Dear all,
I am trying to set up a TF101 tablet (with android ICS) to use as ebook reader for my mother and since she is computer illiterate I am trying to make it as simple as possible. Since we do not live in the same country I am trying to make it as simple as possible for her so I am trying to find a way to sync books from afar. So far so good, since there are many apps to do that but here starts my problem. Eventually I realized that I have a lot of books and eventually I will send her more so I need somehow to categorize them so she will access them easier than scrolling to a huge list of books. I found out that Mantano reader supports categories but as far as I can tell only manually. the same goes with most ebook readers that I know. I suppose a work around would be tagging but due to the different formats and many files I would prefer to avoid that (not to mention that tags usually do not show up nicely (like in shelves) on the ebook reader)
Is there a way, an app or something that will allow me to sync books directly to categories on the tablet? or create multiple shelves? For example to have a folder "cooking" and a folder "literature" on the tablet and on dropbox (for example) and sync to the tablet and show up immediately on their respective categories on the ebook reader? or any other application?
Thanks in advance for your help!
EDIT:
I found out that I can create different profiles for the same app with Titanium backup, which could be helpful in my case to use the same book reader and have in one instance some books and in another instance other books, I saw also that there is a widget to change from profile to profile but my question is, can I create a shortcut (not necessarily a widget) that by pressing it will change the profile A and start the app and another shortcut that will change the profile B and start the app? if yes how??
Thanks for all the help!
Since I edited I wanted to bring it to top so people will see it again... I hope someone has an answer... Thank you!
I think I understand what you want to do in general - set everything up on your end, then your mother simply opens the app and finds a neatly organized bookshelf arranged by catagory. And you want to be able to add books as you go.
To be honest, if your mother is really "computer iliterate" I don't think you can do this.
Look maybe at a way to remotley sync two tablets (I have no idea if this is possible). This way you globally manage the whole tablet and your mother does not need to worry about drop box or anything. All she needs to do is open the reader.
Also, on a side note, if you have not already purchased the tablet consider buying her a 7" tablet, I find them MUCH more comfortable for reading.
In fact now that I think about it, look into a Kindle. I've never used one, but I understand they are designed for simplicity of use and I understand that their ereader app is very good at syncing across devices (but maybe only for books purchased through Amazon)
Re: [Q] ebook manager and or Titanium backup
If she just wants it for reading, an e-ink reader is so much better. Battery will last much longer, much easier on the eyes, and you could still manage it on-line.
As it is, I would suggest using something like Google Drive or Drop Box or whatever - organise the books into folders. Easy to find and select to be opened by the reading app.
Sent from my SGH-T999 using xda app-developers app
Thanks for your replies but you both are missing the point.
I know that you can create folders in the file system and go through it until you find what you want, but it has nothing to do with what I am trying to do...
I am trying to sync categories directly to the ebook reader. Kindle app has a very good sync option but does not support categories (as far as I know). And the tablet exists already.
As I asked in another thread, could I use tasker to create a shortcut to change titanium data profile and launch ebook reader at the same time? that way I could create 2 profiles for the same reader and have different books.
Thanks again.
You can create the categories by folder is what I'm suggesting - inside the cloud storage (which would sync, which is what you want to do, yes), and being that they would be stored in the cloud they would sync automatically - she would just need to open it on her end and select a book from the folder and open it - no need for different app profiles or anything. You could just have an account for the cloud storage separately called "books for mom" and put in whatever she wants and update whenever.
That's a simple solution that would do everything you want.
Thanks for your reply again. It will not do exactly what I need as it will require to go through the file manager, locate the folder, locate the book. Even if I set the file manager to start on the specific folder the look and feeling will not be of an ebook reader as the files will have a generic icon and not the book cover icon (if you know any file manager that can read book covers form pdf and epub, and mobi if possible, then I will try it immediately).
I am trying to make things as easy as possible as I am not going to be around to help and from the phone helping is a mess. a file manager will not index the books after that by author, title, recently open etc but if you know any that can handle book covers, I am willing to try.
Thanks
I found a solution, still not exactly what I had in mind but it will do. I had decided that the only way was to use tags in order to short the books the way I wanted but while I was playing with Mantano reader I found out that besides tags they also can show up the folders the books are in! So I can sync with dropbox and then set only these two folders in Mantano reader to import books from. and I say it is not exactly what I had in mind because it shows the full path and I cannot set it as the direct view when the reader starts... Still, it is good enough!
Related
Anyone know of manga/comic viewing apps for the android?
I used to use Cloud Reader on the iPad, but this app is not available on Android as far as I can tell.
smashingblue said:
Anyone know of manga/comic viewing apps for the android?
I used to use Cloud Reader on the iPad, but this app is not available on Android as far as I can tell.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Comics or Mango work for me.
There are a few that I use.
Mangawhat : this program reads directly off of mangareader.com and mangafox.com and a few others.
the other two that I use to read off my memory card are:
SCViewer
jjcomic viewer
i was just using xcomic which i found worked well, it had a database of free comics and they all save to your device if you download. You can double tap on a scene and then tap the right of the screen to have it take you through square by square.
I did a lot of research before porting my CBR's over to my TF. Of everything I was able to track down, I found Perfect Viewer (< Market Link) to be the best fit for me.
It looks good on the TF in portrait mode (you can use landscape but without the ability to display dual page, side-by-side, it is less practical). There is a bigger learning curve with Perfect Viewer, but it has really great customization once you get elbows deep into the settings. You can adjust various page transition effects, loading functions, slideshow settings, set page as wallpaper for the TF, etc.. Some things I learned by trial and error (such as touching up at the very top middle of the portrait screen to go back to the bookshelf or assigning doc titles to the tops of each page and page numbers to the bottom). If you elect to use it, you may want to turn off some things such as all of the "load last" options.
All in all, it's a good fit for me. I loaded up a MicroSD with my entire collection of MAD Magazines (Issue #1 to present), and every issue of Zenoscope's Grimm Fairy Tales to test for load issues and the TF handled the bulk well (though you can toggle "Low Memory Mode" if necessary). Once I was comfortable that I had found my reader, I loaded up the rest of my reading fare.
Manga Watcher is my favorite. It links you to several websites to download from automatically. Just input the series and it'll show you how many chapters are out.
Just remember when you first open it you gotta change the setting to watch it in portrait mode and to set it so when you tap the screen, it'll change the page.
i'm using Perfect Viewer, i like the way it's supposed to work, but i'm having a problem setting the bookshelf to my microsd card...i'm using /removable/microsd/comics as the set path but it keeps saying it can't find the folder.....is it possible to set the bookshelf to a microsd card or do you have to use the internal storage?
krighton said:
i'm using Perfect Viewer, i like the way it's supposed to work, but i'm having a problem setting the bookshelf to my microsd card...i'm using /removable/microsd/comics as the set path but it keeps saying it can't find the folder.....is it possible to set the bookshelf to a microsd card or do you have to use the internal storage?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
My collection is on a MicroSD so I know it works. I use the same address as you (/removable/microsd/comics). Here's a few things you could try:
1. Verify that the files are in the directory you listed.
2. Make sure you spelled the address correctly. If any folders have caps in their name then use the same caps. Make sure you didn't type a "\" instead of a "/". The address in my "Manual input" field is as follows, "/Removable/MicroSD/Comics" (I use caps in folder names.)
3. Check to see that the MicroSD card is, in fact, working.
4. You're using *.CBR and *.CBZ files, correct? Not PDF?
I know the things I listed seem simple, but I can't tell you how many times I tore my hair out trying to figure out something and there was a simple solution that had eluded me during that moment.
caps is the key...
thanks, should have known that might be it.
Droid Comic Viewer is good if you don't need a lot of extra features.
is there any way to increase the size of the bookshelf in prefect viewer? In order to see the books a bit larger, tried the pinch zoom, didn't do anything and can't find an option for that.
krighton said:
is there any way to increase the size of the bookshelf in prefect viewer? In order to see the books a bit larger, tried the pinch zoom, didn't do anything and can't find an option for that.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Unfortunately, no; at least none that I know of. You could always send a suggestion to the creator through the Android Market. I plan on sending a few myself (such as calling up a warning dialog box before completely backing out of the application when hitting the back button; I hate having to relaunch because I went back too far).
I would like to be able to zoom in as well. As it stands, I have to bring up the comic to see the cover, then tap the upper most, middle of the top of the screen to go back to the bookshelf.
I do like that you can see your entire collection, then view it split it up based on the folder layout you set up on the MicroSD card by clicking on the "catagory" button at the top of the bookshelf. I have a huge collection so being able to dedicate the bookshelf to specific folders on the card makes finding things easier.
Manga what
Sent from my X10i using XDA App
Manga Rock!
For my iPhone: Manga Rock and Manga Storm.
For my Nexus 7: Manga Searcher. But I've heard that Manga Rock will come to Android soon. Hopefully, it will be as good as the iOS one. :victory:
smashingblue said:
Anyone know of manga/comic viewing apps for the android?
I used to use Cloud Reader on the iPad, but this app is not available on Android as far as I can tell.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You can use Manga Rock for Android. Really polished and well-functioned manga reader app (Japanese comics).
Here's the download link:
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.notabasement.mangarock.android.app
Kinda hard to use Manga Watcher!
dammit_jill said:
Manga Watcher is my favorite. It links you to several websites to download from automatically. Just input the series and it'll show you how many chapters are out.
Just remember when you first open it you gotta change the setting to watch it in portrait mode and to set it so when you tap the screen, it'll change the page.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
But we need to know the manga title beforehand. It's hard to discover new manga there.
I managed to download the ebook reader from this link
zune://navigate/?appID=b90a5d54-601d-e011-9264-00237de2db9e
but now I cannot find a way to side load my books. if anyone has any idea please help. if you want I can also upload the xap file.
thank you
Update:
the program is located under Applications/Data/B90A5D54-601D-E011-9264-00237DE2DB9E
I then went to Data/isolatedStore and found the 2 books that came with the program, but when I copy my books they do not appear when I launch the program. Then I downloaded a free book from kobo, through the software, and a new folder "Digital Editions" was created with the book I downloaded.
I copied my books in that folder but still nothing. BUT, when I changed the title of one of my books to the title to the one I downloaded, it appeared in the software under the photo and title of the downloaded book, but opened my book. a small victory but not enough...
BTW it was a epub book, not pdf, I still haven't managed to open pdfs, although this program supports pdf.
in IsolatedStore, there is a file EBookstorage.xml and a EBooksettings.xml that I havent managed to copy to my computer to check what is inside; I believe that the solution lies in there. But maybe not...
for every book there is a corresponding image file, so maybe the only thing needed is the image file of the book cover...
I am using this app on a HD2 NODO rooted (Thanks Yuki) without any other problems.
if anyone can help, I would appreciate it. it will be great to have just one app to read both epub and pdf.
managed to sideload books
jardan said:
I managed to download the ebook reader from this link
zune://navigate/?appID=b90a5d54-601d-e011-9264-00237de2db9e
but now I cannot find a way to side load my books. if anyone has any idea please help. if you want I can also upload the xap file.
thank you
Update:
the program is located under Applications/Data/B90A5D54-601D-E011-9264-00237DE2DB9E
I then went to Data/isolatedStore and found the 2 books that came with the program, but when I copy my books they do not appear when I launch the program. Then I downloaded a free book from kobo, through the software, and a new folder "Digital Editions" was created with the book I downloaded.
I copied my books in that folder but still nothing. BUT, when I changed the title of one of my books to the title to the one I downloaded, it appeared in the software under the photo and title of the downloaded book, but opened my book. a small victory but not enough...
BTW it was a epub book, not pdf, I still haven't managed to open pdfs, although this program supports pdf.
in IsolatedStore, there is a file EBookstorage.xml and a EBooksettings.xml that I havent managed to copy to my computer to check what is inside; I believe that the solution lies in there. But maybe not...
for every book there is a corresponding image file, so maybe the only thing needed is the image file of the book cover...
I am using this app on a HD2 NODO rooted (Thanks Yuki) without any other problems.
if anyone can help, I would appreciate it. it will be great to have just one app to read both epub and pdf.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
the app uses epub.
you need the epub and the cover image
name the books accordingly.
use isostorespy to access the isolated storage. on the root of the applications youll find the epubs(marked as unknown file, as well as some jpegs of cover art. you also find an xml file - bookstorage.xml
copy bookstorage.xml to pc and add entries for your new book. the epub and cover art must be dumped in the app iso storage root.
edit the xml to include your books... this what i did to mine
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<Books>
<Book>
<ID>6</ID>
<Title>Passion</Title>
<Author>Lauren Kate</Author>
<BookmarkPath>6Bookmark.xml</BookmarkPath>
<ScrapPath>6Scrap.xml</ScrapPath>
<Category>99</Category>
<PurchaseType>0</PurchaseType>
<EPubSize>0</EPubSize>
<KoboContentType>0</KoboContentType>
<KoboContentID>00000006</KoboContentID>
<KoboUserID></KoboUserID>
<KoboUserKey></KoboUserKey>
<ACSMFilePath></ACSMFilePath>
<Publisher>Lauren Kate Books</Publisher>
<CoverImage>Passion.jpg</CoverImage>
<Description></Description>
<FilePath>\Applications\Data\b90a5d54-601d-e011-9264-00237de2db9e\Data\IsolatedStore\Passion.epub</FilePath>
<ISBN>00000006</ISBN>
<ReadStatus>Close</ReadStatus>
<TotalPage>0</TotalPage>
<CurrentReadPage>0</CurrentReadPage>
<LastReadTime>0</LastReadTime>
<IsFavorite>False</IsFavorite>
<ImageUrl />
</Book>
the part above should be merged with the bookstorage.xml
if you notice
id = 6 (because this is the 6th book i add. in the beginning there will be 2 default books so youll start by adding book no3 = id=3
bookmarkpath = (id#)Bookmark.xml ---> example if id is 3 = 3Bookmark.xml
ScrapPath = (id#)Scrap.xml -----> example if id is 3 = 3Scrap.xml
author, publisher and title is self explanatory......
other values leave blank or default as pasted above
this is ****ing unorganized... gonna make a video later... and i hope i can finish coding the uploader soon so that we dont have to do all the ****e above. pardon my french....
thanks. I just saw your answer, sorry for that. I will try it tomorrow. If you finished coding, please tell me. I am really interested in having this program working properly.
thanks
Samsung ebook
I know this is an old thread, but could you post the samsung ebook .xap?
Sounds a lot of effort - try Bookviser
Sent from my HD7 using Board Express
Hi,
I was wondering if anyone could give me a semi-technical reason as to why you can't open multiple documents natively with the transformer. Natively, it's impossible open up document1.doc and then have document2.doc open at the same time and quickly switch between the 2 documents without having to manually find and reopen the other file.
At first, I thought it was something like the same application couldn't have 2 instances open at once as an OS limitation. However, it IS possible to have the same application with 2 different documents open at once but not without using multiple file managers (theres a vid on transformerforums demonstrating that if you open different files with the same app, but via different file managers, you can switch between multiple docs)
So why isn't it possible just to have 2 instances of the same application opened with different files without having to do multiple file explorer work around?
Also, do you think this will be/is without the work around in ICS?
Thanks in advanced
I don't think there is anything in Android that limits you to only a single document open at a time.. I think rather it is simply a limitation of the app you're using. If the developer had created a tabbed workspace or some other method of navigating through multiple documents opened simultaneously, it should work even with Honeycomb or Gingerbread. There's no reason to think that simply updating to Ice Cream Sandwich will add this feature to the app as it exists.. the developer will need to add in this functionality.
Have you tried a different app for viewing/editing your documents?
That's true, problem would be solved with tabbed browsing. Can you suggest a decent office style suite that supports tabbed browsing?
However, it's not possible to open multiple instances of pretty much any apps from what I can tell - that seems to be a limitation of the operating system does it not? But at the same time, it's not an OS limitation, because it is possible using multiple explorers to do a work around to have multiple instances open, but not without an impractical work around.
I find it strange that when I use the explorer to open a word document in any other app, it still appears on the "multi-task" bit as the explorer application. If I load the explorer app again (say to navigate to a different file) it closes the document I opened.
Thanks in advanced
You say explorer like ur talking about windows lol. Kinda confusing to picture exactly what ur doing, but i think i get it. As far as i know, there arent any word processing apps for android which allow multiple documents to be open side by side. Id bet its NOT an android limitation, as multiple internet browser tabs fit under the same concept(sorta) and probably take up much more memory than multiple text documents. its just an idea that i assume hasnt been ijmplemented yet. Id email the devs of whichever word processing app you use and ask them if its something theyd be interested in adding to their app. The only workaround i can think of for the time being, is to use two or more different word processing apps (for example polaris and quickoffice) simultaneously, and use the task switcher to go back and forth.
Just re-read ur post and saw you mentioned this...
MrGuy said:
At first, I thought it was something like the same application couldn't have 2 instances open at once as an OS limitation. However, it IS possible to have the same application with 2 different documents open at once but not without using multiple file managers (theres a vid on transformerforums demonstrating that if you open different files with the same app, but via different file managers, you can switch between multiple docs)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I guess that would be another work around, if it really works. that seems almost like a bug to me lol. Just wondering though, how would you switch between the documents if they are open in the same app? Would the task switcher show two instances of the same app open?
Okay, maybe not a "limitation" of the OS, more a "feature" where if you try and open the same application when its' already in the "recent items" it just restores the previous one from previous items rather than opening a new instance simultaneously.
Yeah, it's true, try it. If you have multiple file explorers (e.g. ES explorer and file manager) go into ES explorer, open up document1.doc in DocumentToGo (for example) and then open up file manager and open document2.doc in DocumentsToGo. It seems android opens DTG within the explorer/manager, so if you switch between the 2 different managers using the recent items, you can see DocumentsToGo open twice, once with doc1 and once with doc2. (I can't take credit for this btw, I made a similar request as to if its possible to open 2 docs at once on transformerforums and someone made a video showing that work around - I would post a link, but despite being a member/lurker here for over 5 years, I still can't be trusted)
I may just have to try and put my CS degree to some use and try make a tabbed word processor.
Thanks for the responses
Somewhat relevant to this... whatever happened to Onskreen? I thought they were trying to appeal to Google or something to get some real multitasking on tablets?
Alright, so this use is very specific and I'd be surprised if there is an app that could do what I need but I'm going to try anyway.
I have a RSS feed where each new article has a PDF attachment - in fact, the RSS feed is to get this particular periodical which is released in the PDF format.
I've tried a couple of RSS readers and they sync the new post but not the PDF file. I want to be able to download PDF files from the reader and either read it in the reader or open it using another PDF reader.
Are there any RSS readers which can download attachments?
I don't know about Metro-style apps, but the built in RSS feature of IE can do file download links. It's not the best of interfaces (by a considerable margin), though. Outlook's reader may suit you better except it's not available for RT.
GoodDayToDie said:
I don't know about Metro-style apps, but the built in RSS feature of IE can do file download links. It's not the best of interfaces (by a considerable margin), though. Outlook's reader may suit you better except it's not available for RT.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I didn't know that IE had an RSS feature. I'll check that out. Thanks!
GoodDayToDie said:
I don't know about Metro-style apps, but the built in RSS feature of IE can do file download links. It's not the best of interfaces (by a considerable margin), though. Outlook's reader may suit you better except it's not available for RT.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks! This worked out fine. I was able to subscribe to the RSS feed and select "Download attached files" in the options. This worked perfectly for me.
The non-touchiness (did I just make up a word?) is an issue but once I had the setup, I don't ever need to look at the feed itself. I can just look at the folder where files are downloaded and other stuff happens in the background.
Thanks again!
One more question though - is there a way to specify the location of the downloaded attachments in IE? By default, it stores attachments in /temp/Internet/ ... blah. I was able to pin this folder to the start menu for easy access but it would be nice to tell IE where to store the attachments.
Any help here would be appreciated.
You're welcome! I'm glad that worked out for you. Yeah, IE has actually had an RSS/ATOM feed reader since version 7, but it's gotten more and more hidden with each release (back in IE7, you could select options like having it play a sound when a feed was discovered, for example). IE10 has improved the reader a bit, but it's still kind of hidden.
I didn't find a way to specify where to deliver the downloaded files, sadly. The best option I know of is to use a directory symbolic link so that when IE thinks it's writing to the temp folder, it's actually writing to a more accessible location that you selected. However, setting up one of these requires using an admin command line, and carries some risk of messing things up. If you would like to do so anyhow, specify the full paths to your temp folder (where the downloads are going now) and the folder you want to put them in instead, and I'll give you a simple script to make it happen if possible, or at least tell you what you would need to do.
Thanks for the offer! Let me dig around a little bit more and if all else fails, I'll come back to you
I am looking for a good app that can handle all my reading/book needs. I want it to be able to load ebooks that I manually put on it, and integrate with Google Play Books/Kindle/Nook, and I want to be able to manually paste in text of short stories that I find online to create a mini ebook within the app itself. If there is a simple way to create a ebook file off of plain text, thats fine, if i can then load it into this app. The ability to load audiobooks(just large audio files, often mp3) would also be good, but I can also just do that through Google Music if necessary.
Does anyone know of any such app? Am I dreaming too big?
Dreaming way too big.. lol.
The only way to get access to the major services' books (Google/Kindle/Nook) is to use their official apps. I don't think there are any 3rd party apps than can access their servers. Google Play does allow you to upload .pdfs and .epubs to their servers, but i believe only through their website IIRC.
Moon Reader is a nice app you can use for files on your device.
I don't know of any apps that can create .epub. But google and you shall find.
yea thought so
your information is really helpful. i had no idea i could upload pdfs to play books, thats a huge helper thank you.
Calibre may be of some help to you. It is a computer application that can import ebooks from many sources (paid-DRM/free) and convert e-formats. You can access on your device from anywhere with Aldiko Reader--maybe others, too. Once I buy a book from Amazon or Nook or Kobo, I import it into Calibre. I can also import texts that I create through a word processor. The program does much more than I ever use or will use. You do have to have a computer.
posted from my N7 FHD via Tapatalk
ritchea said:
Calibre may be of some help to you. It is a computer application that can import ebooks from many sources (paid-DRM/free) and convert e-formats. You can access on your device from anywhere with Aldiko Reader--maybe others, too. Once I buy a book from Amazon or Nook or Kobo, I import it into Calibre. I can also import texts that I create through a word processor. The program does much more than I ever use or will use. You do have to have a computer.
posted from my N7 FHD via Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
interesting and will probably end up being very helpful! thanks!
+1 on Calibre! No matter where my ebooks come from I import them into Calibre, convert them and upload them to Play Books so that they sync across all my devices.