Re: ebook-reader permissions - no explanation given

"R.Wieser" <address@is.invalid> wrote:

Hello all,
 
I was looking for a simple(!) ebook reader, and found the below :
 
https://f-droid.org/en/packages/com.github.axet.bookreader/
 
Ofcourse, I checked its permissions - which I now have questions about :
 
"read the contents of your shared storage
  Allows the app to read the contents of your shared storage."
 
Allright, otherwise it can't read any EPUB files.
 
"modify or delete the contents of your shared storage
  Allows the app to write the contents of your shared storage."

Didn't see Book Reader listed in their apps page at:

https://f-droid.org/en/packages/

The page you gave just lists versions.  Did not see any documentation on
the app.  Might it allow you to annotate or modify e-books which would
require the write permission?  As noted at:

https://raider.pressbooks.pub/otnmodify/chapter/format-guide-epub-mobi/

An EPUF file is a ZIP file with nested folders with XHTML text, images,
CSS, fonts, and metadata files.  Even if Book Reader doesn't let you
modify or change the text, replace images, replace fonts, etc, maybe it
still lets you edit the metadata of the .epub file.  It notes that
Calibre, the e-book reader I remember using, can "Edit book".

Without any documentation on that app, no one can determine just
features it has other than perhaps another user of the same app.  You
could deny the access to see if the app still functions well enough.

"read phone status and identity
  Allows the app to access the phone features of the device. This permission
allows the app to determine the phone number and device IDs, whether a call
is active, and the remote number connected by a call."
 
I can make a couple of guesses to why it would need this, but that doesn't
help me in the slightest.  Does any one have a (non-guessed) idea to why I
should allow this ?

Looks like something you have to ask the app author.  They don't provide
documentation, so every permission they want is a guess by the user.  Or
get someone to look at the code in the APK to see why it wants those
permissions.

The web site has no information to identify the app author.  Unless the
APK has doc files inside with contact info on the author, and assuming
the author is responsive or those contacts are still valid, I don't see
how you'll find the app author to get a hell of a lot more info on his
app.

If I started hunting around for an e-book reader to use with Android,
I'd probably start with Calibre.  Besides any help they have at their
web site, there are probably a hell of a lot more Calibre users around
to ask for help than those using the app you mentioned.  Alas, there is
no native Android app for Calibre.  You have to use ADB and a USB cable
to read an e-book on your desktop, so it's a kludge to use Calibre with
Android.

I've heard of ReadEra, FBreader and Librera, but never used them.  I've
only need to read e-books on my desktop.  Reading on a smartphone screen
for something as large as a "book" would overly strain my old eye, and
have be constantly zooming in and out.  Smartphone display really don't
substitute for desktop monitors.

I did find some other ebook readers, but as those wanted a*lot* of
permissions (including network, so the app builder could gather
"statistical data" - his words, not mine) I discarded them on sight.

Some e-book readers let you specify a URL from where to get the EPUB, or
other format, e-book file, so I can see those requiring network access.
For example, my public library has e-books that I can read locally, but
they are retrieved from their server which also manages how long I can
check-out the e-book from them (they have to share a limited number of
licenses amongst all their patrons).