Hi all,
After comparing e-readers, I want to get a Boox Go 10.3 to read academic papers. The reason for choosing this one is based on the better integration with Zotero which I already use.
However, I see that the device is based on Android, which means (I guess) getting app from Google Play.
Given the device and software, what would be your recommendations to make this as private as possible? Using a VPN, I guess. An anonymous account for Google Play? Any way not to use Google Play at all? Can I use Obtainium on it (seems like the Zotero app might be on github)? Another post mentioned “adb commands” but I do not know what this means. Any advice is welcome.
Thanks!
Boox is one of the worst e-readers in terms of the privacy out of the box:
https://foundation.mozilla.org/en/privacynotincluded/onyx-boox/
You could, however, stick to the airplane mode and side load all the apps and books via USB.
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I would be happy to do it this way. In my case, though, how can I be sure that I can properly sync my Zotero files against those in my local app?
EDIT: after reading the link, yeah, that’s not encouraging. Really too bad because they seem really nice. This might not be the right forum for this, but any idea for alternatives, given my purpose for the eReader?
I have been waiting for the PineNote e-reader for months and months now.
Its probably still in the oven/being develeoped. There has been some interesting developments in the color e-ink displays so maybe they are holding out. Also it doesnt help that people are not having enough spare money to consume stuff…
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The Kobo Elipsa 2E was my first choice, but it dawned on me that the main goal of the device was really highlighting and taking notes and having that in Zotero, and that just doesn’t seem to be happening.
EDIT: maybe an app-based firewall blocking virtually everything but Zotero could help?
Pocketbooks are privacy friendly, they don’t collect anything, even when connected to the network. They are available in Europe, however if you live in the US the availability might be limited.
Thanks. I’ll think about it. It’s a tough decision. The Pocketbook is nice, but it’s more expensive, heavier, and thicker, and has an older version of Android. I was really hoping I could mitigate the Boox flaws with connections filtering.
I was considering a Kobo too, but I don’t know if it’s possible to manually import e-books on it without using the internet.
That works very well with Calibre. I have the Kobo Clara B&W for this and it’s perfect. But this time I need a tablet for papers and PDFs; it’s a different use-case. Go for Kobo if that works for you, I love mine.
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You can copy books onto a Kobo via USB connection to a computer. But Kobos do require internet and an email address for initial setup (IIRC they don’t require confirmation from the email address, so I think you can provide a fake one).
Kobo can’t read PDFs?
When using a USB connection, what application do you use to transfer the files? Or does it he Kobo just appear in File Explorer/Finder and you can just drag and drop.
Yeah, the internet connection is my problem, because it’s complicated to connect to a VPN on the device. I recently created a Kobo account to try their Android app, and I did it with a VPN.
I noticed that the depending on my VPN location, I would get different books recommended to me in different languages. Often books from the locan country. I don’t want Kobo to know my real country.
This is probably not the solution you’re looking for, but I considered this exact problem of privacy last week when getting an e-ink device. (I wanted to have a display that lets me read outside in parks.) I also use Zotero.
There is no stand-alone e-ink device that is open-source, or is usable without ever connecting to the internet. Period.
So I acquired an e-ink monitor - Dasung Paperlike Pro, using it in combination with my laptop. I already have a Wacom tablet, which suffices for occasional handwriting.
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Yes I can drag and drop with my file manager. It’s the standard android file transfer system.
This is possible with Kobo devices! I have a Kobo Libra 2 and it works well without an internet connection. I just connect it to my computer with a USB-C cable whenever I want to put e-books on there. I followed a guide similar to this one when setting up my e-reader:
https://www.yingtongli.me/blog/2018/07/30/kobo-rego.html
I turned off internet on the device and reading books just works fine. Of course, you cannot use the bookstore functionality anymore. But, this requires a Kobo account and subscription anyway.
There also something called KOReader (https://koreader.rocks/). You can flash/put this on your Kobo device. I am not sure if this enhances privacy, though. It seems to be focussed on adding more features.
Thanks for this!