The Big List of Android eBook Reader Apps

[AlexSno]

I have started using Cool Reader and i can say i am impress. Although my small Defy screen is not a eBook thing it does the job well done. I will let you know about other readers i will use.

[beartard]

Originally Posted by Logseman

beartard, Laputa, while it means "the whore" in Spanish, is as well one of the islands featured in Gulliver's Travels. It is of course a saucy name, but it has its literary respectability

I had forgotten that tidbit. I stand corrected.

[CharlieBird]

Just to let you know, beartard, there is someone else out here admiring and appreciating your diligence in keeping the list up-to-date.

Even though I've pretty much narrowed my readers to Moon+, CoolReader and Aldiko, I still refer now and again to your list and this thread.
thx,
d

[carmelra]

Originally Posted by ChrisJakarta

Would it be reasonable to ask providers to identify the elements of the ePub specification they conform to, together perhaps with their planned roadmap to achieve conformance. Or is the small-screen, keyless Android just too much for a challenge for ePub readers?

There is the ePub-conform group:
epub-conform is a test suite that may be used to validate the conformance of EPUB Reading Systems.

I don't see the providers running to use it. And why should they bother? today, every provider claims for "ePub support" even if it just manage to display the cover image...

[mysweety]

I've tried most of these eReaders and I've only found the moon+ satisfactory. On my tablet I have to use a kludge to select text but I think it will be solved in a prox. update. Otherwise the reader works really well for me - I really like the themes and the controls. There is a dict facility and possibility to comment etc on the text. This is a must for me.

Aldiko - the latest version - is ok for reading but no text selection or dics.
Fbreader I've found pretty useless - it always seems to crash.
Laputa I couldn't get to work at all.
Cool is second best but it has problems on table of contents and no possibility to comment and note up.
AEP and i readers between them more or less manage .prc files.
Repligo reader from cerience works well for pdf and has mark up

[tamole]

Like you, I was a huge fan of the Palm eReader. I've been using Moon+ since the early days of development and I still believe it is the best ereader app for Android and the closest to matching the features Palm created. For me the things I missed the most was autoscroll and the ability to change the colors of the background and fonts. The developers are very responsive to suggestions, so you might try emailing them your ideas. I receive regular updates with improvements.

I would also suggest using the Calibre ebook management program to format your books. It's free, but donations are welcome. All of my books display perfectly in Moon+ after conversion even from epub to epub even with the metadata and pics I add.

[ChrisJakarta]

I'm trying to produce ePub versions of fact sheets published by my organization. Agreed, these are not your average book, with a long table of contents, sub-headings, links between them, a few tables, and a glossary. The sheets are produced in MS-Word, converted to HTML with an AutoIt program. I have produced an AutoIt program to convert them to eReader (.pml) format, which is then converted with DropBook. The glossary is added as a dictionary. The tables are captured as images (.png). The result in my Centro is fine. The format looks good, and the imaged tables are clear, being scrollable both horizontally and vertically.

I have duplicated most of this in ePub format using Sigil. This (except the imaged-tables) displays reasonably well in Adobe Digital Editions on the desktop. But the results have been very disappointing in the various Android readers. I'm at last beginning to get an understanding of CoolReader's handling of CSS formatting, but this is quite complex - and limited to a subset of the standard CSS elements. Haven't found a way to handle dictionaries. While Moon+ seems to work reasonably well for 'stock' books, I have yet to find out how (if at all) it handles CSS files.

But the bigger problem is that each Android reader seems to have its own idiosyncrasies, so one would either have to produce a version for each reader, or just use plain vanilla formatting at the lowest common denominator of the available readers.

If B&N/Fictionwise could produce a version of eReader for Android with the same functionality as the Palm version (granted the current one is beta), I think they could clean up!

Chris

[CharlieBird]

I think I'm going to uninstall my Moon+ Pro. Since the last couple of upgrades I've had nothing but problems w/it. After a couple of pages in every ePub I open I get a forced close and a re-opening at the ToC or the first page. I compared the formatting w/CoolReader and the latter is much more to my liking. Besides, for some time I've been preferring CoolReader's interface and options. And of course Buggins presence is much appreciated.

Originally Posted by ChrisJakarta

If B&N/Fictionwise could produce a version of eReader for Android with the same functionality as the Palm version (granted the current one is beta), I think they could clean up!
Chris

You can get a Android eReader APK here:
http://www.ereader.com/ereader/software/browse.htm.

I don't use it much but I do know that it works on all my old pdb files and it's free.

[Westlyn]

Originally Posted by CharlieBird

You can get a Android eReader APK here:
http://www.ereader.com/ereader/software/browse.htm.

I don't use it much but I do know that it works on all my old pdb files and it's free.

I was interested in this and installed it.

I may be doing something wrong but there seems to be no way of accessing pre-existing ebooks from a folder on the smartphone.

EDIT: There is nothing in the application Menus, but if you read the help file it appears you can manually load files to the eReader folder. What caught me out is that the first .pdb I tried doesn't get recognised despite apparently being the correct format when viewed in a hex viewer.

[Strikeout]You can only download from a marketplace.

Don't really see how this allows you to easily work with your old pdb files.

How do I browse to a folder to open a PDB file there? Is that possible?[/Strikeout]

[atm74]

good day to all.

I've been a palm tx user for a while now and I really like that it has an offline dictionary support. I've switched lately to an android device and used aldiko as an ebook reader. My question is, does anybody know how to download an offline dictionary into it? Any suggestions please. Mobipocket reader also was the best because you can add notes, links, highlights, bookmarks, lookup... etc... Does anybody know here an ebook reader with the same functionality.

[Seadart]

I am trying to find a way to read protected Palm books (.pdb) on my Desire HD. I have quite a lot. I can read them all on my PC but that is rather hard to lug around! I can read unprotected Palm .pdb books on my Desire - how to read the protected ones?

[Dave_S]

Originally Posted by Seadart

I can read unprotected Palm .pdb books on my Desire - how to read the protected ones?

Have you tried Palm's Android reader at eReader.com. I would suspect that their own reader should be able to read their own DRM?

http://www.ereader.com/ereader/software/browse.htm

[ebusinesstutor]

Thank you so much for compiling this list. I just ordered an Android Tablet and will be using it for reading a lot so this has been timely for me to find.

[CharlieBird]

Originally Posted by Westlyn

I was interested in this and installed it.

I may be doing something wrong but there seems to be no way of accessing pre-existing ebooks from a folder on the smartphone.

EDIT: There is nothing in the application Menus, but if you read the help file it appears you can manually load files to the eReader folder. What caught me out is that the first .pdb I tried doesn't get recognised despite apparently being the correct format when viewed in a hex viewer.

[Strikeout]You can only download from a marketplace.

Don't really see how this allows you to easily work with your old pdb files.

How do I browse to a folder to open a PDB file there? Is that possible?[/Strikeout]

What I do is transfer the DRM PDB file via USB or WiFi File Explorer (my bluetooth is if'ee) directly into the eReader folder on my SD card. The eReader software opens w/a Bookshelf view of all the books. It only requires name and entire credit card number to unlock the first book opened; subsequent encrypted books do not require unlocking...nor, of course, do unecrypted books converted w/Calibre from another format to PDB.

I don't know what a hex viewer is but after seeing your questions I transferred a bunch of unstripped DRM/PDB books (some of 2007 vintage) just to see if I remembered correctly how it worked (as I said, I don't use the eReader software very often) and they all opened flawlessly and seemed to be perfectly formatted.

You don't really need to access or browse to the eReader book folder, it's opened, as I said, when you open the eReader software. On mine anyway.

I don't see it on Marketplace, but you can definitely get it it directly from eReader.com.

Not sure if this answers your questions...hope so. It's not really such a bad reader with quite a few options, I just prefer CoolReader.

[kennyc]

Originally Posted by ebusinesstutor

Thank you so much for compiling this list. I just ordered an Android Tablet and will be using it for reading a lot so this has been timely for me to find.

What? What? Which one?

We have to know, we have to know!