MobileRead Forums - View Single Post - The Big List of Android eBook Reader Apps

surakmn · 10-06-2010, 11:33 PM

A few thoughts then a plea for help....

I've finally broken down and have several ereaders on my phone (Android - myTouch). I've used my PDA for years for scriptures but have avoided using a lot of ebooks otherwise, but my wife has been using ebooks for many years starting with her Pam TX, then her WinMo phone, and now on an Android Tablet.

Reveal Reader - I use this for my scripture app. Targeted toward the LDS (Mormon) market, it has decent functionality, an active user community and far and away the most directly accessible content. It's very much a niche app, and uses outdated formats. As a general reader you'd have problems finding new material in the right formats.

iReader - I have it loaded, my wife uses this as one of her primary readers. Decent functionality, and the paid version supports DRM for eReader and Mobi formats - doesn't render perfectly, but useable. Recently eReader became available for Android, it's still the only game in town for Mobi - my understanding is Kindle supports non DRM only. It is nice to have an Android option for people with significant investment in older formats with DRM.

Now, for my quandry.

I have Wordplayer, Kobo, Nook and Kindle all loaded, sitting side by side in my main panel.

Kobo - mobile app connects via data to load the mobile version of books. You cannot load epub into it. Epubs you purchase from Kobo are for use with their own reader, Sony reader, etc. I like the app, but a book I've purchased has been VERY unreliable - the mobile versions of the books simply haven't always worked. It may be just be that one is buggy but it annoys me when it's a paid book and it isn't reliable. The ePub version works fine in the adobe digital editions software on the PC, and I can browse it on the web.

WordPlayer syncs with Calibre. Can't seem to handle the DRM books, but I love Calibre's ability to make ebooks of newspapers, online serials, txt, pdf, and html files, etc. Not the prettiest app but reliable.

Kindle - I'm not fond of proprietary formats and haven't forgotten how they evaporated paid content ex post facto. But it works smoothly and reliably.

Nook - Also works smoothly and reliably, and B&N supports ebook lending.

So, what do I do with the DRM books? Calibre can't open them, Adobe Digital Editions shows everything on my device which shows as a "B&N ereader" without regard to which application I use to read it, but doesn't give me a way to "load" content into the device or any application libraries.

I'd like to have the flexibility to use common stores like B&N, etc., but it's problematic if I have to load a different reader to manage DRM.

Any ideas? Recommendations?

10-06-2010, 11:33 PM	#81
surakmn Junior Member Posts: 6 Karma: 20 Join Date: Oct 2010 Device: Android	A few thoughts then a plea for help.... I've finally broken down and have several ereaders on my phone (Android - myTouch). I've used my PDA for years for scriptures but have avoided using a lot of ebooks otherwise, but my wife has been using ebooks for many years starting with her Pam TX, then her WinMo phone, and now on an Android Tablet. Reveal Reader - I use this for my scripture app. Targeted toward the LDS (Mormon) market, it has decent functionality, an active user community and far and away the most directly accessible content. It's very much a niche app, and uses outdated formats. As a general reader you'd have problems finding new material in the right formats. iReader - I have it loaded, my wife uses this as one of her primary readers. Decent functionality, and the paid version supports DRM for eReader and Mobi formats - doesn't render perfectly, but useable. Recently eReader became available for Android, it's still the only game in town for Mobi - my understanding is Kindle supports non DRM only. It is nice to have an Android option for people with significant investment in older formats with DRM. Now, for my quandry. I have Wordplayer, Kobo, Nook and Kindle all loaded, sitting side by side in my main panel. Kobo - mobile app connects via data to load the mobile version of books. You cannot load epub into it. Epubs you purchase from Kobo are for use with their own reader, Sony reader, etc. I like the app, but a book I've purchased has been VERY unreliable - the mobile versions of the books simply haven't always worked. It may be just be that one is buggy but it annoys me when it's a paid book and it isn't reliable. The ePub version works fine in the adobe digital editions software on the PC, and I can browse it on the web. WordPlayer syncs with Calibre. Can't seem to handle the DRM books, but I love Calibre's ability to make ebooks of newspapers, online serials, txt, pdf, and html files, etc. Not the prettiest app but reliable. Kindle - I'm not fond of proprietary formats and haven't forgotten how they evaporated paid content ex post facto. But it works smoothly and reliably. Nook - Also works smoothly and reliably, and B&N supports ebook lending. So, what do I do with the DRM books? Calibre can't open them, Adobe Digital Editions shows everything on my device which shows as a "B&N ereader" without regard to which application I use to read it, but doesn't give me a way to "load" content into the device or any application libraries. I'd like to have the flexibility to use common stores like B&N, etc., but it's problematic if I have to load a different reader to manage DRM. Any ideas? Recommendations?