I'm typing this on my Boox Note Air 2 Plus. I absolutely love this device. I usually use it without the backlight, but sometimes at night I'll use the backlight and the adjustable blue light filter is an absolute must. This is my fifth or sixth E-Ink device, and probably my favorite. It's an Android device, so everything that I was already using works on it. Notably Firefox when properly configured, and Ankidroid.
As I don't have an Android eink device (I do have an Android phone and a Kobo with KOReader, for the record), I would like to know: have you tried (and what are your opinions on) any apps designed specifically for eink screens?
Thinking about EInkBro [0] as the browser or ReLaunchX [1] as the launcher, even KOReader as document reader.
EInkBro is terrific. I filed a bug last year, the dev fixed it in less than a week. I use the stock launcher, but on an old Nook I used ReLaunchX, it was fine. On that device I only had two applications that I used anyway.
I have not tried KOReader, but I can test it for you. What features do you use?
I'll second EinkBro as an awesome browser. I absolutely cannot stand anything else on my e-book reader: Onyx BOOX Max Lumi, Firefox/Android, Onyx's NeoBrowser (rebranded Chromium), and DDG Privacy Browser installed, I only use those if EinkBro blows up for some reason, which it very rarely does.
I've had a lot of interactions with the developer and the GitHub repo, and he's been quite responsive. Hasn't addressed everything, but several features added and bugs get smashed fast.
- Termux, of course. Linux-on-Android userland. There's a suite of related apps which I also install (e.g., Termux:API and Termux:Styling.) There's a black-on-white theme which works quite well (default is white-on-black, not so much).
- F-Droid. FOSS archive repo, independent of Google Play.
- Aurora Store. Alternative interface to Google Play.
- APK Mirror. Direct access to app installs, though not managed (no updates).
- Hacker's Keyboard. Far preferable to Android or Onyx defaults.
- A podcast app. I'm using AntennaPod (FOSS), have also used PodcastRepublic in the past.
- RSS Feed reader, though I'm finding I don't make much use of this. Feeder seems to be the default.
- Internet Radio player. Transistor is one option. Not something used frequently, but handy to have.
A few others though most are very occasionally used and/or disappointments (e.g., Mozilla's Pocket App, which has been an absolute shitshow, despite potentially filling a critical niche). For the most part I avoid anything that has an account associated with it, largely to avoid distractions. Though also because tablets are shitty generative tools. Adding a Bluetooth keyboard helps slightly, but Android still throws in far too many limitations.
Oh, it was just out of curiosity, as an eInk device with a more accessible platform (compared to my old Kobo with it's old Linux system) is something I love to daydream of. Thank you for your reviews!
As for KOReader, I mostly use the epub reading capabilities, and the FTP client for getting files onto it. I've tried it as an app on my Android phone but it felt a bit cumbersome in a smaller screen, and I think the faster refresh rate of LCD panels doesn't suit it well. I do really love it on my Kobo, though.
Koreader handles the reading part perfectly on my Boox device. For ftp I use the default Boox functionality which works well for me. Einkbro is good but I ultimately stick to Firefox for the sync between devices. No experience with other launchers as I don't use any other apps and the default one doesn't bother me
+1 for Kobo on Boox. +20 for EInkBro (which I use with Bazqux reader for awesome RSS experience).
Some other apps that work (not amazingly but they do work well enough ) are Todoist, readwise reader (hard to use but good to have locally to check excerpts and notes), Syncthing and obsidian (but only to read notes in case to want to check something)
Blinklist (?) audio reader worked too. Outlook too. But most of these apps I just use them to look things up and avoid switching to phone when reading (I leave the phone in my room while at home)
I just worry about using Android… this sort of e-ink device seems somehow even more personal than a laptop or cellphone (which are already quite personal); like a journal or something. I’d love one that had a community developed OS, like Linux or BSD.
Exactly, I'm avoiding them for the same reason, I don't want to use a personal e-ink device running on an OS created by the biggest advertiser in the world.
I was hoping Pocketbook would release something new this year running some Linux distro / with less tracking, and more privacy.
PS. Also: i want a light sensor to automatically adjust brightness/night mode based on lighting conditions (previous Pocketbook models don't have this.)
Can AOSP be installed on the Boox (10.3) though? I thought the bootloader was locked…
In any case, i think going this route might be very finicky, i’m afraid it would become a new hobby just to get it up and running / and keep it updated.
No, it is locked and furthermore DOA because devices don't get version updates after release. E.g. my ultra C comes and dies with Android 13... In late 2023.
By now it is more than proven that devices with community developed OSes never take off to the amount to keep a sustainable business, and then there is the whole FOSS OS distribution politics on top.
I really do love mine too, and support has been rather good. I do worry about it reaching end of life, but only mildly. I do wish that boox would open source their android changes, they are arguably the best in class features for eink, and beat the pants off systems like the Kindle
I actually did love the E-Ink display algorithms, but maybe two months ago an update changed them and it is far worse. Lots of dithering, and I have a hard time configuring the "Enhance dark colours" and "Enhance light colours" settings to display apps as good as they were prior. Don't upgrade the OS!
Every time I look at it I get turned off by Android 11 being so old. I don’t know the Google ecosystem as well, how much longer will that API version be supported? Does it get security updates? Can I unlock it and install something less Googled?
