Is Bookari dead?

Definitely not! We can no longer update the Bookari apps on Google Play for technical reasons: we still use 32-bit Adobe libraries, which works perfectly, but Google requires us to provide 64-bit versions that we don’t have…

We investigated many alternative ways to distribute it, and we finally decided to provide the APK directly. The drawback is that you will not be automatically notified when updates will be available, but see below for a solution.

How to update it?

To save you any trouble, the APK we share with you is the same application like the one you had, except that:

• It contains various bug fixes,
• It runs on Android 10

Here is the link to download it: https://www.dropbox.com/t/0nX9XHB7Gs3bw4Id

Warning: Before installing the APK, you must allow the installation of applications from “unknown sources”. Here is documentation on this subject, if you don’t know it: https://www.androidcentral.com/unknown-sources.

How to be notified of updates

This version will check updates on startup. So simply stop and restart it. If a new version is available, a notification will be displayed. You will simply have to install it the same way.

However, during this transitional period, it’s a good idea to subscribe to our newsletter. We’ll send you important pieces of information if needed.

The future: Mantano App!

Here comes the tricky but exciting part.

The existing Bookari (version 4) supports Adobe DRM. We’ve been a long-time and loyal implementor of this DRM technology. We have delivered one of the best integrations, according to many experts, including Adobe itself. We have also integrated it in other apps for our B2B customers, such as Netronix (in dedicated e-reader devices), NYPL (New York Public Library), Grammata, and others.

However… Despite all our efforts and goodwill, the context doesn’t allow us further to support it inside our own public-facing Bookari apps. We can’t obviously enter into deep details there, but this decision was motivated by many major concerns such as:

• The lack of control over the Epub and PDF rendering engines. As active Epub 3 implementors, we needed to be able to use our own Epub 3 rendering engine, which has proven to be impossible with RMSDK, much to our regret;
• The very high price of this technology

We are working full time on a fascinating next generation of applications. They will be published on the Google Play store and will be a drastic evolution, not relying on the Adobe component. So stay tuned: good stuff to come!

The future app will be named “Mantano”, which means “I’m learning”, or “to learn”, in Ancient Greek. It will be packed with surprisingly handy features.

This Mantano App will rely on Mantano’s new Open Source reading SDK, called Iridium. This Iridium project is a huge effort based on our previous contributions to the Readium 1 and Readium 2 SDKs.

Early-access alpha-versions of a demo app for this Iridium SDK are available for Android here and iOS here. Please note that this demo app is not the future Mantano App. It’s just a showcase of the SDK status.

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