MobileRead Forums - View Single Post - Android Apps that work well on eInk devices

parkher · 08-14-2018, 08:06 AM

jCoolReader eink

It works fine on Onyx Boox Note (android 6.0.1) and on Sony PRS T2 (android 2.1)

But there are some differences.

On PRST-T1 & PRS-T2 jCoolReader works perfectly (I am using cr3.0.57-15-37-jotas.apk) - I am using it together with GoldenDict.
I haven't tried newer versions, though. Very happy with 15-37.

On Onyx Boox Note, e-ink device is not recognized, so 15-37 and later versions all give some fancy background. It can be switched off for the book pages but not for settings, etc. Also, the eink-specific refresh settings are gone.
What is worse, in 15-37 "Reader Menu" action is not working on Note, no way to get to the CR menu, although it is possible to get to its options.

So on Onyx Boox Note I switched to the eink-specific build, the latest version
cr3.0.57-15-51-1-eink-jotas.apk
It works really fine. And Reader menu is working too. But the e-ink refresh settings are still missing - not that they are needed, it seems. Still, I put "toggle day/night mode" on one of tap zones, just in case. Toggle twice - you get a very good refresh.
However, this newest e-ink specific version no longer supports special actions on Recent Books list items, such as: go to the folder of the book, delete from the list. The Recent Books list is treated just as any folder in the build-in file manager.
It seems that it was done deliberately. There is now a special action "go to last book folder" - it can be assigned to one of 18 tap zones or to buttons. So no big deal.

Another great thing - even though Note has only one ("Back") button, I was able to assign to it "next page", "previous page"' and "exit" actions (single, double and long press), so at last I don't have to touch the screen while reading a book on Note.
Inside settings or in the build-in file manager the button is still functioning as "back" so everything is OK, nothing is lost.
Still, on T2 dedicated hardware buttons are working also inside the built-in file manager, inside the Recent books list, inside the options. Especially I miss those buttons on Note in long book lists.

So I am very happy with jCoolReader - it is the only reader I use on T1 and T2, and the main reader on Note.

Unfortunately, the latest version of jCoolReader is from January 2015, so there might be some newer books it will not be able to handle.

I haven't tried the official CR build from Vadim Lopatin on any of my android readers (yet?). So I cannot compare jotas to buggins, but the whole idea for jotas builds was to make them work with e-ink and to get rid of useless for e-ink stuff.

08-14-2018, 08:06 AM	#47
parkher Evangelist Posts: 467 Karma: 369018 Join Date: Nov 2010 Device: BL Alita/Mimas/Ares, OB Note2/Note, KA One/H2O/HD, S PRS T2/T1, PB 902	jCoolReader eink It works fine on Onyx Boox Note (android 6.0.1) and on Sony PRS T2 (android 2.1) But there are some differences. On PRST-T1 & PRS-T2 jCoolReader works perfectly (I am using cr3.0.57-15-37-jotas.apk) - I am using it together with GoldenDict. I haven't tried newer versions, though. Very happy with 15-37. On Onyx Boox Note, e-ink device is not recognized, so 15-37 and later versions all give some fancy background. It can be switched off for the book pages but not for settings, etc. Also, the eink-specific refresh settings are gone. What is worse, in 15-37 "Reader Menu" action is not working on Note, no way to get to the CR menu, although it is possible to get to its options. So on Onyx Boox Note I switched to the eink-specific build, the latest version cr3.0.57-15-51-1-eink-jotas.apk It works really fine. And Reader menu is working too. But the e-ink refresh settings are still missing - not that they are needed, it seems. Still, I put "toggle day/night mode" on one of tap zones, just in case. Toggle twice - you get a very good refresh. However, this newest e-ink specific version no longer supports special actions on Recent Books list items, such as: go to the folder of the book, delete from the list. The Recent Books list is treated just as any folder in the build-in file manager. It seems that it was done deliberately. There is now a special action "go to last book folder" - it can be assigned to one of 18 tap zones or to buttons. So no big deal. Another great thing - even though Note has only one ("Back") button, I was able to assign to it "next page", "previous page"' and "exit" actions (single, double and long press), so at last I don't have to touch the screen while reading a book on Note. Inside settings or in the build-in file manager the button is still functioning as "back" so everything is OK, nothing is lost. Still, on T2 dedicated hardware buttons are working also inside the built-in file manager, inside the Recent books list, inside the options. Especially I miss those buttons on Note in long book lists. So I am very happy with jCoolReader - it is the only reader I use on T1 and T2, and the main reader on Note. Unfortunately, the latest version of jCoolReader is from January 2015, so there might be some newer books it will not be able to handle. I haven't tried the official CR build from Vadim Lopatin on any of my android readers (yet?). So I cannot compare jotas to buggins, but the whole idea for jotas builds was to make them work with e-ink and to get rid of useless for e-ink stuff.