New Libra 2 - hacks or plugins

[TheSmitty]

I am expecting my new Libra 2 hopefully by the end of the week. I used to have a H20 back when it first came out and remember that there were hacks and enhancements that could be added to the device for various purposes.

I am curious what are the most popular hacks/plugins that people put on and why? Any downsides with any of them, do not want to regret putting on something I cannot get off.

[ishraklancer]

The hacks I currently use are
Koblime - https://kobli.me/ for wirelessly syncing books from any device
And there is a nickel menu hack which enables advanced editing for sideloaded fonts. So I mostly use Bookerly which is a kindle font and this feature enables me to modify the boldness of that.

[jackie_w]

Originally Posted by ishraklancer

And there is a nickel menu hack which enables advanced editing for sideloaded fonts. So I mostly use Bookerly which is a kindle font and this feature enables me to modify the boldness of that.

I'm not sure what you're talking about here. The current Kobo firmware no longer requires hacking of any kind to be able to adjust the boldness of a sideloaded font.

[JSWolf]

delete post

[issybird]

Originally Posted by ishraklancer

So I mostly use Bookerly which is a kindle font and this feature enables me to modify the boldness of that.

Bookerly is a proprietary Kindle font, i.e., it's not legitimately available for use on other devices.

[dreambeat]

I use a few patches on mine, most notably removing the links on the bottom of the home screen and unifying font sizes between epubs and kepubs. Patches can run the risk of bricking your device, but as long as you follow the instructions you should be fine. There’s a relatively new GUI made to help install them, too. I haven’t run into any issues yet. They are reversible if you decide you don’t like the changes.

I also use NickelClock. If it’s something you’re interested in, I’d highly recommend it.

I wouldn’t consider KOReader essential for a Libra 2. Especially with patches, the stock reading experience is very nice. I use KOReader mostly on my Libra 2 because it’s exclusively what I use on my mini.

NickelMenu is great on the Libra 2: adding its icon to the bottom of the home/library screens makes it feel like there’s less extra negative space. I also appreciate being able to navigate to Pocket or the web browser with only two taps.

[chrisridd]

Originally Posted by issybird

Bookerly is a proprietary Kindle font, i.e., it's not legitimately available for use on other devices.

I don't think you are correct, it is certainly not limited to Kindles. It is copyright Amazon, and they actually make it available for free download. The license in the download says:

All of these fonts were developed under contract for Amazon - as a result Amazon owns them fully outright. To include these designs in your work there are no licenses payments, no royalties, no copyright or attribution notices required. The font itself carries the proper ownership and copyright information in the header metadata of the font and Amazon does not require any additional attribution or protections when using the font.

So it seems perfectly OK to install Bookerly and Amazon Ember on your personal devices, and even potentially to distribute them if you're a device manufacturer as long as you don't remove their copyrights.

IANAL though, if someone with actual legal expertise wants to contribute here...

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by chrisridd

I don't think you are correct, it is certainly not limited to Kindles. It is copyright Amazon, and they actually make it available for free download. The license in the download says:



So it seems perfectly OK to install Bookerly and Amazon Ember on your personal devices, and even potentially to distribute them if you're a device manufacturer as long as you don't remove their copyrights.

IANAL though, if someone with actual legal expertise wants to contribute here...

But the versions linked are rather old. The only way to get newer versions is to pull them out of current Kindle firmware files.

[ZodWallop]

I'd say first just use your Libra 2 as it comes out of the box to see what you do and don't like about it. Kobo firmware has gotten a lot better than it was.

Also, if you are sideloading via Calibre, maybe try ePub and kepub format to see if you prefer one or the other.

One hack that doesn't get talked about much: in the .kobo/Kobo folder, you will find a file called "Kobo eReader.conf" In there, under [Reading] you can add ONE of the following:

text-rendering: optimizeSpeed;
text-rendering: optimizeLegibility;
text-rendering: geometricPrecision;

Those change how Nickle lays out the text in kepub. optimizeLegibility and geometricPrecision enable kerning and ligatures on the fonts, but can cause larger gaps between the letters. I like geometricPrecision as it causes fewer gaps and I do think the ligatures make the book look better.

As for patches, here's the ones I use:
libnickel.so.1.0.0.yaml:
Set KePub hyphenation - I prefer kepubs, but Kobo's default hyphenation limits are set too high for my taste. I use this along with JSWolf's Better Hyphenation dictionary.

nickel.yaml
Increase library cover size
Reduce new header/footer height
Series list increase cover thumbnails
Remove footer (row3) and increase cover size on new home screen

[Aleron Ives]

Originally Posted by ZodWallop

I like geometricPrecision as it causes fewer gaps and I do think the ligatures make the book look better.

Is there a list of which default Kobo fonts support kerning and ligatures?

Originally Posted by ZodWallop

Kobo's default hyphenation limits are set too high for my taste.

Does that mean it hyphenates too often, or not often enough for your taste?

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by ZodWallop

I'd say first just use your Libra 2 as it comes out of the box to see what you do and don't like about it. Kobo firmware has gotten a lot better than it was.

Also, if you are sideloading via Calibre, maybe try ePub and kepub format to see if you prefer one or the other.

One hack that doesn't get talked about much: in the .kobo/Kobo folder, you will find a file called "Kobo eReader.conf" In there, under [Reading] you can add ONE of the following:

text-rendering: optimizeSpeed;
text-rendering: optimizeLegibility;
text-rendering: geometricPrecision;

Those change how Nickle lays out the text in kepub. optimizeLegibility and geometricPrecision enable kerning and ligatures on the fonts, but can cause larger gaps between the letters. I like geometricPrecision as it causes fewer gaps and I do think the ligatures make the book look better.

As for patches, here's the ones I use:
libnickel.so.1.0.0.yaml:
Set KePub hyphenation - I prefer kepubs, but Kobo's default hyphenation limits are set too high for my taste. I use this along with JSWolf's Better Hyphenation dictionary.

nickel.yaml
Increase library cover size
Reduce new header/footer height
Series list increase cover thumbnails
Remove footer (row3) and increase cover size on new home screen

You left out a rather important (IMHO) patch from libnickel.so.1.0.0.yaml so the font size slider is the same for ePub and KePub.
Unify font sizes

[305869]

Originally Posted by dreambeat

I wouldn’t consider KOReader essential for a Libra 2. Especially with patches, the stock reading experience is very nice. I use KOReader mostly on my Libra 2 because it’s exclusively what I use on my mini.

I don't know if there is something wrong with my files but it wasn't possible to select text on any of my PDFs on my Libra 2 with the native reader, so I found KOReader pretty essential.

[ZodWallop]

Originally Posted by Aleron Ives

Is there a list of which default Kobo fonts support kerning and ligatures?

I'm sure there is. But I only use Literata Book. So I don't remember which of the default support them.

Does that mean it hyphenates too often, or not often enough for your taste?

By default: not often enough. I believe it is set for something like five letters before and five after, so you will (almost) never see hyphenation. Justified text and no hyphenation results in weird spacing/layout issues.

[ZodWallop]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

You left out a rather important (IMHO) patch from libnickel.so.1.0.0.yaml so the font size slider is the same for ePub and KePub.
Unify font sizes

I only load kepub, so I'm not worried about it. But yeah, I could see that being important if you use both.

[Aleron Ives]

Originally Posted by ZodWallop

By default: not often enough. I believe it is set for something like five letters before and five after, so you will (almost) never see hyphenation. Justified text and no hyphenation results in weird spacing/layout issues.

Thanks, that's what I thought. I don't much care for hyphenation, so I happen to like that it rarely gets used by default, even if some lines do end up having wide spacing.