Blue StacksTeleRead regulars already know of my love of Moon+ Reader Pro (now on sale for $2.49, 50 percent off).

The question of the day was, Could I enjoy this Android app on my Intel NUC Kit NUC5i7RYH computer after a Windows 10 upgrade?

Happily the answer was, “Yes.”

Earlier I was running the Blue Stacks emulator, a way to do Android on Windows computer. My upgrade from Windows 8.1 to 10 was bumpy—I encountered video and WiFi issues, ultimately conquered, as far as I know—but the Blue Stacks one happened without fuss.

Following the upgrading, Blue Stacks took me to the Google Play Store for updates of Moon and other Android apps, including the Acapela text-to-speech software that works so well with Moon. That may be coincidence; I’m not sure if there’s a Win 10 factor here or not.

At any rate, I’m delighted with the results. Writing this post with Live Writer, I’m listening to the UK-accented “Peter” voice read from The Book of Numbers, the Joshua Cohen novel. I can use the Windows taskbar to switch back and forth.

No, the Android-Win 10 set up isn’t for everyone. It may be good for people with touch-screen Windows tablets—at least full strength ones—who want access to the many Android e-reading apps.

My own needs are different. See, my cardiologist likes me to keep me feet propped up while I work. And so, defying the usual laws of ergonomics for the desktop set, I actually write from a recliner. I use a large-screen TV to see the text while kicking back. 

Although I normally read from a tablet, the desktop can be handy when I’m entering plenty of annotations or simply feel like a change.

So you can understand why I’d like to be able to run Android e-reading apps on my little Win 10 box. I can also, of course, use the Kindle for PC app, directly from Windows.

I’m curious how other TeleRead community members have set themselves up for maximum comfort while reading or writing. But that’s for another post.

Now back to Blue Stacks. Have you tried it? Pros and cons? So far, Blue Stacks has run every application I’ve tried,  but then others may have more demanding needs.

Related: Chris Meadows on Windows 10’s privacy issues. I needed to get Win going in a hurry. You can bet I’ll be back for privacy-related tweaks in time.

2 COMMENTS

  1. Thanks for the description of how to harness Moon+ to Windows. I just got my girlfriend an Android tablet, and had fun testing four or five e-readers. I settled on Moon+ Pro, and loaded it up with 200 books. Today I installed BlueStacks on my PC, hoping to use Moon+ myself. Unfortunately, I haven’t found a way to change the default path to access the folder that holds my books. (The default Android file tree isn’t applicable to a Windows machine.) I trust I’ll be able to figure things out, after which I’m looking forward to enjoying books on Moon+. Maybe someday they’ll port it to Windows!

    • @Jerryarm: I don’t rely on path-changing. Instead I just run Calibre on a Dropbox directory and use Moon’s Dropbox integration to bring the books in, as needed. That way my files live within Dropbox and I don’t have to worry so much about cross-platform differences.

      Possibility: Maybe you could import files one by one from the existing Moon directory on the Android tablet into Dropbox, using Dropbox’s importation capabilities. Or maybe use a file manager, if that would work?

      After files were in Dropbox, you could then bring them into Moon within BlueStacks on your Windows PC.

      Of course, I’ve had things easy since I put every new book in Dropbox by default. I can’t guarantee things will be as easy for you.

      Let us know of any solutions that work for you. And I’d encourage other TeleRead community members to help you out. Very possibly they’ll have angles I haven’t thought of.

      Yes, a port of Moon to Windows would be great! Same for one to iOS. Meanwhile delighted to hear of your good experience with Moon in other respects.

      David

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