Is a "Calibre Companian App" for Windows 10 Phones a good idea?

[MichaelStgt]

Hy forum users,

I am a long time user of Calibre maintaining my book collection and the books to store on my reading devices.

I'm developing apps for the Windows UWP Platform and now have some apps I´ll post in the store. One of the app is a eBook Reader depending on the WebView Component which is a webbrowser component. I added some javascript functions to move through the pages, that can change the fontsize and switch from day to night view. It includes a TOC Menu to.

The app itself does not not need to unzip the ebook, you can just simply open any ebook file and it will open the contents of the ebook on the fly.

What would you think about if i add a small app, that can read out the metadata files on Windows Mobile Devices do display all eBooks, calibre has saved on the device? You may search within the app, and once you find the book you want to read, you can just simply open it.

Most of the apps i could find on the Store own its own bookshelf and need to scan through the device and the sd card. Or you need to add your books manually one by one, which would be a pain as i have stored about 4000 books on my mobile device.

What would you think about this idea? Would you like to contribute? Any suggestions? You have a better idea?

Please let me know.

Kind regards,
Michael

[Sweetpea]

Originally Posted by MichaelStgt

Hy forum users,

I am a long time user of Calibre maintaining my book collection and the books to store on my reading devices.

I'm developing apps for the Windows UWP Platform and now have some apps I´ll post in the store. One of the app is a eBook Reader depending on the WebView Component which is a webbrowser component. I added some javascript functions to move through the pages, that can change the fontsize and switch from day to night view. It includes a TOC Menu to.

The app itself does not not need to unzip the ebook, you can just simply open any ebook file and it will open the contents of the ebook on the fly.

What would you think about if i add a small app, that can read out the metadata files on Windows Mobile Devices do display all eBooks, calibre has saved on the device? You may search within the app, and once you find the book you want to read, you can just simply open it.

Most of the apps i could find on the Store own its own bookshelf and need to scan through the device and the sd card. Or you need to add your books manually one by one, which would be a pain as i have stored about 4000 books on my mobile device.

What would you think about this idea? Would you like to contribute? Any suggestions? You have a better idea?

Please let me know.

Kind regards,
Michael

I'd love a companion app like the one on android, where I can connect with Calibre on my PC and transfer books via wifi. Especially as you cannot download entire folders with OneDrive...

[mrbrimi]

I use Calibre Viewer on my Windows 10 tablets.

Unfortunately this app has been abandoned and doesn't appear in the Windows Store.

see Minimalist Windows App for Calibre. https://www.mobileread.com/forums/sho...d.php?t=238129

[Vidfamne]

I'd like a good reader on my Win 10 Mobile that can communicate with my Calibre on my PC... (Loke the Kobo-companion I guess)

[chaley]

If you do something like you are suggesting, please do not call it "Calibre Companion". That is the name of our Android/iOS app.

FWIW: we have no intention of porting our app to Windows.

[pmjeff21]

I would love such an app and would pay for it. Kindle recently abandoned their app for Windows 10 Mobile, meaning I'm left in the cold with my Lumia 950. I'd like one app for my Surface Pro 4 and my Lumia 950. For now, I'm trying out Freda, but it seems a little awkward in some behaviors, and I need Calibre for certain tasks. If I could put my Calibre library on OneDrive, then have a reader for the Surface and Lumia that could access the OneDrive and download for offline reading, that would be fantastic.

It needs to import and export highlights and bookmarks and sync them to OneDrive.

[Jim Chapman]

Originally Posted by pmjeff21

If I could put my Calibre library on OneDrive, then have a reader for the Surface and Lumia that could access the OneDrive and download for offline reading, that would be fantastic.

Actually, it might be simpler just to use the Calibre library straight from Calibre. On Calibre, choose Preferences->‘Sharing over the net’, and switch on sharing. Then the 'companion app' can search the library, and fetch the books, by just connecting to the Calibre service on port 8080. It is an OPDS catalog, which is essentially just an RSS feed - this could be a simpler coding exercise than navigating folders and downloading from OneDrive files.

@MichaelStgt: there are a few gotchas with the OPDS approach, which I'd be happy to discuss with you, if you decide to implement it.

Of course, the 'synchronising bookmarks and highlights' requirement may mean you want to build OneDrive connectivity anyway. The new 'Project Rome' features for UWP in Windows 1607 might offer an alternative approach to that.

Disclaimer: In case you hadn't noticed already, I'm the developer of Freda.