Of Walled Gardens and e-readers...
October 13, 2017 9:30 PM

Looking for a way to read Google Play Books on an e-ink display and read Nook e-books on a device other than Nook.

I don't want to root my kindle or anything like that, so the best solution seems to be getting an android e-ink tablet (like this one) and use the respective apps.
I'm wondering:
1. Is there any other solution?
2. Does anyone own an e-ink display tablet? If so, are you happy with it? Have one to recommend?
Many thanks!
-E.w.A.
posted by eusebis_w_adorno to Technology (9 answers total) 3 users marked this as a favorite
calibre with the appropriate plugin is able to remove DRM from ebooks.
posted by btfreek at 9:39 PM on October 13, 2017


btfreek - I tried doing that for Google Play books but it did not work.
posted by eusebis_w_adorno at 9:43 PM on October 13, 2017


Oops, realized that doesn't actually answer your question - once you remove the DRM you can convert use calibre to convert to whatever format you need for your current e-reader (e.g. .mobi for kindle)
posted by btfreek at 9:44 PM on October 13, 2017


+1 for Calibre. Caveat: DRM removal for Nook books was a right pain in the yarbles when last I... heard about someone hypothetically doing that.
posted by sourcequench at 9:45 PM on October 13, 2017


2/3rds down this page addresses Google Play directly, if you haven't seen it already (if you've tried that, could you be more specific about what wasn't working?)
posted by btfreek at 9:50 PM on October 13, 2017


btfreek - thank you for sending that FAQ page. I tried it again, but could not get the Adobe Digital Editions part to work with Google Play. I think it is because of an older version of the ADE app, calibre can't take the drm off of the books from the newest version.
I'll try some more google-fu...
posted by eusebis_w_adorno at 10:24 PM on October 15, 2017


I gave up on using Overdrive and Adobe Digital Editions (ADE) to get out library books that could only go on my Kobo (which was either a lemon or else Kobos really suck) because I had so much frustration with successfully opening books on my ereader and started to break DRM to put the books on my Kindle.

I use ePub DRM Removal to remove the DRM and it spits out this file on my desktop, then I use calibre to convert the book to MOBI and send it to my Kindle. The DRM removal tool gives you 10 (or maybe 20) free uses before you have to buy it, so you can try it to see if it works (it says it supports Google Play DRM). It made my life so much better, so I paid for the full version.
posted by urbanlenny at 5:22 AM on October 18, 2017


i love beyond love my Kindle ereader (not fire tablet - that's just a tablet). My eyes love it, it's so kind on them. Also, you concentrate better because there's nothing else going on. And the battery lasts forever. I'm the first person to criticise Amazon, but the build quality is amazing and the customer service. I'd buy the latest basic Touch, because the processor's faster and because, with the Paperwhite (whose light i don't use anyway), once you become used to the clarity of the screen, you can't read normal print and stuff anymore, it irritates your eyes it's unbearable, so you don't want to get used to that level of clarity.
posted by maiamaia at 10:50 AM on April 9, 2018


nb drm removal has never worked for me, but ebooks.com have a handy list of adobe DRM supported devices - i'm trying to buy one
https://support.ebooks.com/hc/en-gb/articles/204721459-Devices-with-support-for-Adobe-Digital-Editions
posted by maiamaia at 10:52 AM on April 9, 2018


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