MobileRead Forums - View Single Post - App for typing txt file notes on eReader?

blue_skies · 03-06-2018, 08:35 PM

AnotherCat, thank you so much for your very informative reply! I will look into that app. I am familiar with Zoho because I have an email address with them, but I never took a close look at their software. My eReader doesn't have a microphone so the audio notes won't work, unfortunately. I like that the Zoho app allows you to create notebooks... although looking at the screencaps, I wonder if I will be able to see the UI on my greyscale eInk.

I have tried a bunch of options since last night, and that has been one of the biggest problems. For example, I read that you can create and edit simple text files with ES File Explorer (which I use all the time on my phone) but when I installed it on my eReader, I couldn't make out the menus. I ended up uninstalling it.

I tried WriterP [Edited to add that the full name of this app is Writer Plus (Write On the Go), it just appears as WriterP on my eReader device] - this allowed me to make the text nice and large, easily switch to night mode, and even make folders... but I couldn't see any folder names - just these teeny, tiny folder icons. I also didn't see any option to export as text file -- so I copied what I had in the WriterP folder to my computer. The files were .md files and they did open fine with the MS Notepad, but there were no line breaks retained, and not even a blank space where line breaks should have been, so anything I transferred to my computer would have to be heavily edited. I uninstalled the app and kept looking.

Next I tried Notepad Free - I could see the UI and was able to name a note and type in the body of the note, but the font size was significantly smaller than the built-in Boyue note app, and I didn't see any way to change the font size or any other settings. I was really feeling the eye strain at this point late last night (and the frustration!), so I uninstalled it before finding out if it could save to .txt format that I can access on my computer.

Today I tried two open source Apps from F-Droid.org:

1. Just Notes (Take notes with import and export features...)

I only tried this very briefly because I couldn't find any way to make the text large enough for my eyes, and it seemed to just save the first part of the body of the note in the title, with no way to type the title and body separately. I uninstalled this app pretty quickly.

2. Notes https://f-droid.org/en/packages/com....letools.notes/ (A simple text field for adding quick notes, without ads.)

This at least has some settings, and I was able to make the background white and the text black. (It should be easy to switch it to night mode, too.)

The biggest negative for me was that I changed the text to Extra Large, but it was still much smaller than I would prefer, and smaller than Boyue's built in Note app.

The positives - Finally an app that allows me to create and name files, and even edit the names of files. It also allows exporting individual notes or all notes to .txt files, which is nice because then I can just copy them to my computer. (It saves the exported .txt files to the root folder.)

Unfortunately, it doesn't retain the line breaks in the exported .txt files, so the text is all smooshed together just like the built-in notepad and the another app I tried, so there really is no improvement in exporting.

The trade off between this and the built-in Note app:
-- with this app, the text was too small
-- with the built-in app, text is nice and readable, but I can't name notes, or put them in folders.

-----

Then I ended up finding the Big Font app https://play.google.com/store/apps/d...ne.bfont&hl=en that allowed me to make all the system fonts larger, and after a restart, that ended up increasing the font size in the last app I tried (the open source Notes app - hosted on F-Droid)... so I am quite pleased with it now.

This Notes app (the last one discussed above) also has an option to browse all the files on my device so I can copy and paste something into a note, which is very nice.

I'm still looking at more options, but for now I'm pretty satisfied. I do wish it offered the ability to create and organize folders of notes, but unless I missed it, I don't think it has that feature.

If anybody has any other suggestions, I'd love to hear them. It seems like so many apps that seem like they would be great just display horribly on grey scale... especially for someone like me who has trouble seeing contrast. That makes it difficult or impossible to even see the app menus.

03-06-2018, 08:35 PM	#3
blue_skies Evangelist Posts: 405 Karma: 1143880 Join Date: Jan 2011 Location: Ohio Device: Mobiscribe Wave B&W; Kindle Scribe; Boyue Mimas & 62+; KindleKeyboard	AnotherCat, thank you so much for your very informative reply! I will look into that app. I am familiar with Zoho because I have an email address with them, but I never took a close look at their software. My eReader doesn't have a microphone so the audio notes won't work, unfortunately. I like that the Zoho app allows you to create notebooks... although looking at the screencaps, I wonder if I will be able to see the UI on my greyscale eInk. I have tried a bunch of options since last night, and that has been one of the biggest problems. For example, I read that you can create and edit simple text files with ES File Explorer (which I use all the time on my phone) but when I installed it on my eReader, I couldn't make out the menus. I ended up uninstalling it. I tried WriterP [Edited to add that the full name of this app is Writer Plus (Write On the Go), it just appears as WriterP on my eReader device] - this allowed me to make the text nice and large, easily switch to night mode, and even make folders... but I couldn't see any folder names - just these teeny, tiny folder icons. I also didn't see any option to export as text file -- so I copied what I had in the WriterP folder to my computer. The files were .md files and they did open fine with the MS Notepad, but there were no line breaks retained, and not even a blank space where line breaks should have been, so anything I transferred to my computer would have to be heavily edited. I uninstalled the app and kept looking. Next I tried Notepad Free - I could see the UI and was able to name a note and type in the body of the note, but the font size was significantly smaller than the built-in Boyue note app, and I didn't see any way to change the font size or any other settings. I was really feeling the eye strain at this point late last night (and the frustration!), so I uninstalled it before finding out if it could save to .txt format that I can access on my computer. Today I tried two open source Apps from F-Droid.org: 1. Just Notes (Take notes with import and export features...) I only tried this very briefly because I couldn't find any way to make the text large enough for my eyes, and it seemed to just save the first part of the body of the note in the title, with no way to type the title and body separately. I uninstalled this app pretty quickly. 2. Notes https://f-droid.org/en/packages/com....letools.notes/ (A simple text field for adding quick notes, without ads.) This at least has some settings, and I was able to make the background white and the text black. (It should be easy to switch it to night mode, too.) The biggest negative for me was that I changed the text to Extra Large, but it was still much smaller than I would prefer, and smaller than Boyue's built in Note app. The positives - Finally an app that allows me to create and name files, and even edit the names of files. It also allows exporting individual notes or all notes to .txt files, which is nice because then I can just copy them to my computer. (It saves the exported .txt files to the root folder.) Unfortunately, it doesn't retain the line breaks in the exported .txt files, so the text is all smooshed together just like the built-in notepad and the another app I tried, so there really is no improvement in exporting. The trade off between this and the built-in Note app: -- with this app, the text was too small -- with the built-in app, text is nice and readable, but I can't name notes, or put them in folders. ----- Then I ended up finding the Big Font app https://play.google.com/store/apps/d...ne.bfont&hl=en that allowed me to make all the system fonts larger, and after a restart, that ended up increasing the font size in the last app I tried (the open source Notes app - hosted on F-Droid)... so I am quite pleased with it now. This Notes app (the last one discussed above) also has an option to browse all the files on my device so I can copy and paste something into a note, which is very nice. I'm still looking at more options, but for now I'm pretty satisfied. I do wish it offered the ability to create and organize folders of notes, but unless I missed it, I don't think it has that feature. If anybody has any other suggestions, I'd love to hear them. It seems like so many apps that seem like they would be great just display horribly on grey scale... especially for someone like me who has trouble seeing contrast. That makes it difficult or impossible to even see the app menus. Last edited by blue_skies; 03-07-2018 at 11:06 AM. Reason: ETA the full name of the WriterP app. I actually downloaded it again not realizing WriterP is Writer Plus (Write on the Go)