Best reading app on Android? - Page 2

FinancialWar · 02-21-2014, 05:40 PM

why does Mantano have low star rating? 4.1 only compared to others.

VelvetElvis · 02-22-2014, 10:39 AM

That's out of 5, and is in the ballpark with most other popular readers. The apparent front-running Moon+ reader has 4.5. I wouldn't read a lot into that little difference.

FinancialWar · 02-23-2014, 05:23 AM

What do you mean you wouldn't read a lot into that LITTLE difference?

The difference is not little, it's HUGE, the average score in Android play store is 4.0 to 4.2, any score below 4.2 is technically average or below. Mantano is average at best according to star rating.

Teknikal · 02-23-2014, 09:36 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by FinancialWar

What do you mean you wouldn't read a lot into that LITTLE difference?

The difference is not little, it's HUGE, the average score in Android play store is 4.0 to 4.2, any score below 4.2 is technically average or below. Mantano is average at best according to star rating.

To play the review game Moon+ Premium has 585 one star reviews and Mantano has only 171 one star reviews, wow that's a HUGE difference I guess Moon+ has twice as many people who hate it.

Best thing to do is try them both and see which one you personally prefer I wouldn't put to much faith in the Play stores review scores.

FinancialWar · 02-23-2014, 10:59 PM

It's not about faith, it's about statistics.

Teknikal · 02-23-2014, 11:42 PM

You do know you can buy reviews on Google Play and a lot of companies do just that if you think the scores there are completely trustworthy you are very naive ( I don't believe Mantano or Moon does this by the way but it happens), not to mention the reviews are split between different versions of the app and not just the current incarnation theres also the matter of Moon+ being available for a lot longer before there was real competition, the difference in pricing means people expect more.

The reasons for scores are so varied the only way your going to get any idea is reading all of them.

Anavim · 02-25-2014, 08:33 AM

For me, the best is AlReader (free), which has a lot of functions which adjust the read text to my liking.
The average rating is 4.7 stars

It has synchronization of reading between different devices. Recognizes many formats, including docx and odt (No PDFs). Recognize multiple code pages. Working properly hyphenation (in many languages). Footnotes shows at the bottom of the current page. Supports multiple dictionaries. Better than CoolReader.

It works perfectly on my phone, tablet and reader with e-ink screen.

The only lack for me is the TTS functions.

Jabby · 02-26-2014, 11:18 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Anavim

For me, the best is AlReader (free), which has a lot of functions which adjust the read text to my liking.
The average rating is 4.7 stars

It has synchronization of reading between different devices. Recognizes many formats, including docx and odt (No PDFs). Recognize multiple code pages. Working properly hyphenation (in many languages). Footnotes shows at the bottom of the current page. Supports multiple dictionaries. Better than CoolReader.

It works perfectly on my phone, tablet and reader with e-ink screen.

The only lack for me is the TTS functions.

Thanks for the tip. It looks like good one! But, I have a question: Is the sync for the reading position? If so, any idea how it works? What is the difference between File and Network syncing?

Thanks for any help you can offer - John

Anavim · 02-28-2014, 03:39 AM

This is the synchronization position reading books between different devices.

Network synchronization is based on the account created by the specified e-mail.
To synchronize with the file, you can use services such as Dropbox (sharing the directory in which to save the synchronization data).

The program comes from the area where uses the Cyrillic alphabet, so use a network account can be difficult due to the language barrier.

HarryT · 02-28-2014, 08:53 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Teknikal

Most do actually, the majority of them use dropbox to sync your position I think Mantano is the only one that charges you extra if it didn't do that I'd consider it perfect.

Don't you think that the author of the program deserves to be paid for it? It's not like a reading app from a bookstore, where the program is given away free to encourage you to buy from the store. The author needs to get paid.

VelvetElvis · 02-28-2014, 10:13 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by FinancialWar

It's not about faith, it's about statistics.

If you're all about *statistics*, you'd grab the reader with the highest score/largest user base, and be done. Reviews alone won't make you happy with a top-rated reader if it doesn't have a feature that's important *to you*.

In addition to Teknical's valid points, reviews can also be influenced by cost. If I'm paying top-dollar for an ebook reader, which is the case for Mantano Premium, I'm going to judge it more harshly than a reader that someone has provided to me for free. I'd bet a week's pay that were Mantano Premium being offered for free, the ratings would be significantly higher.

At the end of the day, all the readers being vetted here have their strengths, and frankly, it comes down to personal preference as to features and price.

Ntsimp · 02-28-2014, 10:18 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by HarryT

The author needs to get paid.

The authors of CoolReader and FBReader don't "need" to. It looks like it's a choice. And with libre software you can also avoid the advertising and tracking crap.

DiapDealer · 02-28-2014, 10:50 AM

I have to admit, I find the practice of avoiding "better" apps that might cost $3-7 in favor of free apps that might be merely adequate to be quite amusing. Never thought I'd see the day that that kind of money would actually be considered a barrier for functional software.

I don't differentiate between free and $10 when it comes to useful software. That kind of price-range simply isn't a factor for me. If it's useful to me (and does what it claims), it's all a bargain.

I'm "all in" on Mantano Premium, myself. Best $7 I've ever spent on software. Bar none.

HarryT · 02-28-2014, 10:52 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DiapDealer

I'm "all in" on Mantano Premium, myself. Best $7 I've ever spent on software. Bar none.

Likewise the £2.99 (or whatever it was) I paid for "Goodreader" for the iPad (THE best PDF reader around) was money well spent. It amazes me how cheap tablet software is.

afv011 · 02-28-2014, 12:53 PM

I don't need anything fancy, so I use Play Books - all my books are available on all devices and data is synced across them.

View Poll Results: best app
FBreader	10	11.24%
Cool Reader	8	8.99%
Moon+ reader pro	38	42.70%
other	33	37.08%
Voters: 89. You may not vote on this poll

02-23-2014, 10:59 PM	#20
FinancialWar Banned Posts: 397 Karma: 85500 Join Date: Feb 2011 Location: Sydney Device: Sony PRS350, Onyx M92, Onyx T68 (defective!)	It's not about faith, it's about statistics. Last edited by FinancialWar; 02-23-2014 at 11:33 PM.

02-28-2014, 03:39 AM	#24
Anavim Enthusiast Posts: 40 Karma: 12576 Join Date: Oct 2010 Location: PL Device: Onyx BOOX Page, inkBOOK Onyx & Obsidian & Calypso+ (Android ;)	This is the synchronization position reading books between different devices. Network synchronization is based on the account created by the specified e-mail. To synchronize with the file, you can use services such as Dropbox (sharing the directory in which to save the synchronization data). The program comes from the area where uses the Cyrillic alphabet, so use a network account can be difficult due to the language barrier. Last edited by Anavim; 02-28-2014 at 03:43 AM.

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02-21-2014, 05:40 PM	#16
FinancialWar Banned Posts: 397 Karma: 85500 Join Date: Feb 2011 Location: Sydney Device: Sony PRS350, Onyx M92, Onyx T68 (defective!)	why does Mantano have low star rating? 4.1 only compared to others.

02-22-2014, 10:39 AM	#17
VelvetElvis Addict Posts: 253 Karma: 20028 Join Date: Jan 2011 Location: Canada Device: Fire HD8, Asus, Sony (T1, PRS-300), Kobo (Glo, Touch, Wireless)	That's out of 5, and is in the ballpark with most other popular readers. The apparent front-running Moon+ reader has 4.5. I wouldn't read a lot into that little difference.

02-23-2014, 05:23 AM	#18
FinancialWar Banned Posts: 397 Karma: 85500 Join Date: Feb 2011 Location: Sydney Device: Sony PRS350, Onyx M92, Onyx T68 (defective!)	What do you mean you wouldn't read a lot into that LITTLE difference? The difference is not little, it's HUGE, the average score in Android play store is 4.0 to 4.2, any score below 4.2 is technically average or below. Mantano is average at best according to star rating.

02-23-2014, 11:42 PM	#21
Teknikal Fanatic Posts: 574 Karma: 5264318 Join Date: Jan 2012 Location: Belfast Device: Sony T1, Note Pro 12.2, Honor 10	You do know you can buy reviews on Google Play and a lot of companies do just that if you think the scores there are completely trustworthy you are very naive ( I don't believe Mantano or Moon does this by the way but it happens), not to mention the reviews are split between different versions of the app and not just the current incarnation theres also the matter of Moon+ being available for a lot longer before there was real competition, the difference in pricing means people expect more. The reasons for scores are so varied the only way your going to get any idea is reading all of them.

02-25-2014, 08:33 AM	#22
Anavim Enthusiast Posts: 40 Karma: 12576 Join Date: Oct 2010 Location: PL Device: Onyx BOOX Page, inkBOOK Onyx & Obsidian & Calypso+ (Android ;)	For me, the best is AlReader (free), which has a lot of functions which adjust the read text to my liking. The average rating is 4.7 stars It has synchronization of reading between different devices. Recognizes many formats, including docx and odt (No PDFs). Recognize multiple code pages. Working properly hyphenation (in many languages). Footnotes shows at the bottom of the current page. Supports multiple dictionaries. Better than CoolReader. It works perfectly on my phone, tablet and reader with e-ink screen. The only lack for me is the TTS functions.

02-28-2014, 10:50 AM	#28
DiapDealer Grand Sorcerer Posts: 27,548 Karma: 193191846 Join Date: Jan 2010 Device: Nexus 7, Kindle Fire HD	I have to admit, I find the practice of avoiding "better" apps that might cost $3-7 in favor of free apps that might be merely adequate to be quite amusing. Never thought I'd see the day that that kind of money would actually be considered a barrier for functional software. I don't differentiate between free and $10 when it comes to useful software. That kind of price-range simply isn't a factor for me. If it's useful to me (and does what it claims), it's all a bargain. I'm "all in" on Mantano Premium, myself. Best $7 I've ever spent on software. Bar none.

02-28-2014, 12:53 PM	#30
afv011 Captain Penguin Posts: 2,947 Karma: 2077653593 Join Date: May 2009 Location: Vancouver, BC Device: Kobo Libra 2, Nook Glowlight	I don't need anything fancy, so I use Play Books - all my books are available on all devices and data is synced across them.

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