epub/mobi formatting and overall reading experience.
Aldiko - Aldiko achieves the best font size for my eyes with a customizable size 18 (one larger than the default), and it also renders the book formatting perfectly. Many ereaders get this wrong with odd spacing after a paragraph and other, and do not respect the epub coding. The page color, which is also an infinitely lightly tinged yellow, just enough to reduce glare, is perfect. I also enjoy its bookcase opening screen. The one mark against it, but a big one, is the lack of dictionary.
Kindle - Kindle is a remarkably good ereader which gets the important things right, but is second best in a few others. The formatting and fonts are perfect, and my only complaint is the lack of choices in font sizes. Personally, my ideal would be between the default (a fraction small), and the next larger, though the next larger is still a great reading experience. The Kindle actually gets my nod as best due to the reading experience and its fantastic dictionaries. I read in more than one language, and while fluent, enjoy fine literature so will find words I do not know. Kindle is quite incredible in supplying dictionaries in all these languages for easy and instant look-up.
Kobo - Kobo deserves a special mention even though they get essential things wrong such as bad formatting, an onerous note system, and no dictionary. They have some very innovative ideas on the other front, such as fun achievements for reading at night, finishing a book (I presume) and others, which make a less assiduous reader get into the experience. Their front presentation and bookmarker are also very attractive.
The other ereaders such as Cool Reader, FBreader, Moon+, didn't really impress. They are very good of course, but for basics, Aldiko was better, even if it does not have ten thousand configuration options like Cool Reader. CR, for example, has fancy old-looking pages, as well as a graphical page turning effect, with sound effect and all, but once you actually start getting involved in a book, these effects are unimportant at best, and distracting at worst. Also, none had the Kindle dictionary.

I've tried most of them and I have stopped and went ahead with Mantano Reader. It serves me best.

votinh said:
I've tried most of them and I have stopped and went ahead with Mantano Reader. It serves me best.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ditto for Mantano. I was a big Aldiko user, and also had to use a couple different PDF readers before, but once I found Mantano, I got rid of all the others and just use the one. I especially like how it reflows and zooms/crops the PDFs to improve readability.
added: although I still use Kindle for actual kindle books. I never use dictionary functions, but I also don't read in foreign languages, so I can see why you might want that functionality. Perhaps pair Mantano with a standalone dictionary app?

I mainly use Kobo because of the achievements and the widget, despite the bad formatting stuff, which doesn't bother me much. I began using Moon Reader Pro because it has TTS features, for when I want to have a quick read. For PDFs I use EZPDF Reader for its awesome annotation features, most things I read on PDF are for College, so there's a lot of highlighting and commenting.

I looked at it and agree it is a superb PDF reader, and also has excellent management functions, but as an ebook reader for epub/mobi I think Aldiko and Kindle have an edge. Still, thanks for the recommendation, as it is now my de facto PDF reader.

votinh said:
I've tried most of them and I have stopped and went ahead with Mantano Reader. It serves me best.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I just tried it on both CM7 and CM9 and found it to be a lot slower when handling my large (1000+ page) files. Changing pages takes a few seconds with Mantano, whereas the Kindle app has pretty much no lag at all. Did you somehow get it to run smoother or are you just a lot more patient than I am ?

I use Kindle for Kindle books, Books for Google books, and Nook app for Nook books. I use ezpdf for pdfs. Before putting CM7 on the nook I used Calibre but it is not worth it anymore. I boot into standard nook for some kids books that require the nook for read aloud functions. I use golden dictionary and appreciate how much easier it is to switch back and forth btw dictionary and book with CM9.
Sent from my NookColor using Tapatalk

I suppose this question must pop up at least once a month, although it'd be nice if people would search and look at previous suggestions rather than a new post. Even bump an old thread and ask if anyone has new suggestions as necessary.
As for me, my answer is always FBReader. I don't read PDFs unless absolutely necessary.

Tried nearly all of them, Moon+ is it for me. Read probably 50 ebooks in the past 6 months, maybe half with Moon+, half with Aldiko, and tried several others for less than a whole book. Moon+ all the way.

I used Aldiko a lot until I switched to CM9 and was unable to get the Adobe authentication (for books from my local library) to work (they only allow a limited number of authentications per user). I switched to the Kindle reader, which isn't as versatile but if you have an Amazon account there are not authentication issues (most of the books I read are from the library).

bigbob23 said:
I used Aldiko a lot until I switched to CM9 and was unable to get the Adobe authentication (for books from my local library) to work (they only allow a limited number of authentications per user).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
YOu can fix this in 10 minutes with Adobe support using their online chat. Go to the Adobe site, log in using the same credentials you used for ADE and find the support->chat button. I forgot what screen it's on, and it's a pain to locate it, but once you do, they can clear your 6 prior registrations quickly. I've done this twice.

mr72 said:
Tried nearly all of them, Moon+ is it for me. Read probably 50 ebooks in the past 6 months, maybe half with Moon+, half with Aldiko, and tried several others for less than a whole book. Moon+ all the way.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
mr72,
Have you found a way to get Moon+ to display page numbers (in the total book) rather than position in the chapter? I use Mantano because it always shows me I am on page 293 of 500 or whatever the situation is. It also doesn't change the total number of pages based on font size like some readers do.
Other than this little nit, Moon+ and Mantano both seem pretty comparable for the features that I use.

davidr415 said:
mr72,
Have you found a way to get Moon+ to display page numbers (in the total book) rather than position in the chapter? I use Mantano because it always shows me I am on page 293 of 500 or whatever the situation is. It also doesn't change the total number of pages based on font size like some readers do.
Other than this little nit, Moon+ and Mantano both seem pretty comparable for the features that I use.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Actually I find that you can set Moon+ to display the % in a mini status bar.
Options -> Miscellaneous -> Show mini status bar when reading (checked)
What I like about this is that it shows the % of completion of the book, without regard for font size, number of pages, etc. However, I can see how knowing how many pages there were total might be helpful.
If the epub is formatted correctly, then it will also show page#/of (like 2/8, etc) for your progress in the current chapter.
Haven't tried Mantano. I suppose maybe I should.

Interestingly, I never hear AReader ever mentioned in any of these kinds of lists and can't help but wonder why not.
I don't have a lot of experience with ebooks other than buying a few Kindle books, having quite a few .epub and .mobi books, and many .pdf files. AReader does it all for me. Anyone else have any critiques of this app?
As an aside, specifically for a PDF reader, I HIGHLY recommend ezPDF Reader for its speed and very well-implementer text-flow mode.

CoolReader. I got rid of the page turn effects and the page texture and set it up for cream on brown as night mode. The programmable tap zones rock. Also, I installed Fora Dictionary which Cool Reader can use for dictionary, Wikipedia, and translation. It does have a lot of settings so if you become familiar with them you can get it to do whatever you want and look however you want. I also like that it shows page numbers as well as a progress bar. It never tries to sell me anything. <3
I didn't like the pseudo-shelves all the other apps use to show my books. I have hundreds and that kind of highly graphical interface takes forever to find anything.

I honestly haven't area more than a few books on my hacked nook I can say that I have used the nook app,kindle app, and cool reader. In the past I have aldiko and moon reader as well. I really like the kindle and nook applications where cool reader seems to be my favorite 3rd party reader. That being said moon reader is a damned good reader as well. I haven't put too much thought into what would be the ideal reader for me, but this thread has given me food for thought.

My only issue with Cool Reader is that I could see a way to set up an OPDS database so that I could access my ebook collection online.
I manage the library with Calibre and generate an OPDS database on my Drobox with a program called Calibre2OPDS. Then I have access to my library via the Internet.
I can do this with Moon+, Aldiko, Mantano, and FBReader

davidr415 said:
My only issue with Cool Reader is that I could not see a way to set up an OPDS database so that I could access my ebook collection online.
I manage the library with Calibre and generate an OPDS database on my Drobox with a program called Calibre2OPDS. Then I have access to my library via the Internet.
I can do this with Moon+, Aldiko, Mantano, and FBReader
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Interesting idea, thanks!

I forgot to mention, you also have to have Dropbox as the location for your Calibre library...

Does Mantano has in built dictionary ?? After reading in iBook I am kinda addicted to in-app dictionary

Alternate Library App?

I recently got my NST and I simply love it. So much lighter and easier to carry than my Nook Color... So my question is: is there an alternate library app available? Something that has a bookshelf display like the B&N app, but can launch any ereader program I specify? Reason being, Fbreader is my reading app of choice, but it does not show up as a launch option from the B&N library. But when I launch epubs from something like ES file manager, the option to use Fbreader pops up. I would love to be able to select my book from a bookshelf and launch into Fbreader if possible... any advice would be great!

I use cool reader and I am asked to choose a reader when opening a book from B&N library. Are you sure that you didn't set the stock reader as default previously?

There are a few in development, such as EpubBrowser and eBookLauncher. Both have their own problems, some are just features that have yet to be implemented, others are severe and cause the screen to flash continuously even in the screen saver. I'm thinking the eBookLauncher will go farther though.

cceerrtt said:
I use cool reader and I am asked to choose a reader when opening a book from B&N library. Are you sure that you didn't set the stock reader as default previously?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I've had the same experience with cool reader, but for some reason I don't like the font quality. It doesn't look really sharp like real type to me. Also, it seemed to add big line spaces between paragraphs on some of the books I was reading. I have Fbreader, cool reader, mantano reader currently loaded, but fbreader does not show up as a choice when I launch from the B&N bookshelf.

Googie2149 said:
There are a few in development, such as EpubBrowser and eBookLauncher. Both have their own problems, some are just features that have yet to be implemented, others are severe and cause the screen to flash continuously even in the screen saver. I'm thinking the eBookLauncher will go farther though.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks, I like these too, the issue is that I am really happy with the customizations I made with my go launcher setup, I really just want a library bookshelf like the B&N one....

Personally I think that the native Reader.apk is just fine.
This thread started about alternative libraries.
I have a Library.apk replacement that I've been working on.
It probably only suits me, though.
I don't keep a lot of books on my Nook, just a handful.
I don't use bookshelves.
I don't care for cover thumbnails since they are not supplied with many books.
I do care about lending expiration dates for books from my library. It shows those.
How many books do you folks keep on your Nooks?

Renate NST said:
How many books do you folks keep on your Nooks?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Anywhere between 3 and 15 at a time. Not many, and most I'm never going to read, I just keep them there because I 'want' to read them.

Hi, i find standard library.apk almost perfect too, but i wish a way to incorporate the calibre description for sideload books like those purchased trough B&N site
someone has succeded?

rawos said:
Hi, i find standard library.apk almost perfect too...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Actually, I hate Library.apk. It's Reader.apk that I can live with.
It's Shop.apk that show you the info on books.
It's responsible for that really lame screen when you hit "More" on the Reader screen.
That's the one where it can only tell you the local file path of the book that you're reading.
This is through my own Library.apk, which replaces Home.apk and Shop.apk also.
You can either long click on a book in the search list or hit "More" in Reader.
Since I play it straight with library books, I like to know when they expire.

Just to show you all the stuff going on under the hood.
Here is a diagram of all the intents used in Home/Library/Reader/Shop.
Oh! It reduced it to nothing, even when you click on it.
The full version (3000 x 1250 pixels) is attached as a zip.

Here's a better version of the intents of the B&N reader stuff.

derelict said:
I've had the same experience with cool reader, but for some reason I don't like the font quality. It doesn't look really sharp like real type to me. Also, it seemed to add big line spaces between paragraphs on some of the books I was reading. I have Fbreader, cool reader, mantano reader currently loaded, but fbreader does not show up as a choice when I launch from the B&N bookshelf.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I tested quite a number of apps and I really like that Cool Reader has an incredible amount of options to configure how it looks. In the image you can see how I configured it, totally minimally.
Cool Reader does a great job of reflowing the text with justification, hanging punctuation, hyphenation, kerning... I have not found any other app that could do this. The photo is what Cool Reader made from a simple textfile. And it even supports the buttons of the NST without any hacking.
But as you said, the rendering quality of the font is not that great. You can add custom fonts, on the photo it is the Windows version of Garamond (strangely, Adobe Garamond Pro looks significantly worse).
For the moment I am sticking with the default reader app and use it on PDFs that I prepared manually on my PC. That way I get really good type (using Garamond Pro). But of course that is more work.

Was liest du?

Renate NST said:
Was liest du?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kafka_on_the_shore

Renate NST said:
Personally I think that the native Reader.apk is just fine.
This thread started about alternative libraries.
I have a Library.apk replacement that I've been working on.
It probably only suits me, though.
I don't keep a lot of books on my Nook, just a handful.
I don't use bookshelves.
I don't care for cover thumbnails since they are not supplied with many books.
I do care about lending expiration dates for books from my library. It shows those.
How many books do you folks keep on your Nooks?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
So... newby here. I love my nook touch glow, but i hate the library, i wish i can see more info, (series, autor, genre), any sugestions? pretty please?

Well, my app is just a boring list of books, about 15/page, sortable a couple of ways.
A long press brings up some metadata, including when the library book expires.
I've never run into series, so it doesn't do that.
I've modified Reader.apk so that it uses the "Back" button, handy for returning directly to the library.
After seeing the screenshots of some of the nice graphical libraries folks have produced, I'm loath to oversell my app.
It's really quite minimal.

Renate NST said:
Well, my app is just a boring list of books, about 15/page, sortable a couple of ways.
A long press brings up some metadata, including when the library book expires.
I've never run into series, so it doesn't do that.
I've modified Reader.apk so that it uses the "Back" button, handy for returning directly to the library.
After seeing the screenshots of some of the nice graphical libraries folks have produced, I'm loath to oversell my app.
It's really quite minimal.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for the response. You are so kind. Since I dont know almost anything about android progamming, (and english isnt my first languaje) I hoping you can help me (or point me somwhere) to do this. I tried to remap the buttons but when i did replace the android.policy.jar i bricked my nook (glow) so i had to restore it.
I also wish i could have a quick way to navigate the library, (like lists) or something because a i like to read 3 or 4 books at the same time.
Any Ideas? I tried relaunch but its to slow...
Anyway, Im rambling.... thanks!

A quick response:
Yes, the android.policy.jar is incompatible between the Touch and the Glow.
I use edited smali which causes the "n" button to go directly to the launcher.
With that, the QuickNav, the buttons at the bottom never appear.
I think that you need the QuickNav to turn on the glow, correct?

Renate NST said:
A quick response:
Yes, the android.policy.jar is incompatible between the Touch and the Glow.
I use edited smali which causes the "n" button to go directly to the launcher.
With that, the QuickNav, the buttons at the bottom never appear.
I think that you need the QuickNav to turn on the glow, correct?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, well the n button also turns off/on the light, but i would like anyway to put shortcuts ther for another apps, like cool reader, because the way i have it its just to much fuss to change readers!!! any suggestions!!!

I like the look and feel of the standard library app, but I hate the way you have to search through it. I have all my metadata set up but you can't access it. FBreader does allow the reading of tags, but I'm not sure if I like the gui yet.
Which apps support metadata?

[Q]New nook library

1. It is posible?
2. How?
3. What you can edit in library.apk?

Yes, I have my own Library.apk (that's in a thread here somewhere).
No, it's nowhere as flashy as your version but it serves my needs.
It just uses a basic list but it displays library expiration dates which are important to me.

You must change the whole library.apk? or configure someting in /data/data...

You have to write your own application, or coerce somebody into doing it.

Somebody do it !!!

I actually stopped by to see if there was anything out there like what the OP is asking for, either a custom ROM or launcher or even just a better library app. I'm honestly kind of shocked that there isn't something like this out there. I guess devices like this don't get a ton of home brew mods like phones do?

Headcase_Fargone said:
I actually stopped by to see if there was anything out there like what the OP is asking for, either a custom ROM or launcher or even just a better library app. I'm honestly kind of shocked that there isn't something like this out there. I guess devices like this don't get a ton of home brew mods like phones do?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I finally dumped the stock B&N reader and library after losing shelves too many times and wanting to read PDFs. I've replaced both with Mantano Reader, which works well on the NST, and handles epubs and PDFs nicely. I've used Nook Touch Tools to remap my QuickLaunch Libary buttons to take me to the Mantano home screen and I never even see the B&N stuff anymore.
Mantano also has a for-fee cloud sync service that I'm using to keep reading positions and collections consistent between several devices.
I think now I've got a Mantano Simple Touch reader.

bobstro said:
I finally dumped the stock B&N reader and library after losing shelves too many times and wanting to read PDFs. I've replaced both with Mantano Reader, which works well on the NST, and handles epubs and PDFs nicely. I've used Nook Touch Tools to remap my QuickLaunch Libary buttons to take me to the Mantano home screen and I never even see the B&N stuff anymore.
Mantano also has a for-fee cloud sync service that I'm using to keep reading positions and collections consistent between several devices.
I think now I've got a Mantano Simple Touch reader.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sent you a PM on this, you've got me curious. Do the hardware buttons work with this reader? I take it you just launch Mantano whenever you reboot the device and stay in it? Any shortcomings?

Headcase_Fargone said:
Sent you a PM on this, you've got me curious. Do the hardware buttons work with this reader? I take it you just launch Mantano whenever you reboot the device and stay in it? Any shortcomings?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, the left buttons work. You can't customize them, but they do work. Lower is forward, upper is back.
I replaced the B&N Library option with Mantano on the QuickLaunch menu using Nook Touch Tools. It provides pretty much the same functionality. I also pointed the recent read button to Mantano. Now I don't see the B&N reader or library at all.
On 1st boot, I am in ADW until I launch an app. After that, I pick from my most used (Mantano, Maildroid, Calendar Pad, Astrid Tasks, Orientation) off the QuickLaunch menu.

[APP][NST/G] Mantano Reader [MOD]

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.
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Now Bookari.
SJT75 said:
Its sad that you had to remove app options to make it work on NST.
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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
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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.
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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.
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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 ?
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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?
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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.
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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.
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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.