[Android App] Calibre Companion Great Update

[DoctorOhh]

Calibre Companion version 2.0 is an excellent update. The one thing I didn't see mentioned was the fact that returning to a List via the back button Returns you to where you left the list.

Great job!

[chaley]

Originally Posted by dwanthny

Excellent update the one thing I didn't see mentioned was the fact that returning to a List via the back button Returns you to where you left the list.

Great job!

Thanks.

Returning to the same point on the list took a fair amount of time to build. We didn't mention it because the space available for "Whats New" is quite limited. It is hard deciding betweem what is "new", what is a "fix", and what we should just write off as "expected".

NB: font and size control are high on our todo list. Our idea is to do these early in a cycle so we can test them while developing other stuff.

[DoctorOhh]

Originally Posted by chaley

NB: font and size control are high on our todo list. Our idea is to do these early in a cycle so we can test them while developing other stuff.

No rush, truthfully even for my old eyes the main group listings are fine the only thing I find too small is the metadata details page.

The one thing I am tossed up about is populating the flingable lists with titles. When I group by authors or series I can easily get down the list to the author or series I want to select and have to wait for the selection to populate with titles before I can move on.

I'm going to use it for a while to see how it goes, but it seems to put a wrench in the works. If I want a flingable list grouped by author or series I don't see the reason for cluttering up the process by adding a subset of titles. If I want titles I can group by titles.

Two thumbs up for version 2.0

Well done.

[chaley]

Originally Posted by dwanthny

The one thing I am tossed up about is populating the flingable lists with titles. When I group by authors or series I can easily get down the list to the author or series I want to select and have to wait for the selection to populate with titles before I can move on.

I like the titles appearing, or items if you are using first letters. It helps me know that I am looking at what I think I am looking at. We could introduce another option not to paint the titles/items, but I would rather not because options increase complexity both for the user and for the code, sometimes non linearly.

I do agree with you about the delays, etc. The user shouldn't be forced to wait any significant time before touches work or the screen paint finishes. What we have works reasonably well for scanning through the list, but it isn't quite adequate when someone rapidly flings a couple of times. Rather than not paint, the right way to fix it is to deal with the wait. There are some implementations that will improve performance of painting such as not attempting to populate the titles/items during a fling (while it is moving), instead waiting for the list to settle and then populating only the visible items, all the while not blocking taps.

At any rate, it will be fixed one way or another in the next update.

[DoctorOhh]

Originally Posted by chaley

I like the titles appearing, or items if you are using first letters. It helps me know that I am looking at what I think I am looking at. We could introduce another option not to paint the titles/items, but I would rather not because options increase complexity both for the user and for the code, sometimes non linearly.

I agree another option isn't needed. I didn't realize you kept essentially the same code when you create either the flingable list or the alphabet list. To me a list of author or series should be just that. That said, the inclusion of titles isn't going to stop me from using that option. Thanks for adding this option.

Originally Posted by chaley

What we have works reasonably well for scanning through the list, but it isn't quite adequate when someone rapidly flings a couple of times.

It does indeed work reasonably well.

Originally Posted by chaley

Rather than not paint, the right way to fix it is to deal with the wait. There are some implementations that will improve performance of painting such as not attempting to populate the titles/items during a fling (while it is moving), instead waiting for the list to settle and then populating only the visible items, all the while not blocking taps.

At any rate, it will be fixed one way or another in the next update.

Looking forward to your solution. I guess the OPDS feature is your next big goal. One question if we add a book via a OPDS feed other then calibre do you plan on that book being added to our calibre library the next time we connect?

Keep up the excellent work.

[chaley]

Originally Posted by dwanthny

Looking forward to your solution. I guess the OPDS feature is your next big goal. One question if we add a book via a OPDS feed other then calibre do you plan on that book be added to our calibre library the next time we connect?

You are correct, the pull interface (probably OPDS) is now near the top. A couple of things will probably happen first, such as a unified & "proper" setup screen and font/style control. And of course, bug fixes.

Regarding your question about adding books: the answer is "sort of". The book will appear in the device view with the "In Library" checkmark off. If you want to add the book to your library, you can right-click on it and select "Add book to library". This works now, and can be useful when a user wants to copy books between calibre libraries on different computers.

[DoctorOhh]

Originally Posted by chaley

The book will appear in the device view with the "In Library" checkmark off. If you want to add the book to your library, you can right-click on it and select "Add book to library". This works now, and can be useful when a user wants to copy books between calibre libraries on different computers.

I never had to use this feature and forgot it existed. Thanks for the explanation.

[chaley]

@dwanthny: CC release 2.0.2 improves the performance when flinging lists of authors, series, etc. You shouldn't need to wait anything to finish after flinging but before tapping.

[DoctorOhh]

Originally Posted by chaley

@dwanthny: CC release 2.0.2 improves the performance when flinging lists of authors, series, etc. You shouldn't need to wait anything to finish after flinging but before tapping.

Works like a charm. I can't outrun it.

Great Work.