Neoreader questions

[downeaster59]

Originally Posted by marst

I did know. But please—no more Kobo! (Amazon's own Kindle software is probably acceptable by now for the old Kindle books I have—but years back it was awful. Someone found a hack for enabling flush-left alignment in the old Kindle app—yeah, it required a stupid hack. Why? These companies with entire floors of buildings full of developers...why do they write such awful software? Don't get me started...)

When I tried Moon Reader some years back I thought it was ok—but egad, the bookshelf/organizing tools were awful. The one I was truly happy with was Mantano Reader—what a powerhouse for notes and annotations and bookshelf organizing, and their display "engine" was excellent. Being able to add your own fonts was a huge plus—the book weight of Minion was a great addition. Unfortunately, Mantano's alignment controls could not overcome publishers' hard-coded CSS. That program had great promise...but alas it seemed to just dry up and blow away. All development seemed to stop quite suddenly. Too bad.

I like Moon Reader Pro overall. It has a reputation for its bugs with the justification/alignment feature, but it usually worked well for my uses. It also looks good on eInk. KOReader is good, but lacks the justification settings you're looking for.

I remember Mantano. I tried it and liked it back in the day, but didn't stay with it.

Librera offers the justification/alignment options you're looking for. As I've never tried them, I can't say if they're any good. I find its menus cluttered and unintuitive, though, and never used it very much. On the plus side, the devs are very responsive to suggestions/input.

I've had Onyx devices for several years. NeoReader has greatly improved over that time. Their customer service seems more responsive than they used to be. They may be open to a suggestion that justification settings be added. NeoReader is best with pdfs, though it is quite good with other formats. It used to be that it was the exception when I used NeoReader. Now it's the exception when I don't!

[marst]

Originally Posted by downeaster59

I like Moon Reader Pro overall. It has a reputation for its bugs with the justification/alignment feature, but it usually worked well for my uses.

As I think I mentioned, Moon Reader's difficult-to-grasp bookshelf kind of drove me away from it. Mantano's collections and collections-within-collections system was what got me interested in it to start with (plus the ability to organize highlights and notes into virtual collections via keyword).

Perhaps Moon Reader's "bookshelf" is improved now. But Boox devices being Android tablets with their own file-management routines, maybe an app's bookshelf setup doesn't matter so much. I assume that Boox devices' own file-organizing tools make it easy enough to organize ebook files in whatever folders and sub-folders you want. E.g.

Fiction
..Literary
..Espionage
..Crime

If you tap a book's cover icon to read it, do you then choose whichever e-reader app you want? (Or do you first have to select a system-wide default for the e-reader app to use?) Or... is the more typical procedure to open an e-reader app and then go hunt for your book file?

[marst]

Something else related to the Boox e-readers—using the notes/pen features within ebooks.

If you're using an e-reading app such as Kindle or Nook, can the pen be used for highlighting and taking notes, creating markup that remains with the book the next time you open it (again in Kindle or Nook)?

That is: can Boox's own drawing and note-taking features be used in addition to the highlighting/notes features of the apps themselves?

[downeaster59]

Originally Posted by marst

If you tap a book's cover icon to read it, do you then choose whichever e-reader app you want? (Or do you first have to select a system-wide default for the e-reader app to use?) Or... is the more typical procedure to open an e-reader app and then go hunt for your book file?

If you long press on a book cover, you will get a popup window about the book. One icon in that window is labelled "Open With". Tap that and you get a selection of all the reader apps you have installed (including NeoReader) that can open that book. Tap one, and the book opens in that app. You can select any reader app as your default reader app here as well.

[downeaster59]

Originally Posted by marst

Something else related to the Boox e-readers—using the notes/pen features within ebooks.

If you're using an e-reading app such as Kindle or Nook, can the pen be used for highlighting and taking notes, creating markup that remains with the book the next time you open it (again in Kindle or Nook)?

That is: can Boox's own drawing and note-taking features be used in addition to the highlighting/notes features of the apps themselves?

Good question! I hadn't yet thought of that. I tried highlighting in Kindle and in Nook with the Onyx pen. Highlighting works in both apps. It can be saved so that it remains with the book. Notes need to be entered with the virtual keyboard.

[Pajamaman]

I only use neoreader for pdf files. For epub etc, I use alreaderx. It handles any formatting I want. Also you can install proprietary apps like nook and amazon to directly read drmed books.

[salamanderjuice]

Originally Posted by marst

Something else related to the Boox e-readers—using the notes/pen features within ebooks.

If you're using an e-reading app such as Kindle or Nook, can the pen be used for highlighting and taking notes, creating markup that remains with the book the next time you open it (again in Kindle or Nook)?

That is: can Boox's own drawing and note-taking features be used in addition to the highlighting/notes features of the apps themselves?

Sort of. You can use the pen to replace finger actions so highlighting works fine. You can't handwrite on books because the apps don't support that. You can use the handwriting input panel (converts handwriting to text) to write annotations instead of the touch keyboard.

[marst]

Originally Posted by downeaster59

If you long press on a book cover, you will get a popup window about the book. One icon in that window is labelled "Open With". Tap that and you get a selection of all the reader apps you have installed (including NeoReader) that can open that book. Tap one, and the book opens in that app. You can select any reader app as your default reader app here as well.

Ok, that's what I was hoping you'd say. :-) Then—sounds as if I could devise my own folder organization for books and ignore individual apps' bookshelf routines, which are usually less than ideal. Thanks.

[marst]

Originally Posted by Pajamaman

I only use neoreader for pdf files. For epub etc, I use alreaderx. It handles any formatting I want. Also you can install proprietary apps like nook and amazon to directly read drmed books.

That would certainly save me some time—using the apps themselves. It's just the Kobo app that's so terrible and the one I was most hoping to replace with Neoreader (or some other Android app). But it sounds as if for those .kepub books I guess I'll have to go with the nuclear option (Calibre, etc.). Thanks.

[marst]

Originally Posted by salamanderjuice

Sort of. You can use the pen to replace finger actions so highlighting works fine. You can't handwrite on books because the apps don't support that. You can use the handwriting input panel (converts handwriting to text) to write annotations instead of the touch keyboard.

The ability to use the pen for highlighting would be welcome. These highlighting-via-finger routines vary from badly designed (Kobo Forma) to well designed (Mantano Reader on an Android tablet). The pen would certainly help.

I also ran a few questions by the Boox people, who've just replied—fairly quickly (that's a good sign)—and included a Note Air 2 .pdf manual with their reply. Maybe there'll be some interesting Neoreader esoterica in that file...

[Pajamaman]

Originally Posted by marst

That would certainly save me some time—using the apps themselves. It's just the Kobo app that's so terrible and the one I was most hoping to replace with Neoreader (or some other Android app). But it sounds as if for those .kepub books I guess I'll have to go with the nuclear option (Calibre, etc.). Thanks.

I just wanted to make the point that with Onyx, though it comes with a built-in ereading app neoreader, you are not restricted to using that reading app, and many Onyx users use a different app to read with.

Neoreader excels at reading and annotating pdf/djvu files. For anything else, there are better options IMO.

Regarding kepub, yes, I don't know of anything that will open them.

[marst]

Originally Posted by Pajamaman

I just wanted to make the point that with Onyx, though it comes with a built-in ereading app neoreader, you are not restricted to using that reading app, and many Onyx users use a different app to read with.

Yes, that's a major selling-point for me. There are a bunch to choose from nowadays. One reason I enjoyed using Mantano Reader—whereas some e-reader apps gave you the look of text in a browser, Mantano's rendering "engine" made the text look like an actual book page. Hard to explain. Hopefully an app that's still in development nowadays has a good "engine" as well.

Regarding kepub, yes, I don't know of anything that will open them.

Excepting Kobo's own (abysmal) Android app. Really terrible software IMO.

I can see 'calibre' and 'Apprentice Alf' in my future again. I always found that 'Alf' plug-in difficult to install correctly. But I'll have to try again (unless there's some newer, easier-to-use solution for what he provides...I'm avoiding specifics as I don't know how the people who run the forums feel about the whole DRM topic).

[marst]

Originally Posted by downeaster59

I've had Onyx devices for several years. NeoReader has greatly improved over that time.

I have plunged back into the calibre/Apprentice-Alf universe. The plug-in is in Calibre now, but due to a crash/o.s. re-install (Windows 10) some months back, all of the original key files needed by the plug-in are gone and I've long since forgotten how to find them and configure the plug-in to use them. Do you know of any "For Dummies"-level documentation that can point me in the right direction? Though I won't much care for them, I'll probably be able to get by with the Nook and Kindle android apps when I get the Note Air 2 running...but those .kepub files—I'll be stuck with the Kobo device unless I can figure out how to get them viewable in Moon Reader (or whatever).

[apesmom]

I've had my Nova Air for 2 months now. I use it exclusively for reading and haven't messed with the pen except to try it out when it came out of the box.

I tried using Neo at first and was happy enough with it EXCEPT it is horrible at calculating page numbers. I was a big Mantano (now Bookari) fan when I was reading on a tablet and figured that would be my reading app but it really does not lend itself to a black and white e-ink screen. Navigating is too annoying when you can't see the buttons. I gave up on that one and installed KOreader, it has a bit of a learning curve to configure it to your liking but now I absolutely love it. The only thing is does not do is left align text, everything is justified.

For the past 2 months I have used 3 apps. I sided loaded the Amazon app store since that's where my copy of Calibre Companion resides then loaded the Kindle App, Calibre Companion and download KOreader. Navigating on Calibre Companion has the same black and white screen challenges that Bookari has but not as bad. I never even tried activating Google Play, there's nothing else I need.

Kindle App for KU reading
KOreader for everything else
Calibre Companion for ebook management

[marst]

Thanks for your detailed feedback.

Originally Posted by apesmom

I was a big Mantano (now Bookari) fan when I was reading on a tablet and figured that would be my reading app but it really does not lend itself to a black and white e-ink screen.

I'm not surprised that it fell behind. It hasn't been in development for a long time and though it's still available in the Play store, there's no more web site. It's really a shame. What an excellent "bookshelf" design it had.

I gave up on that one and installed KOreader, it has a bit of a learning curve to configure it to your liking but now I absolutely love it. The only thing is does not do is left align text, everything is justified

Last evening I found that 'calibre' does an excellent job of converting KOBO .kepub files to EPUB...and can be configured to remove full left/right justification in the bargin. (I double-checked the .CSS file when it was done. 'calibre' does VERY bizarre things with CSS names—I have no idea why...what was he thinking?—but that aside, there wasn't any sign of "text-align:justify" anywhere in the resulting CSS.

So now the question will be: Of the apps that don't support changes of alignment style, will they force full justification anyway? I've already learned that Microsoft's "advanced" browser Edge (cough cough) forces justification even when it isn't specified in the CSS. That's kind of rude, actually. Well, I won't know until I have the tablet in hand and have tried several e-reader apps. Time was, I was willing to spend the time to load a new book into an EPUB editor and force the issue by adding explicit "text-align:left" to sundry CSS styles. Egad, talk about time-consuming. I'm not up for that again...

For the past 2 months I have used 3 apps. I sided loaded the Amazon app store since that's where my copy of Calibre Companion resides then loaded the Kindle App, Calibre Companion and download KOreader.

I took a look at that app on the Play store. It sounds both full-featured and a bit complex-ish to learn. But I can see that getting it working would be rewarding. I was thinking that for EPUB files I might stick with folder organization alone. Does the app enable you to create sundry categories (and folders within folders, etc.)?

KOreader threw me for a bit of a loop until I did a web search and realized it's available on Github, not Google Play. So you download an .APK file...but are you able to easily "launch" .APK files on the Note Air 2?

It's turning out that converting my old Barnes and Noble books to be readable in third-party apps might be all but impossible. I might have to stick with the Nook app for that. It isn't wonderful, but it isn't horrible (unlike the Kobo app for Android, which ought to be illegal. :-)