[Old] Baka-Tsuki Android App: BakaReader

[onizuka-gto]

Dear Community, I would like to happily announce the release of our Official Baka-Tsuki.org Novel Reader App for Android!

Created by one of our community members, andyrobo123. You can now keep track and read any Baka-Tsuki project online or offline!

Here are some screenshots:




Eye balls Indicate: "Watched Status"








Please remember this is only the first version, so if you notice any bugs, please tell us below so that Andrew can fix it.


You can grab the App on the Android market now! Under the name "BakaReader"

You will need Android version 1.6X and Above, so practically every model out!

Direct link to Android Market Page:
https://market.android.com/details?id=c ... ader&hl=en

So what are waiting for? Go get it!

[larethian]

does it support tablet screens?

[onizuka-gto]

does it support tablet screens?

It should do!

But iit might not show in the right aspect ratio, it depends if Andyrobo123 has taken into account of all those different types of tablet screens.

I know Android has a specific way of just "enabling" automatic aspect ratio,so you don't have to manually code in for every model available.

So if anyone has a Android tablet about, please try and give us feedback...thanks!

[Teh_ping]

I don't have an Android, but i would like to raise the issue that some translators, like YoakenoHikari, Js06 and me will do regular updates, sometimes in quick succession. Can I propose for an hourly update instead of instant notification? The way I see it, there will be updates once someone updates it, so I don't know what will happen if translators, especially YoakenoHikari post regular updates in quick succession.

[larethian]

the user can actually set how often they want the update to be.

[Teh_ping]

Oh, so the frequency can be set? That's cool.

I suppose they have a user manual there, right? (By the way, I'm a caveman, I'm not a gadget guy.)

[EusthEnoptEron]

Downloaded and looked through it briefly. I like it.

Some suggestions (you may already have them on your roadmap, but I'll still list them):

1. It should be possible to move between chapters. A next/back button would be handy.
2. Could you somehow separate the volumes of a novel? E.g. by making them nested or grouping them.
3. On a similar note, I think in most of the cases, it would be best to display the chapter titles as they are written on the wiki rather than putting their respective links.
4. It would be nice if the images filled the screen's width. I don't know, though, how this would harmonize with tablets. A neat design for the illustration galleries would also be a cool feature.

And some other notes:
- I had a connection error (which is not the problem), but it kept loading.
- The tables in Hakomari 3/4 are not being shown (if I looked correctly). Do you use the browser engine to display the text?

[larethian]

does it support tablet screens?

It should do!

But iit might not show in the right aspect ratio, it depends if Andyrobo123 has taken into account of all those different types of tablet screens.

I know Android has a specific way of just "enabling" automatic aspect ratio,so you don't have to manually code in for every model available.

So if anyone has a Android tablet about, please try and give us feedback...thanks!

yeah probably, though I've only tried it on my N1, not yet on my galaxy tab though.

Oh, so the frequency can be set? That's cool.

I suppose they have a user manual there, right? (By the way, I'm a caveman, I'm not a gadget guy.)

yeah, by hour, there's 1, 2, 3, 5, 12, everyday (ie. once per day). no need user manual; it's a simple app.

Downloaded and looked through it briefly. I like it.

Some suggestions (you may already have them on your roadmap, but I'll still list them):

1. It should be possible to move between chapters. A next/back button would be handy.
2. Could you somehow separate the volumes of a novel? E.g. by making them nested or grouping them.
3. On a similar note, I think in most of the cases, it would be best to display the chapter titles as they are written on the wiki rather than putting their respective links.
4. It would be nice if the images filled the screen's width. I don't know, though, how this would harmonize with tablets. A neat design for the illustration galleries would also be a cool feature.

And some other notes:
- I had a connection error (which is not the problem), but it kept loading.
- The tables in Hakomari 3/4 are not being shown (if I looked correctly). Do you use the browser engine to display the text?

I agree with the enhancements, though I believe this is only the first version right? The links used for translation notes, either internal or external should be parsed and embedded as well , I think, though it might be a problem because of lack of standardization. What I like about it is that it preserves the text styles in my templates.

[andyrobo123]

Hi everybody,

I am the guy who made this app.

Some people have reported crashes when looking at/refreshing the novel list, I have a fix for this and it will post an update later today or tomorrow.

1. It should be possible to move between chapters. A next/back button would be handy.
2. Could you somehow separate the volumes of a novel? E.g. by making them nested or grouping them.
3. On a similar note, I think in most of the cases, it would be best to display the chapter titles as they are written on the wiki rather than putting their respective links.
4. It would be nice if the images filled the screen's width. I don't know, though, how this would harmonize with tablets. A neat design for the illustration galleries would also be a cool feature.

1. Shouldn't be to difficult to add, I will try and get it done soon. (don't know why I didn't think of it)
2. This might be more difficult, I will look into how this can be best displayed.
3. I cant remember why I chose to use the link and not the wiki name. I must have had a good reason at the time, I think it might have to do with how non standard letters are stored and displayed. Again I will look into changing it.
4. Currently the images displayed are the thumbnail images shown in the chapters, It might be possible to display the full size images on tablets if you think that would be better.

- I had a connection error (which is not the problem), but it kept loading.
- The tables in Hakomari 3/4 are not being shown (if I looked correctly). Do you use the browser engine to display the text?

What where you looking at when you saw the connection error? a list of novels, list of chapters or chapter text?
Can you post a link to the exact chapter that's not having the tables displayed. The app does some funny things with tables in the HTML before displaying it to the user, might be causing the tables to not show up.

With the updates at the moment it only watches a novels main page for new chapters, or a change to the notes. I plan to add the ability to watch the text of an individual chapter for smaller updates later.
just so you know the more novels you watch and the more often you check for updates the faster it will drain your phone battery.

[EusthEnoptEron]

What where you looking at when you saw the connection error? a list of novels, list of chapters or chapter text?

It occurred when I tried to load the list of chapters without connection, but I think it's the same for all pages that aren't cached. Well, the error message is displayed correctly, so it's fine. You just have to go back yourself.

Can you post a link to the exact chapter that's not having the tables displayed. The app does some funny things with tables in the HTML before displaying it to the user, might be causing the tables to not show up.

Utsuro_no_Hako:Volume4_Game_Explanation


Anyway, good job!

[andyrobo123]

Utsuro_no_Hako:Volume4_Game_Explanation

Anyway, good job!

I have pushed an update to the market.
This should now be fixed along with the random crash when viewing novels.

Version 1.0.0 lasted about 24hours, lets hope version 1.0.1 lasts longer.

[Kira0802]

Thanks for the app! I think the readers really appreciate it. Personally, I think that reading on a mobile phone is actually very handy.

[MadJustin7]

Oh please! don't do something stupid like release an Android app. Under the radar is a good thing. I like this place I don't want to see it go out the way "onemanga" did for putting out a smart phone app and becoming overt and blatant with what they were doing. It's not worth it.

[Teh_ping]

Oh please! don't do something stupid like release an Android app. Under the radar is a good thing. I like this place I don't want to see it go out the way "onemanga" did for putting out a smart phone app and becoming overt and blatant with what they were doing. It's not worth it.

にょろーン。。。

To be honest, we are doing this precisely because we want to make light novels more mainstream. Unlike onemanga, which was putting up something that was licensed, we are putting up 'unlicensed' work in the US. Also, this place isn't as under the radar as you think it is. This is the leading place of light novel promotion in English and other languages (except Chinese)

Besides, you have to give it up to the man who created that app.

[YoakeNoHikari]

The Chinese are ahead of us by lightyears.

More collective interest and manpower, I suppose.

However, thank you for the app. This site is not meant to stay underground, to my knowledge, but act as a location to cultivate interest in English/Non-Japanese speakers for this particular medium.