8/21/2026 at 6:18:54 PM
For the unaware, there is an existing solution that integrates with Kobo's native software (Nickel).It has been maintained for years, and it supports every Kobo AFAIK.
It's called NickelMenu, and it's great. I'm in the Kobo ecosystem because of NickelMenu and Plato.
One note if you're thinking about getting a kobo due its relative openness: consider getting a two-core device. I did not do my homework and got a Clara BW because I don't want the color display. Later I found out that color is the only one with the two-core CPU.
by the-grump
8/21/2026 at 6:55:24 PM
Hey, author here. NickelMenu is terrific and Cobalt uses it to show the menu item in the default Kobo menu. It's just that Cobalt and NickelMenu are not the same in terms of project goals.I created this as I could not find anything existing that gives the capabilities I wanted. I read several things downloaded over web apart from books on my Mac and phone, which I would prefer to do on an eInk display. Search papers on arxiv and read them offline later, Substack, even spending a lot of time on chess puzzles, monitor my Claude/Codex remotely, generate explainer audiobooks and listen to them on my bluetooth speaker etc.
The longer battery and the display makes some use cases really shine and I wanted to create apps for my own Kobo and potentially helpful for others as well.
by thepoet
8/21/2026 at 7:14:53 PM
I admire and support your effort, but the title makes it sound like you couldn't run apps in the past.Nickelmenu deserves a mention in the opening paragraph and a differentiation of what this new piece of software brings to the table.
by the-grump
8/21/2026 at 8:07:01 PM
Thank you for the kind words. I will add a page to the project explaining the differentiation.NickelMenu is a mature project and perfect at what it does, we just have different goals. NickelMenu is designed to extend Kobo's stock interface. Cobalt is designed to be an app platform like Android has for example. I wanted app creators to just write their app logic and not build things like a UI toolkit for their apps, app lifecycle and rendering support (framebuffer drawing, partial eInk refreshes, touch input handling etc.), bluetooth handling, sensor and more. Anything launched through NickelMenu like KOReader or Plato have to implement these on their own.
AFAIK NickelMenu command actions spawn arbitrary shell cmds that inherit root from Nickel, we avoid it by running apps as separate unprivileged processes with declared capabilities like network, storage, audio, fronlight etc.
I also wanted to provide ability to quickly build apps with the SDK and our simulator to test apps on before putting it on the real device, an app store to get new apps over the WiFi after the initial USB install.
This was more oriented on making my life easier, say I have an app idea that I want on my Kobo tomorrow and how quickly can I bring it live on the device. The 'you can run apps' I wrote was meant to signify anyone can now create apps using the SDK without bothering about the device specific bits and publish them and install it via Cobalt's app store. I hope this clarifies things.
by thepoet
8/21/2026 at 10:14:06 PM
AwesomeTime to start a F.A.Q section on the website. You could that comment almost verbatims for the question : "How is that different from NickelMenu"
by cassepipe
8/22/2026 at 5:40:19 PM
Very nice project. I looked at it with the aide of Claude. I was interested in porting the Chess game that Claude helped me make for NickleMenu that runs on my Kobo Elipsa Gen1. From my understanding of Claude's analysis it would be difficult to port the chess game because each Cobalt app is sandboxed, and my app would not be able to spawn the Stockfish engine that my Chess (Nickle menu) game needs to run. Is that an erroneous conclusion? Also I probably could not port my Tailscale client to Cobalt for the same reasons. I kinda creates a separation. Perhaps that is by design: Cobalt = very secure, Nickle = more open but more risk. Finally the Elipsa Gen1 does not seem to be included in the supported platforms. Thanks. Cheers from Canada!by mlongval
8/22/2026 at 6:53:45 PM
Thanks! Can you please create two separate issues in the project for both Elipsa Gen1 support and the other for the stockfish and tailscale client implementation support. Would love to discuss and collaborate with you on both. I would need your help to test on the actual Gen1 device.There are current issues and PRs for Clara HD and Color devices support so we can take it up by common generations.
by thepoet
8/21/2026 at 11:02:59 PM
[flagged]by KennyBlanken
8/22/2026 at 12:51:18 AM
This kind of "purity" argument is absolutely toxic. We've seen it with the vietnam paper comparing ORMs to SQL, etc. etc. Please stop this. You didn't hire him, you certainly aren't willing to give him a salary for him to live off of.If you want to complain about LLMs used in software, advocate for a voluntary LLM disclosure published in the docs someplace, so people can make informed decisions.
by bb88
8/21/2026 at 11:35:07 PM
This got me thinking about what "I made this" means, when we're building on top of zillions of abstractions "made" by others.I don't make the binaries. The compiler does. I just feed in specification called source code.
by hexasquid
8/22/2026 at 4:06:54 AM
The project already does QA. cargo test --workspace --all-features
by mkagenius
8/22/2026 at 4:10:22 AM
2000 ai generated tests on a hobby project that the author has almost certainly not reviewed does not inspire confidenceby wonnage
8/21/2026 at 11:19:58 PM
This wouldn't exist without OP's agency; it's reasonable for them to take credit.If there are bugs, etc., that's fair game. Declaring hate for folks because of their approach is not.
by kaonwarb
8/21/2026 at 11:38:10 PM
No, not really. If you used an LLM you didn't actually make anything. It's like if one commissions a work of art: yes, it wouldn't exist if not for your actions, but no, you didn't make it.by bigstrat2003
8/22/2026 at 4:19:12 AM
> If you used an LLM you didn't actually make anythingOn my way to ask all academia and researchers to stop using LLMs for their research. As it's just llm doing the research, right?
by mkagenius
8/22/2026 at 7:13:30 AM
Academia would largely agreeby qmmmur
8/22/2026 at 1:37:18 AM
what a horrible attitude, especially for a forum dedicated to "hackers".the code is open source, why dont you show us what a quality test suite looks like?
by oa335
8/22/2026 at 8:06:59 AM
Oh my. Don't you think that code generated by an LLM has nothing to do with "hackers"? And once/if you realize that, don't you immediately see that they're right? Maybe not in the way they say it, but otherwise - they're absolutely right.by allarm
8/22/2026 at 1:31:33 AM
this is such a stupid, lazy take.I mean, just think about cameras and photography. there's talented photographers, they know how to adjust cameras, they understanding lighting and composition, and yet the camera is what is actually producing the photo... but it's not taboo at all, for anyone to claim credit for taking a photo, no matter their skill level or the quality of the result. It's generally accepted that 'using the tool' is part of the process.
if someone said "i created this photo" it might sound like an odd choice of words, but you wouldn't find the need to 'set them straight' by explaining their camera is actually what created the photo.
you can be a hater all you want, but you're just as annoying as the thousands of vibe-coded projects that are annoying you.
by maybsum1else
8/21/2026 at 7:33:58 PM
I haven’t had a chance to compare side by side, but people say that if you primarily read books/prose, the BW version is better because the screen is more crisp compared to the color version, which is still a bit blurry when you read books. That’s why I ordered BW. Did anyone compare these two side by side in real life for simple text?by ololobus
8/21/2026 at 8:14:28 PM
I'm happy with my Kobo Clara Colour. As far as the specs go, both are 300 PPI when displaying black and white. I took a picture of my screen from as close as my phone would allow - the lens was basically touching the e-reader [1]. My eyes can't really focus at this distance anyway, so I can't complain. I don't use the colour screen much, but seeing the book covers in colour is fun for me.by SietrixDev
8/22/2026 at 1:37:50 AM
I'm having fun trying to fit those words into a story of my own.by jay_kyburz
8/21/2026 at 7:42:13 PM
It is maddeningly impossible to get an ereader with all three of these features: b&w screen for maximum crispness; physical buttons for reliable page turns; modern processor for speed.by johnhamlin
8/21/2026 at 8:21:15 PM
Boox Go 7 - B&W version.It runs Android. It's a Chinese company and comes with a bunch of pre-installed apps, but I just blocked its abilities to phone home and use Koreader. It's been great for me
by phainopepla2
8/22/2026 at 8:49:01 AM
Boox have been GPL violators for over a decade.by Kudos
8/21/2026 at 8:23:46 PM
Boox Go 7 BW?https://goodereader.com/blog/product/onyx-boox-go-7-bw "The Onyx Boox Go 7 is a dedicated e-book reader with a black and white e-paper display. This device has the same specifications and software as the Go 7 Color Gen 2, except that this model doesn’t have a Kaleido 3; instead, it uses the latest generation Carta 1300 e-paper panel, which increases responsiveness. The key selling points of this model are the physical page-turn buttons and Google Android 13, as well as full access to the Play Store. For those of you who want an e-reader that doesn’t lock you into a specific ecosystem, this deserves a look."
(slower by 2 minutes...)
by kbutler
8/22/2026 at 2:21:40 AM
I personally use a Moaan 7. Android and does everything i ask it (I just use FDroid apps though). But do bear in mind it doesnt seem to run apps in the background at all. Just whats onscreen. Battery life is extremely long (probably not unrelated)by geokon
8/22/2026 at 9:10:13 AM
Yeah thinking about an pocketbook era lite but apparently can feel a bit sluggish. Might have to unfortunately wait and hope for kobo to release something along the lines of a vision bw.by daakni
8/22/2026 at 6:16:58 AM
I rage quit the Boox because the page turn buttons were the same for both landscape and potrait, which meant that one direction was illogical. There were user patches but it just made me so annoyed that when a friend expressed interest in mine, I just gave it way. Maybe it's fixed now but so damn infuriating.by diiaann
8/21/2026 at 7:37:52 PM
I use a bw Boox device, a colleague has the colour version of the same device. The colour version does not show text more blurry, rather, the contrast is significantly lower. I personally prefer the bw device.by dotancohen
8/22/2026 at 8:13:23 AM
> Did anyone compare these two side by side in real life for simple text?Yes, I have - I have a Kobo Libra 2 (BW), Boox Go 7 II (Color - same screen as color Kobos) and Boox Note Air 3 (Color).
The issue isn't crispness really - when rendering B&W content the crispness is about the same. However, there's a massive issue with contrast - the Color screen background is very dark and they're basically unusable (for me) without driving them constantly at 80-100% backlight (even during the day). Even at 100% backlight, the page background is darker than the BW reader at like 30% backlight.
This makes the reader eat more battery while being less pleasant for text reading. Moreover, in dark mode (light text on black background) the color screens all show severe ghosting artifacts which don't appear as much on BW screens.
Having said that - reading comics and color books (e.g. programming books) looks great on the color screens. There's just something about that slightly less vibrant "papery" look that's very attractive.
by izacus
8/21/2026 at 10:28:27 PM
I have a Libra 2 and a Libra Colour. I generally don't notice a difference in crispness, though the effective resolution of the colour's screen is lower. There is a huge difference in the contrast, and you will probably want to use the frontlight even in a reasonably bright environment.by II2II
8/21/2026 at 8:02:46 PM
Yes. I had color Kobo, forgot it in the airport lounge, and bought BW one as a replacement. It is much better.by pepperoni_pizza
8/21/2026 at 9:35:05 PM
Yes, I replaced a B&W Sage with the Libra Colour, and used them for a bit side-by-side. Contrast (not sharpness) of B&W text is slightly worse with the color one, but not by so much that you'd notice it if you weren't comparing them next to each other. The resolution of actual color is worse, but obviously you can't get color at all on the B&W one, so hard to argue that this is a downgrade.Unless you're a real contrast freak, I think most people would be slightly happier with the color than the B&W; but it's definitely not worth paying extra for.
by mkozlows
8/22/2026 at 10:32:14 AM
I own the Clara BW (C) and the Libra Colour (L).The C is sharper but the L looks more like a real book/paper. I believe as an artifact of the colour screen and it’s called “screenshot effect”. In the end, once you use either for 10 minutes it becomes “the new normal”.
by leokennis
8/21/2026 at 8:20:40 PM
I compared. On the color version, the text seems to have a slightly fine mesh or rippled texture. There's no huge difference, but I prefer the black-and-white versionby ironqcold
8/22/2026 at 12:58:19 AM
I had a Kobo Libra 2. It broke and I replaced it with a Kobo Libra Colour. The biggest difference is that the Libra Colour is unusable without the backlight turned on, since the screen is so dark. The Libra 2 had a pretty white background without the backlight, whereas the Libra Colour has a grey background. I don't know if the Clara Colour also has a really dark screen or not.by rbits
8/22/2026 at 1:03:33 AM
It's the same, just a smaller 6" Kaleido 3 screen VS. 7". Personally I find the Libra Colour fine in a lot of conditions without the front light. Kaleido 3 is darker than BW screens but it's like bad newsprint vs. good newsprint.by chocochunks
8/21/2026 at 6:42:04 PM
but also note that a color e-reader will have significantly worse contrast than a black and white model, which negates the usefulness of the device to people like me.by awakeasleep
8/21/2026 at 6:26:49 PM
What does the two-core CPU get you? I'm very satisfied with my BW with KOReader, haven't noticed any shortcomings but I only read books on it.by hamdingers
8/21/2026 at 6:36:38 PM
I encounter freezes mostly when I enable Bluetooth/wifi. Haven't tried on a multi-core kobo but I imagine the UI thread can keep running there.When reading, agree on it being more than sufficient.
My recommendation is partially because the price can be identical when they have a sale. That was the case when I got a BW--it was the same price as the color.
I should also mention I run quite a few things on my kobo: boringtun to connect to my home network, a fetcher to sync my books and feeds, Plato and its article fetcher whenever I update my Wallabag articles. I'm beyond pleased with my reader experience. The extra processing power would just be icing on the cake.
by the-grump
8/21/2026 at 6:40:16 PM
Ah yeah, mine takes a while to connect to wifi too. I assumed that was just how it was, luckily I do it rarely.I got the BW over the Color only because I had read the color screen wasn't as sharp, though I've never compared them side by side.
by hamdingers
8/21/2026 at 6:43:48 PM
Likewise. I'd had a Kobo Glo HD for more than 10 years and it was still going strong. I looked at the new color screens and they didn't look as clear to me, though it was a subtle difference. Only got the Clara BW because I wanted to use the BT remote.by the-grump
8/21/2026 at 6:40:39 PM
I do like my BW kobo, but it's on the slow side, even just when switching pages on the stock app ; and that's annoying. Sometimes because it's stuck it doesn't register the page change, and then it will highlight text instead. That's breaking the reading flow and I really hate that.by charles_f
8/22/2026 at 1:23:54 AM
Another didn't-do-my-homework mistake: Beware of buying one of the waterproofed models if you want to hack/mod your Kobo. On un-waterproofed models, the case is easily opened, and the main storage SD Card (IIRC - maybe it was a different kind of flash card) can be removed/replaced easily. On waterproof models, the SD Card is under the waterproofing layer, which would have to be cut through to remove the card.My experience is over 2 years old, so I'm sure some details have changed.
by bsammon
8/21/2026 at 6:38:45 PM
Also NickelHook, which adds the native hooks into the Nickel application. I used it for intercepting http calls previouslyby podgietaru
8/21/2026 at 7:25:51 PM
Is it bad that I was disappointed after reading this, hoping for a library that handles callbacks, called NickelBack?by jihadjihad
8/22/2026 at 4:39:49 PM
I got the color one and wasn't very happy with it. The color one has a darker screen and less contrast than the bw one.[0]It also wasn't really big enough for comics. So I'm not quite sure what the selling point is.
It definitely looks cool the first time you see it though.
(Also I thought the whole appeal of Kobo was that you don't need an account, but it wouldn't let me do anything without making an account, which I had to do thru a national partner, whose site was offline...)
--
[0] I also heard something about color e-ink having a lower effective resolution? But I'm not sure.
by andai
8/21/2026 at 6:26:26 PM
I also have the Clara BW and haven't done any modding on it but it's been on my todo list. Would you be willing to briefly describe issues you've run into with it?by post-it
8/21/2026 at 6:29:33 PM
0 issues using nickelmenu out of the box.I recommend enabling ssh (native kobo feature) so it's easier to modify the config without needing to plug in, though obviously this is optional.
If you connect over SSH, I would recommend not touching system files. The new kobos don't have a removable SD card so if you corrupt the system files and it can't boot, you need to either do some PCB surgery or get a new mainboard.
by the-grump
8/22/2026 at 3:36:02 PM
Or https://github.com/baskerville/fmon for the hackers/suckless.by BoingBoomTschak
8/21/2026 at 9:56:14 PM
Is there any way to recover a "bricked" Clara color? I bricked mine while trying to install nickel and koreader. Haven't been able to recover it since.by iib
8/23/2026 at 4:28:48 AM
I think you'll need to replace the mainboard with one from ifixit.Not aware of a debug interface, but in the absence of that, you'll need to desolder the nand module and replace the files there with the help of another owner. The mobile read forums are where you can connect with fellow owners.
So the short version: I'd replace the mainboard.
by the-grump
8/22/2026 at 6:42:17 AM
i've used nickelmenu and it's always felt incredibly janky, especially maintaining the config, but also the way it integrates with the native side menu. you end up jamming so much stuff in there it's hilariousby yokoprime
8/21/2026 at 6:29:52 PM
Are there any writing apps? Any way to connect a Bluetooth keyboard? (Or USB)by trencedamp
8/21/2026 at 6:33:05 PM
KOReader probably lets you edit text files but I only use my kobo to read. Have not tried connecting any external devices.by the-grump
8/21/2026 at 8:54:38 PM
It does. I don't know about bluetooth but it doesn't work with a usb-c keyboard. At least on the Clara BW the experience is bad, as there is a subtantial delay after each keypress and any keys pressed during it are dropped.by TheCycoONE
8/21/2026 at 7:50:05 PM
Apparently the "Sage" (which is what I have currently) has a quad-core, but Kobo discontinued it. Sigh, too bad - this was my favourite to-date (needs a power-cover though...).by jjkaczor
8/21/2026 at 8:56:34 PM
Off topic, but I don't understand Rakuten's current product strategy. They discontinued their two best devices: the 8" Sage and the 7" Libra 2. What's left are two unfortunately sized B&W readers (the tiny 6" Clara and giant 10" Elipsa) and a couple of color readers that no one should buy unless they absolutely NEED color (I've tried them, and the screens look terrible compared to the B&W versions).by lh7777
8/21/2026 at 9:36:50 PM
I believe that this is your opinion, but my own opinion (having also tried them, and used multiple generations of B&W ones before this) is that the screens look just fine, and that the slight downgrade of contrast isn't a big deal at all.by mkozlows
8/21/2026 at 11:32:32 PM
You're right, I went a bit overboard saying "no one should buy" -- clearly, it's subjective. This isn't my photo, but the comparison matches my experience exactly: https://www.reddit.com/media?url=https%3A%2F%2Fpreview.redd....
by lh7777
8/24/2026 at 11:32:34 PM
Oh thank-you for that photo.Sigh - I don't want a giant, note-taking ereader - I want something about the size of a pocket book with a crisp B&W screen.
Why do I need colour? I am reading novels.
by jjkaczor
8/21/2026 at 9:08:59 PM
I have Kobo Sage but it's not a great device.Very bad battery life. Maybe 8hrs of reading with wifi off, BT off and only low screen backlight. I need to charge it daily or every other day at best.
Physical buttons are comically bad and often don't register presses.
Built-in book reading app is slow, lacks some critical features and hangs in many epub books. I replaced it with KOreader which finally made the device usable.
It's a great screen size though (9" would be even better).
by code-blooded
8/24/2026 at 11:34:05 PM
I got about the same - then I got a power-cover and it lasts far longer, it was a worthwhile investment. Although after about 2-years, the pogo-pins are wearing out and sometimes it doesn't connect/charge.The physical buttons were also great - for the first year, then they started wearing out.
by jjkaczor
8/21/2026 at 11:23:46 PM
> Very bad battery life. Maybe 8hrs of reading with wifi off, BT off and only low screen backlight. I need to charge it daily or every other day at best.This seems like a wildly different experience than I have with it. I don't read 8 hours per day, but typically 1-2 hours per day, and charge it every 2-3 weeks.
by Marsymars
8/22/2026 at 6:46:10 AM
Thanks! I'll look into why my battery is draining so fast.by code-blooded
8/22/2026 at 3:16:56 PM
Yeah, I mean I'd be interested... but you've got wifi/BT off, so I don't even know what would be taking up much battery otherwise.My light levels are probably 50/50 6% (at night in bed) and ~33% (other times). I did briefly buy a Kobo remote and found that having bluetooth on for that was very bad for my battery life.
by Marsymars
8/22/2026 at 1:41:43 AM
i would return it, there is something wrong with your batteryby jay_kyburz