Which Android readers work well with Calibre's Content Server

orijonl · 08-13-2010, 01:02 PM

I would like to know which Android readers work with the content server. Apparently WordPlayer did work, but has a problem with the current version of Calibre. I tried to get Aldiko to work by setting it up as a local catalog but I could never get it to authenticate. If anyone else has had better luck I'd like to know. I think there should be enough iPhone to Android converts around that there should be some interest here.

tonyx3 · 08-13-2010, 11:15 PM

I find Aldiko is the best Android reader, both in terms of working as a reader, and working with calibre. I've tried pretty much all of them, but I don't think I'll use anything but Aldiko again.

I got it working just fine with calibre's content server, but I don't know what this authentication thing you're asking about is.

I just turned on calibre's content server, then in Aldiko created a custom catalog with the address being:

Code:

ip.of.content.server:port/stanza

I did use a custom port for my server, but I can't imagine that would make any difference, as long as the one in the server's settings and the one in Aldiko match, and it's not blocked by your firewall or router or anything.

But it never asked for any kind of authentication, so I'm not sure how to help you further.

orijonl · 08-15-2010, 12:26 AM

I tried my internal network ip address "192.168.1.100:8080/stanza", and I tried the external equivalent. It finds the server, but it keeps asking me for username and password over and over. The only thing that halfway worked is when I used just the internal 192.168.1.100 without any suffixes. Then Aldiko would hand off the task to Android's browser and I could see the listing. But for some reason when I tried to download a book this way it couldn't recognize my SD card.

tonyx3 · 08-15-2010, 12:32 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by orijonl

I tried my internal network ip address "192.168.1.100:8080/stanza", and I tried the external equivalent. It finds the server, but it keeps asking me for username and password over and over. The only thing that halfway worked is when I used just the internal 192.168.1.100 without any suffixes. Then Aldiko would hand off the task to Android's browser and I could see the listing. But for some reason when I tried to download a book this way it couldn't recognize my SD card.

Wow, I dunno then. That's pretty much exactly what mine looks like except I changed the port to 8089 in the server settings. Do you have a username and password set in calibre's server settings? I left mine blank. Other than that, the only thing I can imagine is a firewall/router problem, but it doesn't seem likely. Mine just worked, after Aldiko updated their OPDS a few versions back.

orijonl · 08-17-2010, 09:45 AM

I'm so glad you mentioned that you left your username and password blank. I tried that and now its working both internally and externally. Since the PC I'm running Calibre on functions as a media server, I have several other outward facing hosts that are secured through some means of authentication. I guess I just won't be able to secure my ebooks for now. Overall, I'm not really as happy with the whole Aldiko experience as I was with Stanza on the iphone/ipod but I'm hoping it will probably get better with time.

tonyx3 · 08-17-2010, 10:30 AM

Glad you got it working!

Just out of curiosity, what is it about Aldiko that doesn't do it for you? I've never used Stanza or any other iPhone reader program, but I've found Aldiko to be solidly usable. Not perfect, especially in it's catalog/download functions, but as a reader, good.

But I did customize my display settings a bit for my tastes.

I have my font settings set at Serif 16 pt, normal weight (not sure if that's default or not)
and my layout settings at linespace 1.6, margins 10 and 10, and the biggie I set my text alignment to Left aligned. Somehow justified text just doesn't look right to me on a small screen, even if it's fairly well implemented...

Also, after using it for several months I found that on my Nexus One, I prefer night mode, even during the day. It just feels better during long reading sessions. It's also way better on my battery life (on the N1's AMOLED screen).

What are your settings, and what is it that Stanza did so much better?

orijonl · 08-20-2010, 09:51 AM

I don't remember the exact numbers, but I've spaced the margins out so that the text almost fills the screen and I too did not like the look of justified text. I may have my font a little bigger than yours, but I am using an older phone with a smaller screen than the Nexus One. I also prefer light text on a dark background all the time, but I've found that I do most of my reading at night anyway.

I have been using stanza on an Ipod Touch for the past year or so and I probably prefer it over Aldiko partly because the hardware I'm running Android on is older, but Stanza is also much smoother and offers preference options not available on Aldiko. For instance, I can set Stanza up with a font that I really like, not just the one (of the 3) that I dislike the least. The color options also suit me better and I really like the page turning animation better than Aldiko's slide.

I'm hoping that Aldiko gets better, but I will be using it regardless, because I want to be able to do my reading on the device that I have with me.

orijonl · 08-27-2010, 09:13 AM

For the past couple of days, I've been trying out a new book reader on my Android phone called Laputa Book Reader. Here is a link to the AppBrain page describing it. http://www.appbrain.com/app/com.reader.books.laputa.ui

I haven't completely decided to switch to this yet, but it shows promise. There is more attention on the reading experience (font, background, page animations, etc.) than any of the other Android readers, and it has access to a large variety of online repositories. It will allow you to set up a custom catalog using your calibre content server's IP address and port number (It doesn't support OPDS, so don't include the "/stanza"). On the negative side, it requires you to perform a clunky import of the books you download from calibre and it hasn't pulled down the covers for the epubs that I've imported so far, but I'm still trying to figure it out.

I guess for me now, it just depends on which of these developers integrate the features I want first. For Laputa, I want to be able to open my Calibre content server (with OPDS) within the program and download my epubs (and covers) directly to a location that shows up on the ui's bookshelf.
For Aldiko, I want more reading customization options. I wish I could just combine the 2 into one really good solution.

08-13-2010, 01:02 PM	#1
orijonl Junior Member Posts: 6 Karma: 10 Join Date: May 2009 Device: WinMobile	Which Android readers work well with Calibre's Content Server I would like to know which Android readers work with the content server. Apparently WordPlayer did work, but has a problem with the current version of Calibre. I tried to get Aldiko to work by setting it up as a local catalog but I could never get it to authenticate. If anyone else has had better luck I'd like to know. I think there should be enough iPhone to Android converts around that there should be some interest here.

08-13-2010, 11:15 PM	#2
tonyx3 Connoisseur Posts: 55 Karma: 10 Join Date: Jan 2010 Device: Nexus One	I find Aldiko is the best Android reader, both in terms of working as a reader, and working with calibre. I've tried pretty much all of them, but I don't think I'll use anything but Aldiko again. I got it working just fine with calibre's content server, but I don't know what this authentication thing you're asking about is. I just turned on calibre's content server, then in Aldiko created a custom catalog with the address being: Code: ip.of.content.server:port/stanza I did use a custom port for my server, but I can't imagine that would make any difference, as long as the one in the server's settings and the one in Aldiko match, and it's not blocked by your firewall or router or anything. But it never asked for any kind of authentication, so I'm not sure how to help you further.

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08-15-2010, 12:26 AM	#3
orijonl Junior Member Posts: 6 Karma: 10 Join Date: May 2009 Device: WinMobile	I tried my internal network ip address "192.168.1.100:8080/stanza", and I tried the external equivalent. It finds the server, but it keeps asking me for username and password over and over. The only thing that halfway worked is when I used just the internal 192.168.1.100 without any suffixes. Then Aldiko would hand off the task to Android's browser and I could see the listing. But for some reason when I tried to download a book this way it couldn't recognize my SD card.

08-17-2010, 09:45 AM	#5
orijonl Junior Member Posts: 6 Karma: 10 Join Date: May 2009 Device: WinMobile	I'm so glad you mentioned that you left your username and password blank. I tried that and now its working both internally and externally. Since the PC I'm running Calibre on functions as a media server, I have several other outward facing hosts that are secured through some means of authentication. I guess I just won't be able to secure my ebooks for now. Overall, I'm not really as happy with the whole Aldiko experience as I was with Stanza on the iphone/ipod but I'm hoping it will probably get better with time.

08-17-2010, 10:30 AM	#6
tonyx3 Connoisseur Posts: 55 Karma: 10 Join Date: Jan 2010 Device: Nexus One	Glad you got it working! Just out of curiosity, what is it about Aldiko that doesn't do it for you? I've never used Stanza or any other iPhone reader program, but I've found Aldiko to be solidly usable. Not perfect, especially in it's catalog/download functions, but as a reader, good. But I did customize my display settings a bit for my tastes. I have my font settings set at Serif 16 pt, normal weight (not sure if that's default or not) and my layout settings at linespace 1.6, margins 10 and 10, and the biggie I set my text alignment to Left aligned. Somehow justified text just doesn't look right to me on a small screen, even if it's fairly well implemented... Also, after using it for several months I found that on my Nexus One, I prefer night mode, even during the day. It just feels better during long reading sessions. It's also way better on my battery life (on the N1's AMOLED screen). What are your settings, and what is it that Stanza did so much better?

08-20-2010, 09:51 AM	#7
orijonl Junior Member Posts: 6 Karma: 10 Join Date: May 2009 Device: WinMobile	I don't remember the exact numbers, but I've spaced the margins out so that the text almost fills the screen and I too did not like the look of justified text. I may have my font a little bigger than yours, but I am using an older phone with a smaller screen than the Nexus One. I also prefer light text on a dark background all the time, but I've found that I do most of my reading at night anyway. I have been using stanza on an Ipod Touch for the past year or so and I probably prefer it over Aldiko partly because the hardware I'm running Android on is older, but Stanza is also much smoother and offers preference options not available on Aldiko. For instance, I can set Stanza up with a font that I really like, not just the one (of the 3) that I dislike the least. The color options also suit me better and I really like the page turning animation better than Aldiko's slide. I'm hoping that Aldiko gets better, but I will be using it regardless, because I want to be able to do my reading on the device that I have with me.

08-27-2010, 09:13 AM	#8
orijonl Junior Member Posts: 6 Karma: 10 Join Date: May 2009 Device: WinMobile	For the past couple of days, I've been trying out a new book reader on my Android phone called Laputa Book Reader. Here is a link to the AppBrain page describing it. http://www.appbrain.com/app/com.reader.books.laputa.ui I haven't completely decided to switch to this yet, but it shows promise. There is more attention on the reading experience (font, background, page animations, etc.) than any of the other Android readers, and it has access to a large variety of online repositories. It will allow you to set up a custom catalog using your calibre content server's IP address and port number (It doesn't support OPDS, so don't include the "/stanza"). On the negative side, it requires you to perform a clunky import of the books you download from calibre and it hasn't pulled down the covers for the epubs that I've imported so far, but I'm still trying to figure it out. I guess for me now, it just depends on which of these developers integrate the features I want first. For Laputa, I want to be able to open my Calibre content server (with OPDS) within the program and download my epubs (and covers) directly to a location that shows up on the ui's bookshelf. For Aldiko, I want more reading customization options. I wish I could just combine the 2 into one really good solution.

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