Writing Software/Apps for E-Ink Android Tablets ??

[conan50]

Softmaker Office just released their 2021 version of Android office software. Best free Android office software I've seen. Been using their beta for months and I'm impressed with it. Just search for Softmaker in the Google app store.

[Quoth]

Except the problems with Android for writing are:
Erratic ability for file browsing
Erratic ability for external storage
Erratic ability for multi-window, at best two.
Erratic ability to Print
Erratic ability to browse the local server
Some versions don't support other than US physical keyboard.
Mostly screen is too small.

Android is OK for notes. Rubbish for serious writing inc a window with characters, places, plot, events etc. It's a never finished OS still poorer usability for content creation than Win 3.1
A cheap 1920 x 1080 laptop with LibreOffice (Calc for Timelines) running Windows or Linux Mint can cost less and is far more functional. My 2000 (NT4 and later upgraded to Win2K 1400 x 1050) and 2002 (XP 1600x1200) laptops still go and beat Android for writing, though replaced in 2016 with Linux Mint (1920 x 1080). I did use MS Word for 14 years. Before that a Wordstar clone since early 1980s. I use control panels and zero toolbars in the Writer window. On Windows Notepad++ for tabbed notes was replace with KATE on Linux.

I've tried various actual Office SW on 10" Android. Removed it. I use Jota for notes on phone, 7" tablet, 7.8" eInk Mars and 10" Lenovo tablet. Plain text that imports fine to laptop.

A decent bigger than 10" Android tablet costs more than an adequate laptop with 512G HDD or 256G SSD before you add the 256 G micro SD card. Also some Android tablets only take 32G SD card, or none.

[conan50]

Works fine for me. I save to Google Drive. Can write drafts in Google Docs. Use Softmaker Office when I want more formatting and other features. I have a bluetooth keyboard and mouse and use a 10" tablet. Softmaker Office on Android looks like and works like their software on my Windows Desktop and the Linux version on my laptop.

[salamanderjuice]

Originally Posted by Quoth

Except the problems with Android for writing are:
Erratic ability for file browsing
Erratic ability for external storage
Erratic ability for multi-window, at best two.
Erratic ability to Print
Erratic ability to browse the local server
Some versions don't support other than US physical keyboard.
Mostly screen is too small.

Android is OK for notes. Rubbish for serious writing inc a window with characters, places, plot, events etc. It's a never finished OS still poorer usability for content creation than Win 3.1
A cheap 1920 x 1080 laptop with LibreOffice (Calc for Timelines) running Windows or Linux Mint can cost less and is far more functional. My 2000 (NT4 and later upgraded to Win2K 1400 x 1050) and 2002 (XP 1600x1200) laptops still go and beat Android for writing, though replaced in 2016 with Linux Mint (1920 x 1080). I did use MS Word for 14 years. Before that a Wordstar clone since early 1980s. I use control panels and zero toolbars in the Writer window. On Windows Notepad++ for tabbed notes was replace with KATE on Linux.

I've tried various actual Office SW on 10" Android. Removed it. I use Jota for notes on phone, 7" tablet, 7.8" eInk Mars and 10" Lenovo tablet. Plain text that imports fine to laptop.

A decent bigger than 10" Android tablet costs more than an adequate laptop with 512G HDD or 256G SSD before you add the 256 G micro SD card. Also some Android tablets only take 32G SD card, or none.

Different strokes for different folks. I wrote a good chunk of my MSc. Thesis on a 10" tablet. Granted it was Windows but it was done entirely in Emacs which runs fine in Termux on Android and stuff like LaTeX works fine there too. Even does most of your list with the ability for browsing files and multiple panes. If you're happy with a 10" device there's a crazy number of cheap devices. I rarely find myself needing more than 2 windows open at once.

Very few Android devices are actually limited to 32GB microSD cards. It's just that they don't want to pay Microsoft for the patents to exFAT that the SD Association stupidly picked to be the default format for SDXC. You just format the card to FAT32 and it works.

I can't imagine web browsing on a 20+ year old laptop even running an updated version of Linux and lightweight browser is a great experience compared to even a cheap tablet.

[GlenBarrington]

I'm not sure what the e-ink requirement does to your search, but I write on my Samsung Galaxy 10A (2019) all the time using a BT keyboard case and BT mouse. I didn't know about the 10.1-inch requirement for MS office on Android tablets. But it works very well.

Have you looked at yWriter for Android? It costs $5 US, and it isn't quite the app that the Windows app is, but I have it, it's OK, and works well.

I know you have rejected online apps but I think Wavemaker is very good. It's free, works with a free Google drive account and is VERY reliable.

BTW, it works offline as well.

WaveMaker Cards

[Crowriver]

Coming late to this thread, but thought I'd pitch in a few thoughts anyhow.

Many Chromebooks can boot into Linux also - may be worth checking if yours can do so. That might give more options for running software for formatting, etc.

I have used my Boox devices with bluetooth keyboards for typing up stuff. Need to fine tune the refresh rate and adjust contrast individually for apps, but it works well enough. I've used iA Writer and also Kingsoft WPS Office. I hunted down older versions of both apps on APK repositories because the older versions are free, don't contain ads and don't have annoying prompts for in-app purchases. The same cannot be said for current versions.

If you want a really distraction free writing device though, I recommend the Alphasmart range of integrated word processors. They were designed by ex-Apple engineers for schools and educational settings. They have great keyboards, a small mono LCD display (only the Dana has a backlight) and run on normal AA batteries. They're not made any more but you can often pick one up second hand on eBay for not much money.

I find my Alphasmart Neo2 is great for typing up a draft. One can edit on the device too. Then just needs a USB printer cable to connect to a computer (or Chromebook, or tablet, whatever has a suitable port) and the device "prints" the text to any open application - could be a word processing app, text editor, etc.

Far cheaper than an e-ink tablet plus BT keyboard, and in my experience very reliable with great battery life - up to a year!

[Jötunn]

Originally Posted by Crowriver

I have used my Boox devices with bluetooth keyboards for typing up stuff. Need to fine tune the refresh rate and adjust contrast individually for apps, but it works well enough. I've used iA Writer and also Kingsoft WPS Office.

Originally Posted by Crowriver

I have used my Boox devices with bluetooth keyboards for typing up stuff. Need to fine tune the refresh rate and adjust contrast individually for apps, but it works well enough. I've used iA Writer and also Kingsoft WPS Office.

How is the battery drain aprox. when typing on an Onyx + BT keyboard?

iA Writer is the App that I would like to use, glad to here that it works on an Onyx. It is the only programm beside the Pure Writer that I could find that has an Win version as well as an Android version. That is important to me because I do not want to change programm for first editing that I plan to do on my desktop...

Are there any exceptional downsides with iA compared to the common apps that people use with onyx for typewriting or can I expect a performance like shown here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fXeUfEtcXIE

[Hitch]

Originally Posted by GlenBarrington

I'm not sure what the e-ink requirement does to your search, but I write on my Samsung Galaxy 10A (2019) all the time using a BT keyboard case and BT mouse. I didn't know about the 10.1-inch requirement for MS office on Android tablets. But it works very well.

Have you looked at yWriter for Android? It costs $5 US, and it isn't quite the app that the Windows app is, but I have it, it's OK, and works well.

I know you have rejected online apps but I think Wavemaker is very good. It's free, works with a free Google drive account and is VERY reliable.

BTW, it works offline as well.

WaveMaker Cards

FWIW, YWriter is, IMHO, the single most underappreciated writing program on the planet. People love what's "pretty" like Scrivener (oooh, ahhh, a corkboard!) without giving YWriter a second glance, because it looks oldish, more like Win98 or XP than Win10/OS-whatever.

But it actually does far more than Scrivener in many ways. It doesn't have a few small things, but....it's really amazing. And yes, it works with Dropboxes, cloud drives...handy as hell, so that you can write across your entire universe of devices. Very few other apps can make that claim as well.

Hitch

[Crowriver]

Originally Posted by Jötunn

How is the battery drain aprox. when typing on an Onyx + BT keyboard?

iA Writer is the App that I would like to use, glad to here that it works on an Onyx. It is the only programm beside the Pure Writer that I could find that has an Win version as well as an Android version. That is important to me because I do not want to change programm for first editing that I plan to do on my desktop...

Are there any exceptional downsides with iA compared to the common apps that people use with onyx for typewriting or can I expect a performance like shown here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fXeUfEtcXIE

I can't say I noticed excessive battery drain. Not as much as when wi-fi is switched on.

The one problem I found with iA writer was certain text styles or menu items were tricky to see. However I did manage to produce usable documents. However I did not use it for an extended period as I have other options.

I also used Kingsoft/WPS Office to copy and paste references from documents I was reading, and format a reference list for a report. Quite passable results, though the performance was a little sluggish (Max 2 Pro) but I put this down to e-ink screen refreshing during certain operations rather than a problem with the app per se. So quite similar to the MS Word tests in the video you shared.

I also tested both apps on my Nova Pro, with similar performance but obviously rather small text area. I tested them on my old Max (gen 1) too and they ran fine too.

Please note I was using older (free) versions of each app, sideloaded as apks. I found these on apk repositories, not Google Play Store.

TBH for bashing out a draft (from handwritten notes for example, or straight writing flow) I much prefer to use my Alphasmart Neo 2. It is even more distraction free than an e-ink tablet!

[rcentros]

Originally Posted by conan50

Softmaker Office just released their 2021 version of Android office software. Best free Android office software I've seen. Been using their beta for months and I'm impressed with it. Just search for Softmaker in the Google app store.

I haven't tried their Android suite, but their Linux Office suite is really good. I ended up paying a whole $8 for the full suite (for the 2018 version). Works great on Chromebooks running Linux. You can buy the 2018 suite for Windows or Mac as well for $8. (I can give the link if anyone is interested.) If you download their FreeOffice, you'll soon get an offer for their full 2021 Office Suite for about $40 or $50. I was too cheap for that, though. (FreeOffice has some limitations, like no Document tabs.)

I may test their Android suite on a Chromebook to see how well it works there.