About the synchronization of readers and a little more. About synchronization of readers and a little more Reader with synchronization of android and ios

I had a need to synchronize the book reading point between several devices. Rather, the need arose a long time ago, but while these devices were the Android phone and the iPad, there were no chances for a solution by definition.

Between two androids, this task used to be solved by all sorts of dances with root and then copying pieces of the configuration of the reader program. Now, as it turned out, everything is simpler - this feature is built into the Moon + Reader. Unfortunately, neither in Cool Reader nor in the FBReader that I used earlier (the latter, however, distinguished itself the other day by adding support for an e-ink screen on YotaPhone).

Synchronization of the reading point occurs at the user's choice either through Dropbox or through Google Drive. I chose the latter. After reading a book on one device, when I launch the reader on another, after a few seconds (with a normal connection) a question appears: “There is a new last position in Google Drive. Synchronize?" - and with an affirmative answer, the book is instantly scrolled to the right place. Which book is currently open is not synchronized, i.e. when moving to the next book, you need to open it manually on each device. Physically, Google Drive stores the reading point of each of the ever-opened books in relation to its title. Those. For synchronization to work, the book file on the devices must be named the same. But, by the way, the Moon + Reader books themselves can also download directly from Dropbox / Google Drive, which greatly simplifies everything.

Of course, after FBReader it was a bit unusual to manage Moon+ Reader. For some reason, I never set up FBReader - everything suited me out of the box. Here, I had to twist something - the fonts (by default it was with serifs, which I don’t like), for some reason I didn’t like all the default indents-intervals, I conjured something with the controls. But these are all trifles. When you set it up, everything is the same as with any reader: launched, flipped through the pages, closed it.

It seemed interesting to be able to calculate the reading speed (in words per minute - pages are obviously unsuitable because they depend on the device, font size, etc.) and, based on this, display the estimated reading time until the end of the current chapter and the entire book. After all, we all often think: “Well, how much is there until the end of the chapter? Will I finish it now, or is it too much?” - and here the answer is immediately in a convenient form: in minutes.

Lived a week with the free version of Moon + Reader - it seems that there are enough opportunities, the banner is visible only when choosing a book, but not when reading. But then they announced a discount on Moon + Reader Pro - and I was led (I saved as many as 82 rubles!). The program is good - what not to buy. Yes, even without a banner it’s still more pleasant :) Well, all sorts of nice little things (the same reading statistics are only in Pro).

By the way, not to get up twice. On New Year's Eve, everyone in a row announces discounts, so I will not miss the opportunity to once again recommend what I consider worthy of a recommendation, and they are now giving a discount:

P.S. Wow, I just noticed that the legendary reader of WinMobile times - AlReader - also reincarnated under Android, and support for synchronization of the reading point is also announced there. I'll have to take a look at it somehow.

Upd. It turns out FBReader right now tests read point synchronization. Maybe I was too fast? But I have already found some nice little things in the Moon + Reader ...

I like to read books. And for me it is absolutely not important to read a paper book or an electronic one. If we put aside the lyrics, the main thing is in the process of reading, and not in tactile sensations. Recently, there was a need to synchronize readable books on different devices. For example, start reading on the phone up to a certain chapter, continue on the tablet, and finish on the computer, or vice versa. For fans of Apple gadgets, this problem is easily solved, the iBooks application allows you to synchronize data. And those who “sit” on Android have to look for workarounds.

I tried to find several alternatives on Google play, but many applications asked me to download a special sync plugin. I needed a reading application that already supports the ability to synchronize what has been read without additional plugins. The result of the search is 2 excellent reader programs: Readmill and Bookmate.

One of those programs that migrated from the App store. It can be installed on any device with Android 4.0 and higher. The supported book format is epub. We download the book, upload it to our phone/tablet or readmill.com account, and we can read it. And in offline mode too. There is a separate button “Sync library” for synchronization.

The application is made in a concise style, very stylish and functional. Absolutely nothing distracts from reading. The text scrolls and flips very quickly, does not cause discomfort. You can adjust the brightness and font size.

Of the minuses, the following can be distinguished: the interface is in English (critical only for those who do not know the language), except for epub and pdf, other formats are not supported.

(Link to Google Play)

Rather than just a reader with the ability to synchronize, but a real virtual library with social functions. There is a subscription system here. For 169 rubles a month, you can download any books using the application of the same name. However, there is also a workaround. The site allows you to upload any epub or fb2 book to your account and read it both through the browser and using the android application.

Compared to the previous competitor, it seemed to me that the synchronization itself here is much slower, but the interface is in Russian. There will be no problems. Of the minuses - the inability to upload books to the library from the device itself. This can only be done through a browser.

Summing up, I can say that I liked each of these reader applications. They are distinguished by ease of use, a very concise interface and convenience. They perform the main task indicated in this post. The choice depends on personal preference.

update.
Unfortunately, after a few months, it was no longer supported by the developers who completed the project. It's a pity. But I found a good alternative. And this is the Google Books application installed on modern smartphones based on the Android operating system. Yes, the application is very simple, has few settings. But the synchronization of the read is instantaneous, and the easy interface is pleasing to the eye. Lately I've been using this app. Recommend!

I have a tablet and an android phone. I read on both (on the phone - on the road, on the tablet - at home). The books themselves are automatically synchronized via dropbox, but I wanted to stop and continue reading on another device from the same place.

From the reader as such, I do not need very much:
support for hyphenation in Russian text (this is mandatory)
two-page mode on a tablet (it's more convenient for me)
support for fb2 (but I also agree with epub, if otherwise it suits)
night / day mode (everyone has it, but you never know)

I used Coolreader, but, despite numerous requests in the topic on w3bsit3-dns.com, I don’t see any progress towards synchronization. They suggested that the .cr3 folder be synchronized via dropbox, but all settings are stored there, and not just the position in the file. Therefore, not fits.

I decided to see what the market offers.

Amazon Kindle.

The application is not bad, but it only supports its own books bought on Amazon. I have few of these. Installed, but as the main reader is not good.

Page Turner Reader , which is positioned as "reader that keeps all your devices in sync."

Looked. Not supported by fb2, no hyphenation in Russian text, no two-page mode.

FBReader plus FBSync extension.

To work, it requires root rights "a. They are on the phone, it's lazy to get on the tablet, so I fly by. Yes, and the two-page mode on the tablet does not support.

Aldiko Book Reader and Aldico sync




Recently, Aldico sync does not require root rights. But I didn’t like the reader itself, the inconvenient interface, sad work with Russian (displays, but no more).

Moon+ Reader

A good reader with a wide range of features. It’s quite like coolreader’s competitor, the capabilities are almost the same (everything I need is available), but a slightly more beautiful interface. Well, synchronization via dropbox. It only works on the second and third androids, it doesn’t work on the fourth. But, since on the phone, I rolled back from the four back to the deuce, it suited me.
To enable, you need to open some file for reading and go to the settings, section "Miscellaneous". There, scroll to the end and check the box for synchronization.
Of the shortcomings - it loads the file in small pieces, the transition between which is noticeable and not very fast. But while I use it and try to understand how much it annoys me.

Addendum:
bookmate.com

Not a reader, but a service - an attempt to make a paid library. But it is possible to download your own books (through a browser), rather than use the library and synchronize them using the bookmate client. The idea is good, but I don't really like the implementation - although they found their consumer, judging by the number of comments.
There are transfers in the reader, but I did not find either a two-page mode, or a working day / night switch (it is, but only slightly pulls the brightness) or even a book search.

coolreader

In the comments, they suggested a synchronization option for Coolreader "a, I decided to see how it would look.
To begin with, we delete the cr3.ini file from the .cr3 folder so that the program transfers its settings to another location. After that, only the cache of read files, covers and information about the position in the files will remain in .cr3. Although, ideally, you can bang everything in this folder. Next, dropsync is taken and synchronization.cr3 is set up with some folder in the dropbox, it is advisable to enable “instant upload” so that the files are loaded immediately upon change.
Everything, synchronization works, but with reservations:

• when you stop reading on one device, you must explicitly exit the program, and not leave it hanging in the background - otherwise you will get conflicting copies of files
• dropsync does not have an “instant download” function, therefore the update will not be instantaneous, but depending on how often you set it up (you can, of course, set it every minute, but this will drain the battery very quickly)
• during synchronization, not only the settings file will be updated, but also the cache of books, therefore, with a slow, unstable or expensive Internet, it is better not to use this

So, in my opinion, this is a purely theoretical possibility, unsuitable for real use.

Well, the conclusions that were asked:

Personally, I'm trying to get used to moonreader "y. But bookmate and kindle look like quite worthy solutions if you are satisfied with the file upload methods and the readers themselves.

Thanks to modern technology, reading books on paper has long faded into the background. Now mankind reads books from their gadgets, which have a lot of advantages: convenience, mobility, backlight for night reading. In addition, e-books are an order of magnitude cheaper than paper ones, which cannot but please true book lovers. Today, the review will consider the desktop version of the "reader" for Windows - Fbreader.

Fbreader is a cross-platform reader supported by most operating systems, and is not yet available except for iOs, but, according to the developers, soon users of apple devices will be able to use this product.

Fbreader supports most text formats: fb2, epub, RTF, .doc, txt and other formats.

To try out Fbreader in action, let's download the Windows version from the official website.


The installation process will take no more than a minute, and the Fbreader icon will appear on the desktop.

When the program is launched for the first time, the user will receive a welcome letter from the developers, which will tell about the principles of the reader. And just a few words about the reading mode in Fbreader. All program settings are displayed as icons in the upper part of the program. Here are some of them:


Rotate text. A single click changes the orientation 90 degrees to the left, a second click returns the text to its original position.

Settings. A single click on this icon opens a small dialog box. In the open Library tab, the user is given the opportunity to change the location of books on the computer, the Styles tab changes the font and its size, the Web Search tab contains sites that search for books and other settings.

Search. Clicking on this icon opens a dialog box where you can search for a word or phrase throughout the text.

In order to add the first book to the reader, you must select the "Add file to library" icon and specify the path to the book. It is worth noting that the file can be either in the usual format or in a compressed form, so the book does not have to be unpacked first.

Also, downloading books can be carried out directly from the reader itself, using the so-called OPDS catalogs. To do this, click on the "Access to network libraries" icon. By default, Fbreader already has several book directories, so if some of them are not needed, then you can hide them, and the data of these directories will not appear in the search results. To start searching for books on the web, click the "Search on the Web" icon and enter the data of the book you are looking for in the window that opens. Based on the search results, you can either download a fragment of a book or buy the entire book at an affordable price.


And we can not say about the mobile version of Fbreader for Android, which has the same functionality as the Windows version. This reader for a long time holds the lead among applications for reading e-books. And with the latest update, the program has acquired the long-awaited function of synchronizing books and bookmarks, which cannot but please users of several Android devices. Synchronization works in such a way that while reading books on the tablet, you can continue reading the book on the phone.

The creators of Fbreader were able to prove that reading on a computer and mobile devices can be convenient. The product is constantly evolving and acquiring useful features, but the reader is available to users for free download.