New Baka-Tsuki Android App: Development

[ShadowfoxEX]

I'm having trouble updating the program. I'm using Nandaka's right now and am trying to update the one that Erakk just posted above, but what's happening is that once I hit install, it shows signs of something happening, stops, and then displays "Application not installed".

From what I've been read (through the power of the "search this topic" bar) is that Nandaka signed it using his key and Erakk is signing with a different key. Are you guys developing the same app, or is something else entirely happening and this is just to screw with me.

[Nandaka]

I'm having trouble updating the program. I'm using Nandaka's right now and am trying to update the one that Erakk just posted above, but what's happening is that once I hit install, it shows signs of something happening, stops, and then displays "Application not installed".

From what I've been read (through the power of the "search this topic" bar) is that Nandaka signed it using his key and Erakk is signing with a different key. Are you guys developing the same app, or is something else entirely happening and this is just to screw with me.

I'm using different key from Erakk for the dev/test apk, which also different from the Google Play one.
If you try to install the apk with different key, you need to uninstall the old apk first (you can back-up the application folder in your sdcard, usually the data is located in /mnt/sdcard/Android/data/com.erakk.lnreader/*)

[Erakk]

I'm having trouble updating the program. I'm using Nandaka's right now and am trying to update the one that Erakk just posted above, but what's happening is that once I hit install, it shows signs of something happening, stops, and then displays "Application not installed".

From what I've been read (through the power of the "search this topic" bar) is that Nandaka signed it using his key and Erakk is signing with a different key. Are you guys developing the same app, or is something else entirely happening and this is just to screw with me.

No, we are developing the same app... This can be explained because we are 2 people with 2 diferent IDEs... And even if we "unify" our keys, if you come from the release app, you will still have problems, and we are not going to use the release key for debug.
EDIT: Got my internet back! Expect a new build somewhere in 24h.

[Nandaka]

Update:
- Add option to consolidate the notification (default is true)
- Update external link handler for toc
- Add filename sanitizer for images

Source in github

[angelanime]

If they did, I don't think they'll be able to release in the Windows Phone marketplace. $99 every year to develop apps...
For google, its $25 one time fee plus %30 from everything they earn...
Sorry for the pointless information but er... yeah. That didn't answer anything did it?
Whelp, developing for Android is already hard enough, put Windows in there and *shudder*

I think, if you are a student, they give discount so it only 10$ per year? And if your university is member of MSDNAA, then it will be free, at least you got an access to Dreamspark Premium. It is in my uni (NUS), but I'm not a student anymore...

Sorry, I should have elaborated on it more. I meant app for Windows 8 for PC. I don't have an Android Phone or iPhone, nor tablet.

[Bloodscythe]

Huh? Windows 8 PC app?
Don't you think that sort of defeats the purpose? You can just read off of your web browser, right?Although, to be fair, I suppose you could say the same about Android Web browsers.
Anyway, Windows 8 is a whole different platform. Wouldn't it be really difficult to build an app for it? I mean, Android has an app because the web browser is too slow and cumbersome to actually read anything but the PC's web browser are a whole lot more stable.
An app for Windows 8 probably wouldn't be very productive.
Plus, you'd probably have to call in a different developer too. Android(Phone OS) and Windows 8(PC OS) are way too different from each other.

[Erakk]

Huh? Windows 8 PC app?
Don't you think that sort of defeats the purpose? You can just read off of your web browser, right?Although, to be fair, I suppose you could say the same about Android Web browsers.
Anyway, Windows 8 is a whole different platform. Wouldn't it be really difficult to build an app for it? I mean, Android has an app because the web browser is too slow and cumbersome to actually read anything but the PC's web browser are a whole lot more stable.
An app for Windows 8 probably wouldn't be very productive.
Plus, you'd probably have to call in a different developer too. Android(Phone OS) and Windows 8(PC OS) are way too different from each other.

First, sorry, didn't have time to update app.
Second, the purpose of the app is not just accessing the BT to read, but to keep track of what are you doing with the information (like, my watchlist has X, im on chapter 4 of novel Z, and i can read it offline), so the Win8PC app would have said features.

The purpose of apps would be to facilitate use and organization of such things, not just because the web browser is slow (but also part of it).
So the windows 8 app would not be that useless, although it's hard not to have internet in a PC (This is a generalization made by me, right now, without facts to prove it other than people i know), but it would also require some cool features in order to be needed, like, keeping track of your reading, basically. Maybe export into pdf/ePub for later reading, auto upload into your connected phone, etc.

EDIT: got home, pc didnt boot.
Reinstalled everything.
Redownloading IDE...
*sigh*

[raygold]

I have a problem with the app It wont load chapters of Kampfer also, how do i clear an image without clearing it all??

[Thatdot7]

Hi, I am sort of new here. However, I admire the work that the community has put into translating novels and posting it on a Wiki, a place that is easily accessible to the world.

I heard that the Baka-Tsuki community has got an app, so I decided to check it out.
I have a few suggestions/opinions of my own about the current design of the app. Feel free to disregard my opinions if you are compelled to.

1) Novel List Adapter Layout
Observation:
The list items seem a bit cramped up together on the Nexus 7. I haven't really check across the board of all my devices, but I think I can attribute it to the lack of padding in the ListItems.

Purposed Fix:

Spoiler! :

Using RelativeLayout can lead to really weird results in ListItems. I used the guidelines in the Android Developer website to adjust the font to be more standard. Furthermore, the layout was changed to LinearLayout to make it slightly easier to deal with padding.
This is my purposed edited code for novel_list_item.xml

Code: Select all

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<LinearLayout xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
    android:id="@+id/RelativeLayout1"
    android:layout_width="match_parent"
    android:layout_height="match_parent"
    android:orientation="horizontal"
    android:padding="8dp" >

    <LinearLayout
        android:layout_width="fill_parent"
        android:layout_weight="9"
        android:layout_height="match_parent"
        android:orientation="vertical" >

        <TextView
            android:id="@+id/novel_name"
            android:layout_width="match_parent"
            android:layout_height="wrap_content"
            android:gravity="center_vertical"
            android:text="@string/novel_title"
            android:textSize="18sp"
            android:paddingBottom="8dp" />

        <LinearLayout
            android:layout_width="match_parent"
            android:layout_height="wrap_content" >

            <TextView
                android:id="@+id/novel_last_update"
                android:layout_width="wrap_content"
                android:layout_height="wrap_content"
                android:gravity="center_vertical"
                android:text="@string/novel_last_update"
                android:textColor="#888888"
                android:textSize="12sp" />

            <TextView
                android:id="@+id/novel_last_check"
                android:layout_width="wrap_content"
                android:layout_height="wrap_content"
                android:layout_marginLeft="10dp"
                android:gravity="center_vertical"
                android:text="@string/novel_last_update"
                android:textColor="#888888"
                android:textSize="12sp" />

        </LinearLayout>

    </LinearLayout>

    <CheckBox
        android:id="@+id/novel_is_watched"
        android:layout_width="wrap_content"
        android:layout_height="fill_parent"
        android:layout_marginRight="20dp"
        android:button="@android:drawable/btn_star"
        android:checked="false"
        android:focusable="false"
        android:gravity="center" />

</LinearLayout>

2) Theme Selector
Observation
Invert colours option is a great feature for customization, however the white on some devices can be really glaring. Also, the tabs in the "Light Novels" section seem to mess up when "Invert Colours" is on.

Purposed Fix:

Spoiler! :

The Holo theme provided by the Android SDK comes in both dark and light. The light version puts the background as a light gray shade that makes it slightly easier to read. To set it to those themes, you can go to the UIHelper.java (com.erakk.Inreader package) and look up the "SetTheme()" method.

Code: Select all

	public static void SetTheme(Activity activity, Integer layoutId) {
    	if(PreferenceManager.getDefaultSharedPreferences(activity).getBoolean(Constants.PREF_INVERT_COLOR, true)) {    		
    		activity.setTheme(android.R.style.Theme_Holo);
    	}
    	else {
    		activity.setTheme(android.R.style.Theme_Holo_Light);
    	}
    	if(layoutId != null) {
    		activity.setContentView(layoutId);
    	}    	
	}

I think the problem with the tabs is that "setTabColor()" method only sets the background colour of the tab to one particular colour, no matter the theme.
However, I personally think that the default Android tabs look pretty cool. So when I played around with it, I just commented out the setTabColor() call with a find-replace.

3) Tablet UI
Observation
Although this looks semi-decent on my Nexus 7, I think on bigger devices, it will look horrid. However, that does mean a lot of crazy re-coding to change everything into Fragments. However, if you think about it, most people prefer to read long text like these on tablets. So if you got time, give them some love.

Thank you for reading through my suggestions/opinions and I hope they help. Thank you Baka-Tsuki and I hope you guys will keep doing what you are doing.

[Nandaka]

Hi, I am sort of new here. However, I admire the work that the community has put into translating novels and posting it on a Wiki, a place that is easily accessible to the world.

I heard that the Baka-Tsuki community has got an app, so I decided to check it out.
I have a few suggestions/opinions of my own about the current design of the app. Feel free to disregard my opinions if you are compelled to.

1) Novel List Adapter Layout
Observation:
The list items seem a bit cramped up together on the Nexus 7. I haven't really check across the board of all my devices, but I think I can attribute it to the lack of padding in the ListItems.

Purposed Fix:

Spoiler! :

Using RelativeLayout can lead to really weird results in ListItems. I used the guidelines in the Android Developer website to adjust the font to be more standard. Furthermore, the layout was changed to LinearLayout to make it slightly easier to deal with padding.
This is my purposed edited code for novel_list_item.xml

Code: Select all

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<LinearLayout xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
    android:id="@+id/RelativeLayout1"
    android:layout_width="match_parent"
    android:layout_height="match_parent"
    android:orientation="horizontal"
    android:padding="8dp" >

    <LinearLayout
        android:layout_width="fill_parent"
        android:layout_weight="9"
        android:layout_height="match_parent"
        android:orientation="vertical" >

        <TextView
            android:id="@+id/novel_name"
            android:layout_width="match_parent"
            android:layout_height="wrap_content"
            android:gravity="center_vertical"
            android:text="@string/novel_title"
            android:textSize="18sp"
            android:paddingBottom="8dp" />

        <LinearLayout
            android:layout_width="match_parent"
            android:layout_height="wrap_content" >

            <TextView
                android:id="@+id/novel_last_update"
                android:layout_width="wrap_content"
                android:layout_height="wrap_content"
                android:gravity="center_vertical"
                android:text="@string/novel_last_update"
                android:textColor="#888888"
                android:textSize="12sp" />

            <TextView
                android:id="@+id/novel_last_check"
                android:layout_width="wrap_content"
                android:layout_height="wrap_content"
                android:layout_marginLeft="10dp"
                android:gravity="center_vertical"
                android:text="@string/novel_last_update"
                android:textColor="#888888"
                android:textSize="12sp" />

        </LinearLayout>

    </LinearLayout>

    <CheckBox
        android:id="@+id/novel_is_watched"
        android:layout_width="wrap_content"
        android:layout_height="fill_parent"
        android:layout_marginRight="20dp"
        android:button="@android:drawable/btn_star"
        android:checked="false"
        android:focusable="false"
        android:gravity="center" />

</LinearLayout>

2) Theme Selector
Observation
Invert colours option is a great feature for customization, however the white on some devices can be really glaring. Also, the tabs in the "Light Novels" section seem to mess up when "Invert Colours" is on.

Purposed Fix:

Spoiler! :

The Holo theme provided by the Android SDK comes in both dark and light. The light version puts the background as a light gray shade that makes it slightly easier to read. To set it to those themes, you can go to the UIHelper.java (com.erakk.Inreader package) and look up the "SetTheme()" method.

Code: Select all

	public static void SetTheme(Activity activity, Integer layoutId) {
    	if(PreferenceManager.getDefaultSharedPreferences(activity).getBoolean(Constants.PREF_INVERT_COLOR, true)) {    		
    		activity.setTheme(android.R.style.Theme_Holo);
    	}
    	else {
    		activity.setTheme(android.R.style.Theme_Holo_Light);
    	}
    	if(layoutId != null) {
    		activity.setContentView(layoutId);
    	}    	
	}

I think the problem with the tabs is that "setTabColor()" method only sets the background colour of the tab to one particular colour, no matter the theme.
However, I personally think that the default Android tabs look pretty cool. So when I played around with it, I just commented out the setTabColor() call with a find-replace.

3) Tablet UI
Observation
Although this looks semi-decent on my Nexus 7, I think on bigger devices, it will look horrid. However, that does mean a lot of crazy re-coding to change everything into Fragments. However, if you think about it, most people prefer to read long text like these on tablets. So if you got time, give them some love.

Thank you for reading through my suggestions/opinions and I hope they help. Thank you Baka-Tsuki and I hope you guys will keep doing what you are doing.

For android >= Honeycomb, the parent themes are Holo and Holo.Light (see: https://github.com/calvinaquino/LNReade ... styles.xml), other than that, we use custom theme derived from @android:style/Theme (See: https://github.com/calvinaquino/LNReade ... styles.xml). At least in my device (HP Touchpad/CM9), I got grey for the background.

For color theme in Novel Content is ruled by css (see: https://github.com/calvinaquino/LNReade ... er/res/raw)

Anyway, got screen shot for your changes?

I'm agree to change the activities to Fragment (from android-support-v4), so even the older android can use it, maybe add ActionBarSherlock (http://actionbarsherlock.com/) for action bar too.

[Bloodscythe]

I have a problem with the app It wont load chapters of Kampfer also, how do i clear an image without clearing it all??

Oh, for that, you need to go into the Kampfer Novel Details and hit "REFRESH".
I just tested it and sure enough the chapters came back to life.

Therr is currently no way to clear single images, I'm afraid. You'll just have to make do with Clearing them or keeping them.

[Thatdot7]

For android >= Honeycomb, the parent themes are Holo and Holo.Light (see: https://github.com/calvinaquino/LNReade ... styles.xml), other than that, we use custom theme derived from @android:style/Theme (See: https://github.com/calvinaquino/LNReade ... styles.xml). At least in my device (HP Touchpad/CM9), I got grey for the background.

For color theme in Novel Content is ruled by css (see: https://github.com/calvinaquino/LNReade ... er/res/raw)

Anyway, got screen shot for your changes?

I'm agree to change the activities to Fragment (from android-support-v4), so even the older android can use it, maybe add ActionBarSherlock (http://actionbarsherlock.com/) for action bar too.

For the ListView Items:
Before:

Spoiler! :

After:

Spoiler! :

I also made some brief changes to the CSS, if you are interested. (And yes, I double-backed on my word about white backgrounds).
Code: style.css

Spoiler! :

Code: Select all

body {
 background-color: #ffffff;
 color: #000000;
 margin: 10mm !important;
 word-wrap:break-word !important;
}

/* For Novel content parsing */
.mw-headline{
	font-family: Georgia,serif;
}

p {
	font-family: Georgia, serif;
	line-height:200%;
}

Before:

Spoiler! :

After:

Spoiler! :

[Nandaka]

Change Log:
- Rearrange preferences screen.
- Add option to force justify novel content.
- Update external link handling.
- Add colorFilter to handle invert color for imageView.

All changes in GitHub.

[Azyrion]

just noticed something:

in the "Light Novel" list the tags "Main", "Teaser" & "Original" are only taking about a bit more than 1/3 of the top bar, the rest is gray.

LG E510, Android 2.3.6 root

[Bloodscythe]

just noticed something:

in the "Light Novel" list the tags "Main", "Teaser" & "Original" are only taking about a bit more than 1/3 of the top bar, the rest is gray.

LG E510, Android 2.3.6 root

I don't want to be snarky but...
you JUST noticed it?
I think that was because the actionbar that they tried to put in there didn't work for Gingerbread and below so they had to replace it with some buttons.
I want to see what it lools like on ICS and higher...
I could fire up an installation of CM9 but meh, I'm too lazy...

Wow, Windows 8, you really know how to please the consumers, huh? By making them go back to Windows 7. *Sigh*