FBReader 0.12.0 released

[Nate the great]

The next version of FBReader is now available. Improvements include:

• New presentation of library
• Better integration with network libraries (FeedBooks, LitRes, Shucang and SmashWords)
• Image scaling has been implemented
• Better encoding/language detection. Arabic and Indonesian patterns are back
• Mobipocket, eReader and chm support have been improved

For full detail, go here. You can download the new version here.


About FBReader
FBReader is ebook reader software. It currently works on many platforms including PDAs, handhelds, smartphones, PepperPad 3, IRex iLiad, and PCs running Linux, Windows XP/Vista, or FreeBSD. It supports several ebook formats: epub, plucker, palmdoc, zTXT, HTML, CHM, fb2, TCR (psion text), OEB, OpenReader, RTF, non-DRM'ed Mobipocket, and plain text.


**********
My take:

I just tried the new Windows version. It still doesn't have full tag support for Mobipocket ebooks, so I would still rate it as better than nothing. And it still takes too many steps to add a book to the library. Oh, well.

[TheLongshot]

Any port yet for the N900? I'm expecting mine within a week.

Edit: Nevermind, found this post: https://www.mobileread.com/forums/showthread.php?t=63246

[Over]

Is there a version for Windows Mobile smartphones?

[Greg Anos]

Played with the windows version last night. Vast improvement on image handling in Epub. (It'll now show covers, unlike previous versions....)

[Greg Anos]

It works for some Epub titles. Some don't work. I haven't determined why. The input going into Sigil looks virtually the same.... The ones that don't work, work fine in FBReader when converted to mobi from the same epub file that doesn't work (via Calibre)...

Still a few Ebpub bugs left. On the other hand, no Epub improvements were listed in the doc, so I'm grateful for what I got.

[DMcCunney]

Originally Posted by Over

Is there a version for Windows Mobile smartphones?

No. Available versions from the FBReader site include:

# For Linux desktop computer.
# For Windows XP/Vista/7 computer.
# For Maemo (Nokia 770/N800/N810) Internet Tablet.
# For Sharp Zaurus with Qtopia-based ROM (e.g., original Sharp, Cacko) installed.
# For Sharp Zaurus with pdaXrom installed.
# For Sharp Zaurus with OpenZaurus installed.
# For Siemens Simpad with OpenSimpad 0.9.0.
# For Archos PMA430.
# For PepperPad.
# For Motorola A1200 smartphone.
# FBReaderJ for Google Android.

Third parties have built FBReader for other platforms:

* FBReader for Motorola E680i/A780 (ported by Ketut P. Kumajaya).
* FBReader for MacOS X (by Stanislav Gobunov).
* Fbreader for IRex iLiad (ported by Adam B.).
* FBReader FreeBSD ports (thanks to Andrew Pantyukhin)
______
Dennis

[Over]

Originally Posted by DMcCunney

No. Available versions from the FBReader site include:

# For Linux desktop computer.
# For Windows XP/Vista/7 computer.
# For Maemo (Nokia 770/N800/N810) Internet Tablet.
# For Sharp Zaurus with Qtopia-based ROM (e.g., original Sharp, Cacko) installed.
# For Sharp Zaurus with pdaXrom installed.
# For Sharp Zaurus with OpenZaurus installed.
# For Siemens Simpad with OpenSimpad 0.9.0.
# For Archos PMA430.
# For PepperPad.
# For Motorola A1200 smartphone.
# FBReaderJ for Google Android.

Third parties have built FBReader for other platforms:

* FBReader for Motorola E680i/A780 (ported by Ketut P. Kumajaya).
* FBReader for MacOS X (by Stanislav Gobunov).
* Fbreader for IRex iLiad (ported by Adam B.).
* FBReader FreeBSD ports (thanks to Andrew Pantyukhin)
______
Dennis

It's a pity

Porting it to windows mobile would make it available to many people with PDAs and smartphones.

[DMcCunney]

Originally Posted by Over

It's a pity

Porting it to windows mobile would make it available to many people with PDAs and smartphones.

It's open source. You're welcome to try a port.

Meanwhile, FBReader supports ePub, fb2, Plucker, Mobipocket, OEB, HTML, and CHM, among others, but with the exception of fb2, there are programs for Windows Mobile devices that read them. FBReader provides the convenience of supporting all in one program, but doesn't provide anything you can't get elsewhere.
______
Dennis

[brecklundin]

Originally Posted by DMcCunney

It's open source. You're welcome to try a port.

Meanwhile, FBReader supports ePub, fb2, Plucker, Mobipocket, OEB, HTML, and CHM, among others, but with the exception of fb2, there are programs for Windows Mobile devices that read them. FBReader provides the convenience of supporting all in one program, but doesn't rpovide anything you can't get elsewhere.
______
Dennis

exactly!! I really like the way FBReader works overall. And someone will port it over eventually. I am amazed that the FReader folks get as many platforms supported as they do. In fact they have a Google group that is quite active, well it was when I followed it for a year or so...mostly about bug fixes and such. It was interesting insight.

[Over]

Originally Posted by DMcCunney

It's open source. You're welcome to try a port.

Meanwhile, FBReader supports ePub, fb2, Plucker, Mobipocket, OEB, HTML, and CHM, among others, but with the exception of fb2, there are programs for Windows Mobile devices that read them. FBReader provides the convenience of supporting all in one program, but doesn't provide anything you can't get elsewhere.
______
Dennis

I would do it if I had any idea how. Unfortunately I'm no programmer.

[igorsk]

Originally Posted by DMcCunney

Meanwhile, FBReader supports ePub, fb2, Plucker, Mobipocket, OEB, HTML, and CHM, among others, but with the exception of fb2, there are programs for Windows Mobile devices that read them.

AlReader and Haali Reader for Windows Mobile support fb2.

[DMcCunney]

Originally Posted by igorsk

AlReader and Haali Reader for Windows Mobile support fb2.

Ah, thank you. I don't have a Windows Mobile device and am not up to date on what's available for them.
_____
Dennis

[DMcCunney]

Originally Posted by brecklundin

exactly!! I really like the way FBReader works overall. And someone will port it over eventually. I am amazed that the FReader folks get as many platforms supported as they do. In fact they have a Google group that is quite active, well it was when I followed it for a year or so...mostly about bug fixes and such. It was interesting insight.

Yes, the convenience can be compelling. The big win for me was support for Plucker documents and Mobipocket files. It meant I could put it on my notebook running Linux and put a copy of my ebook library from my PDA on it. I have about 3,200 Plucker volumes, so this was a big win.

I'm fascinated by the fact that FBReader was originally created for handhelds, and support for Windows and Linux desktops is experimental.

The Java version for Android looks quite interesting, and might just become the basis for other versions, too.
______
Dennis

[Croptop]

Originally Posted by DMcCunney

The Java version for Android looks quite interesting, and might just become the basis for other versions, too.

On that note, does anyone know if the Java version is still under active development? I notice that it doesn't appear to have been updated in quite a while.

[wallcraft]

Originally Posted by Croptop

On that note, does anyone know if the Java version is still under active development? I notice that it doesn't appear to have been updated in quite a while.

If you look at the Release History it seems that either FBReader or FBReaderJ gets the majority of the attention at any point in time. For a while it was mostly FBReaderJ and currently it is FBReader. I would not be surprised if the pendulum swung back once 0.12.X is available on all supported Linux devices.