Boox Rich Annotation

A native Android app for extracting and exporting rich annotations from Onyx Boox e-readers.

Screenshots

Features

• 📚 Browse Your Library - View all your ebooks (EPUB, MOBI, AZW/AZW3) in one place
• 🔍 Search - Find books instantly by title or author
• 🎨 Rich Annotations - Exports annotations with colors, styles, and notes
• 📥 JSON Export - Download annotations in a structured JSON format
• 🔄 Real-time Refresh - Fetch latest data on demand
• ⚡ E-ink Optimized - Pure black & white theme with zero animations for optimal e-ink display
• 🎯 No Duplicates - Automatically deduplicates edited annotations

Supported Annotation Styles

• Highlight (filled)
• Underline (straight)
• Dashed underline
• Wavy underline
• Redact
• Mute

JSON Export Format

{
  "title": "Book Title",
  "authors": "Author Name",
  "format": "epub",
  "annotations": [
    {
      "quote": "Selected text...",
      "pageNumber": 42,
      "chapter": "Chapter Name",
      "createdAt": 1781261518476,
      "color": "#a020f0",
      "style": "highlight",
      "note": "Optional note text"
    }
  ]
}

Installation

Requirements

• Android 7.0 (API 24) or higher
• Onyx Boox device with NeoReader app installed

Install from APK

1. Download the latest APK from the Releases page
2. Enable "Install from Unknown Sources" in your device settings
3. Install the APK
4. Open the app and grant necessary permissions

Build from Source

git clone https://github.com/yourusername/BooxRichAnnotation.git
cd BooxRichAnnotation
./gradlew assembleDebug

The APK will be available at: app/build/outputs/apk/debug/app-debug.apk

How It Works

The app queries Onyx's internal content provider to access:

• Metadata - Book information (title, author, format, etc.)
• Annotations - Highlights, notes, and their metadata

No file parsing or external storage access needed - everything is fetched directly from the Onyx system database.

Technical Details

Content Providers

• Authority: com.onyx.content.database.ContentProvider
• Tables: Metadata, Annotation
• Requires Android 11+ package visibility declaration

Deduplication Logic

When you edit an annotation (change color, add notes, etc.), Onyx creates a new entry. The app automatically:

1. Groups annotations by their unique identifier (quote + location)
2. Keeps only the most recent version (highest updatedAt timestamp)
3. Ensures you see the current state of each annotation

E-ink Optimizations

• All animations disabled
• Pure white (#FFFFFF) background
• Pure black (#000000) text and borders
• 2dp bold outlines on all UI elements
• Zero elevation/shadows

Project Structure

app/src/main/
├── java/.../booxrichannotation/
│   ├── MainActivity.kt              # Book list screen
│   ├── BookDetailActivity.kt        # Annotation detail screen
│   ├── BookAdapter.kt               # RecyclerView adapter
│   ├── OnyxContentProvider.kt       # Content provider helper
│   ├── BookMetadata.kt              # Book data model
│   └── Annotation.kt                # Annotation data model
└── res/
    ├── layout/                      # UI layouts
    ├── menu/                        # Toolbar menus
    ├── drawable/                    # Backgrounds, icons
    └── values/                      # Themes, strings, colors

Permissions

• QUERY_ALL_PACKAGES - Required on Android 11+ to access Onyx content provider
• WRITE_EXTERNAL_STORAGE - Only on Android 9 and below for file downloads

Compatibility

Tested on:

• Onyx Boox Tab Mini C (Android 11)
• Other Onyx Boox devices should work if they use the NeoReader app

Known Limitations

• Only works on Onyx Boox devices (uses proprietary content provider)
• Requires the official Onyx NeoReader app to be installed
• Cannot modify or delete annotations (read-only access)

License

MIT License - see LICENSE file for details

Contributing

Contributions are welcome! Please feel free to submit a Pull Request.

Support

If you encounter any issues or have suggestions, please open an issue on GitHub.