Is it safe to update to Firmware 2.0 on the Note?

[wherahiko]

Hello,

Is it now ok now to update to 2.0 Firmware? There was a very negative report here: https://blog.the-ebook-reader.com/20...note-and-max2/. Apparently some things including the Kindle app and Google Play were broken by the update. But there hasn't been much mention of it in these forums.

Are people experiencing a relatively smooth update? Or is it still better to wait?

[Question Mark]

Originally Posted by wherahiko

Hello,

Is it now ok now to update to 2.0 Firmware? There was a very negative report here: https://blog.the-ebook-reader.com/20...note-and-max2/. Apparently some things including the Kindle app and Google Play were broken by the update. But there hasn't been much mention of it in these forums.

Are people experiencing a relatively smooth update? Or is it still better to wait?

Personally, I'm very happy with the 2.0 firmware update on my Note. And the Google Play Store still works for me since the update.

Can't speak to the Kindle app as I have never used it. But my other apps seem to work as before.

I really like being able to copy parts of notes and manipulate them and move them about in the native note taking app although it still could do with some work.

There are still plenty of improvements which could be made with regard to the software. For example, I'd love to see them add screenshot functionality rather than having to use a third party app. But, for my needs, the new update is an improvement to how it was before.

[plusz]

Originally Posted by Question Mark

There are still plenty of improvements which could be made with regard to the software. For example, I'd love to see them add screenshot functionality rather than having to use a third party app. But, for my needs, the new update is an improvement to how it was before.

As someone wrote in another thread, the native shortcut to take a screenshot is to hold both < and > for ~3 seconds, you will hear the screenshot chime, the png would be in /Screenshots.

The upgrade does not make much difference for me. I'm not happy that I cannot use the app Optimization on some of my apps because they have dark background. I would like to reduce the DPI virtually to make the UI things bigger (as it was in previous firmware) but the moment I turn on Optimization the text become black. Without Optimization the text and UI elements are really small in 3rd party apps.

People wrote about speed improvements in NeoReader, I cannot see any difference. I don't use the Note app. The new Launcher brings a lot changes but I still feel more comfortable using ReLaunchX instead of it.

Haven't used Play Store after upgrade. The apps installed from store prior to the upgrade are still there and work.

[Question Mark]

Originally Posted by plusz

As someone wrote in another thread, the native shortcut to take a screenshot is to hold both < and > for ~3 seconds, you will hear the screenshot chime, the png would be in /Screenshots.

Unfortunately, the Note does not have physical < and > buttons so one cannot use such a method to take a screenshot on it. Currently, one has to use a third party app to do so.

However, it should be fairly easy for Onyx to add screenshot functionality to the Note by adding that option to a long press of either the back or the power button. Hopefully, they will eventually get around to doing so.

[KindleMeAndrey]

I have to agree with the negative reviews of this update. An app that I use keeps flashing repeatedly (3-4 times) anytime I move caret in text, and neither regal nor A2 mode help. Also, the bar on the left doesn't look good with "Set-tings" split across two lines and no ability to add your own custom app to it (in 1.9 you could add one).

I think the Notes app got a major revision, but I don't use it, so can't comment there.

I would recommend waiting until 2.1 comes out. Perhaps it'll be less buggy then.

Thankfully, I was able to go back to 1.9.1. Phew. Although it did blow away all my books from the library (not a big deal for me, since I prefer my good ole kindle keyboard for reading anyway).

I commend the effort, though. It's great that they're attempting to improve the system. It'd be nice if there was some back-and-forth with the user community.

[orcinus]

Don't. It's a mess.

[KindleMeAndrey]

Oops, also, my Neo Reader doesn't work after downgrade from 2.0 to 1.9.1. Bummer.
Tried updating it via automatic updates, no luck. Just blank screen for a while and crash when I try to switch up on the tab.

[franzli]

I had no issues with the upgrade. Maybe is because these days I mainly just read PDF files, most typically with neo reader, so not aging that much of the device. Didn't have any issues with losing play store either, though.

Obviously, I lost root and as I currently don't need it, I couldn't be bothered yet to try and reroot, so there may or may not be issues with that. Otherwise a very unspectacular update from my perspective (I'm using RelaunchX as launcher, so not fused one way or the other about the default launcher that's supposedly changed).

[jessie102]

Can someone extract the Notes app from version 2.0 so those of us with version 1.9 can sideload the apk?

[earthabbey]

I have a Boox Note I bought in August. I am replying to this thread to clear up some confusion.

Google Play Store
If you already had your Note and you already downloaded apps from the Play Store they will still be there after you upgrade to v2. However... if you factory reset the device your app downloads will of course be deleted as it’s a reset. However here is where people are confused. You no longer have the Play store application on the Note after a reset (you may not have the Play Store app after the software upgrade either or if you do it may not work).

Boox Notes are no longer registered devices with Google so once I factory reset whatever the registration info was, was removed and now that these devices are not approved by Google it will not automatically reregister when booting up fresh after a reset. I wrote a big long reply about this and full disclosure I deleted it because it is irrelevant. I didn't want to keep it here because I felt like that would confuse people. At the time I wrote it I didn't realize it was easy to get Google Play back on the tablet. You can do that by:
1) Go to Settings -> Application -> GSF Register
2) Log into your google account and after logged in there should be a button "Register"
3) After this you should have Google Play Store in your app list.

V2 has an unofficial App Store which is a list of apks hosted online not at the official Play Store. I found several common apps like Dropbox and Pocket in there. Downloading a major app like Pocket from a third party source (like Onyx's unofficial AppStore app) is not a great idea because you don't know if something malicious has been added to the package by whoever uploaded it to the third party app store. However you do not have to use the third party app store because you can register your tablet with Google using the steps above and then have access to the official Google Play store.

----
Notes App
As for updates in the Notes app there is one change which is great and one change which is less great. The new handwriting search feature is really good. I write fairly messily and it finds most of what I search for. The ones it doesn’t find are pretty bad scribbles. I was impressed that it found words which I had drawn over.

One feature has been removed, it is the feature where you could write symbols and words large in the middle of the page and then have what you wrote smoothed out and made smaller and automatically lined up onto the lined paper. I believe it was called "vector writing". That feature was in its infancy, there were some UX issues with it, so I understand why it may have been removed - maybe they judged their time was better spent improving other features. But FYI if you use that feature that it is gone now.

Also if you still had old software where you could only do a stroke eraser in the Notes App I just want to mention that a software update in summer added “regular” eraser which lets you erase parts of a stroke. If that is important to you than v2 of course contains that also.

——
Rolling Back to Old Versions
Last but not least be aware that factory reset does not reset the software. That is what got me into the mess with losing my apps. I wanted to factory reset to the original software because I was curious about the differences, I wanted to test stuff out and then upgrade again but that didn’t work out haha

[lepau]

Originally Posted by earthabbey

Downloading from the third party sources is not secure. Generally that won’t matter much for most people, but if you plan to have any confidential info, for example logged into a work account in one of the apps or logged into the Boox Note’s officially supported Dropbox sync, I don’t recommend you use any apps that are not from the official Google Play Store. Android file system is not as secure as iOS and so it is possible for malicious apps to gain access to other parts of the tablet. I mean, it’s unlikely that would happen, but I just want to mention that for anyone who plans to access their work data which could be confidential via the Boox Note tablet.

on the contrary! With by far most of the apps downloaded from Google play you can be sure that they contain trackers that will compromise confindentiality. Apart from tracking by google itself.
An appstore like f-droid focuses on more safe apps. Sideloading via yalp let's you at leat check for trackers.

[earthabbey]

Yeah you’re right, for people who know how to do those things, but also the info I gave was meaning the downloading of the big company apps I listed. Google Play definitely is lacking in its own security I should have been more specific. You can’t be sure that an app from a google Play is secure either, totally agree, though for the big companies if it is not secure it is not because of a malicious act, it’s because of a mistake their dev team made.
----

I wrote a big long post about privacy and third party app downloads and full disclosure I deleted it because it is irrelevant. I didn't want to keep it here because I felt like that would confuse people. At the time I wrote it I didn't realize it was easy to get Google Play back on the tablet and so I thought users had no choice but to use the third part app store. You can register the tablet on Google by following these steps:
1) Go to Settings -> Application -> GSF Register
2) Log into your google account and after logged in there should be a button "Register"
3) After this you should have Google Play Store in your app list.

[plusz]

Originally Posted by KindleMeAndrey

I have to agree with the negative reviews of this update. An app that I use keeps flashing repeatedly (3-4 times) anytime I move caret in text, and neither regal nor A2 mode help. Also, the bar on the left doesn't look good with "Set-tings" split across two lines and no ability to add your own custom app to it (in 1.9 you could add one).

I think the Notes app got a major revision, but I don't use it, so can't comment there.

I would recommend waiting until 2.1 comes out. Perhaps it'll be less buggy then.

Thankfully, I was able to go back to 1.9.1. Phew. Although it did blow away all my books from the library (not a big deal for me, since I prefer my good ole kindle keyboard for reading anyway).

I commend the effort, though. It's great that they're attempting to improve the system. It'd be nice if there was some back-and-forth with the user community.

How did you downgraded the firmware? I'm interested.

My primary use of the device is PDF reading so I can live with the bugs but there are many. Apart from the things I wrote earlier:
- In Neo Reader when I tap to do a page turn sometimes the software register the command as zoom-move (I'm always using "crop to page" mode to remove margins) which switch the screen to A2 mode and stays there until I use the mode switch on the Android task bar.
- many UI elements on 3rd party apps cannot be used, things like drop down selection list just appears and instantly closes taking the first selection
- I cannot use the erase mode, only the other side of the pen works but I really prefer to use the thin nib to erase things in my notes.

[Question Mark]

Originally Posted by plusz

- I cannot use the erase mode, only the other side of the pen works but I really prefer to use the thin nib to erase things in my notes.

On my Note, the erase mode works for me with the tip of the stylus on the firmware 2.0 update in both the Neoreader app and the native note taking app.

In the Neoreader app, you don't have to do anything. Just select the eraser function from the menu and touch the tip of the stylus to the stroke you want to erase.

However, in the native note taking app, if you want to use the tip of the stylus to function as an eraser, you have to hold down the button on the stylus while doing so. In the native note taking app, you are not restricted to erasing full strokes. You can also select to remove partial strokes and choose the size of your eraser. Works quite well for me.

[plusz]

Originally Posted by Question Mark

However, in the native note taking app, if you want to use the tip of the stylus to function as an eraser, you have to hold down the button on the stylus while doing so.

That explains a lot, thanks! Onyx jumps to support the newest models whilst the older are barely tested. Idiots forgot that the pen shipped with Max 2 does not have any button. Indeed in Neo Reader the erase mode still works for me. I need to be careful before upgrading.

Edit:
I've just updated to 2.0.1 from 26 December. Seems that they are trying to fix the black font issue in app Optimize, but it is still unusable. Some fonts stay white but other switch to black.