Rooted Nook Touch Review - eReading Apps, PDF, Web Browser, etc

[imachynn]

If it only came with 3g...

[nunu10000]

HAVE A SEIZURE...

[SachielxLAEx]

i need a reader to read pdf files, can anyone advise me a good one pls?

[fuchsiaalone]

I'm getting a nook tomorrow and I'll root it. I don't really care about Gmail, widgets and all that stuff, I just want to have access to a web browser to read Safari Books (I'm a web developer) and to access Instapaper.

[charisse7392]

I think this is a good idea only because of EVERNOTE or whatever note-taking app. I love my nook simple touch except that it does not have a dedicated note-taking or to-do-list application. Its my only complaint with the original software. Hopefully they update that soon

[almostaskater62]

what happens when the nook automatically updates software? do you just lose the root or will it cause a boot cycle or something?

[avida913]

Why would you want to root the Nook Simple Touch? It was made SIMPLE for a reason, not for Android market and stuff like that. And you wonder why your Nook starts to have problems like going to the store and the side buttons not working, it's because you rooted it & it's not meant for things like that! If you wanted to be able to read and have all kinds of apps, then you just wasted your money buying the Nook Simple Touch. You should have just bought something like a Nook Color or a Kindle Fire.

[dantheflipman]

@avida913 Rooting a device with an E-ink screen is not something that people really do as much for the added functionality, it is more the thrill of being a "Power User" and knowing you have complete control over the device you own. E-Ink is a very new type of screen on tablets, and so it's pretty exciting to see what it's limits are when running standard software on it, if he wanted to fix the small problems, he'd just revert back to the standard firmware.

[statikeffeck]

@avida913 while it is definitely not designed to be a full-blown tablet of any sort, it is nice having the ability to load books from different sources (i.e. google, amazon, other apps) on the device, instead of being locked in with Barnes & Noble.

[atdube]

Hey, I've changed my wallpaper and can't get seem to get it back to the original nook (android) background. I'm using Go Launcher. Any way I could switch that back? Thanks!!

[goldenqin1]

Need help! is it possible to make the Colordict works in ezPDF reader? this function works in all android devises but not rooted Nook.

[samljer]

for like 20 bux more you can get a ereader with those functions without the bugs.

this is just silly.

[johnniefive80]

@samljer it isn't silly. the biggest reason I would do this is for the battery life. You have to look at the device for what it is. Its an eReader with touchscreen/web/email/facebook and insanely long battery life. I suggest not commenting on things you obviously don't understand.

[samljer]

@johnniefive80 because i have an opinion different to your doesnt mean i dont understand, it means i understand better.

[johnniefive80]

@samljer lol nice, i'm going to steal that. though your opinion isn't just different, its wrong.

[Repudation]

I'm pretty sure they'll add full access to the browser in the future.

With some of their competitors having a web browser, they're bound to add it eventually. Plus it seems like it was a work in progress.

[Gamingking11]

The nook simple touch is now $99 for now

[cosmonoetos]

nook touch looks like a trampled turtle...

[jimbob1er]

As long as the wifi can drain the battery on unrooted nook, I wonder what happen about that once rooted? Is there also any background process that can be running and consuming battery? Normaly this device can go for two months without a charge, how rooting is affecting this capacity?

[Ipsorai]

There is Web browser in the update rooted?

[sahatnow]

Nice review :) but I think I will stay with the stock Nook Simple Touch.

[johnniefive80]

@sahatnow its not for everyone. its for people who like getting more out of a device that a little tinkering can afford you. I wouldn't have bought an iphone 3g if it weren't for being able to jailbreak it. Without that, iDevices are way too crippled.

[daquisha305]

I Need Help ! Ok , Now Do You Actually Need A Mirco SD-Card Reader Or Can You Use A Cord That Connect From Your Nook Simple Touch To Your Computer ?

[VideoWolfe]

Thanks for the review. I had the Nook Color rooted for awhile, and that was fun. But now that I've got the Simple Touch for cheap thanks to Black Friday sales, I think I'll just keep it at stock. Rooted just gives some crappy pdf apps, an overly flashy web browser, and not much else. The Gmail app looked cool, but that's about it.

[1Delu]

great video

[haloman800]

If you root it & have these two launchers running (Standard one & the Android one), does it slow down the standard Nook launcher, like when reading a book or navigating?

[valis8536]

This looks like the most versatile e-ink reader I've seen. It would be better it had audio though. Night mode is only useful for back lit displays in the dark. E-ink readers don't have that feature because it doesn't really enhance front lit viewing.

[tipoomaster]

Does it also unlock all the storage to books from other sources? As it is only 256MB is available to non-B&N stores.

[MostlyHarmlessHuman]

Does rooting affect battery life? I mean I root it and don't use the newly unlocked features (i.e. stay in the standard nook interface) does the battery life stay the same?

[minicoopermadman]

I wish I hadn't done it. Too unstable. Nook isn't working right. I'm pissed at myself fir doing it.

[teeveemonkey]

This is unbelievable! Thanks for the excellent review and links. I picked up a nook touch today and have stably rooted through the latest touchnooter. Two things:

(1) Market search problem is fixed when installing the version of Vending.apk from xdadev (thread 15084704, post 51 -- I can't post a link apparently).

(2) Softkeys might be a little better than Button Savior b/c I don't have to repeatedly poke at the side of the screen trying to hit just the right spot to activate.

[sjoerdadlp]

I find it pretty amazing that this is posible, though i dont think this is very usable right now. An E-mail app could be added to the original Nook Touch and that kind of apps. Really like the Nook touch

[Awsomedude0901]

dont you think this is too blinky?

[AdrianEaston]

I think it's better to leave the Nook the way it is, this seems too glitchy. It's meant to b an ereader, not a tablet, and with the hidden search browser, you can still check email and search

[kayytang]

how did you get the amazon app store? the android marketplace won't let me download anything...

[planetkaitlin]

@kayytang I'm having the same problem... would love to get the kindle app

[bvjorge]

the black and white screen looks so chaotic and i like that :D

[Amaguqas]

can you re-size the text in the PDF app and still have it appear all on the screen without having to side scroll?

[AnuRULEZ]

the screen is kinda blinks every time u touch it!! okay so its refreshing, but hey isnt that massively annoying???? after seeing this video i dont think i should root my nook :( tho id love to run on the android OS.... it just seems wayy more than this device can handle

[DeathlyDavid]

@AnuRULEZ The Blinking doesn't bother at all. You get used to it.

[flehnerz]

I'm having the same issues with Shop.

[waisinator]

F-ing awesome! This is why I want a nook touch! I only wish it was color ink.

[neuregel]

@waisinator there are color tutorials on youtube

[joy2000cyber]

How to change to this theme?

[japzone]

There's an easy fix for the Market search problems. Check XDA.

[thriler30]

So after the root does the function of the original stuff seem unaffected? I mean except for the store thing. Cause on the video the display seems to be flickering more than before the root, or is it just me? Thank you

[zaafarj]

imagine playing nfs on that, lol

[iRajiv]

I'm having the same problem with the store popping me in and out. Did you do anything to fix the Kobo app problem? Mine is only loading previews of books, if I try my purchased books they won't load. I'll be doing a video of it this weekend

[lstarterl1]

more on PDF and the dictionary plz. Can i replace the stock dict with an Oxford's one and use it while reading?

[Tuxie]

Thanks for the great video! It got me interested in importing an All-New Nook. On a rooted Nook, can I use the web browser to download an ePub file and add it to the standard Nook library? How about DRM:ed ePubs, do I still need to use Adobe Digital Editions on a PC/Mac for those? Also, how does rooting affect battery life?

[1Delu]

More detailed review with the PDF please!!

[Tim92SC]

can you please show us how it works with Dropbox! That would be great. And how it works with complex PDF files, like with formulas. How is the battery life doing now you run it with android?

[13Keepers]

Can this be done through a soft root? Also, you said that the buttons did not work while you were using apps, but the the regular functionality still works when you are back in the Nook home screen - does this mean that the buttons work at that time?

[lpd070]

If I root my NOOK Touch, is there a way to un-root back to stock?

[demjp8RqDA]

@lpd070 - Search around a bit on the forums. BEFORE rooting, be sure to back up the Nook's memory to your computer. If you do not, you'll never get back, because the Nook's serial number and MAC address are stored in the /dev partition.

I haven't rooted mine yet but others have said that you can revert back to factory firmware IF you backed up before you started.

[iRajiv]

thanks for showing the Kobo app!

[Marsouin125]

thanks for the vid it's great. But why didn't you show gmail and greader ?

[toneyrahulsharma]

Can we do the same for Kobo touch as well ??

[ThePhatIndian]

@toneyrahulsharma No, the Kobo is linux based and the Nook is an android based.



[demjp8RqDA]

@ThePhatIndian ...and Android is Linux based.

[ThePhatIndian]

@demjp8RqDA But it isn't Linux. Mac OS is Unix based, but it's not Unix.

I'm not sure why you replied with me with that and what your point is.

[demjp8RqDA]

@ThePhatIndian Yes, it is Linux. It's just another distribution, same as Ubuntu or Puppy Linux. It's a fairly specialized Linux with some features that aren't found in many other linuxes, but it is a Linux kernel and contains many Linux utilities, and anyone familiar with Linux who gets into an Android command line will know what they're doing. I responded because it seemed like you were implying that linux and Android were two different things. Android is a specialized Linux.