Library eBooks on Android

[tomsem]

Has anyone figured out how to get library ebooks to open with anything other than Overdrive Media Console (which is not so great on bigger screens, and has no PDF support)?

On iOS, I can either fulfill the .ascm file directly (with Bluefire Reader or OMC), or fulfill the .acsm with ADE and then open it. But on Android it seems none of the apps have registered .ascm file type, and attempting to open a library .epub gives an error message. Also (at least on Mac) ADE will not detect my XOOM when tethered (have to use Android File Transfer to move any files over USB) so whatever 'blessings' ADE would otherwise confer are not available.

[ilovejedd]

Pretty sure at least both Aldiko and Mantano Reader support ADE. You might have to pony up for the paid version, though, and I'm not so sure if they can fulfill .acsm directly.

[tomsem]

Originally Posted by ilovejedd

Pretty sure at least both Aldiko and Mantano Reader support ADE. You might have to pony up for the paid version, though, and I'm not so sure if they can fulfill .acsm directly.

I have figured out how to do this with Aldiko after finding this:
http://aldiko.zendesk.com/entries/37...blic-libraries

You need an app like Astro File Manager, apparently, to open an .acsm file from SD storage. AFM has a Bluetooth module to move files wirelessly, but Dropbox in most cases will be simpler for me, as I don't have that turned on very much on my laptop. Aldiko does have 'return borrowed item' as well.

Perhaps it is not surprising that Mantano and Txtr don't have this ability; they're both based in Europe and library ebook lending is not very established there as far as I know, hence the requirement does not arise as much? They aren't among the choices AFM gives you for opening the .acsm (Overdrive Media Console is).

Well, at least I have a solution now (other than Overdrive). I'd like to see a little more 'convergence' on this feature however at least from Mantano, which I like (has annotation, TTS, slightly better PDF support, Themes, and a form of dictionary lookup).

Txtr's the only Adobe DRM reader app at this point with synching between devices and support for other platforms (iOS).

Looking forward to Bluefire Reader's appearance on Android.

[=X=]

Thanks for posting a solution.

It looks like you don't have to wait too long, sombody just posted BlueFire is out for Android (link)

Here is a link to the Market (Bluefire link)

[xanadu1]

Bluefire Reader is on the Android marketplace now. It seems to work fine for this. Copy the library's .acsm to Bluefire/imports, go to Bluefire's Info tab, tap 'Import', and it appears in Bluefire's library. You'll probably have to Authorize on the same page first...

[tomsem]

Originally Posted by xanadu1

Bluefire Reader is on the Android marketplace now. It seems to work fine for this. Copy the library's .acsm to Bluefire/imports, go to Bluefire's Info tab, tap 'Import', and it appears in Bluefire's library. You'll probably have to Authorize on the same page first...

Thanks for the tip, I was just going to try that.

I tried using ASTRO (file manager) to open the .acsm file, but it only offers Aldiko and Overdrive as choices. Unfortunately putting it in Bluefire/imports requires tethering, yes? I haven't found a way to save downloads to arbitrary storage locations (such as Bluefire/imports), or to move content after it is downloaded (I'm pretty new to Android however).

I also found that if the .ePub file was fulfilled by ADE and moved to Android Dropbox storage, you can tell Dropbox to open it with Bluefire, and BF will successfully 'verify loan' and open it. It's the only app I've found that can do this (have tried Mantano, Aldiko, txtr, Overdrive... they all report an 'error').

[tomsem]

Originally Posted by ilovejedd

Pretty sure at least both Aldiko and Mantano Reader support ADE. You might have to pony up for the paid version, though, and I'm not so sure if they can fulfill .acsm directly.

Aldiko (I have paid version but free might too) will open .acsm but it seems to require a file manager like ASTRO to do so (it won't open 'directly' from the app). Their website is what pointed me at ASTRO.

I haven't had any luck with Mantano & opening .acsm: Synchronize only shows .epub/.pdf, and ASTRO doesn't offer Mantano as a choice (just Overdrive and Aldiko). And it won't open the fulfilled ePub file either.

I'm able to open .acsm file attachments on iOS Mail (and pick an app to use), but so far not with gmail on Android. I assume the mimetype is not recognized or something like that.