Best Likebook Mars epub reader + translation dictionary combination?

[TimA]

Hi, long time visitor, first time poster...

Does anyone have any recommendation for the following usage:

• An epub reader which allows for quick switching between two books, and

• an associated Spanish->English dictionary app which is efficient for quick lookups from the book being read?

I have a Likebook Mars, which I generally use with Moon+ Reader Pro. I am trying to improve my Spanish by reading in that language, making frequent use of a translation dictionary and also a translation of that book in English as a separate book.

Moon+ Reader Pro is a decent app for reading, although it has some odd behaviors when it comes to handling its library and setting default dictionaries.

The translation dictionary I have so far found to be "best" is Quickdic. I put "best" in quotes because, while fast-ish and comprehensive, it is still not very good - too may presses to get to the entry I want and, worse, I cannot get Quickdic to default to Spanish->English and have to switch from English-Spanish with every lookup. My favorite dictionary by far is by Word Magic, but it doesn't work with Moon+ Reader.

For what it's worth, there is an app in the Google Play Store which supposedly lets you see two books side-by-side. This would be very useful too, except that I can't make it work.

Also, for what it's worth, I'd love to use the Linguee dictionary app, but unfortunately it is barely legible on my Mars and I can see no way to change the default fonts.

[ottischwenk]

Originally Posted by TimA

For what it's worth, there is an app in the Google Play Store which supposedly lets you see two books side-by-side. This would be very useful too, except that I can't make it work.

Which app is it?

[bazz2004]

It's easy to be too ambitious with these e-readers. You've got a reading app you like and have some dictionaries working. Most of them are free. The time's better spent on the Spanish.

[bazz2004]

The iPad has an app called Parallel Books but there's not a lot in the store - mainly classics.

[TimA]

Originally Posted by ottischwenk

Which app is it?

Oops, sorry, it's called "Bilingual Book Reader", by WordConqueror.

[TimA]

Originally Posted by bazz2004

It's easy to be too ambitious with these e-readers. You've got a reading app you like and have some dictionaries working. Most of them are free. The time's better spent on the Spanish.

Sure, and that's what I'm doing, but I am a bit of a perfectionist when it comes to software and wondered if anyone out there has any better ideas. I don't mind spending money for the right combo.

[TimA]

Originally Posted by bazz2004

The iPad has an app called Parallel Books but there's not a lot in the store - mainly classics.

Yes, I and I have an iPad, but prefer to do my reading on my Mars.

Despite what I wrote, I'm not really interested in parallel text reading. I read a few paragraphs/pages in Spanish, checking the occasional new word in the dictionary, then check my comprehension in the translation. With both books side-by-side I suspect I'd be lazier with the Spanish and I don't want to do that.

[bazz2004]

"I am a bit of a perfectionist when it comes to software" TimA.
Yes I'm the same and get pretty upset when stuff is not working or buggy. In hindsight I should never have bought the Alita. It's a geek's dream device. I doubt that the right device or software is out there at any price.

[guest]

Many reader apps have Share option.
Many dictionaries can display translation after using them for sharing.
I use:
- Cool Reader (I've changed sources. One of reasons - it's Share feature in the original adds for example book title, which isn't desired for sharing with a dictionary)
- Vox Dictionary (Spanish only. They do have English-Spanish)
- Andmade Share - used for disabling additional share dialog and forwarding sharing directly from Cool Reader to Vox Dictionary.

[TimA]

Originally Posted by guest

Many reader apps have Share option.
Many dictionaries can display translation after using them for sharing.
I use:
- Cool Reader (I've changed sources. One of reasons - it's Share feature in the original adds for example book title, which isn't desired for sharing with a dictionary)
- Vox Dictionary (Spanish only. They do have English-Spanish)
- Andmade Share - used for disabling additional share dialog and forwarding sharing directly from Cool Reader to Vox Dictionary.

Thank you for this, which sent me down quite the rabbit hole, exploring loading non-playstore apps (Andmade share isn't there, and going further is too complicated for me, so I gave up) and trying to figure out Cool Reader (why don't developers provide user manuals any more?) until I figured out how to share from it but quit when I realized I'd have to edit the code as you did and have no idea how. I will maybe try again later but right now I am exhausted.

[bazz2004]

That route was very bad for my ego and got me absolutely nowhere. As I don't give up easily it wasted a lot of time. Stick to the Play store dictionaries unless you have geek skills. I found Librera to be the best reader for my limited requirements and have a lot of translation options working. Every other reader app came short in at least one respect even some that started off great. I'm rather tired of the reading/dictionary issues and am reverting to watching videos with subtitles to keep my interest up. You just have to find what suits you. I'm not going to be taking any language exams which is liberating.

[TimA]

Originally Posted by bazz2004

I found Librera to be the best reader for my limited requirements and have a lot of translation options working.

Well Librera certainly looks interesting. It does everything that I want except that I cannot see how to make an annotation. The app description says it supports them but I see no option on the selection menu to add them, nor anywhere else. Do you know how?

[bazz2004]

Sorry no. When I did try writing with the stylus at the start I didn't find it at all natural. That was I think with the Boyue reading ap. I do have a screen protector which might give a better surface but then putting those on without bubbles isn't easy. If you make any headway please post. I will have a quick look in case I'm able to find out how to make notes.

[bazz2004]

Well here's what I found. You have a book open in Librera, poke a finger on the page to open up the options which surround the page. Touch the settings cog, Preferences > Reading Settings and see that in-text notes (instead of foot/endnotes) is checked. Maybe that doesn't matter but it was selected on mine.

At the bottom right of the screen there are three vertical dots. Sixth item down it says Add tags. I managed to add a note there using the onscreen keyboard. I doubt it's possible to use the stylus. It's a start and maybe it'll lead you somewhere. Best of luck.

[TimA]

@bazz2004: Well, I found an email address and wrote to the developer. Gratifyingly quickly they responded that unfortunately, no, Librera does not support annotations. That said, I tried your proposed strategy but I think I just added a tag to the book as a whole and not to the required text. Thanks anyway.

BTW, I'm not into drawing on a book with a stylus, I just want to highlight and comment, and to be able to export these to include in my reading journal. Moon+Reader, once you figure it out, does that pretty well, it's just awkward with dictionary use, and that's mostly me being picky (see my above comment about perfectionism).