KOReader advantages?

[mathil]

I've been wanting to install Koreader on my H2O for quite some time now (a year at least, probably more?), but every time I try it lags so much that it's basically unusable. And by lag I mean something like clicking a menu option and waiting up to a minute for it to register. Last time was just a few days ago actually, I had changed the internal SD a while ago and I thought that maybe that had been the issue, but no. Every time I install the latest nightly and the latest version of the KSM. Is it just me or has this happened to other people?

[Ken Maltby]

Not having any such problem on my AuraHD (an older not waterproof device with the same size display). I don't remember seeing that complaint from other H2O users. I might suggest that you try the earliest Kobo firmware that runs well on your device. [I would recommend a v3.x if the device doesn't require v4.x.] I am still using 3.05 and not having any of the problems v4.x users are reporting. Since I don't use the Kobo stock readers, I don't get any benefit from Kobo's efforts to "improve" their software.

Luck;
Ken

[stats]

Originally Posted by Ken Maltby

Not having any such problem on my AuraHD (an older not waterproof device with the same size display). I don't remember seeing that complaint from other H2O users. I might suggest that you try the earliest Kobo firmware that runs well on your device. [I would recommend a v3.x if the device doesn't require v4.x.] I am still using 3.05 and not having any of the problems v4.x users are reporting. Since I don't use the Kobo stock readers, I don't get any benefit from Kobo's efforts to "improve" their software.

Luck;
Ken

I have an H2O and am not experiencing those issues. I just installed this weekend for the first time. Do you have the latest KSM 8 patch? I believe the KSM 8 thread had some discussions on high battery drain. Maybe that's related...

Cheers,
Rich


Sent from my VS995 using Tapatalk

[mathil]

Sorry for the late reply: I do have the latest KSM 8 patch, and my Kobo is also updated to the latest firmware available. Unfortunately I'm not willing to downgrade, as I use nickel and am pretty happy with it. I just wanted to have Koreader as well for the better pdf support. Maybe I'll wait a while and try again, or go through 3.x if I end up having to format the device. Thanks!

[rigogsilva]

So, after all this time, have you started using Koreader. I gave it a try in my boox nova 2 and it seems great. Considering to change my kobo devices to use it. Koreader seems to be more stable now. Thoughts?

[MGlitch]

Originally Posted by rigogsilva

So, after all this time, have you started using Koreader. I gave it a try in my boox nova 2 and it seems great. Considering to change my kobo devices to use it. Koreader seems to be more stable now. Thoughts?

I tried it back when I made this post and reverted to Kobos built in reader. KOReader just didn’t do enough better for me to justify the weaknesses at the time. Of course it’s been years so KOReader may have improved.

[Pajamaman]

I'm a big fan of Koreader, but I used it primarily on a Kindle, so I can't compare it to nickle, which IMO is better than the Amazon reader (i.e. less restrictive).

What I like about Koreader, in descending order:

0. Great support from helpful developer community. Need something done or fixed? Ask nicely and the developers will do it, if possible.

1. Ability to browse books by folder. This is the big one. Why bother with collections and metadata and having to set all that stuff up, when you can just put books in a folder structure provided by the OS?

2. Total control over screen display. Koreader gives the options of wiping out ALL publisher book settings. I like using the whole screen up to the edges. I like to choose my choice of fonts. Koreader is IME the best at doing this.

2b. PDF reading ability. It does an extremely good job of reading PDF files.

3. Reverse reading mode. I don't know if nickle needs a patch for this.

4. No patches. Tons of patches can be applied to nickle to make it do you want. That's great. But Koreader includes in its menus.

5. Huge functionality. There is tons of stuff in Koreader that I don't even know about, and I don't need to know about to operate it. But it's there if I want it.

Nickle is great. You can make it do stuff you want. Koreader is better IMO.

[rigogsilva]

Originally Posted by Pajamaman

I'm a big fan of Koreader, but I used it primarily on a Kindle, so I can't compare it to nickle, which IMO is better than the Amazon reader (i.e. less restrictive).

What I like about Koreader, in descending order:

0. Great support from helpful developer community. Need something done or fixed? Ask nicely and the developers will do it, if possible.

1. Ability to browse books by folder. This is the big one. Why bother with collections and metadata and having to set all that stuff up, when you can just put books in a folder structure provided by the OS?

2. Total control over screen display. Koreader gives the options of wiping out ALL publisher book settings. I like using the whole screen up to the edges. I like to choose my choice of fonts. Koreader is IME the best at doing this.

2b. PDF reading ability. It does an extremely good job of reading PDF files.

3. Reverse reading mode. I don't know if nickle needs a patch for this.

4. No patches. Tons of patches can be applied to nickle to make it do you want. That's great. But Koreader includes in its menus.

5. Huge functionality. There is tons of stuff in Koreader that I don't even know about, and I don't need to know about to operate it. But it's there if I want it.

Nickle is great. You can make it do stuff you want. Koreader is better IMO.

I am not familiar with Nickle. Is that another e-reader software like Koreader?

MGlitch, yeah I just started using it and it seems to work great in my boox nova 2. I am thinking about updating my kobo devices to use it, but still researching. I do like they provide a sync option so all devices are synced.

The other feature that definitely pulled me in is the Reading Statistics. Definitely better than any other device IMO. And the fact that I can submit an MR to get new graphs for reading statistics is freaking awesome (although, I don't have any experience with Lua development).

Pajamaman, thanks for letting me know all the good things you like about koreader.

[ps67]

Originally Posted by rigogsilva

I am not familiar with Nickle. Is that another e-reader software like Koreader?
...

Nickel is simply the standard software of Kobo when You normally use it.

[the.Mtn.Man]

Originally Posted by latepaul

I've tried it a couple of times but never found it compelling enough to keep. I suspect its killer features are things I don't care about...

That's been my impression. I love these kinds of projects and how "hackable" Kobo devices are, but KOReader didn't meaningfully improve my experience, so I stick with the default reading software.

Edit: Oh, wow, just realized how old this thread is...

[MGlitch]

Originally Posted by the.Mtn.Man

Edit: Oh, wow, just realized how old this thread is...

Yeah normally I’d leave necro threads be, but since I was the OP and KOReader is an evolving project I figured I should give an answer. Even though I had done so a few posts after the first.

I do wonder how much it’s changed. Maybe if I get really bored I’ll install it on a backup device to test it.

[Jellby]

Originally Posted by rigogsilva

So, after all this time, have you started using Koreader. I gave it a try in my boox nova 2 and it seems great. Considering to change my kobo devices to use it. Koreader seems to be more stable now. Thoughts?

Exactly my experience. I tried it years ago and thought it was poor (for my use). I tried it again a couple of weeks ago and I'm falling in love with it. I think the ePub rendering/customization has improved a lot. Things I like so far:

* Footer/progress bar customization. I see page numbers (real pages/screenfuls, not synthetic page numbers), pages left in the chapter, current time...

* Much more responsive and easy to control highlighting. With nickel it's always hit and miss and I often have to try several times before I manage to highlight what I want.

* With the proper tweaks (menu-selectable), footnotes/endnotes can be shown as real footnotes or popups, no kepub or epub3 formatting, just reasonable class names. (It works in my books, at least.)

* Real small-caps! If the chosen fonts has small-caps, Koreader can display them with "font-variant: small-caps".

[NiLuJe]

What @Jellby said ;p.

There have been *massive* improvements throughout the codebase over the past 5 years, both in stuff fairly obvious to users, and to lower-level stuff.

But, yeah, being able to nerf "broken" stylesheets live, on-device, without having to bother editing the ePub on a computer is pretty much the killer feature for me (i.e., user style tweaks).

[mirage]

I'm using KOReader close to 100% of the time. There are a lot of settings to get familiar with, which is fine by me. The more I use KOReader, the more its layers of desirable features reveal themselves. I find it to be terrific. Thanks to all who've put in the great work on it.

[Mansoul]

I've held off installing koreader because I wondered what I'd get out of it but I've had some surprising results from Calibre that I didn't see coming so I'm grateful for the comments above, let's me know there's more to expect than just the advertised feature list.

Necro threads get a bad rap.