NightAngel79

OK so i thought i'd start a ebook app thread since we took up a whole page talking about aldiko in the other thread.

Lets not limit the discussion to aldiko (even if it's the best one, lol). Quetions about aldiko or one of the other ebook apps? Post them here.

Know any tips/tricks about any of the top ebook apps? Share them here.

Gonna try to get confirmation that we can post links to apk's of previous versions of aldiko or any other reader apps as long as it doesn't violate forum rules. (Roze, since your our resident book mod what do you think?)

At any rate.... Let the discussion commence!

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Last edited by NightAngel79; January 20th, 2011 at 05:10 PM.

Skorpios1027

I just got the update to Aldiko. I've got to say, I'm liking the new UI.

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NightAngel79

Me to, spent 20 mins playing with settings, lol. Gonna take me a mion to get used to it. Loving all the new featues. Can't get font and size how it was before the switch though... gonna have to mess with it more after i wake up today
Plus it broke my custom catalog, ******** has been acting crazy everytime i try to down load something.....

Anyone familiar with tab williams(thats what i'm trying to download)

Skorpios1027

Hadn't tried my custom cats yet, other than to see if they were still there. Just checked - I'm having trouble with it too

Podivin

Every time I try to go into book details on Aldiko it does an FC on me - not cool.
It annoys me (BIG annoyance over a little thing) that in the authors list I can't see the book ratings. I USE those ratings, not to show me what I thought of a book, but just to show that I've read it (if it has a rating I've read it). For a series of books that should be read in order it's very helpful to know where I left off, as I rarely read an entire series straight through, I'll slip off to other books for a while. (I currently have 424 books on my phone, there's no way I'll keep up with which ones I've finished).
So for now I have the paid version of Aldiko on 2.0 and the free version back on 1.whatever, and I'm not upgrading the free version until (if ever) they add ratings in the authors list.

I agree the new UI is much more attractive than the old one, but this one issue keeps me from using it.

NightAngel79

I feel ya, i got over 1800 books on there and its a pain to find a book sometimes. I like where the app is going but need to work the bugs out of it. I'll be doing some reading with it when i get to work so i'll see how easily i get used to it.

Podivin

1800 books, I feel like such a slacker...

ballisticn8

I think I only have somewhere around 100 books on my phone right now but as soon as I found out that the new update to aldiko broke my catalogs I restored my old version back with Titanium backup, lol... I really liked the new UI but having my catalogs broken was a no go.

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NightAngel79

Cause you are!! LOL
Fortunately i am in middle of a 12 book series so gonna stick it out. (plus i don't have a backup to restore to)
There's always calibre... don't really wanna go there so hopefully the catalog that shall not be named gets their act together SOON!!


Any Mistborn fans just saw announcement for new stand alone mistborn book called The Alloy of Law... due out this year, only detail i could find is its set 300 years after original series...

ballisticn8

looks like they have a post up saying that they are now compatible and working with 2.0, gonna go ahead and update my app and see if it works.

Podivin

I should have a backup of 1.whatever of the free version of Aldiko, if you feel you need one.

Skorpios1027

I do have a backup of the previous version of the app. If anyone wants it, PM me. BTW, the nameless catalog now works.

NightAngel79

Well i was gonna ask if it worked but skorpious already confirmed it, lol
I really like all the new options in version 2.0, only thing i hate is there is no option to swipe up to change page. Taking me forever to get used to just 'tapping' on lower part of screen to turn page.....
Word!! Been wanting to get these books by Tad Williams.... Anyone familiar with him?

Skorpios1027

I usually use the volume rocker, but on occasion I would tap the side. Took a bit to get used to tapping the bottom not the side. One of the new features I like is the ability to get access the notification bar when reading.
I used them to verify the catalog. Gonna start reading soon.

NightAngel79

Yea never could get used to using the volume rocker. Depending on how i was holding phone i would either tap the side or swipe up, now neither works
I do love the new library set up, with the option of just browsing the sd card!! Excellent!!
I'm still 6 or 7 books away from being done with the series i'm on so let me know what you think of him, specifically the 6 available on 'that which should not be named' LOL

Last edited by NightAngel79; January 20th, 2011 at 05:10 PM.

only1me

I just got a Velocity Cruz Tablet and would like to know how to download ebooks to be audio. Does anyone know how to do this?

NightAngel79

I think you can buy audio books from amazon, most likely the nook one as well. Amazon app is the kindle case you didn't know and the nook app is Barnes and noble

1500cc

The new UI is pretty slick, but unfortunately the app bloated up big time ... it's over 10 MB install now. It also seems just a tick slower on my Desire. Overall the enhancements just didn't seem worth it, when I really just need it to put words on the screen, and the old version did that splendidly. I uninstalled and went back to the previous version.

Hrethgir

I'm going to have to give Aldiko a try, I guess. I've been using laputa, and I'm very happy with it. Looks like the same libraries as any other, looks good, nice page turning animation, and enough options for how it looks to make me happy.

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NightAngel79

Aldiko is far superior imo. The new update is great although I will agree with previous poster that it eats up a bit more ram. Not an issue on my incredible fwiw

Sweet Chaos

One of the reasons I'm so anxious to get my phone is for the Nook app. When I don't really want to take my Nook out (like at work haha) I can grab my phone and read on that. I can't wait!

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NightAngel79

only thing that sucks is it will only sync things that you have bought through their respective store. Any files you already own and add to your device will not sync between the two

Sweet Chaos

That's fine with me. I have been buying all my books though B&Ns service, anyway. Most of the time when I am looking for new books I go on B&Ns site and search through ebooks in the genres I'm interested in and add them to my ewish list from there =)

lunameow

Trying Moon+ Reader. So far it's awesome.

NightAngel79

Wasn't very impressed by it honestly. I tried every one i good find in the market, moon was one of the better ones if i remember correctly but none IMO came close to the functionality and feel of aldiko, and that was before the update. I'll have to admit that since aldiko updated it is damn near perfect

lunameow

I was going to check out Alkido based on the comments here, but even some of the positive reviews on the market said it ran slow. I suspect it's another of those apps that's great if your phone is fairly current, not so great if it's an older model. (Angry Birds and Handcent fall into this category for me, if that gives you an idea.)

Moon+ has full font customization, everything from font size to line spacing. It's a fairly small program, books tend to load kind of slow, but the app itself is fast. Smooth scrolling to read, which I prefer to page-turning (though, I'm pretty sure that's an option if I did want it), decent organization system. Another big plus is that the free version's ads are only on the bookshelf, so it doesn't interfere with reading.

I admit that it's the only one I've tried other than nook for Android, but that one was so slow that I could set my phone down, go make a sammich, and come back to find it still trying to load a book. It actually put me off readers entirely, because it made me think maybe my phone's just not capable of running one decently. Having found one that runs so smoothly on my phone and does what I need it to, I haven't even bothered looking at others.

SlowRain

For me, the gold standard for e-book apps was Mobipocket before Amazon bought and razed them to make the Kindle. It was perfect and had everything. The closest think I can find to it is Moon+ Reader. It does note-taking and highlighting, online and offline dictionary support, multiple formats, online libraries, fully customizable layout and themes, etc. I have yet to find an app that offers all of these options.

qwertyu

I always use kindle. The main reason is you can change the colours. I always hear that the display uses most of the battery so it seems to me it's best to read with a black background and white text to save the battery. My eyes seem to prefer this too. I often get eye strain from reading PC's etc and this seems to help. My version of Aldiko does not seem to have this option.

I've used mobipocket to convert pdf files to .mobi so I could read it on my Galaxy S using kindle. The conversion went slightly wrong for one book and left with a grey text colour when I turn the kindle to black background. Having read it for a while though I much prefer this colour. Problem is I don't know how to get this colour on my other books that are the "correct" colour. Does anyone know how I can choose from a larger set of colours for the text? I'm guessing grey would help the battery also.

qwertyu

I must have missed this post when I read the thread before posting. I#'ll try Moon+ for the text colour thing. Ta.

NightAngel79

Generally speaking the only time black background helps with battery life is if you have an amoled or samoled screen. That said no matter what i prefer the black back, white text. What version of aldiko you using, my has always had this option?

qwertyu

It's a Galaxy S. I THINK it has an amoled screen as that word rings a bell. New to this smart phone world. Had it for about a week. I can't find a version number or anything for Aldiko. It came pre-installed on the phone.

NightAngel79

Aldiko DEFINITELY has a 'night' mode, ie black screen white letters. I personally think aldiko is the best ebook app.

(and yes, samsung makes amoled screens and almost all their phones have it)

qwertyu

The version thast came on the phone seems to be either a cut down or an old version. I just downloaded the app from the market and it's got way more functionality. It's strange though as I would have thought downloading the latest full version would get rid of the old or cut down version. I now have two apps with almost the same name. Not the end of the world. I'll play around with Kindle, Moon+ and Alkido and see which I prefer. I don't want to have more than one of them as they all seem to create their own directories and I hate the messiness of having lots of unneeded folders on the phone.

NightAngel79

That is strange. I feel ya though, hate all the clutter

zuben el genub

I bought Beam Reader. It was the only one that would deal easily with books downloaded from Project Gutenberg.
I also have a Nook, but to deal with some books I found, I had to get the DRM remover.
I will not buy from Barnes & Noble.
Here's an excerpt from a B&N forum:


The two areas which immediately raised red-flags for me was the section of Sparknotes' Privacy Policy section which read:

1. What is the personal information that we collect?

Personal information is your name in combination with other information that we collect about you. For example, personal information can include your name in combination with your e-mail address, billing address, shipping address, phone number, or credit card information.

and

(b) Information automatically collected
There are circumstances in which we automatically receive and collect personal information from you. The most common sources of this information include:
* Cookies
* Pixel tags or clear Graphics Interchange Format files, known as GIFs
* NOOK
* Occasionally from business partners, contractors, shared databases, and other third parties
For your convenience, we have provided a summary description of each of these circumstances below."

Pixel tags is a euphemism for web bug, a hidden element within e-mails which monitors users without their knowledge for marketing purposes. Unfortunately, it is currently legal, albeit morally bankrupt.


Books a Million does let you opt out.



Maybe some of you don't mind an inbox full of spam - I do.
I also don't like being tracked for advertising. They have problems when you only deal with certain types of sites. Telescope marketing is not very common, so they guess.


To be fair - the wifi Nook isn't bad, I can control the SD card. The original had a battery issue and the brick and mortar local B&N promptly replaced it.

Last edited by zuben el genub; June 22nd, 2011 at 08:41 AM.

SeekerOfTheWay

Is Aldiko for tabs only? I'm new to eBooks completely and I just started using Kindle. I buy books from Amazon because that's really all I know.

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NightAngel79

Project Gutenberg blends seamlessly with aldiko

And i added non-B & N books to my nook just fine (though i am using aldiko on that as well)
It works on ALL android devices. I would suggest installing it, then trying it out on one of the books you already downloaded to test it out. Love the load of options available compared to other reader programs

Gary Friderichsohn

Doesn't the Kindle have the feature of a computer generated voice reading the book to you? I think it is the one someone mentioned as having this, and that it actually did a rather good job. I am kinda old (boy, I will never get use to saying that) and my doctor says anything I can do to preserve my eyesight is good. I check out Librivox for audiobooks, but the selection is limited to public domain.

SeekerOfTheWay

I don't see that option in the Kindle app I have on my Thunderbolt.

Harry2

The hardware Kindle reader can text to speech.

Harry

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Last edited by Harry2; June 22nd, 2011 at 03:43 PM.

Bob Cat

I thought this was something different. There's a program for Linux called ebooks but it's for accounting.

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zuben el genub

I tried all those apps including the one that sounds like a Spanish Prostitute.
Didn't work too well on the Galaxy 3.

Emmexx

Which would be the best app to pick up for purchasing ebooks in the epub format? That one seems to work the best for me and it is less proprietary than most. Any help would be most appreciated

Podivin

There is a PC based program called Calibre that will convert nearly any ebook format into nearly any other format. If you use that, it begins to matter less which format you find a book in, because you can always change it to epub.
I'm with NightAngel in thinking that Aldiko is the 'best' reader, though Moon+ is a very close second. With either it's easy to import epubs into the app for reading. Aldiko also has built in libraries where you can download books. And of course there are lots of sites on the internet where you can find free and/or reasonably priced ebooks. Typically I download a book onto my PC and then move it to my device for importing into Aldiko.

Last edited by Podivin; June 25th, 2011 at 06:34 AM.

Harry2

Moon+ Reader Pro has a text to speech option

A good eBook reader, I tried it with .epub books. But I didn't try the TTS feature yet (my hearing isn't the best ).

Harry

Last edited by Harry2; June 26th, 2011 at 02:32 AM.

DoAndroidDream?

I also use Moon+ Reader. It is the only one I have ever used since it treats me just fine and I've never had a need to try any others.

zuben el genub

Calibre won't run on the XP laptop. It seems to run on the Ubuntu desktop. I checked out all those readers and some just didn't work the way I wanted. The spanish type one was called Laputa.

Any reader has to deal with my PDFs. I can and do copy and paste to save as a PDF. I can use Illustrator, Foxit PDF writer, and even WordPerfect. I think that since most of the ones I do create are documents rather than books, some of the other readers could have had a problem with the titling and/or my filing system.

Vihzel

Hmm... has anyone used the Nook app for Android tablets?

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Tresezk

I have FBreader on my phone .
It works and I can read books on it.

NightAngel79

Not really a fan of it personally.... I'm wanting to say that it doesn't have a 'night' mode...