An e-reader with a touchbar

apastuszak · 09-11-2025, 03:20 PM

I bought a Kindle Scribe a few years ago to read PDFs on it. Most of the PDFs are magazines and RPG rulebooks.

Any kind of reference book involves a lot of flipping around, so I had this idea.

Imagine an e-reader that had a touch bar on the side the length of the screen, and you could slide your thumb up and down the touch bar to flip through a book quickly.

Am I crazy?

Aleron Ives · 09-11-2025, 04:12 PM

Yes. You could use the edge of the touch screen for the same purpose without needing to have a touchbar.

apastuszak · 09-11-2025, 04:25 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Aleron Ives

Yes. You could use the edge of the touch screen for the same purpose without needing to have a touchbar.

I'm so sick of touchscreens. Rather than a touch bar, I'd love a physical slider. Slide to flip through a book. Click to turn the page.

Bring back real physical controls please.

Renate · Yesterday, 12:02 AM

Mmm, you could make a Bluetooth keyfob with a thumbwheel.
You could even try it out with a Bluetooth mouse.
You could disable the mousy part if you like.
Of course your reader software would have to handle scroll.
I've used mouse and digitizer (like Wacom) on Android but I've not tried scroll wheel.

Whether the latency on eink would be too annoying or not is unknown.
On my current BT button keyfob I can flip back a half dozen pages in one (longer) click.

Looking through my code I see that I've experimented with joysticks.

nana77 · Yesterday, 01:09 AM

There are not ereaders within that feature, but the (pricely) GPD Pocked 2 had it, and for less than that price a second hand Macbook Pro 13" has it, too; maybe using linux in it and customizing the buttons; or there are several Wacom tablets that has those side buttons and/or touch bars too.

Quoth · Yesterday, 05:37 AM

On Kobo, tap the page and a touch bar for the whole book is at the bottom of the screen.

I gave demos of such a GUI in 1988. A traditional Windows scrollbar (later) usually needed to be dragged.

apastuszak · Yesterday, 11:38 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Quoth

On Kobo, tap the page and a touch bar for the whole book is at the bottom of the screen.

I gave demos of such a GUI in 1988. A traditional Windows scrollbar (later) usually needed to be dragged.

That sounds cool, but it really needs to be on the side of the screen,where you can just use it with your thumb while holding the device.

Maybe it's just me, but I feel all controls should be on the side of an ereader to make it as easy to use one handed as possible.

nana77 · Yesterday, 01:24 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by apastuszak

That sounds cool, but it really needs to be on the side of the screen,where you can just use it with your thumb while holding the device.

Maybe it's just me, but I feel all controls should be on the side of an ereader to make it as easy to use one handed as possible.

Not on the side, but (on Kobo) it gives also a point on the touch bar recalling for the "back to" (the previous page you were - e.g.: even if you jumped from 3 to 200, there is a dot on "3" to go back there).

Some persons in here seems to have made a custom device with raspberry pi and an e-ink screen, not sure how the lags are on refresh, for the use you mean, but a possibility maybe.

jackm8 · Yesterday, 05:58 PM

Pocketbook 840 has a touch bar above eink screen that's used for brightness. I don't think it was ever used again. It's not very responsive, but it works. I also don't know why it was never expanded for turning pages.

Renate · Yesterday, 11:24 PM

For your jumping around: Is that notes or a single alternative place?

I have two things on my custom ereader software.
The first is a stack where you can "push" locations and "pop" them later.
So if I know that I'm going on a safari, I can push the current location, flip through the pages, then pop back to where I was.
Building on this, I have a single remote button that can do a "swap".
When I start reading a book I find the notes and push that location.
Now I go back to the start and read.
When I want the swap button will switch between my current location and the saved location of the notes.

The good part is that these two locations are not fixed but advance semi-automatically.
When I'm on the last footnote on a page of notes I do have to flip to the next page, but the next time I go to the notes I'm on the new page.

09-11-2025, 03:20 PM	#1
apastuszak Fanatic Posts: 516 Karma: 125599 Join Date: Feb 2011 Location: Bensalem, PA Device: Kindle Scribe, Nook Glowlight 4, Apple iPad Pro 12.9"	An e-reader with a touchbar I bought a Kindle Scribe a few years ago to read PDFs on it. Most of the PDFs are magazines and RPG rulebooks. Any kind of reference book involves a lot of flipping around, so I had this idea. Imagine an e-reader that had a touch bar on the side the length of the screen, and you could slide your thumb up and down the touch bar to flip through a book quickly. Am I crazy?

Yesterday, 05:58 PM	#9
jackm8 Addict Posts: 353 Karma: 3535840 Join Date: Nov 2015 Device: none	Pocketbook 840 has a touch bar above eink screen that's used for brightness. I don't think it was ever used again. It's not very responsive, but it works. I also don't know why it was never expanded for turning pages. Attached Thumbnails

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09-11-2025, 04:12 PM	#2
Aleron Ives Wizard Posts: 1,719 Karma: 16308824 Join Date: Sep 2022 Device: Kobo Libra 2	Yes. You could use the edge of the touch screen for the same purpose without needing to have a touchbar.

Yesterday, 12:02 AM	#4
Renate Onyx-maniac Posts: 4,053 Karma: 18026955 Join Date: Feb 2012 Device: Nook NST, Glow2, 3, 4, '21, Kobo Aura2, Poke3, Poke5, Go6	Mmm, you could make a Bluetooth keyfob with a thumbwheel. You could even try it out with a Bluetooth mouse. You could disable the mousy part if you like. Of course your reader software would have to handle scroll. I've used mouse and digitizer (like Wacom) on Android but I've not tried scroll wheel. Whether the latency on eink would be too annoying or not is unknown. On my current BT button keyfob I can flip back a half dozen pages in one (longer) click. Looking through my code I see that I've experimented with joysticks.

Yesterday, 01:09 AM	#5
nana77 Fanatic Posts: 579 Karma: 860470 Join Date: May 2025 Device: Kobo Forma	There are not ereaders within that feature, but the (pricely) GPD Pocked 2 had it, and for less than that price a second hand Macbook Pro 13" has it, too; maybe using linux in it and customizing the buttons; or there are several Wacom tablets that has those side buttons and/or touch bars too.

Yesterday, 05:37 AM	#6
Quoth Still reading Posts: 14,525 Karma: 108666825 Join Date: Jun 2017 Location: Ireland Device: All 4 Kinds: epub eink, Kindle, android eink, NxtPaper	On Kobo, tap the page and a touch bar for the whole book is at the bottom of the screen. I gave demos of such a GUI in 1988. A traditional Windows scrollbar (later) usually needed to be dragged.

Yesterday, 11:24 PM	#10
Renate Onyx-maniac Posts: 4,053 Karma: 18026955 Join Date: Feb 2012 Device: Nook NST, Glow2, 3, 4, '21, Kobo Aura2, Poke3, Poke5, Go6	For your jumping around: Is that notes or a single alternative place? I have two things on my custom ereader software. The first is a stack where you can "push" locations and "pop" them later. So if I know that I'm going on a safari, I can push the current location, flip through the pages, then pop back to where I was. Building on this, I have a single remote button that can do a "swap". When I start reading a book I find the notes and push that location. Now I go back to the start and read. When I want the swap button will switch between my current location and the saved location of the notes. The good part is that these two locations are not fixed but advance semi-automatically. When I'm on the last footnote on a page of notes I do have to flip to the next page, but the next time I go to the notes I'm on the new page.