suggest me an e-book reader

grayway2

I love reading books. I recently bought a Pixel tablet and flashed an obscur os that can't be named lol

I begun reading books on it but my eyes are bleeding after a few minutes so I thought I could buy instead an e-book reader which is a better choice for eyes

Anyone could suggest a good privacy oriented e-book device reader ? Most of the well known ask to create an account which is sync with the reader and I hate this. I don't think that there is a way to bypass it and use the reader without it . I don't like the idea that a company can monitor the way I use their reader or what I read.

Thank you for any suggestions

NetRunner88

grayway2
Why you do not install GrapheneOS ?

chinook

grayway2 I read in MoonReader on my Pixel. With the good theme it's pretty good on the eyes in the night (I prefer it over epaper with light) and is perfect in the day.

YMMV.

fid02

grayway2 I like Kobos. They can be used completely offline and you can sideload firmware updates. Historically they have supported devices with firmware updates for many years, released fairly regularly. I don't know if newer Kindles can be used offline.

To bypass the account creation, I think the following trick still works (although don't quote me on that). I personally just do the account creation from a mobile hotspot and then keep the device offline. Currently, when creating an account on the Kobo, you don't actually need to provide a valid email address. You can provide nonsense such as jgkgfjgu5676rg@hhfry7754t.hgiohet6 and it will be accepted without verification. Can disable WiFi after that. Works on the newest firmware for Libra 2, probably others as well, but might of course enforce verification in a future version.

I prefer Kobos over Kindles partially because they support the epub format, which means I can sideload my purchases using my phone and not having to involve a computer for conversion to mobi/azw3. I also prefer Kobo's software over Kindle's in general, but that's a matter of taste.

Naturally you won't be able to read DRM-protected files without an internet connection, but personally that's fine for me.

Can sideload fonts and dictionaries, but you can do this on other ereaders as well.

AlanZ

grayway2

I just posted this a few hours ago:

https://github.com/Acclorite/book-story/blob/master/fastlane/metadata/android/en-US/images/phoneScreenshots/2.png

Asks for access to the home folder, but Storage Scopes takes care of that.

grayway2

NetRunner88 let me guess. GrapheneOS isn't compatible with any existent e-book device reader

grayway2

chinook i will then try moonreader on my pixel tab

Dumdum

grayway2 let me guess. GrapheneOS isn't compatible with any existent e-book device reader

They're likely referring to you "flashing an obscure OS" on your Pixel tablet, instead of GrapheneOS.

grOSLife

Is this a copy and paste from /r/privacy which is why you're saying an OS that cannot be named? If so, you might want to edit your post for clarity.

grayway2

grOSLife it's a joke and the quote is coming from r/privacy as you know. People who like me read this a lot of times on reddit know what OS I'm talking about..it starts with a "G"

grayway2

fid02 thanks for this post, I was thinking of buying the kobo sage and hope the bypass trick will still work.

fid02

grayway2 I'm sorry, are you saying that you posted this thread as a joke?

grOSLife

grayway2 Got it. Well, you can say GrapheneOS here!

Anyway, I realize you're asking for an e-reader with privacy focus. I can't help you there.

I can recommend Book's Story as a FOSS Material designed eBook reader for Android.

grayway2

fid02 I'm not talking about the thread but the naming of grapheneOS as an obscur OS. I found it all the times silly that grapheneOS can't be written GrapheneOS because mods on reddit disapprove it. So finally it became more funny to me than something I should feel strange or unfair because from the beginning it was nonsense.

horde

AlanZ actual link https://github.com/Acclorite/book-story

fid02

My interpretation of the OP was that they are looking for eInk device recommendations.

AlanZ

fid02
Ah, you are right, I didn’t read his post carefully.

grayway2

I bought a kobo reader today and solved the account bypass following this on a reddit post :

Delete .kobo/KoboReader.sqlite (if you are already signed in).

Restart Kobo

DO NOT tap "Set up over wi-fi". Press the other one and connect it to a computer.

Go to .kobo/Kobo/Koboreader.config (or something like that)

Open the config file and under [ApplicationPreferences], write on a new line: SideloadedMode=true.

If you did not do steps 1 and 2, delete .kobo/KoboReader.sqlite.

Eject and restart ereader

Now I can read with peace of mind

Thanks guys

raccoondad

grayway2 "I begun reading books on it but my eyes are bleeding after a few minutes so I thought I could buy instead an e-book reader which is a better choice for eyes"

So true! I always use an e-paper book.

There are some good ones, I use a remarkable tablet for general writing, and a Kindle for reading. Both aren't privacy respecting however (tho, you can SSH into a remarkable tablet and install custom software)

Those are what I use, if you are exclusively looking for privacy respecting devices, I would look into what Fid02 suggested.

fid02

raccoondad Those are what I use, if you are exclusively looking for privacy respecting devices, I would look into what Fid02 suggested.

I wouldn't personally label them privacy-respecting devices, but they can be used offline and ebooks can be sideloaded easily.

raccoondad

fid02 I see...Well, as I mentioned, the Remarkable (after activation) uses software thats license requires the device to allow the end user to open and modify, Remarkable does this by giving the user SSH access (via USB) and a SSH password. It makes it really useful for customization, but I bet you could also block remarkables server or install custom software.

So consider that, I suppose.

Its quite large, but amazing to write with. Reading feels a bit weird, due to its large size, but its an e-paper display! No backlight however. If you draw, it may be nice to draw with if you want an e-paper display with a pressure sensitive pen. The pen feels nice, works the same as a standard Wacom tablet.

Overall, good device, but isn't the most privacy respecting device ever. I believe it requires an account to activate the device, but once you access SSH, you can just disable the networking capacity.