Skip to content

Android

Jump to bottom Edit New page
maforget edited this page Aug 12, 2024 · 14 revisions

Link to the APK here

As of today the only way to use the Android Client is to sideload the cracked version. You can either download the version from your android client directly or from your computer and transfer it via an USB cable. It still works on Android 14 devices.

Installation / Setting it up

Installation for up to Android 13

  • If it was downloaded from your phone it will be in the Downloads folder. Access it with a File Manager like Files by Google or Solid Manager.
  • Click on the file ComicRack.1.80.Cracked.apk a popup will appear saying that your phone isn't allowed to install unknown apps. There will be a Settings button, press it and enable the Allow from this source under Install unknown apps. If using Solid Manager when clicking the APK use the Package installer, if you are in the App viewer press the Install button.
  • Go back and click the file again, now press Install.

Installation for Android 14

With Android 14 you simply can't simply install the APK, because it is too old. You will need to install via ADB. ADB is a dev program by Google, you can download the SDK Platforms Tools.

  • After downloading the above link go to the directory you downloaded to and Extract the folder (Right-click on the file Extract All... on Windows 11).
  • Go into the platform-tools directory that was created. You should see a couple of files including a file named adb.exe.
  • Copy or download the crack APK into that folder also.
  • Now on your phone you will need to enable Developer settings, this is usually done by pressing 7 times on the build number in your system or About Phone section. Google it for your make and model how to do it. On the Google Pixel it is under About Phone at the bottom. You may be asked to enter your password to enable it.
  • Now that you have enabled the Developer settings, it is usually found under System or at the end of your settings. Find it and press on it. Inside it you will have an option called USB debugging, enable that. Press OK to allow USB debugging on the popup.
  • Now connect your phone with a cable to your computer. There should be a notification that says USB debugging connected.
  • Go back to the directory platform-tools and in the address bar type cmd and Enter. Or Right-click and Open in Terminal (Windows 11).
  • In the command window enter adb devices and press enter. You should under list of devices attached a series of string with unauthorized. On your phone you will have a popup asking to Allow USB debugging with a RSA key fingerprint. Press Allow.
  • In the command window enter adb devices again. If all went ok, you should have a device next to the string of number instead of unauthorized. If you don't have that don't go further and try again.
  • Again in the command window type this adb install --bypass-low-target-sdk-block ComicRack.1.80.Cracked.apk and Enter. You should have a Success message after a couple of seconds. The app is now installed on your phone.
  • You can now disable USB debugging if you want.

First Run

  • Now find the ComicRack app and start it. Accept all permissions and press Continue. You may have a message saying that this is build for older Android version, click OK. Press Accept on the End User License Agreement. Close the About screen that opens after that.
  • On a fresh install you will have a message about an empty comics folder. Press the Select folder. By default the folder is /storage/emulated/0/Comics, this usually is acceptable and you can click OK. This folder needs to be writable, because of some changes with Android you may have problem if this folder isn't writable. If you have this problem check the below help section.

You will need to do this before going further.

Setting up wireless syncing

Do this while connected to the same Wireless network. You must have selected a writable folder correctly before doing this step. It will not work if you didn't. If you have problems connecting or seeing the icon, check the Help section below. Wireless Syncing when using the cracked APK will NOT work if you are using the Original ComicRack.

  • While the app is open and your device unlocked, go to the ComicRack Community Edition on your computer. Edit => Devices.
  • Press Pair with Device... a Select device should open with your device name and a serial number.
  • Press OK and a tab with your device name will appear with your library next to it. You can now check what list you want to sync with on your device.

The Optimize checkbox will convert your comic to WEBP and reduce the resolution to 1500px (It can be changed in the ComicRack.ini file). This will reduce the files on your device to around 10% of the original size. It can be very slow but will save you a lot of space. Do not sync thousands of book on your first run, do it a little bit by bit. It is a good idea to have multiple small smart list that you are currently reading/planning to read, then one huge list that syncs everything.

  • Close the devices dialog.
  • Now if you are very lucky (and the desktop client is opened) you will have an icon appearing on your device. Pressing it will sync the book you selected from the desktop client. If you don't have that icon STOP and check the Help section.

Icon

HELP

My Folder isn't writable

Starting with Android 11, a new restriction called scoped storage was introduced. Some changes were pushed to later version and some device work correctly and some don't. The change basically prevents app to access and write to all the storage, unless it "owns" the file or there are of some types like Images or the Download folder. So if you have any problem with writing to the sd card, use the following.

  • When selecting the folder, there is a button called Home. If you press it, it will give you the choice of Local Storage SD Card 1 (or 2 for an external sd card). This will put you in the folder Android/data/com.cyo.comicrack.viewer. This folder is fully writable and accessible specific to the app.
  • Someone one said that he had success by not accepting the permissions, to try with or without the previous tip.

Setting it up on an external sd card

  • You can do the same as the previous. Pressing Home in the select folder and pressing Local Storage SD Card 2 will select the special folder on your external SD card.
  • You can either choose this folder or if you want to go to the root of your SD card just press up until you get to root of your SD card.

I don't see the icon

Now there is a couple of reason for that. The windows client uses something called Multicasting, this sends a signal to your entire network and all the devices on it. It does that constantly and when your device catches it that icon will appear.

If you read the changelog and saw that it said Fixes for Wireless Sync error when using a cracked Android APK or Removed Android Validation of apk signature (so we can use the cracked version), this DOES NOT mean that it helps with the icon appearing. This is just a fix for a check once you have initiated the sync. It has NO impact on the icon appearing or not, so don't create bug reports because you can't see the icon. The problem is somewhere on your network/devices.

Here is a couple of things you can try:

  • Is the desktop client open?
  • Try restarting your device and/or computer.
  • Firewall: When the Community Edition first runs it asks to Allow public and private network to access to app. If you didn't Allow then it will block the access to the program. If you have any other type of firewall make sure that you permitted Inbound & Outbound access to the program. Check if you are set as a Private or Public network, and if the firewall access matches that.
  • Router: Some router come with the Multicast function disabled. Check your router settings, it could be called ipv4 Multicast, or Broadcasting or something similar.
  • Advanced Setting: You can find the IP address of your device, by going to the Wifi settings. Then on the desktop go to the Preferences => Advanced => Wireless Setup and enter the IP address you got from there. Press the Test button and see if it found your device. That IP can change sometimes.
  • Make sure that wireless syncing is activated in the preference of the Android app.
  • Delete the Comics folder from your Android device and redo the device setup from the Setting up wireless syncing section.
  • You can sync wired, but it takes a long time for your Comics folder to be detected. That because it scans all your files to find the folder and to know which files are there. One fix is to rename the Comics folder to something like _Comics, it makes the folder come before the Android folder that probably contains a ton of files and speeds up detection a little bit. The wired sync is started from the desktop app, under File => Synchronize Devices.

I have The Android Market License check failed error message

As of Oct 13th 2023, the untouched APK will return a Market License error even if you had bought it previously. Everyone will need to migrate to the cracked version.

A note when migrating from the untouched to cracked, the ID seems to change and your wireless sync icon won't appear on the device, here is what to do so you don't have to redo sync.

  • You will need to uninstall your existing untouched version.
    • If your comics are synced in the Android/data/com.cyo.comicrack.viewer folder, uninstalling the app might remove the comics. So before you do so copy the folder to another place (or rename the com.cyo.comicrack.viewer folder maybe). On Android 13 and up, this folder might not be accessible from Apps, so you will need to do it via a Computer.
  • Follow the above instructions to install the cracked version, you will need to choose your Main folder again. Select your old folder. If you had your files in the Android/data folder copy them before opening the app (or rename the folder back). Close the app.
  • Go to your Main folder location and read the comicrack.ini file. In it there is a line that says `ID=``, copy that line and send it to your computer (email, google keep, etc.)
  • On the computer, go to %Appdata%\cYo\ComicRack Community Edition\ and open the Config.xml in notepad (or better Notepad++). Make sure that CR is closed, because if not any changes will not be kept.
  • In the config file search for <DeviceSyncSettings it should go directly to the line of your device. If more than 1, just search again until you find your device next to Name=.
  • On that line there should be a Key=, replace the text between the quotation marks (""), by the ID you copied from the device previously. Save and close.

You should now be able to sync like earlier and keep all your books & settings.

Add a custom footer
Clone this wiki locally