[Archived] Marvin ePub reader for iPad

[kguil]

Originally Posted by Shykat

re most of the features in the current version of Marvin going to cross over and show up in the iPhone version?

The plan is for all of them to be there.

[maxjens]

#kguil A while back it was suggested that there would be an overview off all the requests made for Marvin. Is that still the case? It would be nice to know if some of the suggestions that were made are still on the todo list.

Seeing that you are working hard on the iphone version, it could be that a lot of features are going to be postponed till after the release of that Marvin. It would be nice to know which ones.

In particular I am interested to know if an enhancement of the library screens for people with less eyesight is still on the list.

I showed the options Marvin gives to set the screen just right for her and still get a lot of content on one screen. The trouble is she cannot choose the right book because the images are to small, the name of the book and such are hard to read but with effort she manages. Basically older people can loose part of there eyesight, so less pixels are availible in the eye.

I know there is voice support on the ipad but then it is always on, perhaps a way to let the book present its own information by voice would be nice.

[Jessica Lares]

Originally Posted by maxjens

#kguil A while back it was suggested that there would be an overview off all the requests made for Marvin. Is that still the case? It would be nice to know if some of the suggestions that were made are still on the todo list.

I'm working on it. I'm done with my college class this spring, but now I'm under the weather. I'm going to start formatting it tonight.

[Barty]

A few small suggestions. Excuse me if these have been covered elsewhere in the thread.

- once a book is downloaded, it'd be nice to have an option to open it immediately, rather than going back to the library. Maybe you can add an icon for the last imported book in the toolbar at bottom? Or make the book imported message into "book imported, tap to open" and leave it on screen for an extra second.

- can you make embedded images transparent? For ex, the images in three men in a boat.

- I'm surprised the progress bar is not a slider. How about swipe on bottom status bar to jump navigate?

I read in a review that you plan to charge $2 for the app. I think that's too LOW for an app like this. I know it's difficult to determine the right pricing. It's unfortunate that people have come to expect apps to be free or 99c. That may be fine for rovio and angry birds, but it's not sustainable for small independent devs with smaller niche apps.

[kguil]

@maxjens - yes, improving Marvin's accessibility is something I'm looking into seriously.

@Jessica - thanks! I hope you get better.

@Barty:

1) The problem with that is that books can be downloaded from many different places and Marvin depends on being in a particular state before being able to open the book. Sorting the library by date added should help. The idea is in the wish list.
2) It depends on the image. If the image itself is transparent that Marvin will render it as such. If it is not (say, it is a JPG) then Marvin won't.
3) The progress bar is a slider. You can move the arrowhead around.
4) The thought that Marvin would cost $2.99 was back when Marvin was launched. Of course you are right. At the time many people (not here on MR) wrote me saying that the price is outrageous, but that's another matter. For the time being I'm happy with things as they are.

[maxjens]

Originally Posted by Jessica Lares

I'm working on it. I'm done with my college class this spring, but now I'm under the weather. I'm going to start formatting it tonight.

@Jessica Hope you get well soon. Looking forward to the result.

[maxjens]

Originally Posted by kguil

@maxjens - yes, improving Marvin's accessibility is something I'm looking into seriously.

@kguil If i can help in any way, please ask. Wouldn't mind trying possibilities for you to see what works best.

[kguil]

@maxjens Thanks a lot.

[Barty]

Kris: I see. The little arrowhead is too small for me to grab, except by sheer luck.

[kguil]

The "grab" area is actually as large as the grab area of any other iOS slider. It just looks smaller. Even if you put your finger slightly on top of the arrow it should pick. Isn't this working for you?

[kyteflyer]

Originally Posted by Barty

I read in a review that you plan to charge $2 for the app. I think that's too LOW for an app like this. I know it's difficult to determine the right pricing. It's unfortunate that people have come to expect apps to be free or 99c. That may be fine for rovio and angry birds, but it's not sustainable for small independent devs with smaller niche apps.

Agreed.

I've paid a fortune (relatively speaking) for reading apps since the demise of Stanza... I'd happily pay for Marvin as well.

@Kris: $2.99 is a more than reasonable price, but given the work you have put into it, I think the price could go higher. My personal limit would probably be around $4.99 but thats just me. Others may want more, or less... and like Barty says... there are many who just expect people like yourself to do all this for $0 or close to it, which I think is unreasonable (and barking selfish, to boot)

[ilovejedd]

Originally Posted by kyteflyer

I've paid a fortune (relatively speaking) for reading apps since the demise of Stanza... I'd happily pay for Marvin as well.

Same here. While I didn't much like Marvin when it was first released (it was missing collections which is a key feature for me), the improvement and developer support is quite impressive. The most amazing thing about it? It was free. Felt quite guilty about that so I got the theme pack to support development.

Originally Posted by kyteflyer

@Kris: $2.99 is a more than reasonable price, but given the work you have put into it, I think the price could go higher. My personal limit would probably be around $4.99 but thats just me. Others may want more, or less... and like Barty says... there are many who just expect people like yourself to do all this for $0 or close to it, which I think is unreasonable (and barking selfish, to boot)

Yeah, I think $4.99 is a reasonable price for it. Higher than that and you might not get many takers. Alternately, might it be possible to implement advanced theming in Marvin? That way, you can keep full featured Marvin free but have fun add-ons/themes to bring in revenue (e.g. bookshelf view, cover flow, rotating bookshelf view, iTunes library view, etc).

[m00min]

I would pay £5 for a quality ebook reader app and Marvin definitely qualifies as such. Lets face it, most ebook a cost more than that.

Failing that maybe use IAP for new features. I hate to see app devs not properly compensated for their work.

[Philantrop]

A word of caution: Everyone who commented on the price so far *knows* Marvin and its quality already.

I, too, would have paid EUR 4,99 but grudgingly because I strongly dislike buying something I don't know. Thus, a pretty high price like that would most likely discourage quite a few people.

Most other ebook readers are either free or cheaper than that, too, so people would likely look at those first and only switch to Marvin if everything else failed.

Now, I don't know Kris' business model but from what I gather from his behaviour and statements here, I don't think it's making the app itself more costly.
Consequentially, if I were him, I'd either keep Marvin itself free or at minimum cost and would add unobstrusive, non-essential IAP.

In either case, if I were him, I'd open-source Marvin (which absolutely doesn't imply not selling it or its IAP) because in any other case, we'll have to go hunting for a new ebook reader *again* sooner or later.

Anyway, this is nearing off-topic so I'll stop here but I wanted to chime in on the price discussion. :-)

[kguil]

@maxjens Whilst I'm very receptive to, and indeed implement, most requests please bear in mind that the list is a request/wish list rather than a to do list.