Google Reader Mobile (i) - Windows Phone 7 General

So I'm an avid user of Google Reader. The simplicity and speed is second to none IMO. I have used reader mobile on Android and iOS, as well as WP7. All work well but for some reason, the scaling appears to be off when viewed in IE mobile on WP7.
For clarification URL is: http://google.com/reader/i
Using Android (800x480) to view show about 7-9 article headers with reasonable font size....however, on WP7, the scaling is off - the graphics look jagged and text is zoomed in about 2x more than on other devices, only 4-5 article headers can be seen. There is no pinch to zoom on this page and I can't seem to find anywhere to scale things back.
Anybody else found a usable method to zoom out in the google reader page using native browser in WP7?

bitemydonkey said:
So I'm an avid user of Google Reader. The simplicity and speed is second to none IMO. I have used reader mobile on Android and iOS, as well as WP7. All work well but for some reason, the scaling appears to be off when viewed in IE mobile on WP7.
For clarification URL is: http://google.com/reader/i
Using Android (800x480) to view show about 7-9 article headers with reasonable font size....however, on WP7, the scaling is off - the graphics look jagged and text is zoomed in about 2x more than on other devices, only 4-5 article headers can be seen. There is no pinch to zoom on this page and I can't seem to find anywhere to scale things back.
Anybody else found a usable method to zoom out in the google reader page using native browser in WP7?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
What settings are you using on IE? Desktop or mobile view? Try to change that settings and reload the page and see, if it's better. But I really recommend using a dedicated reader app like feed me, which can be found in my signature. You can import all the feeds from your google reader account there.

As an alternative, consider the excellent app "Wonder Reader". "Next Gen Reader" is also quite good but WR is just the best one around.

dkp1977 said:
What settings are you using on IE? Desktop or mobile view? Try to change that settings and reload the page and see, if it's better. But I really recommend using a dedicated reader app like feed me, which can be found in my signature. You can import all the feeds from your google reader account there.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
And Mobile view may help.
The Desktop View will make IE kick in it's automatic "make this or that readable" which really messes up the fonts.
Android has an Official Google Reader app with Push Updates so they don't have to worry about that.
The Google Reader Site is really optimized for HTML5 browsers (Desktop and Browser). I wonder if it's even possible to get the mobile version working correctly on IE Mobile...
Another thing... You can subscribe to RSS feads via Windows Live. However, I do not know how to get to the updates that show up in my feed. All my friends see them and as me what it is, but I can't see it

NOPE
dkp1977 said:
What settings are you using on IE? Desktop or mobile view? Try to change that settings and reload the page and see, if it's better. But I really recommend using a dedicated reader app like feed me, which can be found in my signature. You can import all the feeds from your google reader account there.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
View looks exactly the same in both modes.
I know there are a ton of RSS readers out there but I've tried them all and none of them seem to work well enough to justify the cost.
The reason I prefer the google mobile (i) reader is:
1. I don't have to update my feed list or anything like that
2. It's faster than any RSS client as IE is native an loads instantly
3. Feeds stay totally in sync across all platforms so I can pick up reading on my desktop / ipad / wp7 phone
4. It's free
5. I like the simple view of all my feeds in a single easy to scroll view.
If I could just find a way to adjust the page scaling, it would be perfect!

Did you also try the two I mentioned? They are Google Readers so work just ad you expect GR to work.
Sent from my Omnia 7 using XDA Windows Phone 7 App

Try Yomomedia7, tile based google reader client, it's very wp7-ish
Sent from my 7 Mozart T8698 using XDA Windows Phone 7 App

Related

Top 3 third party applications

What are your top 3 third party applications that you would love to have on your Windows Phone 7 Series? Most used applications for your daily routines, works, entertainment, what not ... Top 3 applications that you have in mind when asked about mobile applications.
Interesting to know so we could see what users expect to have on WP7 in terms of application.
It does not have to be Windows Mobile 6.x applications. If you think certain iPhone / Android / BB / Symbian apps thats fine.
I start with my top 3:
1. Offline navigation software
- like TomTom, CoPilot, iGo.
2. Opera Mini
- I just love the speed, thats all.
3. Good Facebook client
- Microsoft has one for WM6, but I expect much better than that. I read that iPhone version is better.
I basically use my phone for calls, messages and development... being last one like the only reason why I didn't keep my cheap old Nokia phone. Sometimes I'm using weather, GPS, reading emails or google for this or that but that's all and I'm just happy that I just can do such things whenever I would need them. I'm not really a crazy apps freak....
Got to be iGo as one of them for me!
gogol said:
3. Good Facebook client
- Microsoft has one for WM6, but I expect much better than that. I read that iPhone version is better.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The OS comes with great facebook integration already built in, no need for an app!
My top apps are:
FPSeCE (Playstation Emulator)
Spacetime 4.0 (Graphing Calculator Software)
Pandora
I know that, but I have doubt with that Facebook integration.
Not that I am saying it is not good, but from what I saw ... the integration is split into 2 hubs ... People hub where you can see status update of your Facebook friends and Photo/Pictures hub where you can see Facebook photo albums of your friends.
With dedicated Facebook app, all those will come in the same flow of information.
Well, not a big deal really, because I am using http://touch.facebook.com via web browser (Opera Mini).
Kloc said:
The OS comes with great facebook integration already built in, no need for an app!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
gogol said:
Not that I am saying it is not good, but from what I saw ... the integration is split into 2 hubs ... People hub where you can see status update of your Facebook friends and Photo/Pictures hub where you can see Facebook photo albums of your friends.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Which, IMO, is the best approach possible. Heck, I might even start using Facebook this way. Why would I need that information in a separate application? Why would I want to view photos in anything but a photo viewing app? Or where else do I need contact information apart from the contact app?
Also, this approach theoretically should aggregate information from different networks in a way that makes sense. I mean, if you are a member of both Facebook and, say, Linked-In, would you really want two separate applications to handle data from these networks?
1.Opera Mobile 10
To read 3 different newspapers each morning on my Omnia II and have all my desktop bookmarks synced OTA to my phone. Been using Opera since v3.0 or so, love it.
2.GSPlayer
to listen to somafm.com !
3. Googlemaps
Works good enough, could be done much better (font size can not be set !) and leaks 2 DC's each time you start and stop it. Have to take another look at bing maps soon
Coreplayer!!!!!!!!
IGO
BattClock (used to display battery info)
For me, if I can reduce time spent then I will choose that way.
Instead of going into 2 hubs to read status updates AND photo updates, I would prefer to just go once to look them all
Like I said, this is not a big deal because there is facebook website itself which can be accessed via web browser.
Probably because I use facebook a lot
Oh yes, the idea of multiple social network integration is nice, dont get me wrong. Probably just because of that, I would start using Twitter! Atm I am only using FB.
vangrieg said:
Which, IMO, is the best approach possible. Heck, I might even start using Facebook this way. Why would I need that information in a separate application? Why would I want to view photos in anything but a photo viewing app? Or where else do I need contact information apart from the contact app?
Also, this approach theoretically should aggregate information from different networks in a way that makes sense. I mean, if you are a member of both Facebook and, say, Linked-In, would you really want two separate applications to handle data from these networks?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Top applications: 'Real' Map-reader/GPS, Ebook reader,
Well, I might not be a typical user (and actually one of the things I liked about 'Windows Mobile Classic' was that it had a diverse ecosystem, catering for non-typical users!) but these are the two apps I use most:
1) A GPS/map-reader that works with real maps (i.e. topographic maps such as, in the UK, the Ordinance Survey series)
- so ideally, Memory-Map will port their software to WP7
2) An ebook reader that can read EPUB and TXT formats
- actually this is such an important use-case for me that I wrote a program to do it (see this thread). I expect to start porting it to WP7 just as soon as the SDK becomes available.
Windows Phone 7 is a paradigm-shift in how phones operate. Apps will no longer be individual screens, but will be subsumed into the overall user interface. Facebook is the most obvious example of that. If you take Tomtom, for instance, it will be peppered all over the phone in any of the following ways;
People Hub: Select a person and then hit the menu option to navigate to their home or workplace
Calendar Hub: Select a Calendar Entry and then hit the menu option to navigate to the Location of that entry.
Bing Search: Hit a search result to be navigated to its location if it is a real world place like a pizza restaurant, for instance. Once Tomtom is installed, instead of just the one option to be directed there by Bing Maps, you'll have a second option as well to navigate there by Tomtom.
Only once you're actually on the road will you get the Tomtom screen up with the 3D view of the road. The rest of the Tomtom UI will be embedded into these hubs.
I'd expect Twitter, Google Maps, Flickr etc to all melt into the phone's UI as simply extra menu options.
I think this is largely why the App list accessible from the home screen is so basic - it won't be the usual way to start an app. Normally the app will be called from a menu in part of one of the hubs. In this way, apps will organically feel like just an extension of the phone's usual functionality. Heck, I can even see the Photos hub doing something like footprints and recording the GPS coordinates, so you can use the Tomtom menu item in there to navigate to the place in the photo!
This is going to be totally awesome. And I think it's partly why the question of "Does it multitask" isn't so clear-cut...
I use my phone as a phone and as a PDA so most of what I need is already there (calendar, alarm, agenda, Excel, etc)
1) But I have to have an ewallet. I use SPB at the moment and fully expect them to port it to WP7.
2) I also would like some ereader that handles most file types (EPUB mostly).
Could care less about the whole Facebook/Twitter thing. Just hope they don't get in the way of how I use my phone. Will have to wait to see how the interface can be changed. If I have to have Facebook/Twitter in the middle of my processes I will probably not get a WP7 phone.
donnaw said:
Could care less about the whole Facebook/Twitter thing.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sorry that doesn't make sense? Do you mean you could NOT care less?
I would like to see all my apps on it I hope I will be able to port them!
I love opera and youtube
giggles33 said:
I love opera and youtube
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Opera should be made redundant by the new version of IE contained in WP7S. Youtube will become a subsumed service as part of the Pictures & Videos hub in the UI, and will simply be another source of video from the cloud, in the same way that Facebook posted videos are. I would also imagine that the Bing search engine will return Youtube hits.
Basically, be prepared for apps to function in an entirely different way to what you're used to - they will become simply extensions of your phone's functionality - many apps will be able to avoid having their own screens at all and instead rely on the hubs to provide their input/output.
Jim Coleman said:
Opera should be made redundant by the new version of IE contained in WP7S.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It's not likely that we'll see a version of Opera on WP7S as it's impossible to do a decent browser engine in managed code, because alternative browser makers will be the last to get access to native APIs (if ever), and probably IE will be much better than what we have now, but alternative browsers will not be made "redundant" by this. I can bet IE won't have text reflow, for example, which I personally love and severely miss when I try to use iPhone's Safari.
vangrieg said:
I can bet IE won't have text reflow, for example, which I personally love and severely miss when I try to use iPhone's Safari.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You would lose that bet.
I would like to see Skype on Win Phone 7
Making competitors (Opera must earn a lot of money with their OEM deals) redundant is just plainly impossible nowadays without some sort of "deal" made. It's really very interesting what will happen soon.

[Q] Can anyone recomend a good RSS reader?

Hi,
I've tried a number of them so far and none of them are what I want:
gReader for whatever reason deletes a post as soon as you've read it return to the list of articles it didn't do that until this version and I can't figure out how to turn that off, there's no OPML import or export and it seems to not find a single URL I feed it for any new valid feed.
I've tried others but so far none has done what I need it to do, just download feeds, and images, if associated, have links showing, be customizable in that it can be organized into folders for feeds, not take over the entire device while sycing as gReader now all of a sudden does. it's become a huge CPU hog while syncing.
Any and all suggestiosn would be most appreciated.
NewsRob is what I've been using since I got my first Android phone, sounds like it should do what you're looking for and it can sync with Google Reader as well.
datajosh said:
NewsRob is what I've been using since I got my first Android phone, sounds like it should do what you're looking for and it can sync with Google Reader as well.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Funny, just installed it. How do you import or export an OPML file using this application though?
I have looked extensively for a good rss reader. I found Newsroom to be the best out of all of them. Personal opinion, but give it a try. Its functional, pretty, and works well.
superevilllama said:
I have looked extensively for a good rss reader. I found Newsroom to be the best out of all of them. Personal opinion, but give it a try. Its functional, pretty, and works well.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I appreciate the recommendation, only issue with Newsroom is that it doesn't have gReader support. there is a four-month tech support thread that has the devs at the trileet company saying because the back end of Newsroomis proprietary and google reader isn't, that they would lose major functionality.
If they can't support google feeds then it's just not worth it.
I think gReader works great. I was one of the people who pushed for 2 way syncing and he made it happen. As for the article disappearing after you read it and press back, it's been like that for a while. If you want to save it, mark it as unread or star it. This is exactly the same way it works in Google Reader. I add or subtract rss feeds maybe once a year so I don't care how well gReader does it. I can just wait till I get to a real computer and do it there.
I use Greed (Lite) - free in the market. It integrates nicely with google reader, has the ability to follow links, and filter read/unread. Also has widgets that can be placed on your homescreens. No importing/exporting required... just provide your google account info and it syncs all of your feeds/folders.
Its worth a try... doesnt cost anything
Been using FeedR. It does cost some money, but its a very good reader with Google Reader support. Works fast, and looks great.
prjkthack said:
Been using FeedR. It does cost some money, but its a very good reader with Google Reader support. Works fast, and looks great.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I use FeedR too and agree that it is very good.
Sent from my HTC EVO 4G
Second that
ydnandy said:
I use Greed (Lite) - free in the market. It integrates nicely with google reader, has the ability to follow links, and filter read/unread. Also has widgets that can be placed on your homescreens. No importing/exporting required... just provide your google account info and it syncs all of your feeds/folders.
Its worth a try... doesnt cost anything
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sent from my PC36100 using XDA App
I third that
greed lite is nice
I currently use gReader. The problem you're describing about articles disappearing is that the app is set on default too only show new articles. The circle icon toggles between showing new articlesand showing all articles. Just toggle that and it will give you back your read articles. The check mark icon is to mark all articles as read. After I'm done skipping through the articles I don't want too read, I mark off all the remaining articles as read so it doesn't show up anymore
ive been using pulse and feedr. and so far. feedr seems to be the best one ive tried

E-Readers

So what is everyone using for an EReader on these tablets. I am a WM guy looking to get one of these or suggesting it to a coworker. She wanted an ereader machine and was looking at the NookColor or Cruz Tablet then I saw these and I want to be able to show it to her.
I use the Nook app and it works pretty well. Anything I have book wise that isn't ePub I use Calibre to convert it. Probably the most used app on my device.
I use Kindle on my A101 and I am very pleased with it! It seems to work flawlessly.
Be aware that these Archos tablets seem to have a problem with some readers cutting the last line off the screen due to the way Archos implements it's standard buttons.
i use aldiko, it imports epubs which i convert all my pdfs, etc to through calibre.
it doesn't cut off lines on my a70
Moon+
I've been using the Moon+ Reader, because I like the smooth-scroll function.
I'm using laputa and calibri to convert files in epub version. it's quite perfect...
Although it's not ideal, eReaders such as Aldiko have options for margins etc on the screen which could help combat the last line of text being cut off.
Anyone using Aldiko on their Archos? If so do you have any problems?
Sent from my HTC HD2 using XDA App
TubbyHamster said:
Although it's not ideal, eReaders such as Aldiko have options for margins etc on the screen which could help combat the last line of text being cut off.
Anyone using Aldiko on their Archos? If so do you have any problems?
Sent from my HTC HD2 using XDA App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
digibucc said:
i use aldiko, it imports epubs which i convert all my pdfs, etc to through calibre.
it doesn't cut off lines on my a70
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
rcftw! I am using Aldiko, and no setting changes were necessary. I just installed it and it worked.
Ahh, totally missed that line of your post first time round.
Just ordered my A70 on Friday (pixmania for £156, all out of stock now), so excited to get it an Aldiko is one of the main reasons.
Thanks for the answer.
Sent from my HTC HD2 using XDA App
using aldiko, the version from appslib doesnt have the cutoff problem
ibietto said:
I'm using laputa and calibri to convert files in epub version. it's quite perfect...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This is the combo I've settled on. Works well, although I can't seem to get images working in the library view. Any ideas?
TubbyHamster said:
Although it's not ideal, eReaders such as Aldiko have options for margins etc on the screen which could help combat the last line of text being cut off.
Anyone using Aldiko on their Archos? If so do you have any problems?
Sent from my HTC HD2 using XDA App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I tried Aldiko from the Google Market and the software buttons cut off the bottom of the text. The only option was to increase the margins and font to as large as possible. Didn't make for a very good reading experience.
lbhocky19 said:
using aldiko, the version from appslib doesnt have the cutoff problem
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This is true, but it did crop the top in the main bookshelf view... which meant the titles of my books went missing. Really wish Aldiko worked. It's the prettiest of them all for sure. Such a nice smooth scroll too.
I`m looking ereader, which allows to translate unknown word to Russian from English.
Kindle on A70
I use Kindle on my A70. Probably the most used app I have. It lost the last line running 2.1 so I had to use Aldiko. After 2.2 posted Kindle works flawlessly. YMMV.
I use fbreader.
Sent from ARCHOS 70 using Tapatalk.
Laputa (get it while you can, the free books available are bound to get the developer busted)
Nook for my DRM books.
I'm looking forward to getting an Archos 101 and sticking all my 1000+ page school books on there. One thing that bums me out is that I haven't found an app for android that supports chapters in .pdf like adobe reader for windows does.
And converting to ePub makes it lose it's formatting, so I can't, for example, just go to a certain page, and have it be the one I intend it to be.
Anyone know of anything that will fix what issues I'm having?
mrkniceguy said:
I tried Aldiko from the Google Market and the software buttons cut off the bottom of the text. The only option was to increase the margins and font to as large as possible. Didn't make for a very good reading experience.
This is true, but it did crop the top in the main bookshelf view... which meant the titles of my books went missing. Really wish Aldiko worked. It's the prettiest of them all for sure. Such a nice smooth scroll too.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
that is weird. I am running a 7/2.2 w/aldiko and yeah the main page titles are messed up, but not cropped. All my covers work so that is what i was reading for the title anyway. the books themselves read great...
maybe it's to do with ads? i'm using aldiko premium, maybe the free version has adds that gets in the way? idk...
odd.
micmcguire said:
Laputa (get it while you can, the free books available are bound to get the developer busted)
Nook for my DRM books.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm pretty sure all the free books with Laputa are public domain. You can find those same books for free at Project Gutenberg, and even through the Kindle app (again for free).
hurrpancakes said:
I'm looking forward to getting an Archos 101 and sticking all my 1000+ page school books on there. One thing that bums me out is that I haven't found an app for android that supports chapters in .pdf like adobe reader for windows does.
And converting to ePub makes it lose it's formatting, so I can't, for example, just go to a certain page, and have it be the one I intend it to be.
Anyone know of anything that will fix what issues I'm having?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm in much the same boat.
The other thing I haven't found in a PDF reader is the ability to have a fixed zoom level and switch pages at that zoom level. Once you zoom in a little, the two apps I've tried (DocsToGo and Adobe's own app) want to float around each individual page.
What I want is to center at, say, 125% zoom and just be able to switch pages with every one of them rendered centered at 125%.
Sorry
The Twilight series is not public domain.

Best RSS Reader App

I'm wondering what RSS reader/google reader type apps you guys are using?
I have gReader Pro, Reader HD, FeedR, and NewsRob Pro. I have already also used the default google reader app and Just Reader and a few others. I still haven't found a google reader app that looks and works great. The main issues I have with the listed reader apps are that most don't display images properly, as in 70% of the screen is for the feed but pictures from flickr rss feeds or tumblr only show up as a small box fitting 10% of the screen; tons of unused space. Would be nice for an RSS reader app that smartly adjusted pictures for optimal screen usage.
Wish they'd make Reeder for android, that rss app is nearly perfect.
gReader Pro. Best interface/everything.
Personally I love Reader HD
to each their own.
Reader HD or the official Reader App for me. Maybe flip board when it gets optimized for tablets.
Sent from my Nexus 7 using xda premium
What don't you like about JustReader? My go to tablet reader. Pictures show up pretty good, though not perfect. As for why an app doesn't do what you want it to do, trust me, it's a stupidly hard thing to do. You'd think it would be built in to android to make that an option, but by the time you are allowed to measure pixel size, all the automatic calls have passed. It takes some rewriting of how views measure themselves. I went through that with my Read It Later app I was working on before I canned it when Pocket came out.
For the apps that overcame that issue (JustReader being one of them) you then have the problem of online pictures being small. A 320x480 picture would be about 2.7" diagonally on a 7" 1280*800 screen. If you look at a feed like The Verge that uses large pictures, you will seem them fill edge to edge (on JustReader). However, other places use much smaller pictures. Then you have the problem that a lot of places send smaller pictures over RSS. For example, LifeHacker uses ~600x400 pictures on their website, but half that size on their RSS page. I will say I wish Just Reader handled images a little better in that it still centered the picture above the text (not hard to do, but I guess that was the devs design choice), but it scales pictures up to, but not past the devices native resolution, but it cannot magically make pictures higher res. None of these can. The alternative is super pixelated larger pictures.
*I don't mean to sound like a JustReader fanboy, it's simply the app I use and have experience with. I'm sure many of the other apps handle this the same way. I also feel that this is the most "Reeder" like app I've used. In fact, I prefer it due to the more customizable swipe gestures.
E_man5112 said:
What don't you like about Just Reader? My go to tablet reader. Pictures show up pretty good, though not perfect. As for why an app doesn't do what you want it to do, trust me, it's a stupidly hard thing to do. You'd think it would be built in to android to make that an option, but by the time you are allowed to measure pixel size, all the automatic calls have passed. It takes some rewriting of how views measure themselves. I went through that with my Read It Later app I was working on before I canned it when Pocket came out.
For the apps that overcame that issue (Just Reader being one of them) you then have the problem of online pictures being small. A 320x480 picture would be about 2.7" diagonally on a 7" 1280*800 screen. If you look at a feed like The Verge that uses large pictures, you will seem them fill edge to edge (on Just Reader). However, other places use much smaller pictures. Then you have the problem that a lot of places send smaller pictures over RSS. For example, LifeHacker uses ~600x400 pictures on their website, but half that size on their RSS page. I will say I wish Just Reader handled images a little better in that it still centered the picture above the text (not hard to do, but I guess that was the devs design choice), but it scales pictures up to, but not past the devices native resolution, but it cannot magically make pictures higher res. None of these can. The alternative is super pixelated larger pictures.
*I don't mean to sound like a Just Reader fanboy, it's simply the app I use and have experience with. I'm sure many of the other apps handle this the same way. I also feel that this is the most "Reeder" like app I've used. In fact, I prefer it due to the more customizable swipe gestures.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Is Just Reader and app, or do you mean Google Reader?
If you mean Google Reader, does it work with podcasts?
ace7196 said:
Is Just Reader and app, or do you mean Google Reader?
If you mean Google Reader, does it work with podcasts?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I mean JustReader (no space, my bad). It claims podcast support in the free version, but I've never done that. Always kept podcasts and rss seperate.
gReaderPro. Best RSS reader available for Android from the functionality point of view, if you subscribe to dozens of feeds like I do it is really the way to go. If your RSS needs are more casual stuff like Flipboard and Currents or Pulse may suffice (prettier to look at).
ace7196 said:
gReader Pro. Best interface/everything.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I agree.
Greader Pro. Its the best I've used. The layout is good, it's fast and it's reliable.
Sent from my Nexus 7 using xda premium
You guys not using google current? You could import your rss from your google reader directly in the apps itself, pretty awesome
wugui said:
You guys not using google current? You could import your rss from your google reader directly in the apps itself, pretty awesome
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If only it had 2 way sync. As it is, I don't want to see an article in both currents, and google reader, such as on the desktop.
E_man5112 said:
If only it had 2 way sync. As it is, I don't want to see an article in both currents, and google reader, such as on the desktop.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
oh right, that is one issue, didnt thought of it as i dont always read everything :laugh:
E_man5112 said:
What don't you like about JustReader? My go to tablet reader. Pictures show up pretty good, though not perfect. As for why an app doesn't do what you want it to do, trust me, it's a stupidly hard thing to do. You'd think it would be built in to android to make that an option, but by the time you are allowed to measure pixel size, all the automatic calls have passed. It takes some rewriting of how views measure themselves. I went through that with my Read It Later app I was working on before I canned it when Pocket came out.
For the apps that overcame that issue (JustReader being one of them) you then have the problem of online pictures being small. A 320x480 picture would be about 2.7" diagonally on a 7" 1280*800 screen. If you look at a feed like The Verge that uses large pictures, you will seem them fill edge to edge (on JustReader). However, other places use much smaller pictures. Then you have the problem that a lot of places send smaller pictures over RSS. For example, LifeHacker uses ~600x400 pictures on their website, but half that size on their RSS page. I will say I wish Just Reader handled images a little better in that it still centered the picture above the text (not hard to do, but I guess that was the devs design choice), but it scales pictures up to, but not past the devices native resolution, but it cannot magically make pictures higher res. None of these can. The alternative is super pixelated larger pictures.
*I don't mean to sound like a JustReader fanboy, it's simply the app I use and have experience with. I'm sure many of the other apps handle this the same way. I also feel that this is the most "Reeder" like app I've used. In fact, I prefer it due to the more customizable swipe gestures.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I just retried JustReader and you were right! So far on the Nexus 7 it seems to work the best for what I'm looking for. I spend way too much money on RSS apps lol, but thankfully I already owned JustReader from a few months ago. Thanks man.
Try Freely. Great RSS app much like Flip board. I love it
Sent from my Nexus 7 using xda app-developers app
is there any RSS app that does not use Google? i use to use News Room, but it seems to be abandoned and is not updated since ICS..
I use Feedly, works great on android and on desktop in Firefox or chrome
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus
Reader HD isn't just a good rss app it's one of the better android apps I've used. Very slick and just loaded with features. I'm impressed and happy every time I use it.
Sent from my Nexus 7
nigelw said:
I use Feedly, works great on android and on desktop in Firefox or chrome
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus
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Ditto. Feedly is great on JB, but its frustrating that it doesn't work on ICS. If Google Currents would support the organization of feeds into groups like Google Reader does I'd be all over it.
ReaderHD here, I like the mobilization options.

What are some of the better Ereader apps on Android?

I'm an avid ebook Ereader (ePub specifically) and was looking for some decent Ereader apps for my Nexus 4. I love the iBooks app on my iPad, specifically it's ability to display progress as PAGES in the book, rather than percentages. That just doesn't work for me, so if there was a decent app with a page number progress bar that you guys use, I'd love to hear about it! Thanks!
Update:
Thanks to the users who replied to this thread and sent me in the right direction, I found what I was looking for! While reaching the clean lines and streamlined interface of Google Play Books was a bit out of reach, the two apps that I narrowed it down to in the end were Mantano Reader and Aldiko. They had a nice easy to use interface that was very much in line with the interface that I was looking for, coming here from Apple's iBooks app.
I managed to sync my entire Calibre library effortlessly, using their Calibre Companion App (only $3), so that was a pleasant surprise. I tried the free content server method, but apparently that's not a viable method on Nexus devices because of their lack of some sort of usb storage compatibility (I wasn't completely sure but it just didn't work despite my best efforts).
At that point, I believed it to be a toss up, until I began to import a few of my books in. I discovered the covers were rather off on both, despite the fact I had painstakingly inserted accurate and high quality covers on all my ebooks. I researched why that could be and learned that some apps can only display jpegs as covers, so I went back and converted the epubs back to epub with the option "No SVG Cover" checked in EPUB OUTPUT during conversion. I reloaded the books and it seems like there was one true winner. Aldiko!
Yes, it doesn't have all the options that some of the other readers do, but for me, when I'm reading, I want everything to get out of the way except my paper and my text and for those of you who enjoy reading the way it is with physical books, no shaded progress bars on the bottom and such, try this out!
Thank you for all your help!
talhak91 said:
I'm an avid ebook Ereader (ePub specifically) and was looking for some decent Ereader apps for my Nexus 4. I love the iBooks app on my iPad, specifically it's ability to display progress as PAGES in the book, rather than percentages. That just doesn't work for me, so if there was a decent app with a page number progress bar that you guys use, I'd love to hear about it! Thanks!
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I personally use Mantano Ebook Reader Lite but in the past I used Moon reader and Aldiko...of course Kindle, Nook, Kobe, Google etc each have their own app for their books and you can find alot of free (promotional) books for those @ http://blog.booksontheknob.org/
Calibre is an PC app that can manager your ebook collection between your pc and your phone..it can also convert formats (it doesn't break drm without additional 3rd party apps).
famewolf said:
I personally use Mantano Ebook Reader Lite but in the past I used Moon reader and Aldiko...of course Kindle, Nook, Kobe, Google etc each have their own app for their books and you can find alot of free (promotional) books for those @ http://blog.booksontheknob.org/
Calibre is an PC app that can manager your ebook collection between your pc and your phone..it can also convert formats (it doesn't break drm without additional 3rd party apps).
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I love Calibre! It's what I used to keep my library updated with the proper tags before syncing it all to my iPad. It's great. But okay, Mantano reader, how does that app show progress as you get through a book? Does it do iBooks style page numbers or is it a percentage?
talhak91 said:
I love Calibre! It's what I used to keep my library updated with the proper tags before syncing it all to my iPad. It's great. But okay, Mantano reader, how does that app show progress as you get through a book? Does it do iBooks style page numbers or is it a percentage?
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It uses page #'s as you requested....as to whether they are iBook style I have no idea as I don't have any apple devices. A physical "page" may involve you swiping several times before it increments however as a screen does not = a page.
Moon+ Reader Pro is my only one eReader! Constantly improved by the dev, it's perfect!
I highly recommend FBReader. It indicates progress in pages rather than percentage as you required. It has built-in search for free ebooks across multiple catalogues and, best of all as far as I'm concerned, you can select shade of sepia for page colour that is easier on these eyes than that of any other ereader app I've tried.
ludovicien said:
I highly recommend FBReader. It indicates progress in pages rather than percentage as you required. It has built-in search for free ebooks across multiple catalogues and, best of all as far as I'm concerned, you can select shade of sepia for page colour that is easier on these eyes than that of any other ereader app I've tried.
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I really like fbreader except it wouldn't open some pdfs. I'm not sure if it supports them to begin with but it's nice to couple books with magazines.
Sent from my Nexus 4 using Tapatalk 2
ludovicien said:
I highly recommend FBReader. It indicates progress in pages rather than percentage as you required. It has built-in search for free ebooks across multiple catalogues and, best of all as far as I'm concerned, you can select shade of sepia for page colour that is easier on these eyes than that of any other ereader app I've tried.
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FBReader is brilliant. It has a lot of customisation options and supports mobi and epub formats. Being able to slide your finger up and down the left side of the page to change brightness is my fav feature.
FBReader is my favorite e-reader by far. I keep Aldiko around for reading PDFs as well.
another vote for Mantano. Works great for a large collection, esp if you've used Calibre to properly tag everything. I read a lot of books that are part of series, so it's nice to have something that correctly sorts everything. Good on both the phone and a tablet.
gothvell said:
Moon+ Reader Pro is my only one eReader! Constantly improved by the dev, it's perfect!
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This is the best full feature reader by far. Right now I'm enjoying Fabrik though, clean and simple.
So many conflicting opinions! I was looking for detailed reviews for said apps but the ones that do exist are such poor reviews and don't even really seem to grasp what differentiates a good ereader from another. Can some of you post some screens of your go to ereader and whether it has, to the best of your knowledge, progress in page numbers and integration with Calibre?
Updated:
I just tried out Mantano, Moon+, and FBReader and the latter seems much less polished in comparison. Google Play Books smokes all of them, but Mantano Reader comes pretty close, although it offers less customization than Moon+.
dagaetch said:
another vote for Mantano. Works great for a large collection, esp if you've used Calibre to properly tag everything. I read a lot of books that are part of series, so it's nice to have something that correctly sorts everything. Good on both the phone and a tablet.
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How do you sync your Calibre books with all its tags into Mantano? Is that a premium feature?
Aldiko is the best ebook reader I've found. I like it enough that I bought the premium version which basically adds no features. It properly opens all ebooks I've tried and has a very attractive design with a good feature set.
talhak91 said:
How do you sync your Calibre books with all its tags into Mantano? Is that a premium feature?
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It might be a little bit of a hack, but it works. My Calibre folder is in dropbox, and I have Dropsync on my tablet set to monitor that folder. Then I just run import in Mantano every once in a while and everything works perfectly. Not sure if its a premium feature, I did purchase the app but I think its just part of it.
Fabrik is an excellent ereader. There is a free ad version and a paid one w/out adds and a few more features. It is attractive but pretty minimal on the settings side of things but has all the important features that I need: TTS, Decent fonts, and Dropbox syncing built in. Honestly the Dropbox syncing is so simple to set up (it uses oauth), you can pull down any book you have locally and it syncs your last bookmark seamlessly across all your android devices, I have it on my N4 & N10 and it's been working brilliantly. I had to support the dev by getting the paid version, not for everyone but I highly recommend trying it out.
kchino said:
Fabrik is an excellent ereader. There is a free ad version and a paid one w/out adds and a few more features. It is attractive but pretty minimal on the settings side of things but has all the important features that I need: TTS, Decent fonts, and Dropbox syncing built in. Honestly the Dropbox syncing is so simple to set up (it uses oauth), you can pull down any book you have locally and it syncs your last bookmark seamlessly across all your android devices, I have it on my N4 & N10 and it's been working brilliantly. I had to support the dev by getting the paid version, not for everyone but I highly recommend trying it out.
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Have you gotten text to speech working with 4.2.1 using fabrik?
Yes but with IVONA tts, it wouldn't work with the default. I think acapela works too.
Sent from my Nexus 4 using Tapatalk 2
kchino said:
Yes but with IVONA tts, it wouldn't work with the default. I think acapela works too.
Sent from my Nexus 4 using Tapatalk 2
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For having books read to me I use ReadBoox....
I'm a fan of minimalistic ereaders with no concern to cloud storage, so I've used coolreader extensively. Lately I've been using FBreader and am quite a fan.
I might try the other ones mentioned, though. Could use a bit more elegance! Although Moon+ page flips didn't feel responsive at all, for some reason.

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