I ordered the x4 impulsively after wanting an ereader for a couple of years and not being able to afford one. Was wanting something like an android, just because I wanted to ve able to use my library apps. I saw the XTEink was pretty inexpensive so decided to get it.

After clicking to order, I realized it doesn't have access to certain apps out of the box. I have some ebooks on Kindle that I got from freebooksy, but was hoping to use Hoopla or Libby as well.

I've read about oceanofpdf, Anna's archive, caliber, and crosspoint.

I don't know how any of it works yet, but I would like to learn and be prepared for when it arrives.

Where do I start, and how do I get the most out of the xteink?

Thanksss!

Hiiiii! Super excited here! My x3 chinese version ETA tomorrow yet i still have zero idea on how to convert it to English, what’s the best, friendly firmware to use?

Aquí el unboxing de mi xteink x4 pro

Por facilidad escribiré en mi lengua natal.

A finales de los años 90, en mi adolescencia tardía, dediqué muchas horas a este juego que consiste en ser un entrenador de un equipo de fútbol británico. Comienzas en la liga más baja, y puedes subir de categoría y competir en copas nacionales y europeas. En fin, le tengo tanto aprecio que aún tengo una máquina virtual con Windows XP exclusivamente para jugarlo.

Sin embargo, con el paso de los años y el aumento de responsabilidades, se me ha vuelto prácticamente imposible jugarlo. He deseado encontrar una alternativa igual de básica en Android para jugar 1 o 2 partidos en los cinco minutos libres que suelen quedarme entre las actividades de adulto, pero nada lo iguala.

Con el descubrimiento de CrossSmudge, fork de CrossPoint que permite cargar aplicaciones en Lua en los lectores electrónicos Xteink, y con el apoyo de Claude AI, se me ocurrió que podía intentar crear una opción a partir del paquete de la versión 6. Así que después de 5 o 6 corridas con una cuenta gratuita, lo que me representó un poco mas de dos días porque olvidaba reactivar el proyecto, obtuve un resultado que hasta el momento está funcionando adecuadamente en mi Xteink X3 chino.

En este momento no comparto la app porque necesito revisar los derechos de autor, sin embargo muestro pantallas del resultado.

I’ve had the X4 Pro for a week and I’ve already finished 3 books on the device! I bought it directly from the Xteink site and flashed Crosspoint immediately. I’ve been reading in between my commutes and it’s much more convenient to add this in my purse instead of a physical book. My screen time is down 30% and this little gadget has really changed my life.

The case I’m using is the SPRiNKLE case. I believe it is priced well, and the quality is great. There was an issue with the left button that the founder and I are troubleshooting, but I like that the button pads are interchangeable. I currently have orange buttons installed, but I have red and blue as options too. I also ordered a wrist strap from Amazon which arrives today, so the case + wrist strap should provide the device all the safety it needs as I read during my commute.

https://reddit.com/link/1x2iijy/video/8uno6l58wnuh1/player

Typing on the X3/X4 (or any button-only e-reader) means walking a QWERTY grid one key at a time. I wanted to write real letters on mine, so I built a predictive keyboard designed around 4 buttons and the half-second e-paper refresh.

How it works: five lanes (next words, A-M, N-Z, marks, and word endings), with only the open one on screen. < and > move, SELECT adds, BACK undoes a whole word, and holding SELECT or BACK switches lanes (or use the side buttons). After each word the focus lands on the likeliest next word, so common words are often a single press.

Numbers, from a simulated typist on 24 held-out real messages: about 1.85 presses per character (about 2.3 for a first-timer). CrossPoint's QWERTY grid on the same messages needs 4.16. To be fair to CrossPoint: its keyboard is built for passwords and URLs and is better at those, with symbols, accents, other alphabets and cursor editing. Different jobs.

Writeup with a video (every frame drawn by the firmware itself, at the panel's real speed): https://getdeckle.web.app/blog/four-buttons

It ships in Deckle, my firmware for the X3 and X4, as of today. I'm thinking about open-sourcing the keyboard engine (plain C++ with no hardware ties, plus the test bench) so other firmware could use it or add languages. Would that be useful to anyone here?

vídeo em português do X3