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Posted by u/p0d a year ago
Ask HN: Read the Docs Like a Book?
I think I have wasted too much time trying to get readthedocs epub files to work on my kindle. I have also found android epub apps slow or limited. How do you read the docs?
siberpunk · a year ago
I actually don't think reading the docs like a book is efficient. I would just forget what I read, especially for those long detailed documents. I think it's better for me to locate the specific topic in the doc when I need it. I've always used Google Play Books as my epub reader in my Android devices (since it came pre-loaded in my first device) and I thinks it's pretty sufficient. I also use Apple Books in my ipad well, because it was the default one. :D And it's enough for me too. What features do you need? Why do you think these apps are limited?
interbased · a year ago
Agreed. A lot of the documentation is stuff I wouldn’t use in my day-to-day. It may be interesting to learn, but it’s ultimately a waste of time if you’re not going to apply it. As you said, it’s better to investigate solutions to current issues.

When I do read them like a book, it’s usually on my iPad in Safari.

p0d · a year ago
I guess I was hoping for something that would work offline like my kindle and also equally responsive. The epub readers I use seem very slow...however, I'm starting to wonder if the slow is related to the size of most documentation.
fullautomation · a year ago
Especially for big projects or services it's really impractical to read them as a book. I usually end up reading a bunch sitting at the desk while working on the thing itself, but sometimes I send a couple of links/anchor that I want to deep dive on to my phone and read them when queueing/on the bus/etc.