Viwoods Firmware Version 3.6

Current sub-version: 3.6.7

This page takes a deep dive into the firmware that is pre-installed on Viwoods e-ink tablets to help potential customers decide if Viwoods tablets have the software functionality that they need.

New with this release

• Cloud sync (Google Drive, Dropbox, MS OneDrive) – Synchronise PDFs to the cloud (including PDF Exports of notebooks) and import files from the cloud
• One-tap sync button on homescreen
• VIwood Files App – File explorer for Viwood files and third-party cloud drives
• WLAN Transfer app – Connect directly to the Viwoods tablet from other devices over the local wireless connection for importing and exporting files
• Support for Mobi and AZW ebook file formats
• Create subfolders for notebooks
• Notebooks linked to the Daily (Calendar) will now be associated at the specific page (so when you tap on it in Daily, the notebook will open up on the same page as when it was associated)
• Text can be highlighted in PDFs (previously text-selection only worked in ePubs)
• Event creation shortcut in Daily (Calendar)
• Daily (Calendar) on homescreen now allows viewing records from older dates (up to 3 months) by swiping right
• Email: Support for MS365 and Google Workspace accounts
• AI responses can be exported as HTML to retain formatting (previously they could only be exported as TXT files)
• Add app icons to homescreen
• Control Centre – WLAN Transfer app and Memo app added to pull-down control menu for quick access
• Settings: Anti-aliasing toggle switch (in Pen Settings)
• Russian and Traditional Chinese languages added and date formats align with the standards for the particular language
• MS OneNote optimized for handwriting
• OneNote, Otter, and WeRead apps now available for download in the Viwoods App Store

The latest Viwoods update is another big release – but this is something I’ve come to expect from Viwoods now.

Firstly, there’s the ability to sync files to a third-party cloud drive. The benefit of this is that it makes it easy to access PDF copies of your notebooks from other devices as well as browse and import PDFs/eBooks directly from your cloud drive. There is also an option to export notebooks in their proprietary (Viwoods) format, which means that they can be backed up or transferred to other Viwoods devices.

Viwoods have also introduced the Viwood Files app, which is a file explorer for browsing through your local Viwoods files (and your configured cloud drives). The local Viwoods files are split into folders, such as Paper, Meeting, Pickings, Daily (task lists and notes only), Learning etc, which is the same folder structure that is synchronised onto your cloud drive. It is also possible to add your own subfolders for your notebooks now.

There’s a new WLAN transfer app, so you can transfer files to/from your tablet and other devices over the local network (using a web browser).

Viwoods have also added support for AZW and Mobi files in their native reading app, as well as adding the functionality to highlight text in PDFs (previously text could only be highlighted in ePubs).

I won’t go through every single update listed above, even though there’s quite a lot of useful additional functional, such as anti-aliasing of pen strokes, OneNote optimisation, and fixing app icons to the homescreen.

But overall, there’s some great new features with this release, so-much-so that I’ve bumped up my rating of the Viwoods firmware by a few percentage points, and have decided to give it my recommended stamp.

Operating system

• Runs on Android 13
• Supports installation of third-party apps (no Google Play Store by default, but it can be configured – see below).

Home screen

• The home screen has a global search option in the top right (filenames and tags only)
• Alongside the search bar is synchronize button for syncing files with third-party cloud drives (see below)
• There is a toolbar strip down left-hand side with icons for:
  • Home
  • Paper (notebooks)
  • Daily (write-on calendar)
  • Meeting (special notebooks designed for meeting notes)
  • Library (PDFs and E-Books)
  • Pickings (screenshots and handwritten book notes)
  • Viwoods Files – File browser for local Viwoods files (Paper, Daily, Meeting, Learning, Picking, Memo) and Cloud Drives
  • Viwoods Feedback and Feature Requests
  • Email (Gmail, Google Workspace, Outlook, MS365, IMAP, or POP)
  • Apps
  • Settings
• The home screen is split into six sections with widgets for Paper (Notebooks), Library (E-Reading), Daily (Calendar), Meetings (Meeting Notebooks), Pickings (Screenshots and Book Notes), and Apps.
• Each section displays the two latest respective documents and the option to create a new one (apart from Daily, which shows the task list for the day, and Apps, which shows the eight most recently opened third-party apps – it is possible to pin regularly-accessed app icons to the apps section)
• There are three touch-sensitive buttons on lower bezel:
  • Back button
  • Home button (long press for app switcher)
  • AI Assistant Button (long press for voice input)
• The AI assistant is essentially a floating generative AI window that you can interact with using the on-screen keyboard or microphone.

Pickings

• A swipe down from the top right (with stylus) brings up the universal pickings menu which has options for:
  • Crop – Take a cropped screenshot
  • Annotate – Draw/write on the screen in any app
  • Record – Open a floating note page to write on (with an option to make it semi-transparent so that you can see the content below)
• The pickings menu is accessible from any app

Control Center

• A swipe down from the top right (with a finger, not stylus) brings up the Control Center.
• The Control Center has options for:
  • Battery indicator
  • Date/time
  • Settings
  • Toggle on/off wifi/Bluetooth (long press to configure respective connections)
  • Manual screen refresh
  • WLAN screen cast
  • Contrast (4 levels)
  • Button Lock (turn off three physical buttons on lower bezel)
  • WLAN Transfer (transfer files to/from another device on the same network using a web browser)
  • Memo – quick link to the Memo app for quick handwritten notes
  • Refresh mode (Best, Fast + Ultra-Fast)
  • Frontlight Brightness (AI Paper Mini only)
• Note that a swipe down from the top-left of the screen performs a manual refresh (to get rid of ghosting)

On-screen keyboard.

• The on-screen keyboard is clear and simple to use
• It supports 14 different languages.
• There’s also a handwriting button, which allows you to write anywhere on the screen, and your handwriting will be converted to text, and inserted into the selected textbox.

Filesystem

• It uses the Android filesystem, but there’s no app or utility for direct access to browse it
• However, the Viwoods Files app allows you to browse Viwoods-specific local folders and files, such as your PDFs, ebooks, and notebooks (in PDF format).
• The Viwoods Files app can also be used to browse third-party cloud drives (Google Drive, MS OneDrive, or Dropbox), and you can import files from the cloud onto the Viwoods tablet.
• When connecting the tablet to a computer, there are only three folders are visible: Documents, e_book, and Documents.
• However, third-party file explorers can be installed
• Your documents are categorized into four areas accessible via the respective icons on the home screen:
  • Paper (your notebooks)
    • Organised using tags, folders, and favorites
    • Search by filename or tags
    • Sort by title, most recent, or date created
    • Filter by tags, favorites, or locked
    • Long pressing on a document provides options for Share, move, rename, lock, favorite, tag, and delete
    • Notebooks can be shared in PNG or PDF format either by QR code, Email, ViTransfer, or Bluetooth
    • Tabs for Folders and Quick Notes
  • Meetings (special notebooks, with their own templates, designed for taking meeting notes)
    • Organized with tags, or favorites
    • Search by filename or tags
    • Sort by title, most recent, or date created
    • Filter by tags, favorites, or locked
    • Long pressing on a document provides options for share, rename, lock, favorite, tag, and delete
    • Notebooks can be shared in PNG or PDF format either by QR code, Email, ViTransfer, or Bluetooth
  • Learning (your PDFs and ebooks)
    • Tabs for Library, reading notes (reading notes are screenshots of pages that you have annotated, and excerpts of text you have highlighted), and folders
    • Button for importing ebooks from the Viwoods cloud (see below)
    • List or grid view
    • Search by title
    • Long press provides options for move, rename or delete
  • Pickings (your screenshots, annotated screenshots, and note pages taken in third-party apps)
    • Tabs for Pickings (handwritten notes) and screenshots
    • Long press: rename, delete, share (multiple screenshots can also be merged into a single file)
    • Search by title

File Transfers

• All ‘Papers’ (notebooks, meetings, pickings etc) are stored on tablet in Viwoods own proprietary format
• There’s no native synchronization to the Viwoods cloud, however, from firmware version 3.6 your notebooks and ebooks can be synchronized with a third-party cloud.
• Files can be shared by long-pressing on the thumbnail, or selecting ‘Share’ from within the app
  • Long-pressing thumbnail: Papers can be shared in PDF, or PNG format (whole notebook only, not individual pages)
  • Page Overview (in native note-taking app): Individual pages can be selected for sharing.
  • Share button in the Note-taking app: Share the current page or all pages, as PDF or PNG (also an option to share as a TXT file, but testing revealed that this only works for a pages that are typed in text – it does not convert handwriting)
• In all cases, files can be shared via email (if you have set up the native email client), Bluetooth, QR Code, or ViTransfer.
• ViTransfer is a method of transferring files to/from the AI Paper using the Viwoods Cloud. However, this is temporary storage, because files are deleted after 24 hours (you can change this expiry length to 24hrs, 2hrs, or 30mins). It should be thought of as an intermediary between the AI Paper and other devices, rather than a backup system.
• Files can be transferred to the AI paper using ViTransfer, USB, Bluetooth, or third-party apps. You can also import files from a third-party cloud drive.

Companion App

• The companion app is called ViTransfer and can be accessed by logging on to my.viwoods.com via a web browser.
• Although this is technically cloud storage, it is only temporary because files are deleted after a set period.
• Therefore, it should only be used for transferring files between the AI paper and other devices – it should not be considered a backup or permanent storage utility.
• Up until firmware version 3.6, there was no way to automatically backup your files. With version 3.6, synchronization with third-party cloud drives was introduced.
• Files on the ViTransfer website can be searched.
• They are split into seven categories/tabs: Learning, Paper, Meeting, Picking, Daily, Memo, and other.
• Files stored within the cloud can be viewed and downloaded from my device with a web browser.

Settings

• Settings can be accessed via the icon on the left-hand strip/toolbar on the home screen, or via the control center (swipe down with finger from the top right)
• Settings are split into:
  • User (your Viwoods account – required for ViTransfer)
  • WLAN (configure wifi connections)
  • Bluetooth (pair with other devices)
  • Language (English US/UK, German, French, Spanish, Chinese, Italian, Dutch, Portuguese, Russian and a few more)
  • Display (configure text size, sleep timer, and frontlight brightness)
  • Pen Settings (manually configure the pressure sensitivity of the stylus)
  • General (date/time, lockscreen wallpapers, reset device, configure Google Play Store). NOTE: Custom lockscreen wallpapers are not supported but you can write on (add a signature) to one of the preset wallpaper options, or set a transparent wallpaper that shows whatever is on the screen at the time it locks
  • Security (set up lock screen code and fingerprint scanner)
  • About (device details)
  • Update (firmware updates and release notes)

Note-Taking App (Paper)

• There’s a single toolbar on the left and current page/total pages are displayed on the bottom-right (with next page/previous page buttons). The rest of the screen is the writing canvas.
• On the toolbar are buttons for:
  • Pen/Brush selection
  • Eraser
  • Textbox
  • AI functions
  • Lasso-select
  • Undo/redo
  • Tags
  • Page overview
  • Layers
  • Template
  • Lock / Encrypt
  • Rename file
  • Add page
  • Share
  • Associate with daily (link to Calendar)
  • Move the toolbar to the right side
  • Exit Paper
• The first page of a new notebook has a header at the top for the title of the notebook, which you can write in, and the AI Paper will automatically set this as the filename of the Notebook.

Pens (Brushes), Eraser, Undo/Redo

• There are seven Pen styles
  • Calligraphy
  • Fountain Pen (pressure sensitive)
  • Ballpoint (pressure sensitive)
  • Fineliner
  • Pencil (pressure and tilt sensitive)
  • Highlighter (gray, red, yellow, blue, green)
  • Thinkers (a uniquely textured brush)
• There’s a choice of 5 thicknesses for each
• Apart from the highlighter, there’s a choice of four colors for each brush (light gray, medium gray, dark gray, and black)
• By holding the stylus on the screen after drawing a line, the edge will be straightened. Shape perfection (squares, triangles, circles etc) is also provided using the same method.
• There are three options for the eraser: area eraser, selection eraser, or erase entire page.

Text

• Inserts a textbox that can be used to input text using the on-screen keyboard.
• The on-screen keyboard supports handwriting-to-text conversion (so you can write something on the screen with the stylus and it will be converted to text and placed in the textbox)
• Textbox can be moved, resized, cut, copied and deleted.
• There are also AI options to explain the text or check spelling/grammar.

Lasso-select

• Lasso-select tool is used to select handwriting or sketches by drawing a box around it.
• Selections can be moved, resized, rotated, cut, copied, and deleted.
• Selections can be cut/copied/pasted between different notebooks
• Selected handwriting can also be converted to text (and inserted as a textbox).
• There are also some AI functions for selected handwriting: Explaining, Spelling and Grammar, and Convert to text.

Templates & layers

• Layers are essentially several sheets of transparent paper stacked on top of each other
• Viwoods supports up to five additional layers that can be hidden, renamed, moved (up/down), and merged together
• However, layers are only supported in Paper notebooks (not Meetings, quick notes etc.)
• Templates are like a bottom layer that you can write on top of, without editing the template itself (e.g. lined paper, squares, checkboxes etc.)
• There are over 30 installed notebook templates, and 12 meeting templates.
• Custom templates are also supported.
• In addition, you can import PDF templates into the note-taking app (which retain links)
• Two PDF note templates are preinstalled – a weekly planner and a monthly planner.

Page Overview

• Page overview shows thumbnails of all the pages in the notebook.
• Tapping on a page opens it.
• Long-pressing multiple pages allows you to select them for sharing or deletion.
• If only one page is selected, it can be moved left or right, or set as the cover (thumbnail used on your list of notebooks).

Lock / Encrypt

• Viwoods provides the ability to lock/encrypt files.
• This prevents thumbnails being shown on the Notebook list and requires a passcode to open it.

Tags

• Individual pages can be tagged with keywords.
• Tags can be searched from the notebook list.

AI

• Viwoods provides some unique AI features that can be used to analyze, perform operations, and provide feedback on your notebooks.
• Essentially, AI services sends a screenshot of the page to AI along with an instruction (Wifi must be enabled)
• Preconfigured instructions are Analyze Content (provide an overview of what you have written), Generate Article (write a long-form article based on your notes) and AI Text Conversion (convert your handwriting to text).
• In Meeting notebooks, there is an option to write up to meeting minutes.
• You can also configure up to five of your own instructions that can be activated at the touch of a button. For example, you could create an instruction to translate your handwriting into Spanish.
• The AI features only work on single pages (or up to 5 pages for meeting minutes) and not whole notebooks.
• The text generated by AI can be copied (and pasted into another app) or shared via email, QR code, ViTransfer, or Bluetooth.

Reading App

• Viwoods native reading and PDF annotation app was originally very basic but has improved with recent firmware releases
• It can open TXT, PDF, ePub, Mobi, and AZW file formats.
• You can write straight onto the page of an ebook/PDF
• A long-press of the text has options for highlighting, copying, sharing and AI instructions. There are also buttons for a dictionary, and translation tool (both driven by AI)
• Highlighted text can be exported in PDF format (you can choose all highlights or just select the ones you want)
• Pages are turned by swiping left/right
• By tapping near to the bottom of the screen, a scrollbar is displayed, which can be used to navigate around the book.
• Tapping near the top of the page displays the toolbar, which has buttons for:
  • Pen
  • Eraser
  • Undo/redo
  • Table of Contents
  • Annotations (screenshots of all pages with pen marks on them)
  • Display settings
  • Bookmarks
  • AI
  • Share (single page only)
  • Configure page-turn gesture (swipe or tap)
  • Text search
• Because ePubs use reflowable text and PDFs have a fixed text layout, the display settings are slightly different depending on the file format.
• ePubs have options for font, font size, font weight, page margins (wide or narrow), and line spacing
• Note that when you change the display settings for ePubs, the text reflows, but your handwritten annotations stay fixed in place, so they no longer line up with respect to one another.
• PDFs have display options for zoom (11 levels), HD Display, Denoise, and Bold font.

Other Native Apps

• Viwoods tablets ship with a selection of other native apps, which are discussed below.

Meeting Notes

• Meeting notes are a special type of notebook (in the first release of the software, they were the only notes that could be linked to the Daily calendar, but this functionality is now possible with regular notes)
• Meeting notes have their own set of templates and preconfigured AI commands.
• Layers are not supported with meeting notes.

Calendar (Daily)

• The native calendar can be synchronised with Google and Outlook calendars (however, this is only for events created in typed text – handwriting is not synchronised)
• The top half of the calendar can show either a weekly or monthly review, and can be written directly onto (for example, you can write down what you are doing on each day)
• There is a daily view, but this cannot be written on.
• If a note has been associated with a particular day, there is a notebook icon on that date
• Tapping the notebook icon shows a list of the notes for that day and tapping on them opens them up.
• A dot on the calendar for a particular day signifies that something was written on the bottom half of the Calendar, or there is text event for that day
• The bottom half of the Calendar has three tabs for tasks, notes, and others (notebooks/pickings/meeting notes/ebooks that were opened on that particular day).
• Tasks are a column of checkboxes with lines for tasks to write the task title on.
• Notes are simply a lined paper to record any notes for the day.
• Both tasks and notes have some AI commands; tasks can be organised or a daily report generated and a ‘story’ can be generated using your notes. You can also create your own AI commands
• A summary of all tasks and notes (in reverse chronological order) can be viewed by tapping the icon in the top-right

Pickings

• Using the pickings tool (swipe-down from the top right with the stylus) you can write on the screen from any app, and save a screenshot of it.
• For example, you could save a screenshot of your highlights on a page of a Kindle book, or save a screenshot of a webpage (along with your own annotations) that has some information you may wish to refer back to
• You can crop your screenshots so that only the important information is saved.
• You can also take notes on a ‘Paper’ within a third-party app (the notepad can be made semi-transparent so that you can view the content below it as you write)
• These screenshots/notes are saved in the Pickings app, from where they can be shared/ exported.
• Multiple linked screenshots can be merged into a multi-page file. This is useful if you are doing research, because information from several different sources (as well as your own annotations) can be consolidated into a single document for later viewing.
• Gestures for Undo (two-finger tap) and Redo (three-finger tap)

Web Browser

• The Google Chrome browser is installed, and can be used to access the internet.
• Web browsing works pretty well (within the limitations of e-ink refresh rates)
• It is possible to install other native third-party web browsers (see below)

Email Client

• The native email client supports Gmail, Outlook, MS365, IMAP, and POP mailboxes
• However, it is possible to install third-party email clients (see below).

ViTransfer

• Used to import/export files between a Viwoods tablet and the Viwoods cloud.

App Store

• Viwoods own curated store of third-party apps that can be installed (more info below)

Various reading apps

• Some reading apps are preinstalled (but can be removed) These include Kindle, Kobo, Marvel Unlimited, NY Times, Bookshop, Libby and Wattpad.
• Note that some of these apps may have additional subscription costs should you choose to use them

Memo

• A streamlined note-taking app for quick memos
• Only basic note-taking functions are supported
• Notes can be tagged as ‘todo’ and have a reminder notification

Third-Party Apps

• Because Viwoods devices use Android as the core operating system, third-party apps can be installed.
• As stated in the previous section, some third-party apps are preinstalled, such as Kindle and Kobo e-readers.
• In addition, Viwoods have their own app store, which has a limited selection of third-party apps that can be installed, including the Brave web browser, Dropbox and OneDrive.
• ApkPure can also be installed from the Viwoods app store – this is an alternative app store with a massive library of third-party apps.
• Viwoods have now also added support for the Google Play Store (although you do have to go through a manual process to get this working)
• As with all e-ink tablets (particularly those without super refresh technologies), performance of third-party apps will be variable. Apps that require a lot of on-screen movement may be unusable.

Final Verdict