Read pdf and epub directly from SD card without importing

shareddreams · 11-07-2018, 06:54 AM

Hello everyone!
I wasn't much of an Android user until I got my new phone yesterday and I want a free ebook reader for my ebook collection, which are mostly pdf and epub. My books are on an SD card. I tried AIreader and the free version of Aldiko and I noticed that they import the book into the phone's internal storage before I can read it, which means I basically have two copies of the file, one on my SD card and one on the phone's internal storage. I don't want that. I installed Cool Reader and it seems to be reading directly from the SD card but it's not able to read pdf. I'm also not getting the Cool Reader option in 'Open with' within file manager when trying to open epubs.
What I want is something similar to how I can read ebooks on my PC, just browse to the file in file manager and click it to open, regardless of whether it is a pdf or epub. No importing and having two copies of the same file. Which ebook reader (preferably free) makes that possible on android?
My phone is a Redmi Note 5 pro.
The reason I'm asking is because my books and documents are arranged according to subject in different folders and I often need to open many of them in quick succession for reference. It is not feasible to import all of them in one reader as there are too many of them. I would like to be able to open them from within file manager, as close as possible to how I do it on a PC.
Thanks in advance!

mobama · 11-07-2018, 12:37 PM

EbookDroid is a reader app that can do both epub and pdf/djvu tolerably. Take your time to go through all the settings though, half a day or so.

You can also try Prestigio reader app, even though it's a bit behind with pdf/djvu features and it is somewhat ruined by ads.

On my own mobile phone, I prefer Coolreader for epubs and EbookDroid for pdf.

LucyOne · 11-07-2018, 12:47 PM

I use Moon+ Reader Pro and Bookari together with my file manager on my Android devices. I choose a book in my file manager and open it via context menu.
Both read EPUBs and PDFs.

stumped · 11-07-2018, 01:37 PM

try google's own free pdf reader. some android devices have it pre-installed but if not, you can get it from play store.
or try the free adobe reader.
both will read the pdf where they find it , and will not copy it to another location
both render much faster than moon reader , for large pdf files
having two apps is better than one, you can choose the best ( for you) epub reader, t and then the best pdf reader....

Rbneader · 11-08-2018, 10:26 AM

I use MuPDF for PDF files and FBReader or Book Reader by axet for epub.

shareddreams · 11-11-2018, 03:27 AM

Thanks for the suggestions!
Since there doesn't seem to be one reader that can read both pdf and epub without importing, I have decided to use Cool Reader for epubs and Google PDF viewer for pdfs.

LucyOne · 11-11-2018, 12:57 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by shareddreams

Thanks for the suggestions!
Since there doesn't seem to be one reader that can read both pdf and epub without importing, I have decided to use Cool Reader for epubs and Google PDF viewer for pdfs.

Yes, there are. I corrected my post above.
Moon+ Reader Pro and Bookari read both formats without importing. Bookari even handles DRM.

shareddreams · 11-12-2018, 12:42 PM

@LucyOne
I tried the free versions of both Moon Reader and Bookari and unless I'm doing something wrong, they both seem to be importing the file to another location. Maybe it's a feature you get with the paid version or am I doing it not right?

LucyOne · 11-12-2018, 01:57 PM

I have both paid versions and I haven't noticed this behaviour. I usually open my file browser, choose a book and then an app. The files stay where there are. Bookari shows a message that the book has been imported, but I think it means just the metadata and cover to display in the Bookari library. There are no duplicate book files in any folders on my internal storage. In Moon+ Reader you even have an internal file browser which you can point to your location of choice.

AnotherCat · 11-12-2018, 04:28 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by shareddreams

@LucyOne
I tried the free versions of both Moon Reader and Bookari and unless I'm doing something wrong, they both seem to be importing the file to another location. Maybe it's a feature you get with the paid version or am I doing it not right?

As LucyOne said when Moon+ Reader says it is importing a book it is just recognizing the book file to display it in its library, it does not make another copy of the book file.

I don't think PocketBook has been mentioned; it also reads both pdf and epub books and does not make another copy of the file. In my experience it does PDF much better than Moon+ Reader does. It does have an unusual menu interface though but one gets used to it and then becomes quite convenient and quick to access. Moon+ Reader is much slower for me in reacting to accessing menus, bookmarks, etc. than PocketBook is.

I currently use Moon+ Reader Pro but only because, for me, it syncs bookmarks, etc. between different reading devices more reliably than PocketBook, but that said Moon+ Reader has its own nuisance problems in that department too so it is not perfect. If I had no desire to sync reading devices with each other I would revert to using PocketBook again (and may do so anyway).

4691mls · 11-13-2018, 10:17 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by LucyOne

I have both paid versions and I haven't noticed this behaviour. I usually open my file browser, choose a book and then an app. The files stay where there are. Bookari shows a message that the book has been imported, but I think it means just the metadata and cover to display in the Bookari library. There are no duplicate book files in any folders on my internal storage. In Moon+ Reader you even have an internal file browser which you can point to your location of choice.

I found this on the Mantano/Bookari site when I was looking into this for a new phone a year or so ago:

http://support.mantano.com/customer/...not-supported-

shareddreams · 11-14-2018, 09:46 AM

@LucyOne and AnotherCat
I have tried Moon Reader and Bookari and also PocketBook as AnotherCat suggested, but all three are copying the file into internal storage, as you can see in the screenshots I have attached (the file of almost 15 mb which is the ebook size so it can't be just metadata). I opened the book from file manager for all three of them and then chose the respective reader with the 'open with' option.

LucyOne · 11-14-2018, 02:42 PM

Maybe it's a problem specific to your device, then?

Gesendet von meinem SM-T335 mit Tapatalk

AnotherCat · 11-14-2018, 05:08 PM

When you install Moon+ Reader or other app do you in its settings tell it what folder on the SD card your books are in? That is the "Main Folder" setting in Moon+ Reader "Options", for example.

I've checked a few things to be sure -

With Moon+ Reader installed and the above option set and opening books in that folder it definitely does not create a copy of the file in the device's own memory nor anywhere else when the book is opened from Moon+ Reader.

Also, if I put a book in any other folder on the SD card (i.e. not the folder that is set in Moon+ Reader's options) and browse to it with a file manager and select Moon+ Reader to open the book from the choices offered, as you say you would like to do in your first post, it again does not create a copy of the file anywhere (not even in the "Main Folder" set in Moon+ Reader's "Options" , it uses the file pointed to with the file manager).

Now it might be, but I would have thought unlikely, that if you install Moon+ Reader (and other similar apps) and if you do not tell it the "Main Folder" for books in its setting "Options" that if you navigate to a book on the SD card with a file manager and open it and choose Moon+ Reader that Moon+ Reader will automatically create its own default "Books" "Main Folder" in the default position, which is in the device's memory not the SD card, and put a copy of the book there. But I have not tested that as in order to do a fair test I would need to completely uninstall my exiting setup.

I have used Moon+ Reader and PocketBook extensively on three different devices (2 different model Samsung tablets and a Sony Xperia phone, covering Android 6, 7 and 8 devices) and have never had the behavior you describe; but have always been set up with the "Main Book" folder set in "Options". I have occasionally tried other reading apps in order to choose my preferred ones and have never noticed any behavior different with them either.

If after all that you still have the same problem then as LucyOne suggests there may be something strange with the way your device handles files on SD cards in the circumstances of using a reading app.

shareddreams · 11-16-2018, 10:09 AM

Success!
I discovered this reader called ReadEra. It reads both pdf and epub, and also mobi and djvu, and it's not making any copy of my files in internal storage. Has anyone used it? From what I am able to gather as an Android noob, you have to allow the reader to scan your files first and once all the books are scanned, they won't be duplicated in another location when you open them from file manager. This is exactly what I wanted - something similar to my PC experience where I can just browse to a file in explorer and read it, because navigating from within the reader does not retain the folder hierarchy.
A big thank you to everyone who took their time to help me out!

11-07-2018, 06:54 AM	#1
shareddreams Junior Member Posts: 5 Karma: 10 Join Date: Nov 2018 Device: Redmi Note 5 pro	Read pdf and epub directly from SD card without importing Hello everyone! I wasn't much of an Android user until I got my new phone yesterday and I want a free ebook reader for my ebook collection, which are mostly pdf and epub. My books are on an SD card. I tried AIreader and the free version of Aldiko and I noticed that they import the book into the phone's internal storage before I can read it, which means I basically have two copies of the file, one on my SD card and one on the phone's internal storage. I don't want that. I installed Cool Reader and it seems to be reading directly from the SD card but it's not able to read pdf. I'm also not getting the Cool Reader option in 'Open with' within file manager when trying to open epubs. What I want is something similar to how I can read ebooks on my PC, just browse to the file in file manager and click it to open, regardless of whether it is a pdf or epub. No importing and having two copies of the same file. Which ebook reader (preferably free) makes that possible on android? My phone is a Redmi Note 5 pro. The reason I'm asking is because my books and documents are arranged according to subject in different folders and I often need to open many of them in quick succession for reference. It is not feasible to import all of them in one reader as there are too many of them. I would like to be able to open them from within file manager, as close as possible to how I do it on a PC. Thanks in advance!

11-07-2018, 12:47 PM	#3
LucyOne Librocubicularist Posts: 617 Karma: 11908623 Join Date: Dec 2013 Location: Germany Device: PocketBook InkPad 3 & Touch HD 3, Kobo Clara HD, Kindle Paperwhite 5	I use Moon+ Reader Pro and Bookari together with my file manager on my Android devices. I choose a book in my file manager and open it via context menu. Both read EPUBs and PDFs. Last edited by LucyOne; 11-11-2018 at 12:55 PM.

11-14-2018, 09:46 AM	#12
shareddreams Junior Member Posts: 5 Karma: 10 Join Date: Nov 2018 Device: Redmi Note 5 pro	@LucyOne and AnotherCat I have tried Moon Reader and Bookari and also PocketBook as AnotherCat suggested, but all three are copying the file into internal storage, as you can see in the screenshots I have attached (the file of almost 15 mb which is the ebook size so it can't be just metadata). I opened the book from file manager for all three of them and then chose the respective reader with the 'open with' option. Attached Thumbnails

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11-07-2018, 12:37 PM	#2
mobama Evangelist Posts: 432 Karma: 2303460 Join Date: Aug 2017 Device: Pocketbook Inkpad 3, Onyx T76ML, Kobo H2O Edition 1, Kobo Mini	EbookDroid is a reader app that can do both epub and pdf/djvu tolerably. Take your time to go through all the settings though, half a day or so. You can also try Prestigio reader app, even though it's a bit behind with pdf/djvu features and it is somewhat ruined by ads. On my own mobile phone, I prefer Coolreader for epubs and EbookDroid for pdf.

11-07-2018, 01:37 PM	#4
stumped Wizard Posts: 3,305 Karma: 10259306 Join Date: May 2016 Device: kobo forma, Kobo Libra, Huawei media Tab, fire HD10, PW3 HDX8.9,	try google's own free pdf reader. some android devices have it pre-installed but if not, you can get it from play store. or try the free adobe reader. both will read the pdf where they find it , and will not copy it to another location both render much faster than moon reader , for large pdf files having two apps is better than one, you can choose the best ( for you) epub reader, t and then the best pdf reader....

11-08-2018, 10:26 AM	#5
Rbneader Fanatic Posts: 500 Karma: 2661351 Join Date: Mar 2012 Device: None	I use MuPDF for PDF files and FBReader or Book Reader by axet for epub.

11-11-2018, 03:27 AM	#6
shareddreams Junior Member Posts: 5 Karma: 10 Join Date: Nov 2018 Device: Redmi Note 5 pro	Thanks for the suggestions! Since there doesn't seem to be one reader that can read both pdf and epub without importing, I have decided to use Cool Reader for epubs and Google PDF viewer for pdfs.

11-12-2018, 12:42 PM	#8
shareddreams Junior Member Posts: 5 Karma: 10 Join Date: Nov 2018 Device: Redmi Note 5 pro	@LucyOne I tried the free versions of both Moon Reader and Bookari and unless I'm doing something wrong, they both seem to be importing the file to another location. Maybe it's a feature you get with the paid version or am I doing it not right?

11-12-2018, 01:57 PM	#9
LucyOne Librocubicularist Posts: 617 Karma: 11908623 Join Date: Dec 2013 Location: Germany Device: PocketBook InkPad 3 & Touch HD 3, Kobo Clara HD, Kindle Paperwhite 5	I have both paid versions and I haven't noticed this behaviour. I usually open my file browser, choose a book and then an app. The files stay where there are. Bookari shows a message that the book has been imported, but I think it means just the metadata and cover to display in the Bookari library. There are no duplicate book files in any folders on my internal storage. In Moon+ Reader you even have an internal file browser which you can point to your location of choice.

11-14-2018, 02:42 PM	#13
LucyOne Librocubicularist Posts: 617 Karma: 11908623 Join Date: Dec 2013 Location: Germany Device: PocketBook InkPad 3 & Touch HD 3, Kobo Clara HD, Kindle Paperwhite 5	Maybe it's a problem specific to your device, then? Gesendet von meinem SM-T335 mit Tapatalk

11-14-2018, 05:08 PM	#14
AnotherCat .... Posts: 1,547 Karma: 18068960 Join Date: May 2012 Device: ....	When you install Moon+ Reader or other app do you in its settings tell it what folder on the SD card your books are in? That is the "Main Folder" setting in Moon+ Reader "Options", for example. I've checked a few things to be sure - With Moon+ Reader installed and the above option set and opening books in that folder it definitely does not create a copy of the file in the device's own memory nor anywhere else when the book is opened from Moon+ Reader. Also, if I put a book in any other folder on the SD card (i.e. not the folder that is set in Moon+ Reader's options) and browse to it with a file manager and select Moon+ Reader to open the book from the choices offered, as you say you would like to do in your first post, it again does not create a copy of the file anywhere (not even in the "Main Folder" set in Moon+ Reader's "Options" , it uses the file pointed to with the file manager). Now it might be, but I would have thought unlikely, that if you install Moon+ Reader (and other similar apps) and if you do not tell it the "Main Folder" for books in its setting "Options" that if you navigate to a book on the SD card with a file manager and open it and choose Moon+ Reader that Moon+ Reader will automatically create its own default "Books" "Main Folder" in the default position, which is in the device's memory not the SD card, and put a copy of the book there. But I have not tested that as in order to do a fair test I would need to completely uninstall my exiting setup. I have used Moon+ Reader and PocketBook extensively on three different devices (2 different model Samsung tablets and a Sony Xperia phone, covering Android 6, 7 and 8 devices) and have never had the behavior you describe; but have always been set up with the "Main Book" folder set in "Options". I have occasionally tried other reading apps in order to choose my preferred ones and have never noticed any behavior different with them either. If after all that you still have the same problem then as LucyOne suggests there may be something strange with the way your device handles files on SD cards in the circumstances of using a reading app.

11-16-2018, 10:09 AM	#15
shareddreams Junior Member Posts: 5 Karma: 10 Join Date: Nov 2018 Device: Redmi Note 5 pro	Success! I discovered this reader called ReadEra. It reads both pdf and epub, and also mobi and djvu, and it's not making any copy of my files in internal storage. Has anyone used it? From what I am able to gather as an Android noob, you have to allow the reader to scan your files first and once all the books are scanned, they won't be duplicated in another location when you open them from file manager. This is exactly what I wanted - something similar to my PC experience where I can just browse to a file in explorer and read it, because navigating from within the reader does not retain the folder hierarchy. A big thank you to everyone who took their time to help me out!

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