Alternative Readers - Pros and Cons

latepaul · 06-11-2014, 06:59 PM

Mostly out of curiosity last night I followed the instructions in the "Adding alternative readers..." thread and had a play with Koreader and Coolreader.

That thread and the related ones in the developer's forum are about how-to install and avoiding resolving various pitfalls and problems. However what I wondered was - what are the main reasons people are installing these for? What are the "killer" features?

For me they seem OK but there's nothing that jumped out as being so much better than the built in reader software. I did try "night mode" but think I prefer it the normal mode more.

Is it about support for different formats? More control over layout etc?

Just curious.

DNSB · 06-11-2014, 07:16 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by latepaul

Mostly out of curiosity last night I followed the instructions in the "Adding alternative readers..." thread and had a play with Koreader and Coolreader.

That thread and the related ones in the developer's forum are about how-to install and avoiding resolving various pitfalls and problems. However what I wondered was - what are the main reasons people are installing these for? What are the "killer" features?

For me they seem OK but there's nothing that jumped out as being so much better than the built in reader software. I did try "night mode" but think I prefer it the normal mode more.

Is it about support for different formats? More control over layout etc?

Just curious.

Two reasons that seem to pop up fairly often is the support for more formats such as the old fb2 format and the better handling of .pdf files. At this point, there is no support for .lit ebooks which I do have a fair collection of though most have been converted to epub with convertlit and then editing with sigil to clean up the results.

The ebooks I keep on my Kobo are either in .epub or .cbr/cbz format but I keep playing with Koreader (using advboot). Night mode is available with the stock reader using a patch as is the two finger gestures for the older (prior to the Aura and it's capacitive touch screen) models.

I do find the patches based on Metazoa's work useful and so far, I haven't had issues with them.

Regards,
David

JimMcLaren · 06-11-2014, 10:33 PM

Like David said, it's PDFs. For me anyway. It makes reading PDFs on a small screen pretty comfortable. Bookshelf management is secondary for me. If the stock reader handled PDFs well I'd spend the time learning how to get the bookshelves working.

The one con I have is the inability to search within a book using koreader.

Jellby · 06-12-2014, 08:03 AM

I've just gotten an Aura, and haven't yet installed any alternative reader, but one of the reasons I'm considering koreader is reading epubs in landscape orientation.

ipse · 06-12-2014, 11:46 AM

For me using CoolReader on phone/tablet AND Aura is a seamless experience.
Now KOReader has it's own Android version so again, you maintain the same user "look and feel" across platforms.
Aaaaand...if you like tinkering, there is a ton of options on each of these 2 readers. Nickel is pretty minimalist.

Mr_Ploppy · 06-13-2014, 11:43 AM

I have to Kobo mini.

Nickles does not allow you to rotate the screen, only on PDF. Leaves you with a lot of empty screen even with margins set to small. Mini does not have a lot of screen to begin with so need to fill it up.

KoReader has rotation and has a night mode (mini has no light)

Coolreader has rotation and search which KoReader does not have, no night mode though.

WS64 · 06-13-2014, 02:13 PM

For me (on Kobo Mini) there are two killer features.
1.) Free configurable tapzones. I have configured Koreader to tap anywhere to page forward. To page back I still can swipe. I absolutely don't understand why this is not the default setting or at least a choice in the Kobo settings! (This goes to all readers, as far as I know none offers a feature even close to this one)
2.) Folders. While I can understand why folks prefer to have all their tags and series or whatever in a reader database I really cannot stand how long Kobo takes after you load a bulk of books on the device. With koreader I put the books in a hidden folder (that prevents Nickel from seeing them), and after an update I can start reading immediately. No more bothering with corrupt databases!
I just talked about Koreader, Coolreader can do both of the above, I just don't use it since I can't mark text passages in Coolreader. This is another killer feature for me (which Nickel can do too) and therefore a nogo for Coolreader.

06-11-2014, 06:59 PM	#1
latepaul Wizard Posts: 1,264 Karma: 10203040 Join Date: Dec 2011 Device: a variety (mostly kindles and kobos)	Alternative Readers - Pros and Cons Mostly out of curiosity last night I followed the instructions in the "Adding alternative readers..." thread and had a play with Koreader and Coolreader. That thread and the related ones in the developer's forum are about how-to install and avoiding resolving various pitfalls and problems. However what I wondered was - what are the main reasons people are installing these for? What are the "killer" features? For me they seem OK but there's nothing that jumped out as being so much better than the built in reader software. I did try "night mode" but think I prefer it the normal mode more. Is it about support for different formats? More control over layout etc? Just curious.

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06-11-2014, 10:33 PM	#3
JimMcLaren Addict Posts: 260 Karma: 1014230 Join Date: Jan 2010 Device: Onyx Boox T68, Kobo Aura HD, Pocketbook 302, Pocketbook 912, Nook HD+	Like David said, it's PDFs. For me anyway. It makes reading PDFs on a small screen pretty comfortable. Bookshelf management is secondary for me. If the stock reader handled PDFs well I'd spend the time learning how to get the bookshelves working. The one con I have is the inability to search within a book using koreader.

06-12-2014, 08:03 AM	#4
Jellby frumious Bandersnatch Posts: 7,516 Karma: 18512745 Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: Spaniard in Sweden Device: Cybook Orizon, Kobo Aura	I've just gotten an Aura, and haven't yet installed any alternative reader, but one of the reasons I'm considering koreader is reading epubs in landscape orientation.

06-12-2014, 11:46 AM	#5
ipse Connoisseur Posts: 51 Karma: 78700 Join Date: May 2014 Device: Kobo Aura, Arc 10HD	For me using CoolReader on phone/tablet AND Aura is a seamless experience. Now KOReader has it's own Android version so again, you maintain the same user "look and feel" across platforms. Aaaaand...if you like tinkering, there is a ton of options on each of these 2 readers. Nickel is pretty minimalist.

06-13-2014, 11:43 AM	#6
Mr_Ploppy Junior Member Posts: 9 Karma: 183 Join Date: Mar 2014 Device: kobo Mini	I have to Kobo mini. Nickles does not allow you to rotate the screen, only on PDF. Leaves you with a lot of empty screen even with margins set to small. Mini does not have a lot of screen to begin with so need to fill it up. KoReader has rotation and has a night mode (mini has no light) Coolreader has rotation and search which KoReader does not have, no night mode though.

06-13-2014, 02:13 PM	#7
WS64 ♫ Posts: 660 Karma: 506380 Join Date: Aug 2010 Location: Germany Device: Kobo Aura / PB Lux 2 / Bookeen Frontlight / Kobo Mini / Nook Color	For me (on Kobo Mini) there are two killer features. 1.) Free configurable tapzones. I have configured Koreader to tap anywhere to page forward. To page back I still can swipe. I absolutely don't understand why this is not the default setting or at least a choice in the Kobo settings! (This goes to all readers, as far as I know none offers a feature even close to this one) 2.) Folders. While I can understand why folks prefer to have all their tags and series or whatever in a reader database I really cannot stand how long Kobo takes after you load a bulk of books on the device. With koreader I put the books in a hidden folder (that prevents Nickel from seeing them), and after an update I can start reading immediately. No more bothering with corrupt databases! I just talked about Koreader, Coolreader can do both of the above, I just don't use it since I can't mark text passages in Coolreader. This is another killer feature for me (which Nickel can do too) and therefore a nogo for Coolreader.

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