Re: Reading on Android phones?
"Lee Passey [email protected] [ebook-community]" <[email protected]> Wed, 20 Jan 2016 16:27:34 -0700
| Newsgroups | gmane.culture.literature.ebook-community |
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| Message-ID | <[email protected]> |
--------------060303060503040908040806 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=utf-8; format=flowed Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit I've been reading e-books on my phone (tablet, PDA) for probably 12 years now, and on my Android devices for at least 5 of them. In fact, I now find reading on paper so tedious that I simply don't do it if there is any alternative; and for recreational reading there is almost always an alternative (books these days are almost always a fungible commodity). There is little doubt in my mind that ePub v.2 is currently the best choice for creating and consuming e-books (version 3 tends to be overkill, not widely supported, and useful only if you want to embed video inside your book--which I guess wouldn't make it a book any more). I have found CoolReader (http://sourceforge.net/projects/crengine/) to be the best software for reading e-books on an Android device. As you discovered, for the best reading experience you had to adjust fonts and sizes. Personally, I have found for reading on my phone I like a sans-serif font, and "ragged-right" alignment (right-justified text tends to sometimes create large space "islands" in the text). I already have a small screen, so margins need to be minimized. There are lots of other tweaks that make for more comfortable reading, but the point is that publishers who are deeply embedded in the "dead tree" world tend to not understand that presentation is both personal and device dependent -- there is no one "right way" to display a book, even the same book. And electronic devices do not have immutable displays, so there is no longer any compelling reason to force a specific presentation. This is why I favor CoolReader. It provides the widest range of customizations possible, allows you to totally disable publishers' embedded Cascading Style Sheets. It's not the shiniest app out there (but at least as good as FBReader), but it's definitely the most powerful. One thing it doesn't do is render ePubs which use Adobe's now-standard DRM, so if you want to read books you've purchased which are so inhibited, you have to liberate them before Cool Reader can use them. (The same is true of FBReader). I've never see a "book" available through Google Play, just lots of apps, many of whom advertise books as part of their app, but it looks like the app is accessing a private catalog. My hunch is that if you want to sell your books as content, not programs, you may need to look for other outlets. (Not Amazon, unless you want to sell Kindle formats as well). On 1/18/2016 10:28 PM, auwg-/[email protected] [ebook-community] wrote: > > Is anyone here reading on an Android phone? > If so, what app/apps do you use and what ebook formats? > > A good friend got a new cell phone and gave me her old HTC One, 2 > extra batteries, and a charger. > I had it for months without using it for anything much but weather via > wifi and math. > I didn't get a minutes plan cuz I really don't want to use it as a > phone, but I eventually got curious about what else it could do. > > SO... I put FBReader on it (got it at their site, not Google Play) and > loaded it with epub versions of my books. > Seems to work just fine. > > Never thought I'd be interested in trying to read on a little bitty > phone screen, but after adjusting fonts & sizes, no sweat. > > Now - somewhat belatedly, I'll admit - I'm wondering how best to > promote the idea on my website. Seems likely at least a few other > people out there might buy my books to read on a phone. > Any thoughts about getting involved with Google Play as a distributor? > Thanks, > Ed > Ed Howdershelt - Abintra Press > Science Fiction & Semi-Fiction > Abintra Press <http://www.AbintraPress.com> > > > > > Abintra Press <http://www.AbintraPress.com> > Abintra Press Science Fiction & Semi-Fiction > > View on www.AbintraPress.com <http://www.AbintraPress.com> > > Preview by Yahoo > > > > > --------------060303060503040908040806 Content-Type: text/html; charset=UTF-8 Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit <head> <style type="text/css"> <!-- /* start of attachment style */ .ygrp-photo-title{ clear: both; font-size: smaller; height: 15px; overflow: hidden; text-align: center; width: 75px; } div.ygrp-photo{ background-position: center; background-repeat: no-repeat; background-color: white; border: 1px solid black; height: 62px; width: 62px; } div.photo-title a, div.photo-title a:active, div.photo-title a:hover, div.photo-title a:visited { text-decoration: none; } div.attach-table div.attach-row { clear: both; } div.attach-table div.attach-row div { float: left; /* margin: 2px;*/ } p { clear: both; padding: 15px 0 3px 0; overflow: hidden; } div.ygrp-file { width: 30px; valign: middle; } div.attach-table div.attach-row div div a { text-decoration: none; } div.attach-table div.attach-row div div span { font-weight: normal; } div.ygrp-file-title { font-weight: bold; } /* end of attachment style */ --> </style> </head> <html> <head> <meta content="text/html; charset=utf-8" http-equiv="Content-Type"> </head> <body bgcolor="#FFFFFF" text="#000000"> <!-- |**|begin egp html banner|**| --> <br><br> <!-- |**|end egp html banner|**| --> I've been reading e-books on my phone (tablet, PDA) for probably 12 years now, and on my Android devices for at least 5 of them. In fact, I now find reading on paper so tedious that I simply don't do it if there is any alternative; and for recreational reading there is almost always an alternative (books these days are almost always a fungible commodity). There is little doubt in my mind that ePub v.2 is currently the best choice for creating and consuming e-books (version 3 tends to be overkill, not widely supported, and useful only if you want to embed video inside your book--which I guess wouldn't make it a book any more).<br> <br> I have found CoolReader (<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://sourceforge.net/projects/crengine/">http://sourceforge.net/projects/crengine/</a>) to be the best software for reading e-books on an Android device. As you discovered, for the best reading experience you had to adjust fonts and sizes. Personally, I have found for reading on my phone I like a sans-serif font, and "ragged-right" alignment (right-justified text tends to sometimes create large space "islands" in the text). I already have a small screen, so margins need to be minimized. There are lots of other tweaks that make for more comfortable reading, but the point is that publishers who are deeply embedded in the "dead tree" world tend to not understand that presentation is both personal and device dependent -- there is no one "right way" to display a book, even the same book. And electronic devices do not have immutable displays, so there is no longer any compelling reason to force a specific presentation.<br> <br> This is why I favor CoolReader. It provides the widest range of customizations possible, allows you to totally disable publishers' embedded Cascading Style Sheets. It's not the shiniest app out there (but at least as good as FBReader), but it's definitely the most powerful. One thing it doesn't do is render ePubs which use Adobe's now-standard DRM, <br> so if you want to read books you've purchased which are so inhibited, you have to liberate them before Cool Reader can use them. (The same is true of FBReader).<br> <br> I've never see a "book" available through Google Play, just lots of apps, many of whom advertise books as part of their app, but it looks like the app is accessing a private catalog. My hunch is that if you want to sell your books as content, not programs, you may need to look for other outlets. (Not Amazon, unless you want to sell Kindle formats as well).<br> <br> <div class="moz-cite-prefix">On 1/18/2016 10:28 PM, <a class="moz-txt-link-abbreviated" href="mailto:auwg-/[email protected]">auwg-/[email protected]</a> [ebook-community] wrote:<br> </div> <blockquote cite="mid:[email protected]" type="cite"> <style type="text/css"> <!-- /* start of attachment style */ .ygrp-photo-title{ clear: both; font-size: smaller; height: 15px; overflow: hidden; text-align: center; width: 75px; } div.ygrp-photo{ background-position: center; background-repeat: no-repeat; background-color: white; border: 1px solid black; height: 62px; width: 62px; } div.photo-title a, div.photo-title a:active, div.photo-title a:hover, div.photo-title a:visited { text-decoration: none; } div.attach-table div.attach-row { clear: both; } div.attach-table div.attach-row div { float: left; /* margin: 2px;*/ } p { clear: both; padding: 15px 0 3px 0; overflow: hidden; } div.ygrp-file { width: 30px; valign: middle; } div.attach-table div.attach-row div div a { text-decoration: none; } div.attach-table div.attach-row div div span { font-weight: normal; } div.ygrp-file-title { font-weight: bold; } /* end of attachment style */ --> </style> <style type="text/css"> <!-- #ygrp-mkp { border: 1px solid #d8d8d8; font-family: Arial; margin: 10px 0; padding: 0 10px; } #ygrp-mkp hr { border: 1px solid #d8d8d8; } #ygrp-mkp #hd { color: #628c2a; font-size: 85%; font-weight: 700; line-height: 122%; margin: 10px 0; } #ygrp-mkp #ads { margin-bottom: 10px; } #ygrp-mkp .ad { padding: 0 0; } #ygrp-mkp .ad p { margin: 0; } #ygrp-mkp .ad a { color: #0000ff; text-decoration: none; } --</style><br> <!-- |**|end egp html banner|**| --> <p><span>Is anyone here reading on an Android phone?<br> If so, what app/apps do you use and what ebook formats?<br> <br> A good friend got a new cell phone and gave me her old HTC One, 2 extra batteries, and a charger.<br> I had it for months without using it for anything much but weather via wifi and math.<br> I didn't get a minutes plan cuz I really don't want to use it as a phone, but I eventually got curious about what else it could do.<br> <br> SO... I put FBReader on it (got it at their site, not Google Play) and loaded it with epub versions of my books.<br> Seems to work just fine.<br> <br> Never thought I'd be interested in trying to read on a little bitty phone screen, but after adjusting fonts & sizes, no sweat.<br> <br> Now - somewhat belatedly, I'll admit - I'm wondering how best to promote the idea on my website. Seems likely at least a few other people out there might buy my books to read on a phone.<br> Any thoughts about getting involved with Google Play as a distributor?<br> Thanks,<br> Ed<br> Ed Howdershelt - Abintra Press<br> Science Fiction & Semi-Fiction<br> <a moz-do-not-send="true" rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="http://www.AbintraPress.com">Abintra Press</a><br class="yui-cursor"> </span></p> <div style="width:450px;font-family:'Helvetica Neue', 'Helvetica', 'Arial', 'san-serif', 'Roboto';" id="enhancrCard_1" class="link-enhancr-attachment link-enhancr-element"> <table class="link-enhancr-element" style="width:450px;height:auto;margin-top:5px;margin-bottom:5px;display:block;" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"> <tbody> <tr class="link-enhancr-element"> <td colspan="6" class="link-enhancr-element" style="height:1px;background-color:#e5e5e5;"> <br> </td> </tr> <tr class="link-enhancr-element"> <td rowspan="2" class="link-enhancr-element" style="width:1px;background-color:#e5e5e5;"> <br> </td> <td class="link-enhancr-element" colspan="2" style="width:100%;vertical-align:middle;font-family:'Helvetica Neue', 'Helvetica', 'Arial', 'san-serif', 'Roboto';"> <div class="link-enhancr-text-part link-enhancr-element" style="line-height:16.5px;background-color:#ffffff;width:448px;"> <div class="link-enhancr-element" style="word-wrap:break-word;padding:7px 20px 0px 14px;"> <span class="link-enhancr-element icon icon-shrink link-enhancr-toggle"></span> <span class="link-enhancr-element icon icon-close link-enhancr-delete"></span> <a moz-do-not-send="true" rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="http://www.AbintraPress.com" class="link-enhancr-card-urlWrapper link-enhancr-element" style="text-decoration:none;color:#000000;"> <span class="link-enhancr-element link-enhancr-card-title" style="margin:0;font-weight:normal;margin-bottom:4px;font-size:18px;line-height:21px;max-height:43px;color:#000000;overflow:hidden;display:inline-block;">Abintra Press</span> </a> <div style="font-size:13px;line-height:20px;color:#999999;max-height:81px;font-family:'Helvetica Neue', 'Helvetica', 'Arial', 'san-serif', 'Roboto';overflow:hidden;" class="link-enhancr-card-description link-enhancr-element">Abintra Press Science Fiction & Semi-Fiction</div> </div> </div> </td> <td class="link-enhancr-element" rowspan="2" style="width:1px;background-color:#e5e5e5;"> <br> </td> </tr> <tr> <td class="link-enhancr-element" style="width:100%;vertical-align:middle;font-family:'Helvetica Neue', 'Helvetica', 'Arial', 'san-serif', 'Roboto';"> <div class="link-enhancr-element" style="font-size:0pt;padding:3px 20px 9px 14px;"> <a moz-do-not-send="true" rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="http://www.AbintraPress.com" class="link-enhancr-card-url link-enhancr-element" style="color:black;text-decoration:none;cursor:pointer;"> <span class="link-enhancr-element link-enhancr-view-on" style="display:inline-block;line-height:11px;max-width:348px;min-width:288px;overflow:hidden;max-height:13px;"> <span class="link-enhancr-element link-enhancr-mobile-no-resize" style="vertical-align:middle;font-size:9px;line-height:11px;color:#999999;"> View on <span style="font-weight:bold;"><a class="moz-txt-link-abbreviated" href="http://www.AbintraPress.com">www.AbintraPress.com</a></span> </span> </span> </a> </div> </td> <td class="link-enhancr-element" style="vertical-align:middle;width:100px;font-family:'Helvetica Neue', 'Helvetica', 'Arial', 'san-serif', 'Roboto';"> <div class="link-enhancr-element link-enhancr-preview-wrapper" style="padding:6px 20px 12px 0px;max-width:100px;min-width:80px;overflow:hidden;text-align:right;line-height:11px;max-height:13px;font-size:0pt;"> <span class="link-enhancr-element link-enhancr-preview-by link-enhancr-mobile-no-resize" style="line-height:11px;vertical-align:middle;font-size:9px;line-height:11px;color:#999999;"> Preview by Yahoo </span> </div> </td> </tr> <tr class="link-enhancr-element"> <td class="link-enhancr-element" colspan="6" style="height:1px;background-color:#e5e5e5;"> <br> </td> </tr> </tbody> </table> </div> <p><span><br class="yui-cursor"> </span></p> <div width="1" style="color: white; clear: both;"></div> </blockquote> <br> <!-- |**|begin egp html banner|**| --> <br> <br> <!-- |**|end egp html banner|**| --> <div width="1" style="color: white; clear: both;"/>__._,_.___</div> <div id="fromDMARC" style="clear:both; margin-top: 10px;"> <hr style="height:2px ; border-width:0; color:#E3E3E3; background-color:#E3E3E3;"> Posted by: Lee Passey <[email protected]> <hr style="height:2px ; border-width:0; color:#E3E3E3; background-color:#E3E3E3;"> </div> <!-- Start Recommendations --> <!-- End Recommendations --> <!-- |**|begin egp html banner|**| --> <br><br> <tt> ------------------------------------------------------<BR> Post a message: ebook-community [[at]] *<BR> Unsubscribe: ebook-community-unsubscribe [[at]] *<BR> Switch to digest: ebook-community-digest [[at]] *<BR> Switch to normal: ebook-community-normal [[at]] *<BR> Put mail on hold: ebook-community-nomail [[at]] *<BR> Administrator: ebook-community-owner [[at]] *<BR> <BR> (* == yahoogroups.com)<BR> -------------------------------------------------------</tt> <br><br> <!-- |**|end egp html banner|**| --> <!-- |**|begin egp html banner|**| --> <img src="http://geo.yahoo.com/serv?s=97476590/grpId=212094/grpspId=1705208685/msgId=32861/stime=1453334969" width="1" height="1"> <br> <!-- |**|end egp html banner|**| --> <!-- |**|begin egp html banner|**| --> <br> <!-- |**|begin egp html banner|**| --> <div id="ygrp-vital" style="background-color: #f2f2f2; 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