Are looking for a convenient way to manage and read on your Android device all ePub books including those with Adobe DRM? Pick up one single application – Aldiko.
First, let me answer the question you may now have: “why would I do it?”
There are a couple of instances you’ll need such a solution:
1. Your favorite e-bookstore doesn’t have a dedicated application. There any many great sites, independent bookstores among them, you would love to buy e-books from. Check in their FAQ section if they use DRM, if yes, which type.
Many national e-bookstores around the world use DRM from Adobe as this is more convenient and less expensive way than developing a native DRM system.
2. You’ve bought an Android device and want to move your e-books there. So far you were using Adobe Digital Editions to read and manage your e-book library. They were downloaded from several sites, some of them could be DRM-ed.
3. You want to collect e-books from different e-bookstores in one application. You want to have freedom in which books, at which price and in which e-bookstore.
Surely you can use e-reading apps from Barnes & Noble, Kobo or Sony eBookstore. They are available at Android Market. Sometimes it might just happen that you don’t remember at which e-bookstore you bought a book you want to read.
Let’s imagine you want to move an e-book library from your desktop computer to your new tablet. Here’s what you have to do.
1. Download Adobe Digital Editions and authorize it with your Adobe ID
If you haven’t used Adobe Digital Editions to handle e-books on your computer, download it from here. Make sure to authorize your computer with your Adobe ID number. Go to Library » Authorize Computer… and type in your e-mail address and password.
If you used Adobe Digital Editions before, but didn’t authorize the computer yet, do it now. All e-books downloaded to this computer should be associated with your unique Adobe ID.
You can get your Adobe ID on this page.
2. Download Aldiko to your Android device and authorize it with the same Adobe ID
Download Aldiko from Android Market. In the application, go to General Settings, tap on Adobe DRM and type in your e-mail address and password.
3. Copy e-book files to SD card and open them in Aldiko
If you were downloading e-book files to your authorized Adobe Digital Editions, go to any book and open Item Info. You’ll see File path – it’s where all Adobe authorized files are stored on your computer. Copy them to your SD card. Use a file manager application on your Android (for instance Astro) to locate files on SD card. Tap on any file to open it in Aldiko .
If your haven’t authorized your e-books before, you have to download them again from your e-bookstore’s online bookshelf. I know it might be a pain, but instead of opening e-books in Adobe Digital Editions, you can download them to desktop (they will appear as .acsm files) and copy to SD card.
• • •
There are more Android applications, which support Adobe DRM. You can check for instance Txtr, but in my opinion Aldiko is the best choice, allowing you not only to add your own books, but to buy them inside an app from a growing number of distributors, including O’Reilly, Feedbooks, Smashwords and All Romance.
A list of major e-bookstores, applications and devices, which use Adobe DRM system is available here. Read also this great article about Aldiko at Dear Author.
Writer Updated 
txtr http://txtr.com/
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txtr http://txtr.com/
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txtr http://txtr.com/
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txtr http://txtr.com/
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hi, i tried to open a drm-protected epub, it asked me to authorize it. after authorizing, it shows “device authorized”, but then it returns me to the page where i need to authorize it (again). when i tried to import to aldiko, it says “device not yet authorized.” Can you help me with this? Thanks!
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Both Adobe Digital Editions on your computer and Aldiko have to be authorized with the same Adobe ID, otherwise you’ll have problems.
It’s good to authorize them BEFORE downloading any file from ebookstore.
So, if you want to open DRM-ed ePub in Aldiko, make sure the app is already authorized with the same Adobe ID as Adobe Digital Editions on your computer.
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Hi Piotr… thanks for ur reply. i tried what u said. i made sure that my Adobe Digital Edition in my computer and my Aldiko in my android phone are authorized with the same Adobe ID. in my laptop, the ebook is working fine. but in my android phone, it says “device not authorized” even though i authorized it already. pls help! thanks!
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Now, the thing is whether you added ePub file originally to unauthorized Aldiko. Some users reported, that even if they fixed things afterwards, for that specific file the device was kept as unauthorized.
Try to download the book again from the ebookstore and add this new file to Aldiko. Let me know if that works.
I know, the Adobe DRM is painful, but once you work it out, it should be nothing more than pleasure.
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hi again… that’s what exactly i did. first, i had ADE in my laptop and when i downloaded the epub, it worked there. then i downloaded aldiko v2.0.2, authorized it, and transferred the epub file to my phone, but aldiko cannot open it. then i read ur first comment here, so i re-download the epub file from the ebookstore, and transferred the file again to my phone, but same error. it says “device not authorized” eventhough i authorized it already. in fact when i was asked by my phone to login to ADE account, it shows “device authorized”. but still i cannot open and again it will show “device not authorized”. thank u for ur patience answering my query! :)
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Try to close Aldiko (if it’s running in the background) and restart a device.
Have you been using other apps on the same device which required Adobe ID?
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hi piotr, i cannot reply to ur post because the reply link is not there. anyways, i tried to restart my android phone already but the same error is happening. i cannot see any apps using my adobe id.. :(
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What I can advise is to try to add another book (not a file, but another title, if you’ve bought it or plan to do it).
If that doesn’t work, try to contact Aldiko support guys at support@aldiko.comSorry, I can’t help.
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thanks piotr… i dont have any problem opening DRM file from the same ebookstore as long as it is not protected. i can open and read it in aldiko. anyways, thanks so much for ur time and effort! :)
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Last thing. Maybe your eBookstore also requires somewhere your Adobe ID credentials. Check the settings.
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