How far can you go in customizing Kobo e-reader?

PierreFgs · 02-11-2020, 04:02 AM

Hello everyone,

I'm new in this forum. In advance, thanks a lot for your help that will help me a lot on my project.

I want to use a Kobo e-reader for a personal project: I want to convert the reader into a very "dumb" smartphone (calendar, weather, notes, time, books of course...)

1st question: based on your experience, do you think it's do-able ? If yes, what e-reader would you recommend ?

2nd question: what language do you recommend ? I'm already knowledgeable in Python and it would be great if I could use it.

3rd question: what would be the best way to start with, apart from digging into this forum ? Any tutorial you are aware of ? Similar project on github?
So far, I hardly found anything.

Thanks a lot for your help!
Pierre (I'm French

)

NamKK · 02-12-2020, 09:52 AM

I don't know any of these, but I would love to if I can read my magazines on Kobo. It is terrible to read on smartphones after paying so much for those expensive paywalls.

geek1011 · 02-13-2020, 10:26 PM

1. Yes, and I recommend an Clara or an older used Glo HD or Aura 2. Specifically, avoid the ones with waterproofing or without access to the internal memory.

2. C++ with Qt (use NiLuJe's toolchains; I've also dockerized them if you don't have an up-to-date libc), Python with Qt, HTML+JS in a browser, or Rust (with eink stuff based on Plato). Go also works (it's what I usually use), but there aren't any pre-made libraries that I know of.

3. Just play around with stuff over SSH to begin (especially if you aren't familiar with Linux yet). Afterwards, look at Plato (don't worry about the funny symbols near variables, those are for the borrow checker). If you're planning on using Qt, you won't have to bother with much of this.

02-11-2020, 04:02 AM	#1
PierreFgs Junior Member Posts: 1 Karma: 10 Join Date: Feb 2020 Device: Kobo Clara	How far can you go in customizing Kobo e-reader? Hello everyone, I'm new in this forum. In advance, thanks a lot for your help that will help me a lot on my project. I want to use a Kobo e-reader for a personal project: I want to convert the reader into a very "dumb" smartphone (calendar, weather, notes, time, books of course...) 1st question: based on your experience, do you think it's do-able ? If yes, what e-reader would you recommend ? 2nd question: what language do you recommend ? I'm already knowledgeable in Python and it would be great if I could use it. 3rd question: what would be the best way to start with, apart from digging into this forum ? Any tutorial you are aware of ? Similar project on github? So far, I hardly found anything. Thanks a lot for your help! Pierre (I'm French )

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02-12-2020, 09:52 AM	#2
NamKK Member Posts: 17 Karma: 2112458 Join Date: Nov 2019 Device: Kobo Forma, Kindle Oasis 2019	I don't know any of these, but I would love to if I can read my magazines on Kobo. It is terrible to read on smartphones after paying so much for those expensive paywalls.

02-13-2020, 10:26 PM	#3
geek1011 Wizard Posts: 2,804 Karma: 7025947 Join Date: May 2016 Location: Ontario, Canada Device: Kobo Mini, Aura Edition 2 v1, Clara HD	1. Yes, and I recommend an Clara or an older used Glo HD or Aura 2. Specifically, avoid the ones with waterproofing or without access to the internal memory. 2. C++ with Qt (use NiLuJe's toolchains; I've also dockerized them if you don't have an up-to-date libc), Python with Qt, HTML+JS in a browser, or Rust (with eink stuff based on Plato). Go also works (it's what I usually use), but there aren't any pre-made libraries that I know of. 3. Just play around with stuff over SSH to begin (especially if you aren't familiar with Linux yet). Afterwards, look at Plato (don't worry about the funny symbols near variables, those are for the borrow checker). If you're planning on using Qt, you won't have to bother with much of this.

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