this post was submitted on 30 Nov 2023

26 points (100.0% liked)

Free and Open Source Software

19571 readers

18 users here now

If it's free and open source and it's also software, it can be discussed here. Subcommunity of Technology.

This community's icon was made by Aaron Schneider, under the CC-BY-NC-SA 4.0 license.

founded 2 years ago

MODERATORS

Gaywallet@beehaw.org

alyaza@beehaw.org

Any good ebook readers for Android? (lemmy.ml)

submitted 2 years ago* (last edited 2 years ago) by musaoruc@lemmy.ml to c/foss@beehaw.org

21 comments fedilink hide all child comments

I am looking for a nice ebook reader app for android but it's proving to be quite difficult. Every app I stumble open misses at least a few things I want. So here is a list of things I want:

-Material You UI

-Custom themes

-Font selection

-Dictionary or translator integration

-Page view (NO scrolling through the book)

A few things that could be nice but not necessary:

-I use Foliate on desktop so a way to sync with that

-Make white parts of the black and white pictures same color as the backgroud.

I think that's all. I searched a lot but to no avail. Hopefully this community helps me and others. Thank you guys in advance.

all 27 comments

sorted by: hot top controversial new old

[–] Guenther_Amanita@feddit.de 17 points 2 years ago* (last edited 2 years ago) (3 children)

I was at the same spot as you a few months ago and searched for the same.
Pretty much all of the FOSS readers sucked UX wise.
There were a few great proprietary ones on the PlayStore, but they were crammed up with ads and trackers.

Lastly I switched to Librera, which was the best FOSS reader I tried.
But even that wasn't great.

So, I'll give you a completely different advice than all the other commenters here: buy yourself an e-reader.

I did the same and couldn't be more happy!
I'm a big fan of "do one thing and do it right" (I made my phone pretty dumb and also own a digital camera for example).

Readers feel superb. They have a very comfortable display (almost like reading on real paper), don't distract you and the battery lasts for weeks.
You can also sync them easily via USB.

Just don't buy a Kindle. Aim for a more open solution, like a Tolino or Kobo.

[–] musaoruc@lemmy.ml 4 points 2 years ago

I would buy one if I could at this point. But our money is really shit right now and I am a student trying to stay alive. Thanks for the recommendation though.

[–] sfera@beehaw.org 2 points 2 years ago

Aim for a more open solution, like a Tolino or Kobo.

Pocketbook runs Linux, IIRC.

[–] appel@whiskers.bim.boats 2 points 2 years ago

Yep get a second hand Kobo for £30 and install Koreader on it. Or if you fancy, Kindles can be had cheaper, but they will require a jailbreak to use Koreader.

[+] yote_zip@pawb.social 10 points 2 years ago* (last edited 1 month ago) (3 children)

[deleted]

[–] musaoruc@lemmy.ml 3 points 2 years ago (1 children)

Yes I have but it’s either pure white that burns your eyes or eye burning white letters on deep space black and I do not want that. I really want the app to either adapt to my material you theme (which is yellow-brown colored and really nice to look at I think) or give me the option to make my own theme.

[+] yote_zip@pawb.social 7 points 2 years ago* (last edited 1 month ago) (1 children)

[deleted]

[–] brie@beehaw.org 0 points 2 years ago

Not sure about UI font color, but user style tweaks can change book font colors.

:root {
	color: yellow;
	background-color: navy;
}

[–] baconicsynergy@beehaw.org 2 points 2 years ago (1 children)

I'm interested in installing KOReader on my Kobo. Its good, portable and lightweight software

[–] drwankingstein@lemmy.dbzer0.com 6 points 2 years ago (1 children)

Honestly, IMO they all suck. I've tried most around up until about 4 or 5 months ago when I gave up, and each one has some really annoying issues. that I never managed to work around

[–] musaoruc@lemmy.ml 3 points 2 years ago

I think we are in the same boat. I am going to learn programming just to make apps I want to use at this point though that may not be that bad actually...

[–] sabreW4K3@lemmy.tf 6 points 2 years ago* (last edited 2 years ago) (1 children)

The first requirement is where they tend to fall down.

That said, the defacto standard is Moon+ Reader. That said, I use Legado for my epub consumption needs.

[–] myfavouritename@beehaw.org 4 points 2 years ago

Gonna jump in to agree that Moon+ Reader seems to be the most commonly used. And for good reason: it's very customizable and it does a great job presenting text in an easy to consume way.

OP, I'm sure you've already tried it, but consider giving it another go. You can make it do nearly all the things on your list.

[–] moonpiedumplings@programming.dev 6 points 2 years ago* (last edited 2 years ago)

These requirements are really specific. Whites parts of black pictures in particular, I can't think of anything that implements that.

Anyway, these probably don't have everything you want, but I use Librera:

website: https://librera.mobi/

Github: https://github.com/foobnix/LibreraReader

No material you theme, but I know it has font selection, and dictionary/translation integration.

The website claims it supports custom themings, and CSS. I can find the options in my app, but I haven't touched them.

It also supports custom fonts, including user added ones.

It supports sync between librera instances (Google Drive has first class support), but not with Foliate.

It defaults to "book mode" which is page

[–] Appoxo@lemmy.dbzer0.com 5 points 2 years ago

I used Lithium in the past until I bought myself a Paperwhite (still dislike Amazon).
Maybe it ticks of some of your points.

[–] floofloof@lemmy.ca 3 points 2 years ago* (last edited 2 years ago) (1 children)

It probably doesn't meet your requirements, but ReadEra is good. There's a free version and a paid one called ReadEra Premium. I paid for the premium version, but I can't remember what the difference is between them.

[–] PlasterAnalyst@kbin.social 1 points 2 years ago

[–] imtherealrev@beehaw.org 3 points 2 years ago

I like lithium so far

[–] Altomes@lemm.ee 2 points 2 years ago

Not sure if anyone mentioned lithium on F-droid but I've been p happy with that

[–] Rawmill@beehaw.org 2 points 2 years ago

I paid for the full version of FBReader years ago. I poked around a few months ago looking for anything better and they all came up short. Even has a plugin for comics.

[–] furrowsofar@beehaw.org 1 points 2 years ago

Cool Reader was the best I found. Not sure any FOSS reader reads DRM.