Friday, August 11, 2017

Me & My Huawei P10+ 09: eBook Reader & Dictionary

have downloaded at least 5 eBook readers

can’t find anything as good as iBooks

trial and error, they said

eBook Readers i have installed and uninstalledeBook Readers i have installed and uninstalled

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by the way

Google Play Book

was such a sight to behold

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back during iOS

there are some quite decent

Chinese classics like

Dreams of the Red Chambers

in both English and Chinese

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eye rolling when

i was browsing the Chinese book list

Google Play Book

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and the list of top free books (as a whole) 

students, kids probably will be

browsing this section

it’s perfectly okay for them

wanting to find some books to read

but….

Screenshot_20170809-010154_thumb[1]Google Play Book

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or perhaps..

quoting my BFF

it’s just reflecting

the users in this country

so it’s not Google’s fault

to be fair

but.. don’t you think

they should at least provide

some sort of filter

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some apps that i downloaded

were not quite user-friendly

to make the define function works

you have to install a dictionary app

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next you have to download

language packages which appear

as if they are standalone apps

on your home screen

then you install the packages

into your dictionary

then… i uninstalled everything

downloading a dictionary and standalone language packages

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some do not support PDF

some can’t zoom in and out

some do not support copy and etc

some do not have a nice interface

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at one point of time

i am so frustrated that

i was considering getting a Kindle

yeah, i mean the tablet

that would solve everything

for once and for good

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i was settled with Aldiko

which was commonly recommended

as an alternative to iBooks

for a couple of days

but i find it a bit difficult

to highlight a specific word

and sometimes it crashes

Aldiko Book Reader

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then i downloaded a few others

and at last settled with

eReader Prestigio

eReader Prestigio

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i can’t remember why

I uninstalled it when i first

download it last week

i think it’s due to

downloading dictionary

with language packages

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but it works fine now

as i have found a

reliable pop up dictionary

the page turning for PDF is smoother

when the page is zoomed in

after you have turned to the next page

you are automatically at the top of the page

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for Aldiko

when you are turning to the next

you will end up at the same position

as the previous page

so you have to scroll

all the way up again

that makes all the difference

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by the way

i like the fact that

both support page turning with

the volume up and down buttons

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i hate gesture flipping actually

always end up turning more pages

than expected

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none that i downloaded

have built-in offline dictionary

at least for those i have tried

just like iBooks

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the one for iBooks is so so good

i even downloaded a

English – Chinese dictionary

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some come with Define function

but it will ultimately link you back

to a Google search page

out of the app

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so i have to installed a

separate popup dictionary app

which will help to define the word

in most apps

once you click on “Copy”

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the app i settled with is

Quick Dictionary

which was previously known as

Word Snitch

Quick Dictionary

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what it basically does is

replace your copy function

i mean on top of copying

a pop-up with definition will be provided

without quitting the current app

How does Quick Dictionary function

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it was the first i installed

then i realized sometimes it wasn’t working

then i went on to try out a few

the problem persisted

and finally i gave up

and re-installed it

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one thing for sure

because the definition is

short and sweet

straight to the point

at one glance

and secondly

it comes with pronunciation

How does Quick Dictionary function

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thirdly

the earth icon links you to Google search

in case you need a more elaborated explanation

or the meaning can’t be found in the

offline database as below

How does Quick Dictionary function

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fourthly

there’s an option to insert an

adjustable lookup button

the one in red

in case some apps don’t support

the copy function

you may type in directly

it works anywhere in the phone

even including your camera

How does Quick Dictionary function

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fifthly

what’s beating the iOS built-in dictionary

you may check out the list of word

you have looked up for

and even export them

as a list for future reference

Quick Dictionary

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and i decided to upgrade

my Quick Dictionary to the pro version

to get rid of the full page ad

which last for 3 seconds

shut up and take my money

it’s only 2 USD anyway

and it allows direct billing

via my Telco where

i have plenty of credit

Quick Dictionary Pro

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and by the way

i found out the reason

why sometimes it’s not working

it has to be opened one after another

with the app you are using it for

e.g. you are reading an eBook

you have to turn on Quick Dictionary

before accessing the reader app

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or you have to turn off

the app that comes between

Quick Dictionary and the app

you are trying to look up for words

from your recently-open app list

well the first method is preferred

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so let’s say you exit

to reply to Whatsapp text

or doing whatsoever

then Quick Dictionary

will no longer be functioning

your copy function will lose its magic

and become as simple as copying only

Quick Dictionary not working

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yeah another advantage of

Prestigio over Adliko is

the Copy button is the first

instead of auto hidden

in the secondary menu as below

Aldiko book reader

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so far my issue for

my eBook reader with

built-in offline dictionary

has been solved

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why does it matter so much??

well…. this is the best way to

kill time when you are taking

long haul flight with no internet access

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and realizing how little

i have been reading and

learning new vocabs there days

i think it’s a must

to do something about it

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while experimenting with these

i managed to finish

a Hercules Poirot novel

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so it took me less than a week

honestly speaking

something which has not been done

in years

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cheers

moving on to talk about

the dark side of me

the non-stop shopping

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