So I'm sure there are similar threads out there dealing with general android devices, but I thought since I spent a good majority of my day yesterday looking through some ebook apps specifically for my nook, I'll post my findings.
First off, I'm going to talk about my top finds. Trust me, there are a lot out there and I didn't download them all, but I probably went through a good 15-20 apps. If you have an app that isn't listed that you like for whatever reason, post about it and I'll look into it! Make sure if you post an app below, that you give as much info as possible about it (and you've tried it on your nook)
App: Nook
Pros: Has a wide variety of books from major publishers, store sync's well with app, many options for viewing, allows you to import epub and pdf books.
Cons: Kinda basic, changing pages via the scroll bar doesn't work well, don't seem to be able to export books easily.
Bottom Line: Although it's a solid app, it doesn't have nearly as many books as the Kindle nor does it have as good a reading experience as other apps. With that said, it does offer some books that the Kindle store doesn't. I recommend this if you're loyal to B&N.
App: Kindle
Pros: Nice interface, huge store with major publishers (more than the Nook), good viewing options, allows import of epub and pdf books.
Cons: The app redirects to a webpage for the store, which doesn't work as flawlessly as other apps, Like the NOOK app, changing pages via the scroll bar doesn't work well. The mobi format isn't that common and doesn't add for easy exporting.
Bottom Line: The Kindle app offers more choice in books than any other app, but the reading experience still lacks somewhat. It has just as much options as the Nook, but being able to customize it more would have been nice. It is very similar to the Nook in terms of usage. If you are loyal to Amazon, it's great.
App: Overdrive
Pros: Free books rented from local library, also offers audiobooks.
Cons: Selection varies depending on your area, Library account needed, there is a wait on most books, the app itself sends you to a webpage.
Bottom Line: This is a good complimentary app IF they offer anything for you in your area. Out of the three area's I have tried, only one had support for it. Free is always nice!
App: Laputa (free version)
Pros: Free books from both major publishers and independent writers, many Public Domain books, support for Chinese books, allows for easy import/export (due to epub and pdf file types), Multiple sources from which to get books from, Virtual shelf interface.
Cons: Reading experience lacks, most books are bootleg (therefor illegal), small buttons make it almost impossible to touch, many links in the stores are broken, misspelled/missing text within downloaded books.
Bottom Line: If you don't mind getting books illegally, it has a lot of major series (Lord of the Rings, Harry Potter, Sword of Truth series, Holmes, and many more). Most (if not all) of the downloaded books are in epub format so importing them into another reader is easy. Right now (apparently with the last app update), book covers is broken, so to utilize that feature in any reader, you have to manually download and add them. Not many reading options don't help the reader at all. Good way to get free books, but not to read them.
App: Aldiko
Pros: Best reading experience, many many options (from font size to margins), multiple library views, categories, and tags, Store works OK with a lot of public domain and creative common books, along with paid books, importing books is really easy, as is setting up cover art (if the book doesn't already come with it), Support for Catalogs and easy "Last Read" button, also support for Adobe DRM (which I have not tried out)
Cons: The paid section of the store doesn't offer as many books as Nook or Kindle, but still has a good amount, plain Home interface and store.
Bottom Line: Although the store lacks compared to a big company such as Amazon or B&N, you can find many books with this app. There is no reading experience as good as this one, with options to change text, brightness, orientation settings, day/night colors, margins, and even advanced formatting to override the books initial formatting to suit your style. The library offers both "bookshelf" view and "list" views, which can be sorted to your desire independently. List view also offers tabs to view by Author, tags, and Collections (some books come preset with tags, others don't. Either way you can add your own, and your own tag types) By far the best way to view epub and pdf books, I just wish they had support for mobi and other formats so that I could import my kindle and nook books that I have.
Each of these offer different reasons to use them, but if you can find your ebook in epub or pdf format, Aldiko gives you the best reading experience by far. The fact that it makes it so easy to import, download, and use ebooks is refreshing compared to the Kindle and Nook. Although I do not fully understand Adobe DRM, because Aldiko supports it, it seems to only enhance it. On a final note, I downloaded the first book from Harry Potter from Laputa and imported it into Aldiko and read the first 4 chapters. The file was OK, with some spacing, spelling, and formatting errors that I KNOW and official release of the Harry Potter book would NOT have.
I will be updating this with further information and maybe other apps when I can. Let me know what you think and if you have different experiences than me (or I got something wrong)
PLEASE NOTE: I'd like to say that I do not condone getting ebooks illegally, however one of the apps I talk about above (Laputa) does allow you to do so (at the cost of spelling errors, formatting errors, etc.). I also believe (not 100% sure, but it makes sense) that the law on ebooks would be similar to the law on video game ROM's, that is if I won the book I can technically download a free version of the ebook if I can find it, such as the case with the Harry Potter book I mention.
I don't know about your legal interpretation of that. It's a different platform/format. If I buy a movie on DVD, I'm not entitled to download and burn a blu-ray copy of that same movie.
I prefer Nook from Android Market combined with Calibre ebook manager on the PC. You can pretty much feed Calibre any ebook format and it will not only convert it to which ever device you wish to read it on but it will load it onto the device in the directory that the device expects to find ebooks. (unless you tell it otherwise) Killer ebook combo.
Hi,
I have been using FBReader for my eBook reader and find it works very well. It
handles epub and a variety of other formats. (but not PDF). It has a good 'night
mode' and the ability to dim the backlight in the app.
There is a third party called FBSync in the market that will use the web to sync
book mark progress in books and/or the books to Dropbox. Particularly useful when
changing ROMs too often on the Nook Color!
I use Repligo for pdf reading, the reflow works reasonably well.
I know you are looking mainly at eBook readers, but you haven't mentioned Calibre
an opensource PC/MAC ebook library management program:
http://calibre-ebook.com/
Calibre will also download and manage covers, reviews and do format conversions.
Calibre works well with an Android app 'Calibre library' (paid) and FBReader.
I like your writeup and plan to try some of the other apps you suggested.
Thanks,
Peter
I'll put another vote here for FBReader.
I used Aldiko since I first got an Android phone in 2009. It was awesome, the absolute best reader software on Android. And then they lost their damn minds.
It is now 10 times bigger. And has one third of the options it used to have. I still haven't figured out what they did to accomplish that. When that happened I went looking for another option.
I had already given up on the Nook reader software because I keep a lot of books on my phone (and now on my Nook). The Nook reader software just couldn't handle it and basically self destructs when I try to load up my library. Laputa sucks in so many ways it isn't even worth mentioning.
I had tried FBReader way way back and it just wasn't good enough, but to my surprise when I tried it again all of the original issues were gone. It is easy to use, easy to configure to your liking, and can handle my 500+ book portable library with ease.
A. Nonymous said:
I don't know about your legal interpretation of that. It's a different platform/format. If I buy a movie on DVD, I'm not entitled to download and burn a blu-ray copy of that same movie.
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Click to collapse
Actually I just looked this up and you're right. I guess because I was thinking about digital rights and not literature rights, I thought that way. I'll update my post to reflect this.
Atahachi said:
I prefer Nook from Android Market combined with Calibre ebook manager on the PC. You can pretty much feed Calibre any ebook format and it will not only convert it to which ever device you wish to read it on but it will load it onto the device in the directory that the device expects to find ebooks. (unless you tell it otherwise) Killer ebook combo.
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Click to collapse
The nook app, IMO, lacks both features and usability. I'll have to check out Calibre, sounds like something i was looking for, thanks!
pmilford said:
Hi,
I have been using FBReader for my eBook reader and find it works very well. It
handles epub and a variety of other formats. (but not PDF). It has a good 'night
mode' and the ability to dim the backlight in the app.
I saw FBReader but decided not to download it after reading all the negative reviews of it. However, after seeing what you guys have said, I'll check it out and probably post my thoughts on here maybe tomorrow.
JMMusic said:
I'll put another vote here for FBReader.
I used Aldiko since I first got an Android phone in 2009. It was awesome, the absolute best reader software on Android. And then they lost their damn minds.
It is now 10 times bigger. And has one third of the options it used to have. I still haven't figured out what they did to accomplish that. When that happened I went looking for another option.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
What more options could they have? It has more than any of the others I've seen.
JMMusic said:
Laputa sucks in so many ways it isn't even worth mentioning.
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Click to collapse
The only reason I mentioned it was because of it's store. Also, the app used to work pretty well when it first came out, but basically has not been updated since then.
Thanks guys for your input, I'll check out FBReader!
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Click to collapse
Thanks for the write up.
I'd like to note that Aldiko's PDF viewer is quite limited (no zooming or panning whatsoever) unless the device is running Android 2.2 (Froyo) and up, which spoils it for me running the stock ROM (Eclair). Not finding any free alternatives, I purchased ezPDFreader, the least expensive option, and am quite happy with it so far.
For compiled HTML files (chm), iReader is a good option. It's very customizable and handles zooming and re-flow pretty well... and it's free
I'm on stock ROM and using Moon+ reader, lovin' it so far.
that moon reader seems pretty good. nice tip.
I also read (and documented somewhere) that you can set up Calibre in a server mode to serve up your own library of books. It seems that Aldiko will interact with it remotely in this manner. I read about it and intend to do it when I have a chance but haven't tried yet so that's about the extent of my knowledge on it
The three best reviewed Ereader Apps are Aldiko, Moon+ and FBReader.
FBReader was one of the original apps, from something like 15 years ago.
Of course, all of these are designed to read DRM-free books, so the "store" references in your review are not really relevant.
pmilford said:
Hi,
I have been using FBReader for my eBook reader and find it works very well. It
handles epub and a variety of other formats. (but not PDF). It has a good 'night
mode' and the ability to dim the backlight in the app.
There is a third party called FBSync in the market that will use the web to sync
book mark progress in books and/or the books to Dropbox. Particularly useful when
changing ROMs too often on the Nook Color!
I use Repligo for pdf reading, the reflow works reasonably well.
I know you are looking mainly at eBook readers, but you haven't mentioned Calibre
an opensource PC/MAC ebook library management program:
http://calibre-ebook.com/
Calibre will also download and manage covers, reviews and do format conversions.
Calibre works well with an Android app 'Calibre library' (paid) and FBReader.
I like your writeup and plan to try some of the other apps you suggested.
Thanks,
Peter
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Totally support. Been using the FBReader for ages now and with FBSync app there's absolutely no fuss now with different gadgets I read on.
Been using Aldiko here. Though it is a little big size wise, I like the feature set as well as visibility. Looks and performs really well, and allows you to import any other online catalogs you favor.
Combining that with Calibre, got a pretty nice pair.
Also, theres a portable test version of calibre incase you wanna throw it on a stick, or even your phone:
portableapps.com/node/20518
Cool Reader
Seems to work well on Rooted 1.1 - lots of options and very little bloat.
Another vote for Moon+ reader here! Been using it since day one and it's awesome.!
Sorry it's taking me so long to update my post guys, I'll be doing it soon, I promise! It's been a busy week on my end and I haven't had much nook time. Thanks for everyone who has replied!
Still waiting lol
Since this thread has popped up again, I would just put out there that Mantano has replaced both aldiko and any other PDF reader out there for me. The PDF reading experience is the most complete I've found to date, and with its new support for OPDS catalogs, should now be able to interact directly with calibre in server mode (although I haven't tested this yet... been too busy to read anything in the last month).
I've been using Kobo for epubs, it's pretty cool it gives you stats on your reading. It works great with the default dpi, unlike the nook app. Also, there's no need to move your files around in the sdcard since the app searches for all supported files in the card.
Another vote for Kobo! Lighter than Aldiko and with similar options.
I have many PDFs i want to read on the Reader app that comes with the Flyer as i can note notes, comments and highlights.
i was wondering how can i import those into the Reader ? if they aren't via adobe Id nor ikobo?
thanks
You can use the PDF Viewer.
You can open the PDFs in the HTC Provided PDF Viewer. You can place the PDFs pretty much anywhere. It should find it, once you open the app. However you can also direct the program to open it from the menu button.
Also there are plenty of other options for viewing PDFs in the Android Market if you do not like the one HTC provides you.
Personally, I have all my PDFs in my MicroSD card.
bucklee said:
You can open the PDFs in the HTC Provided PDF Viewer. You can place the PDFs pretty much anywhere. It should find it, once you open the app. However you can also direct the program to open it from the menu button.
Also there are plenty of other options for viewing PDFs in the Android Market if you do not like the one HTC provides you.
Personally, I have all my PDFs in my MicroSD card.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
yes the PDF Viewer can view the the file but its scrolling from top to bottom without the nice features in the Reader app:
Annotations
Bookmarks
Font Size
multiple reading scenes such as Night
i cant get PDFs into this reader app ?
sorry I misunderstood.
Depending on what type of PDF it is, you probably need to convert them into a epub file. After which you can add it like any other books.
Are you able to extract the taken in the Reader app?
nebaneba said:
Are you able to extract the taken in the Reader app?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
i can view books in the Reader normally, but didn't know what do you mean about extracting ?
anyone knows how to read PDFs on HTC's Reader?
Like I said.
It all depends on what type of PDFs you are working with. If it is text based PDFs you can convert your PDFs into ePub. Like this Link. But I do not think this works with JPG based PDFs as you will not have any function of the reader, like using the Scribe pen. For PDFs with Jpgs I just use the PDF Viewer and you can still use your scribe pen, works great for my magazines and other PDFs that I have scanned and created into PDFs. Hope this helps.
I put some pdfs and an m4v and flv video on the device, organized in folders. I go in acrobat reader and it seems to find the pdfs, but just puts them in a single list, rather than showing the file hierarchy.
I would like to be able to browse the file hierarchy and touch a file and have it open. I have a lot of pdfs to put in the device and they need to be organized, not one big list.
Also would like to search for text in PDFs.
Ideally I am looking for something similar to ipad's Goodreader wher you can organize a hieararchy of mixed file types, PDF and video, and view any of them.
Acrobat reader and Quick Office seem to be a little slow to load. I am wondering if there is an app for this that is quick loading.
Any ideas?
Agree that Acrobat reader is one of the worst PDF readers all across the pad platforms. But unfortunately it seems that's the only choice on webos. Hope this wave of TP can bring some new PDF reader to it.
[Q] How to search through a PDF?
please excuse the question but I tried google a few times and couldn't get anything. Can the default adobe PDF viewer even search documents? If it can how the hell can I find the option? Is there anything 3rd party that allows searching through pdfs?
[Q] PDF Reading and Citrix?
To current owners, how is reading pdfs on the TP? Is it snappy like Ipad 2 and how about large pdfs like 100mb or greater? I dont really care about annotations.
Also does Citrix work? I saw an ad showing Citrix working. Thx
For the pdf file it's very fast and snappy,very usable, but only tested with a couple of 50Mo one, if you have bigger to test give me a link.
About citrix, take a look here:
http://forums.precentral.net/webos-development/190779-request-citrix-app.html
And
http://blogs.citrix.com/2011/02/09/...ake-webos-devices-enterprise-ready-at-launch/
Ok, I couldn't resist the temptation and got a Touchpad to play with. The two hospital pages where I use Citrix to access medical records don't work. The demo on Youtube looks so smooth . Adobe Acrobat on the WebOS is just as horrid as on the Android platform. There is no way, I can sit there read the PDFs in this condition. The letters all look fuzzy, and I don't think this is purely an issue with resolution and display. The software doesn't fully render it.
The good part is that flash works really well from the browser. Very well done. Also the cards arrangement of the overall OS is the best I have seen out of all 3 tablet platforms. It's unfortunate. I think it just take a little more work from HP to make it competitive.
1. A better screen. It's listed as IPS display but no where close to the Ipad.
2. Work out the small bugs in the WebOS
This pad desperately needs Alkido.
darkamulet said:
please excuse the question but I tried google a few times and couldn't get anything. Can the default adobe PDF viewer even search documents? If it can how the hell can I find the option? Is there anything 3rd party that allows searching through pdfs?
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Click to collapse
Not to the best of my knowledge, I've looked through every option and nothing. I also asked this same question about searching PDFs and never got a response. FYI I have a few 40mb+ pdfs w/ schematic drawings and it has the tendency of chugging along or even worse it loses the menu bar uptop where I can select pages from. I'll get stuck on page 230 out of 500 and will have to close the card down and open it up again to get the number list.
Hi guys, am hoping to get some help here. What is the best PDF reader for the TP? The included Adobe Reader is fine as long as you're reading all pages in order but has a few things that annoy me.
1. I am studying for professional school exams and have pdf textbooks where I have to go from page 3 to page 500 quickly to check answers/explanations to answers, this is a pain with Adobe since you can't enter a page number you wish to go to
2. The page can only be zoomed in a certain amount. And in order to change pages you have to completely zoom out, switch pages, then zoom in. A pain when taking timed practice tests.
Pleeeeeeease can someone help
Adobe reader has a slide at the bottom that lets you navigate through pages quickly
I use ezpdf reader ($. 99) in the app store, or I use kingsoft office (free). Both work amazing.
I use them for work on a daily basis.
Sent from my Touchpad using xda premium
give foxit pdf a go.
Kindle also supports pdf's. Not sure how well it works though
Sent from my HTC Desire S using xda premium
I like adobe reader. It seems to be the fastest at opening large pdfs and scrolling without rendering lag.
Sent from my Touchpad using Tapatalk
I like Repligo the best for just plain reading but it's not a free app.
I also use RepliGo - great for almost all kinds of PDF's out there. It's kinda steep in price though, but I find it well worth it to have - both on my Android, and my BB.
Another good one is the Documents to Go and OfficeSuite Pro suites on there - but they're pricey as well. I'm just lucky I got mine as the FAotD of Amazon AppStore.
Ebookdroid is best it has pdf and djvu and others
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You MUST try ezpdf! (paid version)
Has added functionality -- you can markup, highlight, annotate, bookmark. Makes it far far far more useful for working purposes. Among my favorite and most useful programs.
BTW - this is running on Android ICS.
The webos pdf readers are not nearly as good.
Adobe Reader atm
or Polaris Office pdf Reader
My NT16 is on CM7 over SD card. I like it. All my books in both ePub and PDF are sideloaded via Calibre, and now need recommendations of what ebook readers to use? Also I bought EZPdf Reader from B&N before I started using CM7, so now how do I download it again to CM7?
Thanks!
Aldiko is the one I have found that most closely replicates the reading experience of the stock B&N app. You can also set up aldiko to browse calibre directly through the web interface to download books wirelessly. With the proper port forwarding, you can connect to calibre from anywhere in the world as long as it is open.
Another vote for Aldiko here.
I use Aldiko too, but lately I've noticed it getting slower and slower. It gives me a loading bar on every single page turn now.
I'm not sure why.
Moon+ is acceptable too, though it isn't quite as good.
tmlee51 said:
My NT16 is on CM7 over SD card. I like it. All my books in both ePub and PDF are sideloaded via Calibre, and now need recommendations of what ebook readers to use? Also I bought EZPdf Reader from B&N before I started using CM7, so now how do I download it again to CM7?
Thanks!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You could always download the Nook app from the Android Market and continue using it the same way you did on stock - that's what I did.
FBReader is my number one choice in epub readers. It is not as pretty as some others but it has a clean design at focused on reading. When you open FBReader it opens directly to the last book and page you were at. The library is accessed from the menu along with the network libraries like feedbooks, smash books and others.
Sent from my BNTV250 using Tapatalk
I know this is a Barnes and Noble device, but I like the Amazon Kindle app. It is the only app I have found that will reliably sync between my nook and my android phone. I do a LOT of reading, and don't like to waste time finding my place over and over. It does not have the customization that the others do, but the whispersync service more than makes up for that, in my opinion.
Dalrint said:
I use Aldiko too, but lately I've noticed it getting slower and slower. It gives me a loading bar on every single page turn now.
I'm not sure why.
Moon+ is acceptable too, though it isn't quite as good.
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I've tried them all mantano is the best hands down!
For PDF files I use Adobe reader.. its very satisfactory... very good for magazines especially
PDF reader
satan89 said:
For PDF files I use Adobe reader.. its very satisfactory... very good for magazines especially
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I also use the Adobe reader for the PDF files. I read the Beacon Journal (Newspaper) every day. I tried Aldiko and other PDF readers. Not surprisingly the Adobe reader was the best. There was way to much lag with the others.