Android Apps that work well on eInk devices

[HarryT]

Now that eInk Android tablets, such as the Onyx T68, are available, I though it would be useful to have a thread in which to summarise which Android apps work well on eInk devices. I'd like to request the following rules for the thread:

• Please use a separate message for each app.
• Please state which device you've tested on.
• No general "chat", please. I'll delete any such messages.

Thanks!

[HarryT]

To start off:

Calibre Companion

Tested on the Onyx T69 Lynx, and works very well. The only downsides are:

• Links and tags on the "Book Details" page are not visible in the current production release of the app (they are pale blue, and appear white on the eInk screen).
• Scrolling on the main book list can be awkward if the list is long, because obviously an eInk screen "blurs out" when it scrolls.

The app developer (chaley here at MR) has produced a test version which addresses these concerns, but the app is perfectly usable even without it.

[HarryT]

Moon+ Reader Pro

Tested on the Onyx T68 Lynx, and works very well. The only thing that doesn't work are radio button list selections on the configuration screens: the options appear as "white on white". You can, however, see an option after it's been selected, so this isn't a problem. The actual reading experience is very good on the eInk screen.

I'd recommend using the "Outdoor" theme (it has a white background), and setting the text to "Bold", which significantly improves the display contrast.

[HarryT]

Kindle

Tested on Onyx Lynx T68.

Works reasonably well, but there is an annoying "transition" effect on page turns whereby the screen first appears with the old and new pages superimposed, and then clears to show the new page. It lasts only a fraction of a second, but some may find it distracting. Other than that, the app works well.

One thing I would note, though, is that on devices with a small amount of internal storage, such as the T68, which has only 500MB, if you have a large Kindle library (a large library on Amazon - I'm not talking about books on the device itself), the app uses a great deal of storage space, and that remains in internal memory even when the app is moved to the SD card. On my T68, for example, the Kindle App used 340MB out of the 500MB available, which led to me deleting it.

[jedepol]

gReader on T68 Lynx

works well, while Feedly itself didn't work for me (stuck on splash screen, but other users say it works so maybe I installed a different version) gReader does a good job! Scroll of the news feed has the same problem every app/website will have on a eInk screen, I don't consider it a problem. When reading an article right physical buttons work to move up/down on the page which is apreciated!

[jedepol]

Local Weather on T68 Lynx

https://play.google.com/store/apps/d...?id=slo.lesnik

While I don't like the UI it does work and does it's job.

[HarryT]

ES File Explorer

One of the "must have" free Android apps. An excellent file explorer app that works perfectly on the T68. Far, far better than the built-in "Storage" app.

[Purple Lady]

Bluefire reader

If this works for you on another device I would say this works on eink. I installed this on my Onyx Boox T68 and it has a few issues, but it has the same issues on my Nexus 7.

The font size in the settings sample screen is about 3 - 4 times larger than on the book page making it hard to set the size. Two out of the three books I tried wouldn't use the settings I wanted. The font colors wouldn't change to what the predefined themes called for - including leaving the font color black in a night theme on one book, and changing the font to a light color and leaving the page color white on another! It wouldn't allow me to change the font type or line spacing even though there are settings to do that on two of three books. It also makes an additional copy of the book using up space that is usually in short supply on eink readers.

So if you are happy with this on a different device, it will work for you, otherwise for me it has too many issues. I didn't search for books likely to cause problems, the ones I tried were random.

[McGonigle]

Total commander
Tested on Boox T68

Brilliant file explorer with plug-ins for LAN and Dropbox. Free.

[Purple Lady]

Moon+ uses Color Dict dictionary and that works well. You also need to install your preferred dictionary data, the ones you need are on the app install page. There are English and other languages available, including translations. I use it on my Onyx Boox T68.

[Purple Lady]

I use this on my Onyx Boox T68.

The Overdrive app works well, I downloaded a library book. You can turn off page animation so it looks better than Google Books, Scribd, and Kindle which can't turn animation off.

[Purple Lady]

I use this on my Onyx Boox T68.

Mantano works ok, it seems to have a page animation if you tap on the left of the screen but it's only when you go to the previous page.

[JSWolf]

Has anybody tested Bluefire Reader? That should work well on an eInk screen.

[bobstro]

I kept my NOOK Simple Touch rooted for a couple of years. Android 2.1 was a real limitation but I was able to find apps that worked reasonably well. My favorites were:

• TripIt (trip intinerary)
• Shredder Chess
• Mantano Reader (old version for Android 2.1 compatibility)
• Yukon Gold Solitaire (version from XDA Forums modified for eink settings)
• Cool Reader
• FB Reader

[Purple Lady]

I use this on my Onyx Boox T68.

Nova launcher works very well. You don't need to be rooted to use it. Using a launcher gives you access to the standard Android settings menu if you don't have it and I just like to have what I want on my home page. You can still access your device's launcher if you install
Home Switcher for Froyo - see next post for details.

For wallpaper use the Color Wallpaper app in Google Play to get a plain light colored background.