Looking for an Ap rec

[waldo]

So... for a long time I was reading fanfic from AO3 on my iPod Touch. I have to say, I *adored* the way AO3 interacted with iBooks. The chaptering, the formatting... very, very readable. The downside was that if I wasn't near a WiFi hot spot, I couldn't get more when I ran out of stuff to read.

Since I couldn't wait for Apple to make the iPhone available to a company that would give me a data plan that didn't resemble the GNP of a small country, I ended up getting an Android touch screen phone. I love the idea of having my phone/music player/ebook reader/internet all in one small toy! But I can't find an ebook reader I really like for the 'droid and I'm considering dragging the iPod around as an eReader if I have to. I've tried several different free ebook readers on the Android, and while not *awful*, they still don't have that really smooth feel that iBooks has.

Can you guys recommend to me the best (and obviously, my definition of best is 'most closely resembles iBooks) ebook reader available in the Android market for free (or really, really, like less than $5 cheap)?

Thanks!

Comments

[zvi]

What is iBooks like? I've never used an iOS device.

[valiha]

I think Aldiko looks most like iBooks. I've never used iBooks, but judging by screenshots and descriptions, that might suit you. You can download it from the market or download the .apk from freewarelovers.

MoonReader is another similar application, which has a free and paid version. They say that the pay version has quite good text-to-speech, if that matters to you.

[melina]

I just use the Kindle app -- it's free, and it is simple to sideload mobi files. You can either connect to your computer and drag and drop into the Kindle folder, or if you download from your device, use a free file manager app like Astro to move files from the Download folder to the Kindle folder.

I have no idea what iBooks looks like, but i think the Kindle app is quite nice, and its free.

[waldo]

Sideload?

[melina]

Sideload means load content files yourself, either by downloading or copying from a computer, rather than downloading Amazon content from Amazon.

[waldo]

Yeah, I can't seem to get it to do that...

When I get to a story in AO3, I tell it to download as a .mobi and it asks me if I should use FB Reader (the first reader I put on it) or the internet. I tell it to use FB reader, because "internet" borks. And Moon+ was able to find files I downloaded with FB reader.

And yet, no matter how many times I sync, all I get are the three titles the Kindle reader came with. :(

[melina]

It works for me on both my EVO and Xoom.

First try sideloading the simple way -- download to your computer, attach your phone, drag and drop to Kindle folder on the SD card. The file will be there when you open the Kindle app.

On my Xoom, I use mobile Firefox or Dolphin. I open AO3, pick the story, select download ---> .mobi. On Dolphin I long press and "save as" link, on Firefox it seems to work automatically. I see the download notification in the bar (I just ignore it if it tries to suggest an app), and when it finishes, I open Astro, navigate to the Download folder, find the file, long press on the file, Edit --> Move, go up to the Kindle folder, Edit --> Paste. Then when I open the Kindle app, the file is there.

Astro is a free file manager available in the Market.

(Syncing won't work since that is with Amazon's servers, which never get sideloaded files.)

[zvi]

You want to try two things.

One, go to settings, manage applications, FB Reader, and see if you can clear defaults under Launch by default. (This may or may not apply.)

the other thing would be uninstalling FB reader, if you don't want to use it.

In order to see the new files in FB reader or whatever book reader you are going to use, you may need to either remount your SD card or hard reboot your phone (actually turn it on and off.)

P.s. Aldiko doesn't read mobi, but it does read epub, and the conversion is pretty decent between those two formats.

[trialia]

What have you tried? I tried a few before I settled happily with Aldiko.

[waldo]

That might be helpful information. Doh! Sorry.

I've tried FBReader and Moon+ Reader (free). Moon+ isn't all bad, but there's still something about the way iBooks lays out the pages and handles things like chapters that I just like a little more. FB Reader is a bit of a disaster, like, it removes all spaces between paragraphs.

[sprat]

I third the Aldiko nomination. If you click the epub download of an AO3 story in a browser on your phone, you can choose to download the file to the ebooks folder on your sd card, then open it right in Aldiko from there. Seems to work as smoothly as "open with" on an iPod.