[Android] Wish List

[theducks]

Originally Posted by Glorfindel

port forwarding. but I am still trying to figure out how to do that
EDIT- Never mind, this is the wrong thread

Google: port forward <your router model_number>
You might get lucky

[Purple Lady]

Originally Posted by binarygoddess

I'm confused as to how you get to calibre's content server when you are away from home, how does your phone see your local home network when you are outside of that network? Do you have a VPN? Is there some other feature of calibre that I'm missing? Please do enlighten me! I'd love it if this feature exists and I'm just not seeing it!

I do not have a VPN at this time so I keep my calibre library in dropbox, and Calibre Cloud Pro connects to my dropbox and loads in my calbre library so I can browse and search it. It has some glitches in the way series data is displayed, but otherwise is a pretty elegant solution. Sadly for me the series data is important to me, so it really mars the experience for me.

I >could< keep all my files on my nexus 7, but I see no reason to have 4 gigs of space used up when I can just pop into an app and grab just the books I want to read. I don't use the "read" column in calibre or ... anywhere. But the main reasons to use a cloud connect is because I read my books on 3 different devices depending on the situation. I read on my phone in an absolute reading emergency in the unlikely event I did not bring my kindle or my nexus, mostly I just carry my nexus and use it to read when I am out, but I ultimately prefer the reading experience and battery life on the Kindle. With my library on dropbox I can access said library through calibre2opds on the kindle (not perfect but it works), and with Calibre Cloud Pro on either my phone or nexus, so if I have run out of books to read on the device, and I'm not at home (and this does happen to me, because I read a lot, and I read fast) I can access my full library no matter where I am or what I'm reading on.

I mean I could go into much further detail on why, when and where I prefer to use each of the devices, but in the end all that matters is that I DO use all three and I like that if I have my book in the amazon cloud I can just sync reading progress between all three of them. It's the ONLY thing keeping me on a Kindle right now. If there was a Google Play Books eReader or a Moon+ eReader that did not suck I'd jump on it. (There is a thing called Onyx Boox Lynx or somesuch, but it's really an eInk "tablet" and all the reports I've read indicate it is not really ready yet)

Right now I much prefer Calibre Companion as a way to access my library when I'm at home, but when it comes right down to it I mostly need to access my library when I'm not at home, so the addition of a Content Server accessed through the cloud, for ME, would be the absolute coolest addition that could be made.

If you look at Calibre preferences where you set up the content server, it says to use port forwarding on your router. My tech support set it up for me so I can't tell you how.

[binarygoddess]

Originally Posted by Purple Lady

If you look at Calibre preferences where you set up the content server, it says to use port forwarding on your router. My tech support set it up for me so I can't tell you how.

Aha yes, I see that now, thanks I used to do that with Plex to watch videos I had downloaded, didn't use it enough to keep it going when I switched routers. It's not practical for me to use for calibre though, I'd have to leave my computer on all the time. I've got windows 8.1 pro and have yet to get the stupid thing to wake on lan, even though this same computer used to do it when it had windows 7 installed. I've tried everything I can find in copious searches but none of the "solutions" have worked for me. Long story short, it's a lot of work. The dropbox solution just... works, no fuss, and the apps I have DO work, just with some annoyances. Calibre companion has the browsing and searching abilities I love but I can't use it outside my network (without the aforementioned LOT OF WORK) so.. yeah, still would love to see that cloud connection

[chaley]

I will try to respond to all the various posts etc using this one as a trigger.

Originally Posted by binarygoddess

Hopefully this is the right place for this!

Yes, it is.

First off, amazing app... LOVE IT!

Thank you.

There are a couple things that would pretty much make it the absolute MOST amazing calibre companion ever.

I believe I saw mentioned you were considering cloud connect? Please please please PLEASE do add this! I keep my library on dropbox, and I've been using Calibre Cloud Pro to access it on the go, but it doesn't allow me to search by series, and the book information does not display series numbers that have decimal points, so a book 0.5 or 0.75 (prequels to the series, for example) are displayed with no series number at all, and books 2 and 2.5 are both displayed as Book 2. I read a LOT of books in series, so it gets confusing, and annoying, and reporting this to the dev has gotten no response in months.

This is on the wishlist as "A content-server like interface to access a calibre library in the cloud."

I hope to do it, but as with anything there are issues. Most are technical such as the support of a zillion different cloud storage services. Some are time constraints, and some are related to pricing and finance.

The last issue is the one that presents the most difficulty other than finding the time to build it. Adding the equivalent of another app to CC raises the question about how we get compensated. Do we raise the price of CC? That has its own set of problems. Do we add in-app purchasing? That is a large pain and would mean we must do it twice, once for Amazon and once for GP. Do we include in the base package and hope that increased sales cover the increased costs and effort? Do we use an "unlocker app" such as used by dropsync and others? Those are almost trivial to pirate.

My apologies for dumping our internal reflections on you, but they are very real to us. I will probably build the feature, putting off how to resolve the questions until I can't wait any longer.

NB: If I build the feature, it won't be available before (at least) the end of the year.

Secondly, it would be super nice if you could do, at least, an "open with" type operation when your app option isn't available. A couple things CCpro does right is that it allows you to click-upload books to google play when they are epubs, and more importantly, click-email mobi books to my kindle email address, which lets me get them into the "amazon clouds" and I can keep my reading progress synced between my Nexus 7, my Moto G phone and my Kindle Paperwhite. (CCPro supposedly will add books to your kindle app without the email, but it's never worked for me so.. meh)

Apparently you found the "Upload to google books" function, but it isn't clear that you found the "Send book to app" function. This second permits you to do all sorts of things with a book such as email it or add it to dropbox. On my phone I get 7 choices. You should be able to use this function to email a book to your kindle account.

====

There was a lot of discussion about using the content server. This is what I do and it works perfectly. However, your final point is the same as mine: I don't want to leave a computer on my home network powered on and running 24/7. Not only would I have the intrinsic security problems that come from opening my net to the world, but I need a computer that costs something to buy (probably at least $250) and maintain, and I would also need to pay for the power. At Paris prices power alone would cost approximately €12/month (US$16/month) (assumes 150 watts/hour at €0.10/KWH. You can do both better and worse than this).

Instead of a machine on my home net I use a cloud-based virtual server. Mine is provided by Linode at $10/month. It is on 24/7, the hardware is supplied and managed by someone else, the network is very fast, and it is perfectly capable of running a calibre content server. I use Dropbox as the transport to copy my library from my home machine to my machine in the sky, so the content server sees the changes almost as soon as I make them. The content server has the large advantage of being HTTP based, so network access isn't blocked when other cloud services might be (hotels, airports, etc). My suspicion is that my virtual content server is higher performance than any dropbox-like solution would be because the hard work is done on the server, not on the device.

[mbovenka]

Originally Posted by binarygoddess

Now if only the Moon+ reader would put out their own e-ink reader... that would be perfection.

Look at the Onyx Boox T68. Perfectly capable of running CC & Moon+ (that's actually a very popular combo with T68 owners). More info in the Onyx forum here at MR.

I'm waiting for their Boox i86 myself (8" 1600x1200)

[binarygoddess]

Originally Posted by chaley

I will try to respond to all the various posts etc using this one as a trigger.

I appreciate you taking time to respond!

The last issue is the one that presents the most difficulty other than finding the time to build it. Adding the equivalent of another app to CC raises the question about how we get compensated. Do we raise the price of CC? That has its own set of problems. Do we add in-app purchasing? That is a large pain and would mean we must do it twice, once for Amazon and once for GP. Do we include in the base package and hope that increased sales cover the increased costs and effort? Do we use an "unlocker app" such as used by dropsync and others? Those are almost trivial to pirate.

My apologies for dumping our internal reflections on you, but they are very real to us. I will probably build the feature, putting off how to resolve the questions until I can't wait any longer.

NB: If I build the feature, it won't be available before (at least) the end of the year.

I completely understand the concerns you have regarding pricing, it's a real problem for a lot of app devs.

I know that I personally would be willing to pay more to have that bit added in, assuming I still needed it by the time it was implemented. (more about that at the end of this post) Is it possible to introduce the function as a separate module with its own entry in the play and amazon stores? Or even to just write up a separate app, call it Calibre Companion: CE (cloud edition) , or somesuch thing. Just some thoughts off the top of my head! However you do it, I know many folks will find it useful, and you obviously know how to write a quality app and how to talk to customers so I'm sure it will be a huge success!

Apparently you found the "Upload to google books" function, but it isn't clear that you found the "Send book to app" function. This second permits you to do all sorts of things with a book such as email it or add it to dropbox. On my phone I get 7 choices. You should be able to use this function to email a book to your kindle account.

OK, I don't know how I missed it, but I do see that "send book to app" function now, and I tried it and there was a problem.. I want to try some things before I bug you with it, and I'll check to see if it's already been reported and then post it in an appropriate area so as not to clutter up this wishlist thread with bug reports

Instead of a machine on my home net I use a cloud-based virtual server. Mine is provided by Linode at $10/month. It is on 24/7, the hardware is supplied and managed by someone else, the network is very fast, and it is perfectly capable of running a calibre content server. I use Dropbox as the transport to copy my library from my home machine to my machine in the sky, so the content server sees the changes almost as soon as I make them. The content server has the large advantage of being HTTP based, so network access isn't blocked when other cloud services might be (hotels, airports, etc). My suspicion is that my virtual content server is higher performance than any dropbox-like solution would be because the hard work is done on the server, not on the device.

THIS is a GREAT IDEA! I'm already paying 10/month for web hosting I'm hardly using, I'll just switch over to Linode (already signed up and deployed a ubuntu distro.. FUN!) and shuffle my web hosting over there. NICE! So... I probably won't need the cloud connection after all, but if I were you I'd still do it, you would give the Calibre Cloud guys a run for their money

Thanks again for the thoughtful response, I wish more devs were like you, it really makes me feel like my money is well spent!

[binarygoddess]

Originally Posted by mbovenka

Look at the Onyx Boox T68. Perfectly capable of running CC & Moon+ (that's actually a very popular combo with T68 owners). More info in the Onyx forum here at MR.

I'm waiting for their Boox i86 myself (8" 1600x1200)

I have seen that device, but reviews for it have been spotty. Have you had a chance to play with one? I'd be interested to know how it performs if you were to ignore the fact that it's supposed to be an eInk "tablet" and just set it up to focus on reading.

Also it's just a bit more expensive than many of the eReaders out there, so I'd have to be sure it was pretty awesome before I'd put that much money into it...

[chaley]

Originally Posted by binarygoddess

I appreciate you taking time to respond!

No problem.

OK, I don't know how I missed it, but I do see that "send book to app" function now, and I tried it and there was a problem.. I want to try some things before I bug you with it, and I'll check to see if it's already been reported and then post it in an appropriate area so as not to clutter up this wishlist thread with bug reports

The function was broken in V3.6.6. It is fixed (in theory) in V3.4.1.

THIS is a GREAT IDEA! I'm already paying 10/month for web hosting I'm hardly using, I'll just switch over to Linode (already signed up and deployed a ubuntu distro.. FUN!) and shuffle my web hosting over there. NICE! So... I probably won't need the cloud connection after all, but if I were you I'd still do it, you would give the Calibre Cloud guys a run for their money

If/when you install the calibre content server, be sure to install the V2 beta instead of the V1 release. It has several advantages. 1) It doesn't require you to install a fake X server (xvfb). 2) My experience is that it is faster. and 3) my experience is that it requires less memory.

I can give you my config files and startup scripts if they would be useful. I run calibre behind apache (SSL) in reverse-proxy mode so that apache does authentication. I also use monit to monitor the calibre db and restart the content server when dropbox changes the content.

Thanks again for the thoughtful response, I wish more devs were like you, it really makes me feel like my money is well spent!

I am retired and the CC community is small enough where I am not overwhelmed. I suspect things would be different if this wasn't somewhat of a hobby permitted by my retirement. I know that my son and his wife must be much more ruthless about how they spend their time because whether they can pay rent and for food depends on what they work on. In any event, I am glad that I was able to give you some new directions to try out.

[binarygoddess]

Originally Posted by chaley

No problem.
The function was broken in V3.6.6. It is fixed (in theory) in V3.4.1.

I haven't looked at it today but when I do I'll make sure I have the latest version.

If/when you install the calibre content server, be sure to install the V2 beta instead of the V1 release. It has several advantages. 1) It doesn't require you to install a fake X server (xvfb). 2) My experience is that it is faster. and 3) my experience is that it requires less memory.

Great tip! Thanks

I can give you my config files and startup scripts if they would be useful. I run calibre behind apache (SSL) in reverse-proxy mode so that apache does authentication. I also use monit to monitor the calibre db and restart the content server when dropbox changes the content.

Also more great information... I'd love a copy of your startups and configs, that would be incredibly useful.

I am retired and the CC community is small enough where I am not overwhelmed. I suspect things would be different if this wasn't somewhat of a hobby permitted by my retirement. I know that my son and his wife must be much more ruthless about how they spend their time because whether they can pay rent and for food depends on what they work on. In any event, I am glad that I was able to give you some new directions to try out.

Yeah, I get that. I really don't expect one-on-one personal interaction with every dev that's made an app that I use, but the good ones always make sure they have some way of keeping customers at least marginally in the loop, and the worst ones have nothing more than (MAYBE) an email address that you write to and never hear a word.

[eschwartz]

@chaley, maybe you should write up a tutorial on your setup. I bet a lot of people would find it interesting.

[chaley]

@binarygoddess & @eschwartz: this discussion doesn't belong here. In fact, it really belongs in the calibre forums. If one or the other of you were to make a thread discussing something like "How to set up a content server on a VPS" somewhere in calibre, then I will respond with what I do and supply my scripts.

[binarygoddess]

Originally Posted by chaley

@binarygoddess & @eschwartz: this discussion doesn't belong here. In fact, it really belongs in the calibre forums. If one or the other of you were to make a thread discussing something like "How to set up a content server on a VPS" somewhere in calibre, then I will respond with what I do and supply my scripts.

True enough! I've started this thread

https://www.mobileread.com/forums/sho...91#post2891891

[drmadhupk]

is it possible to implement display of "file size" in book details view? This would be handy when sharing or sending books to other apps.

[chaley]

Originally Posted by drmadhupk

is it possible to implement display of "file size" in book details view? This would be handy when sharing or sending books to other apps.

I have added it to the wish list.

[drmadhupk]

Originally Posted by chaley

I have added it to the wish list.

Thanks