Hi All, which app for my phone, help;)

[abbynormal52]

I joined this site a long, while back, but didn't get to into it I see

Today I decided to start making use of Calibre, did some reading about it to refresh my memory. Mostly I want to consolidate things in one place, and Calibre seems like a good plan for me.

I wanted to ask about the app for my phone. There are several listed when I do a search for Calibre. Wondering what others are using?

I have a Nook Tablet, getting old too, but still works so well, and I have Nook for my PC, as well as the Kindle for PC.

Here's a shot of "just" the first 4 or 5 apps. I just thought I might be able to get a recommend from someone. I don't use my phone much for reading, but I like the fact I am able to use it with Calibre, if I want to.

Hope to meet some folks, especially those that love the cozy mysteries I read a lot of, well, that's all I read, for now

[thejoker954]

the 1st 2 are the official apps. thats what I use.

[abbynormal52]

Oh thanks Joker! Yes, I "thought" that might be it, but not knowing for sure, I so appreciate your note Denise

PS I forgot to ask what the "demo" means on the 2nd one? I am thinking I can "try that" for free before I buy the full app?

[jackie_w]

Hi abby,

I'm also a huge fan of Calibre Companion. There is no better Android ebook library app if you're already using Calibre for your master library on your PC or Mac.

A few things you might like to know...

1. There is a Calibre Companion (CC) sub-forum here at MobileRead and the Developer, chaley, is very active in that forum. He is also a major contributor to the main Calibre program and seems to have the patience of a saint (most of the time) when answering queries from the rest of us
   
2. The demo version of CC is, as far as I know, fully functional but limited to only 20 books, so you can try for free to see whether you'll like it.
   
3. CC is not an app which will do the actual reading. You will need to install one (or more) Android reading apps of which there are many. When you want to open a book in CC it will ask you which of your installed reading apps you want to use. As you're a Nook user I'm assuming your books are epubs in which case these are just some of the popular epub reader apps which CC integrates nicely with: Mantano, Pocketbook (as per your screencap), Moon+, Coolreader, UBReader, FBReader, Gitden. Some have lots of config options some are simpler. Have fun trying a few different ones.

[thejoker954]

thanks jackie_w, much better response than I would've come up with

[Terisa de morgan]

Hi Abby,

As they have told you, calibre companion doesn't read the books by itself, but it allows a very, very good organization in your phone / tablet. As jackie_w has said, the demo version is fully functional but limited to 20 books, so you can really test if you like.

And for reading, there's a world of apps, and everybody likes something different.

Glad to know another cozy mystery lover

[DMcCunney]

Originally Posted by abbynormal52

I joined this site a long, while back, but didn't get to into it I see

Today I decided to start making use of Calibre, did some reading about it to refresh my memory. Mostly I want to consolidate things in one place, and Calibre seems like a good plan for me.

I wanted to ask about the app for my phone. There are several listed when I do a search for Calibre. Wondering what others are using?

I use Calibre to maintain my eBook library, and have Calibre Companion on my Android tablet. To actually read the books, I use the open source FBReader for Android. I first discovered FBReader as a desktop app. It was written in C, cross platform, and available for Linux and Windows, which I dual boot. It read ePub, Mobi, FB2, and several other formats. It didn't handle DRMed titles but I didn't care because I don't get books with DRM.

FBReader for Android is a rewrite in Java for mobile devices. Like the desktop sibling, it reads ePub, Mobi, FB2 and others, and can handle PDF, CBR/CBZ (standard comic book formats) and DjVu via plugins. I largely don't care what format a book is in because FBReader will display it. Again, it doesn't handle DRM, but agin, I don't care because I don't get DRM laden titles.

My eBook library on device resides on an external microSD card, and FBReader is configured in Settings to look there for books. Books are placed on the card via Calibre, I plug the tablet into my desktop via a USB->microUSB cable. The tablet detects is has been connected and pops up a screen where I can turn on USB mass storage. This lets Calibre on the desktop see and access the library on device and transfer books to it.
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Dennis

[Tikker]

I like Moon reader for my reading

mostly because it does a good job syncing reading progress between devices

calibre is of course the library of choice

I have never understood calibre companion, but it's a personal preference

[abbynormal52]

Thank you all, I didn't get any notifications for these posts, so I may not have my "notification settings" correct. I'll check now. I haven't done anything yet on my Calibre but still plan to. Then get the app for my phone.

Thank you again, for all the great feedback

[BretSingleton]

I'm huge fan of calibre its pretty awesome for my phone. So I suggest you choose calibre.

[DMcCunney]

Originally Posted by abbynormal52

Thank you all, I didn't get any notifications for these posts, so I may not have my "notification settings" correct. I'll check now. I haven't done anything yet on my Calibre but still plan to. Then get the app for my phone.

As mentioned, Calibre is what you run on your PC to manage your eBook library. Calibre itself does not run on the phone, but you can use it to put books on the phone that you will read with something else.

There's a bit of a learning curve to Calibre, but it's well worth it.

Thank you again, for all the great feedback

You're quite welcome.
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Dennis

[DMcCunney]

Originally Posted by Tikker

I have never understood calibre companion, but it's a personal preference

Calibre Companion is intended to let you view your library on your phone/tablet without having to invoke your reader app.

I have it installed, but it's of limited use because it assumes you will add books to your device via the network using Wifi. I put books on my tablet via USB cable and CC isn't aware of them. To fully implement CC, I'd have to remove the existing library and re-add it over the network. I have round thousands of volumes on device, and that's simply not going to happen any time soon.
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Dennis

[Tikker]

Originally Posted by DMcCunney

Calibre Companion is intended to let you view your library on your phone/tablet without having to invoke your reader app.

Let me rephrase~

I understand what CC does, but I don't understand what benefit it provides over using the webpage that already existed?

I've perused the CC forum, but just never really got a sense of what the CC app does vs just accessing Calibre via it's webpage

[DMcCunney]

Originally Posted by Tikker

Let me rephrase~

I understand what CC does, but I don't understand what benefit it provides over using the webpage that already existed?

I've perused the CC forum, but just never really got a sense of what the CC app does vs just accessing Calibre via it's webpage

I suspect it depends on where you are. The advantage to CC is that it's installed locally on your device, and looking at information on device.

Let's say you're traveling. Is the PC that runs Calibre up and running? Is Calibre running on the PC? Is your home network set up to let you access Calibre remotely?

Personally, my network is locked down. I have no reason to access it from elsewhere, and while the PC on which Calibre is installed will be up, Calibre won't be loaded and running.

I'd still like a solution for simply looking at what is on my tablet using the metadata Calibre deposits when I'm not at home convenient to Calibre with the tablet plugged in. I'd hoped CC could do that, but the limitation of only seeing what is transferred over the network is a deal breaker. If I had known about CC and installed it back when I first began setting up the tablet as an eBook viewer, I might have used the network to put books on device. At this point, redoing from scratch to be able to use CC is more trouble than I wish to take. I'm in the market for another tablet, and might go the network route from the beginning with it.
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Dennis

[Tikker]

exactly

I've had Calibre for many many moons, and have long had it running on a 24x7 server, available from the internet

different strokes, and everyone is happy