Bluefire reader app

[ilovejedd]

One reason I don't use Bluefire is the interface feels laggy to me. I've found scrolling through the library to be noticeably jerky. More importantly, with certain epubs, margins are still too big even when I've chosen the smallest margin in the settings.

[1611mac]

Originally Posted by ilovejedd

One reason I don't use Bluefire is the interface feels laggy to me. I've found scrolling through the library to be noticeably jerky. More importantly, with certain epubs, margins are still too big even when I've chosen the smallest margin in the settings.

That's odd. Not used Bluefire for a real long time but free epubs from Baen, Google Books, and the library here on Mobileread work fine for me. With the margin setting at smallest margins the right edge of the text almost goes to the edge of the glass (1/8" margin) and the left side margin is about 7/16 inch.

[thomasmorus]

Hello team
I like the bluebird reader and I am thinking of it as a replacement for stanza (still hoping for an update). For me following features are important:
- load through calibre server many books at once (2000+ books in the library)
- get the metadata specific tags, series, series number, and description
- mark a book as read
- sort according to the metadata (tag, series, author titel...)

[ATimson]

Originally Posted by 1611mac

That's odd. Not used Bluefire for a real long time but free epubs from Baen, Google Books, and the library here on Mobileread work fine for me. With the margin setting at smallest margins the right edge of the text almost goes to the edge of the glass (1/8" margin) and the left side margin is about 7/16 inch.

To be fair, they did say that it was only certain ePubs - which probably means they just have stupid margins set, but that's not Bluefire's fault.

[seajewel]

Originally Posted by ATimson

To be fair, they did say that it was only certain ePubs - which probably means they just have stupid margins set, but that's not Bluefire's fault.

Well it is in the sense that any other ebook reader I have that allows you to set margins does not have the problem of text shifted to the right (I know this is a slightly different issue, but it's a similar problem I believe). Micah has responded in this thread suggesting that the problem is that Bluefire does not override publisher margins as much as it could (this is a problem that exists whether or not you use Publisher's Default formatting), and indicated that it should be fixed eventually.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by ilovejedd

One reason I don't use Bluefire is the interface feels laggy to me. I've found scrolling through the library to be noticeably jerky. More importantly, with certain epubs, margins are still too big even when I've chosen the smallest margin in the settings.

Just try ibooks then. You are forced to have excessively huge margins.

[Barty]

Originally Posted by seajewel

Well it is in the sense that any other ebook reader I have that allows you to set margins does not have the problem of text shifted to the right (I know this is a slightly different issue, but it's a similar problem I believe). Micah has responded in this thread suggesting that the problem is that Bluefire does not override publisher margins as much as it could (this is a problem that exists whether or not you use Publisher's Default formatting), and indicated that it should be fixed eventually.

It's a bit more complicated, though. You can ignore the margin set for body or @page, but what about margin set on p or div? Often, margins on p or div convey information, eg, quoted text or side note, so you don't want to just routinely ignore them. But if the publisher decides to set margins on all p, you will get extra margin. I have a book where everything is wrapped inside a blockquote. The reader displays text with wide margins, which is normally the right thing to do. It would take a bit of work to figure out whether the book is doing something wonky and override it.

[frozennorth]

Originally Posted by Barty

It's a bit more complicated, though. You can ignore the margin set for body or @page, but what about margin set on p or div? Often, margins on p or div convey information, eg, quoted text or side note, so you don't want to just routinely ignore them. But if the publisher decides to set margins on all p, you will get extra margin. I have a book where everything is wrapped inside a blockquote. The reader displays text with wide margins, which is normally the right thing to do. It would take a bit of work to figure out whether the book is doing something wonky and override it.

I don't think that's the problem. I tried a few books (drm free) on both stanza and bluefire. On bluefire the margin on the left is about double the margin on the right on every book I tried (lowest margin setting). On stanza I don't get the wider left margin. It has nothing to do with publisher formatting as it even happens with an epub font test I got at this site.

And JS, the margin on the left is almost as big as ibooks's. Actually ibooks also has a slightly wider margin on the left but the difference between left and right margin isn't quite as big since ibooks already has a big right hand margin also.

[seajewel]

Originally Posted by Barty

It's a bit more complicated, though. You can ignore the margin set for body or @page, but what about margin set on p or div? Often, margins on p or div convey information, eg, quoted text or side note, so you don't want to just routinely ignore them. But if the publisher decides to set margins on all p, you will get extra margin. I have a book where everything is wrapped inside a blockquote. The reader displays text with wide margins, which is normally the right thing to do. It would take a bit of work to figure out whether the book is doing something wonky and override it.

Still don't see why I can test the same epub on ibooks, Stanza, MegaReader, Kobo, and Bluefire, and only have the problem with Bluefire.

[ilovejedd]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

Just try ibooks then. You are forced to have excessively huge margins.

With the ebook I'm referring to, I get roughly the same size margins on Bluefire as I do on iBooks. Actually, I believe I'm seeing slightly smaller margins on iBooks than on Bluefire so that should give you an idea how large the margins are. It doesn't happen for all ebooks, though, so I'm guessing the publisher (Berkley/Penguin) just did something funky with the formatting.

[seajewel]

My bluefire reader keeps freezing. I try to turn pages and a big circle surrounds text where I tapped (near edge), but then the app freezes and no taps work. I have to close the app completely (not just exit it via menu button but I have to shut it down) and then reopen in order to get it to work again. It's doing this every few page turns.

The only things I can think of is that I switched to Fade page turns, because the Cut page turns, which is what I generally prefer, seems to "flash" more than some other programs I have used and it was bothering me. It may be the particular book I'm reading, I guess, because this is the first time I've really started using Bluefire in earnest, but I'm not sure. It's a little frustrating. Before I switched to Fade page turns I don't recall having this issue.

[1611mac]

by "big circle" do you mean the "editing magnifier" that allows you to mark text for bookmarks?

On my Bluefire app I have to touch and hold for one full second to get the magnifier. A page turn "tap" is much quicker than that. I'm using a "slide" page turn and have not had the issue you mention.

[seajewel]

Originally Posted by 1611mac

by "big circle" do you mean the "editing magnifier" that allows you to mark text for bookmarks?

On my Bluefire app I have to touch and hold for one full second to get the magnifier. A page turn "tap" is much quicker than that. I'm using a "slide" page turn and have not had the issue you mention.

Yeah it is like the magnifier. But it just freezes. and I don't do long taps, i'm just trying to turn the page.

[1611mac]

RE: Bluefire locks up.

That's strange. I'd try to email Micah (can be found in these forums) or use their contact page. You could also try to delete and reinstall the app. Disclaimer: I'm no expert! Someone else may have a real simple answer.

[Pucko]

Originally Posted by Micah

Yea, I get over 100 emails every day, so I struggle with that.

I'm sorry Micah, I had no idea.

But since I got your attention at this forum I would like to take the opportunity to present my suggestions here.


I think you should insert a fast forward- and a fast rewind button to make it easier to jump between chapters.

I'm aware that there's a content-button for jumping to a specific chapter. But if you just want to "scroll" through the chapters, not knowing which one your looking for, thats not a good alternative.

I also think there should be an option to jump to a specific page (That's what the empty white square in my picture representing).


Just recently I got an other idea, but it may seem a little stupid.

But wouldn't it be cool if it was possible to flip through pages by sound? Imagine laying down in bed with your iThing resting against a pillow and not even have to move a finger to flip to the next page - all you would have to do is make a small sound of any kind. (This would certainly make your app more handicap friendly as well.)

So Micah... What do you think?



This is a suggestion of what the app could look like with "chapter-flipping-buttons" and a square for inserting a certain page number: