Android app issues on Nook Color

[freecoder]

I discovered Goldendict for the PC earlier this week and am very excited to see this type of dictionary being actively developed. Thank you for your hard work.

I purchased Goldendict for Android two days ago and have some initial comments. A bit of context on how I use dictionaries may help in understanding my comments. I have been a Stardict user for a few years and it was almost a perfect dictionary for my uses. The main drawback to Stardict is the lack of ongoing development. I also use Fora on Android extensively. I am a native English speaker studying Italian and (more recently) French. The ability to switch profiles (groups) in Fora is the main reason that I use it and not some other Android dictionaries that support Stardict dictionaries. I have two Android devices, a Nook Color tablet which I have rooted and a Samsung Fascinate phone. The Fora dictionary coupled with the tablet is a great combination. When I started studying French, however, I found a major flaw. Fora requires that you type words exactly as they appear in the dictionary, with diacritics and all. If you are searching for a word that you don't know how to spell, that can be a problem. Goldendict on the PC does not have this problem as it can do searches that are diacritic-independent and therefore is easier to use when searching for words which you don't how to spell.

After testing Goldendict on the Nook, I have some issues.

The first problem is the lack of support for groups that the PC version has. I have many dictionaries. When I use Fora I switch profiles frequently. I can create profiles that have a full set of dictionaries or any subset I desire. For example, I have a profile that has one en-en dictionary, one en-fr dictionary, one en-it dictionary, and one en-de dictionary. I use it to compare translations and etymologies of English words. With Goldendict, this is not possible. The language pair option that Goldendict uses just is not sufficient. Also, using language pairs only, it is not possible to create different profiles that use different subsets of dictionaries that have the same languages (for example, a group for computer terms or a group containing medical dictionaries).

The second problem is more serious and not necessarily the fault of just Goldendict. When one selects the language pair button or the "jump to dictionary button," the resultant menus show up a white text on a white background on the Nook Color. It is impossible to see what it is you are choosing. On my Samsung Fascinate phone, these menus are white on blue and are usable. I have seen this problem in some other apps that I use on the Nook. I am not an Android developer and do not know if it is possible to control the colors of the menus.

Thanks again for a good product and I hope that these issues can be addressed.

- Russ

[ikm]

When one selects the language pair button or the "jump to dictionary button," the resultant menus show up a white text on a white background on the Nook Color.

Yes, this issue seems to Nook-specific. I've tried to counter it, but it wasn't really very easy short of creating a Nook-specific version of the program. I hope to revisit this later and fix it.

As for groups - yes, they would probably be implemented as dictionary tags later.

[freecoder]

Thanks for your quick reply.

I am glad to hear that providing some sort of group functionality is on your radar screen. That issue is really much more important than the white-on-white menus. If groups or dictionary tags are implemented, then I would probably never use the language pair dialog.

I am looking into a solution to the white-on-white problem but it looks like it will involve changing the framework apk in the Nook system directory and won't be for the faint of heart or the technically challenged. I'll post it here if I get it to work.

[Novikov]

You've rooted your Nook Color, right? I've rooted mine and flashed Cyanogen Mod 7 ROM. And it's working allright. maybe there's an issue with your ROM?

[freecoder]

Thanks for the feedback. Yes, I am rooted but have not flashed another ROM. I haven't seen the need yet. If I can solve this problem by modifying my framework_res.apk, that is much preferable to flashing a different ROM.

For the near future, I will use GoldenDict only for French (so I don't have to worry about typing diacritics) and will continue to use Fora for English and Italian. If and when tags and/or groups are implemented I won't ever have to use the language pair selection menu and this whole point will be moot.

[Novikov]

Give CM7 a try, it's worth it. You can even boot to CM7 from an SD-card without flashing the device itself. You gonna like it.