Personal document syncing

jgoguen · 05-30-2015, 11:23 PM

I know that Kobo hasn't offered syncing of non-Kobo books before, but I'm wondering why not and if there's plans to offer it in the near future.

I have a Kobo Aura HD and a Kindle Paperwhite 2. The Kindle was given to me and the only reason I've kept using it had been that Amazon tends to be cheaper for the books I want (sometimes by as much as 50% before any promotions) and they sync personal MOBI files and they also sync reading position within the personal document. The Aura HD is clearly (for what I care about) the superior piece of hardware, and the font rendering (and the ability to use my own fonts) is far superior to the Paperwhite 2. Battery life is also much better, which is quite important for long commutes.

I'm starting to get more books through my library's online offerings, so price isn't (usually) such a big concern. But borrowed books are just like books bought from another retailer, they won't sync on the Kobo. So Amazon still has that killer feature. And Kobo seems to be working hard to keep all non-Kobo books as ePubs using Adobe's inferior RMSDK renderer, while Amazon allows using non-Amazon MOBI files with new AZW3 features.

I'm also open to alternative solutions for syncing KePub files and reading positions. The only requirements I have are that documents and reading positions are synced, it works with a free or low-cost Android reading app, and on the Aura HD the solution must trigger the ACCESS renderer used for KePub files. I'm also not concerned with loading alternative firmwares on the device, that's completely acceptable to me.

Ken Maltby · 05-31-2015, 09:01 AM

Koreader has recently added a "Progress Sync" feature I don't know where they may have put their cloud server, but I remember the discussion as it working between devices on the same local network, as well.

I just tried it and it gives responses like it is working, I haven't set any of it up, so I am not sure what it is doing. It is not a feature I would make much use of.

Luck;
Ken

jgoguen · 05-31-2015, 09:39 AM

Koreader looks interesting. If it syncs across all Koreader devices, I just need an Android app that uses their API. I use both my phone and tablet for reading a fair bit, so support for syncing to/from those is pretty important.

Ken Maltby · 05-31-2015, 10:01 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jgoguen

Koreader looks interesting. If it syncs across all Koreader devices, I just need an Android app that uses their API. I use both my phone and tablet for reading a fair bit, so support for syncing to/from those is pretty important.

The nightly builds.

The older stable build.

Hopefully one of the .apk files will work on your Android device(s).

Luck;
Ken

The zsync plugin might come in handy, as well

jgoguen · 05-31-2015, 04:02 PM

Looks like Koreader won't be workable for a bit. The nightly build crashes on startup going back a couple months. The stable build works, but it doesn't have any settings at all and is far too old for the sync plugin. The interface is also terrible and there's no library management at all; I could get over that if it would sync though.

05-30-2015, 11:23 PM	#1
jgoguen Generally Awesome Person Posts: 1,100 Karma: 2191133 Join Date: Jan 2013 Location: /dev/kmem Device: Kobo Clara HD, Kindle Oasis	Personal document syncing I know that Kobo hasn't offered syncing of non-Kobo books before, but I'm wondering why not and if there's plans to offer it in the near future. I have a Kobo Aura HD and a Kindle Paperwhite 2. The Kindle was given to me and the only reason I've kept using it had been that Amazon tends to be cheaper for the books I want (sometimes by as much as 50% before any promotions) and they sync personal MOBI files and they also sync reading position within the personal document. The Aura HD is clearly (for what I care about) the superior piece of hardware, and the font rendering (and the ability to use my own fonts) is far superior to the Paperwhite 2. Battery life is also much better, which is quite important for long commutes. I'm starting to get more books through my library's online offerings, so price isn't (usually) such a big concern. But borrowed books are just like books bought from another retailer, they won't sync on the Kobo. So Amazon still has that killer feature. And Kobo seems to be working hard to keep all non-Kobo books as ePubs using Adobe's inferior RMSDK renderer, while Amazon allows using non-Amazon MOBI files with new AZW3 features. I'm also open to alternative solutions for syncing KePub files and reading positions. The only requirements I have are that documents and reading positions are synced, it works with a free or low-cost Android reading app, and on the Aura HD the solution must trigger the ACCESS renderer used for KePub files. I'm also not concerned with loading alternative firmwares on the device, that's completely acceptable to me.

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05-31-2015, 09:01 AM	#2
Ken Maltby Wizard Posts: 4,466 Karma: 6900052 Join Date: Dec 2009 Location: The Heart of Texas Device: Boox Note2, AuraHD, PDA,	Koreader has recently added a "Progress Sync" feature I don't know where they may have put their cloud server, but I remember the discussion as it working between devices on the same local network, as well. I just tried it and it gives responses like it is working, I haven't set any of it up, so I am not sure what it is doing. It is not a feature I would make much use of. Luck; Ken

05-31-2015, 09:39 AM	#3
jgoguen Generally Awesome Person Posts: 1,100 Karma: 2191133 Join Date: Jan 2013 Location: /dev/kmem Device: Kobo Clara HD, Kindle Oasis	Koreader looks interesting. If it syncs across all Koreader devices, I just need an Android app that uses their API. I use both my phone and tablet for reading a fair bit, so support for syncing to/from those is pretty important.

05-31-2015, 04:02 PM	#5
jgoguen Generally Awesome Person Posts: 1,100 Karma: 2191133 Join Date: Jan 2013 Location: /dev/kmem Device: Kobo Clara HD, Kindle Oasis	Looks like Koreader won't be workable for a bit. The nightly build crashes on startup going back a couple months. The stable build works, but it doesn't have any settings at all and is far too old for the sync plugin. The interface is also terrible and there's no library management at all; I could get over that if it would sync though.

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