I keep notes in text files on computers. Lots of them. Since I will be taking my android phone with me to Europe tomorrow, I copied my travel notes file to my phone and then realized there was no built-in text file reader.
I searched the market for ‘text reader’ and found an app called CoolReader which listed tons of ebook formats as well as good old text. I downloaded and installed it, browsed to the folder with my file, and CoolReader displayed zero files in that folder. Zero, zip, nada, none. Perhaps files need special name formats for this brain-dead app. I don’t want apps to dictate what to name my files.
Uninstall and back to the market.
Next I found an app called ‘Text Edit’. This was less ambitious, it didn’t claim to read every ebook format under the sun but was intended for simple text files, which was just what I needed. As a bonus it lets you edit as well. Download, install. Browse to folder, click my file, open. I can scroll through the whole file instantly. Nirvana. I review my file several times during the course of the day, and it makes me smile.
The next day, I checked out the configurable settings for Text Edit. There’s one that enables auto-recognition of urls and phone numbers that sounded useful, so I checked it and returned to my open file. Strangely, the app hung and I had to force it closed. I relaunched it and it hung immediately. I rebooted my phone, relaunched and it hung again.
Looks like a bug in the app. Sometimes I would report this to the author and try to work with him/her to fix it. But I’m leaving the country tomorrow so no time for that. Uninstall.
Browsing the market I found an app called Jota Text Editor. It claims to support large files. Download, install, launch. Browse to folder, open file, looks good. I’m not messing with the settings (Jota calls them ‘Preferences’) until after my trip — better safe than sorry!
So for now, Jota is my text edit app. Time to get packing!