Moon+Reader vs Librera

fduniho · 12-18-2018, 12:22 PM

What are the differences between these two ereading apps for Android? Which do you like better? I already have the pro version of each, and I will post some of the differences between them in subsequent posts to this thread.

fduniho · 12-18-2018, 01:18 PM

Fonts

1. Librera and Moon+Reader Pro each come with additional fonts. Librera comes with Comfortaa, PTAstraSans, and PTAstraSerif. Moon+Reader Pro comes with Calluna and Vollkorn.

Winner: Moon+Reader, because Calluna and Vollkorn are both nice serf fonts, whereas PTAstraSerif is the only serif that comes with Librera. However, free Librera beats free Moon+Reader, because it includes its additional fonts without additional payment.

2. Both Moon+Reader and Librera support custom fonts, but Moon+Reader supports only TTF fonts, and Librera supports both TTF and OTF fonts.

Winner: Librera, because it supports more custom fonts.

3. Moon+Reader and Librera support embedded fonts, though Moon+Reader seems to support it for EPUB but not for MOBI.

Winner: Librera

4. In Librera, turning on support for embedded fonts is done by selecting the "Document" value for Styles in Reading Settings, and one side effect of this is that you cannot change the font in a book that does not have embedded fonts. Although you might think that "Document + User Defined" value would use embedded fonts where available, it just uses whatever font is selected rather than the embedded font. In Moon+Reader, turning on support for embedded fonts is done by selecting "Use embedded fonts in book" under Miscellaneous. This does not prevent the font from being changed when there is no embedded font.

Winner: Moon+Reader

5. The fonts requester for Moon+Reader is bigger than the one in Librera, making it easier to use.

Winner: Moon+Reader

6. The fonts requester in Moon+Reader lists every font variation, whereas the Librera fonts requester just lists each font once.

Winner: Librera, because I always choose a regular font anyway. I don't need to view a book entirely in italics or boldface.

Moon+Reader: 3
Librera: 3

fduniho · 12-18-2018, 01:32 PM

Dictionaries

Moon+Reader lets you select up to two dictionaries to use. The first one is used when you press Dict, and the second is used when you long-press Dict. If you have multiple dictionaries installed, Librera may let you use some or all of them, using its icon to identify each one. I have several dictionaries installed, and Librera is using the same two I'm using with Moon+Reader plus two more. However, Librera does not work with all the dictionaries that Moon+Reader can work with.

Winner: This depends on whether you prefer to have quick access to more than two dictionaries, or you wish to use specialty dictionaries unsupported by Librera. For example, I can use Linguee, which can be useful for foreign languages, with Moon+Reader but not with Librera. I would say that for general use, Librera wins, and for specialty use, Moon+Reader wins.

BlackCanopus · 12-20-2018, 11:14 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by fduniho

Fonts

1. Librera and Moon+Reader Pro each come with additional fonts. Librera comes with Comfortaa, PTAstraSans, and PTAstraSerif. Moon+Reader Pro comes with Calluna and Vollkorn.

Winner: Moon+Reader, because Calluna and Vollkorn are both nice serf fonts, whereas PTAstraSerif is the only serif that comes with Librera. However, free Librera beats free Moon+Reader, because it includes its additional fonts without additional payment.

2. Both Moon+Reader and Librera support custom fonts, but Moon+Reader supports only TTF fonts, and Librera supports both TTF and OTF fonts.

Winner: Librera, because it supports more custom fonts.

3. Moon+Reader and Librera support embedded fonts, though Moon+Reader seems to support it for EPUB but not for MOBI.

Winner: Librera

4. In Librera, turning on support for embedded fonts is done by selecting the "Document" value for Styles in Reading Settings, and one side effect of this is that you cannot change the font in a book that does not have embedded fonts. Although you might think that "Document + User Defined" value would use embedded fonts where available, it just uses whatever font is selected rather than the embedded font. In Moon+Reader, turning on support for embedded fonts is done by selecting "Use embedded fonts in book" under Miscellaneous. This does not prevent the font from being changed when there is no embedded font.

Winner: Moon+Reader

5. The fonts requester for Moon+Reader is bigger than the one in Librera, making it easier to use.

Winner: Moon+Reader

6. The fonts requester in Moon+Reader lists every font variation, whereas the Librera fonts requester just lists each font once.

Winner: Librera, because I always choose a regular font anyway. I don't need to view a book entirely in italics or boldface.

Moon+Reader: 3
Librera: 3

Moon + Reader can use OTF fonts. Just rename them from *.otf to *.ttf

As for the fonts, Moon + Reader allows you to mix and match different typefaces to create beautiful themes.

For example, you can create a very professional looking theme using this:
EB Garamond.ttf
EB Garamond-Italic.ttf
Rename Roboto-Bold.ttf to EB Garamond-Bold.ttf
Rename Roboto-BoldItalic.ttf to EB Garamond-BoldItalic.ttf

Select EB Garamond.ttf as your font.

Now you will have a theme with Serif body text and Sans headings. It is beautiful.

fduniho · 12-20-2018, 12:38 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BlackCanopus

Moon + Reader can use OTF fonts. Just rename them from *.otf to *.ttf

As a test, I renamed the Literata files, and it worked in both Moon+Reader and Librera.

Quote:

Originally Posted by BlackCanopus

As for the fonts, Moon + Reader allows you to mix and match different typefaces to create beautiful themes.

For example, you can create a very professional looking theme using this:
EB Garamond.ttf
EB Garamond-Italic.ttf
Rename Roboto-Bold.ttf to EB Garamond-Bold.ttf
Rename Roboto-BoldItalic.ttf to EB Garamond-BoldItalic.ttf

Select EB Garamond.ttf as your font.

Now you will have a theme with Serif body text and Sans headings. It is beautiful.

I haven't started to create themes and don't really know how that works. All I've done is select the Outdoor (Pure white) theme because I'm using an e-ink device.

HarryT · 12-20-2018, 05:37 PM

What Moon+ is extraordinarily bad at - and one might reasonably think this is a simple requirement - is simply displaying a book formatted as its publisher intended. It wants to override every bloody thing with user preferences. I want to see a book as its publisher intended it to be seen, not have every book look identical according to some set of “overrides”. This seems to be a failing of Android ePub apps in general!

fduniho · 12-20-2018, 06:31 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by HarryT

What Moon+ is extraordinarily bad at - and one might reasonably think this is a simple requirement - is simply displaying a book formatted as its publisher intended. It wants to override every bloody thing with user preferences. I want to see a book as its publisher intended it to be seen, not have every book look identical according to some set of “overrides”. This seems to be a failing of Android ePub apps in general!

As I already noted, Moon+Reader can be used with embedded fonts. You just have to choose that option, and if an ebook has a publisher's font embedded in it, it will use that instead of whatever font is otherwise selected. I recently used it to read a free copy of Witches Gone Wicked by Sarina Dorie, and I read it in Garamond, which was embedded into it, instead of with any of the fonts I had installed.

crane3 · 12-20-2018, 09:21 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by HarryT

What Moon+ is extraordinarily bad at - and one might reasonably think this is a simple requirement - is simply displaying a book formatted as its publisher intended. It wants to override every bloody thing with user preferences. I want to see a book as its publisher intended it to be seen, not have every book look identical according to some set of “overrides”. This seems to be a failing of Android ePub apps in general!

I have not seen any statement by the publishers about what was "intended". Does this include font size? Display screen color? e-ink reader vs an android tablet? Size of the page? Size of the ereader? Oh, and no conversion between formats or removal/disabling DRM? Should not be able to read a book in 2 column mode like some want to do? Should the displayed text cover the same amount of display screen on 5 in. screen as that of a 8 in or 10 screen or should the text be changed to accommodate.

The epub created by the publishers is done in such a manner for the publishers' convenience not the reader. The text was most likely sent thru a epub translator to arrive at the epub format.

I prefer that what I read is better for my eyesight rather than how the publishers dictate like what is done with the printed book with the fine lined letters that are not readable even for hardbacks. Don't think that the publishers intended that the print books be hardbacks or "publishers"/trade book size; was there intention to not have printed books in paperback size & why the different font size between the hardback & paper back? Then there are large print books ......

HarryT · 12-21-2018, 02:47 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by crane3

I have not seen any statement by the publishers about what was "intended".

It's specified by the book's CSS. Nothing wrong with being able to override it, but for goodness sake give readers the ability not to do so! Moon+ (at least in the version I used, which was a couple of years ago) lacked that ability.

stumped · 12-21-2018, 10:52 AM

Moon+ still has an option to use publisher settings. You need to find it, in with the other 1001 options, and enable it, if you want it
you can enable it as a toggle, so you can select it, see how awful it looks, and quickly un-select it.
most publisher options are very much NOT optimized for small screens

HarryT · 12-21-2018, 11:11 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by stumped

Moon+ still has an option to use publisher settings.

Oh, I know there is. But in the version of Moon+ Pro I was using, it didn't work properly.

fduniho · 12-21-2018, 12:04 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by HarryT

Oh, I know there is. But in the version of Moon+ Pro I was using, it didn't work properly.

I'm using the latest version, and it does appear to work properly. So please check the latest version and see whether there is still anything for you to complain about.

foobnix · 12-22-2018, 05:28 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by fduniho

Dictionaries
For example, I can use Linguee, which can be useful for foreign languages, with Moon+Reader but not with Librera. I would say that for general use, Librera wins, and for specialty use, Moon+Reader wins.

Next Librera Reader release will bring a fix for Linguee app and any app support in this dialog. You can try it in beta (https://play.google.com/apps/testing...nix.pdf.reader)

BlackCanopus · 12-22-2018, 10:25 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by fduniho

I haven't started to create themes and don't really know how that works. All I've done is select the Outdoor (Pure white) theme because I'm using an e-ink device.

Take a look at these attached files.

Quote:

Originally Posted by HarryT

What Moon+ is extraordinarily bad at - and one might reasonably think this is a simple requirement - is simply displaying a book formatted as its publisher intended. It wants to override every bloody thing with user preferences. I want to see a book as its publisher intended it to be seen, not have every book look identical according to some set of “overrides”. This seems to be a failing of Android ePub apps in general!

Yes, and it still plagued by that problem. As well as an abysmal 'text reflow' option for PDF files. Every good PDF/ePUB reader supports these features, and yet, Moon does not. Moon + Reader's greatest flaws.

fduniho · 12-22-2018, 11:22 AM

It's too late for me, but I noticed today that Moon+Reader Pro is currently 50% off.

12-18-2018, 12:22 PM	#1
fduniho Addict Posts: 200 Karma: 9146378 Join Date: Sep 2018 Location: New York State, USA Device: Kindle Touch, DX, PW4, PW5, Scribe; Likebook Mars; Fire HD 8; iPad	Moon+Reader vs Librera What are the differences between these two ereading apps for Android? Which do you like better? I already have the pro version of each, and I will post some of the differences between them in subsequent posts to this thread.

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12-18-2018, 01:18 PM	#2
fduniho Addict Posts: 200 Karma: 9146378 Join Date: Sep 2018 Location: New York State, USA Device: Kindle Touch, DX, PW4, PW5, Scribe; Likebook Mars; Fire HD 8; iPad	Fonts 1. Librera and Moon+Reader Pro each come with additional fonts. Librera comes with Comfortaa, PTAstraSans, and PTAstraSerif. Moon+Reader Pro comes with Calluna and Vollkorn. Winner: Moon+Reader, because Calluna and Vollkorn are both nice serf fonts, whereas PTAstraSerif is the only serif that comes with Librera. However, free Librera beats free Moon+Reader, because it includes its additional fonts without additional payment. 2. Both Moon+Reader and Librera support custom fonts, but Moon+Reader supports only TTF fonts, and Librera supports both TTF and OTF fonts. Winner: Librera, because it supports more custom fonts. 3. Moon+Reader and Librera support embedded fonts, though Moon+Reader seems to support it for EPUB but not for MOBI. Winner: Librera 4. In Librera, turning on support for embedded fonts is done by selecting the "Document" value for Styles in Reading Settings, and one side effect of this is that you cannot change the font in a book that does not have embedded fonts. Although you might think that "Document + User Defined" value would use embedded fonts where available, it just uses whatever font is selected rather than the embedded font. In Moon+Reader, turning on support for embedded fonts is done by selecting "Use embedded fonts in book" under Miscellaneous. This does not prevent the font from being changed when there is no embedded font. Winner: Moon+Reader 5. The fonts requester for Moon+Reader is bigger than the one in Librera, making it easier to use. Winner: Moon+Reader 6. The fonts requester in Moon+Reader lists every font variation, whereas the Librera fonts requester just lists each font once. Winner: Librera, because I always choose a regular font anyway. I don't need to view a book entirely in italics or boldface. Moon+Reader: 3 Librera: 3

12-18-2018, 01:32 PM	#3
fduniho Addict Posts: 200 Karma: 9146378 Join Date: Sep 2018 Location: New York State, USA Device: Kindle Touch, DX, PW4, PW5, Scribe; Likebook Mars; Fire HD 8; iPad	Dictionaries Moon+Reader lets you select up to two dictionaries to use. The first one is used when you press Dict, and the second is used when you long-press Dict. If you have multiple dictionaries installed, Librera may let you use some or all of them, using its icon to identify each one. I have several dictionaries installed, and Librera is using the same two I'm using with Moon+Reader plus two more. However, Librera does not work with all the dictionaries that Moon+Reader can work with. Winner: This depends on whether you prefer to have quick access to more than two dictionaries, or you wish to use specialty dictionaries unsupported by Librera. For example, I can use Linguee, which can be useful for foreign languages, with Moon+Reader but not with Librera. I would say that for general use, Librera wins, and for specialty use, Moon+Reader wins.

12-20-2018, 05:37 PM	#6
HarryT eBook Enthusiast Posts: 85,544 Karma: 93383043 Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: UK Device: Kindle Oasis 2, iPad Pro 10.5", iPhone 6	What Moon+ is extraordinarily bad at - and one might reasonably think this is a simple requirement - is simply displaying a book formatted as its publisher intended. It wants to override every bloody thing with user preferences. I want to see a book as its publisher intended it to be seen, not have every book look identical according to some set of “overrides”. This seems to be a failing of Android ePub apps in general!

12-21-2018, 10:52 AM	#10
stumped Wizard Posts: 3,305 Karma: 10259306 Join Date: May 2016 Device: kobo forma, Kobo Libra, Huawei media Tab, fire HD10, PW3 HDX8.9,	Moon+ still has an option to use publisher settings. You need to find it, in with the other 1001 options, and enable it, if you want it you can enable it as a toggle, so you can select it, see how awful it looks, and quickly un-select it. most publisher options are very much NOT optimized for small screens

12-22-2018, 11:22 AM	#15
fduniho Addict Posts: 200 Karma: 9146378 Join Date: Sep 2018 Location: New York State, USA Device: Kindle Touch, DX, PW4, PW5, Scribe; Likebook Mars; Fire HD 8; iPad	It's too late for me, but I noticed today that Moon+Reader Pro is currently 50% off.