[Archived] Marvin ePub reader for iPad

[terrorczardas]

So sorry if this has been asked before. I just wanted to know if there were a way to add multiple books from Calibre with just a click, like a 'download all' feature.

[kguil]

No problem terrorczardas. If you're using OPDS, in version 1.4 coming in about a week, you'll be able to.

[terrorczardas]

That's great, looking forward to it. Thanks!

[rfog]

I'm amazed with Marvin! Really amazed.

I wrote a post time ago about foreign hyphenation... and it recognizes language in epub and does separation conform each language, at least English and Spanish one. For Spanish, after reading 4 full books with Marvin I've not found any word wrong separated.

However, I think you can improve dictionary support. That is, my iPad is in Spanish and it is capable to find Spanish words. However, I read English books and would like to use English dictionary (does not matter if it eng-eng or a eng-spa). Easily said, as native Spanish talking I do not need Spanish dictionary.

Have you a custom dictionary installation or customization in your roadmap?

PS: A workaround is put iPad in English, of course.

[Faterson]

Originally Posted by rfog

I wrote a post time ago about foreign hyphenation... and it recognizes language in epub and does separation conform each language, at least English and Spanish one. For Spanish, after reading 4 full books with Marvin I've not found any word wrong separated.

Congrats to you... Hyphenation does not seem to work for me in Marvin, even if I explicitly switch it on. It only seems to work in some English-language books here, but in none of the others. (But, I don't really care.)

Originally Posted by rfog

However, I think you can improve dictionary support. That is, my iPad is in Spanish and it is capable to find Spanish words. However, I read English books and would like to use English dictionary (does not matter if it eng-eng or a eng-spa). Easily said, as native Spanish talking I do not need Spanish dictionary. [...]

PS: A workaround is put iPad in English, of course.

Nope, you've got that wrong. Apple employed an extremely silly, unintelligent way of integrating dictionaries into iOS: because you can't change them on-the-fly. (In contrast, the Kindle app employed dictionaries integration wonderfully: you can switch from one dictionary language to another with a couple of taps of your finger, at any time.)

Now get this: one of the Marvin Beta testers accidentally discovered that the way to switch the iOS dictionary language is by... switching your keyboard layout to the desired target language! Yes, Apple can be that silly; to my mind, they are primarily a fantastic hardware company, but their software is often incredibly dumb, and this is a prime example.

So, if you're reading a Spanish book in Marvin, make sure your keyboard layout in iOS is switched to the Spanish keyboard. Then, the Spanish dictionary will pop up throughout iOS, not only in Marvin. But if you wish to see English-language dictionary definitions, just switch your keyboard layout on your iPad to the English keyboard.

Of course, there is no logical connection whatsoever between dictionary pop-ups (= reading activity) and keyboard layouts (= writing activity), but that's just the silly way Apple set it up, and (for now) we need to live with it.

Let's hope one of the future iOS versions adds switching dictionary languages on-the-fly, and adds more dictionary languages. Also, I have noticed the current German iOS dictionary is of such poor quality it's virtually unusable. The English iOS dictionary is pretty awful as well: you can't search within it; all the hyperlinks in it are dead (what a gaffe!) ; and you can't tap a word used in a definition, in order to read its definition. All of these are fundamental usability issues, so to sum up, dictionary integration in iOS is currently on an extremely low level of quality.

So, switching your iPad's interface to another language won't help you in any way regarding iOS dictionaries display. But switching the keyboard layout will.

(By the way, several weeks ago I pointed out to Kris that the related "dictionary selection" option in Marvin's experimental settings does not work at all, and therefore it should be removed from Marvin.)

[maxjens]

Originally Posted by Faterson

So, switching your iPad's interface to another language won't help you in any way regarding iOS dictionaries display. But switching the keyboard layout will.

good to know.

[rfog]

Faterson,

Yes it is really silly... I will try that but I think it's time that Marvin will implement its own dictionary engine. For example, using old DICT format...

Thank you for your advice.

[kguil]

Improving dictionary support is definitely on my to do list. Also, Faterson correctly points out that to reliably switch system dictionaries, you have to install and switch keyboards. This is of course, is less than optimal. I'll will certainly look into it. However, it unlikely that it will be in DICT format. I've read in several places that there are copyright issues. Although my findings are inconclusive I don't really want to risk it.

Faterson, I'll contact you directly to investigate the hyphenation issues you're experiencing.

[Philantrop]

Kris, the dict format itself is not encumbered in any way.

Individual dictionaries, of course, can be but there are a lot of GPL'ed dictionaries. If an App under a proprietary licence can use them, I haven't researched.

You'll find an extensive collection of free dict format dictionaries on http://freedict.org/en/

Since Debian and other major Linux distros include those, they're certainly safe to use in general. Especially Debian and Fedora are very thorough in their legal investigations and they ship them.

*If* you really want to include additional dictionary support, dict format support would most likely make sense.

[kguil]

Thanks a lot Philantrop. I'll have a look at it.

[institute]

Any chance of incorporating a "grid view" in Marvin's library, perhaps with scalable icons? I look forward to the collections functionality but I feel grid view would be nice as well. I did a search for "grid view" but did not come up with anything.

By the way, I just started using Marvin and like it a lot. I had resigned myself to using iBooks on my iPad Mini as I couldn't find another option. I had been using MegaReader on my iPod Touch but didn't like its look on the iPad. I also just purchased Marvin's theme pack mainly to support development. Cheers,

[institute]

One other thing, not quite sure why shuffle exists. Do people actually want to randomly select a book to read?

[MeSue]

Originally Posted by institute

One other thing, not quite sure why shuffle exists. Do people actually want to randomly select a book to read?

I like it. It's a way of exploring books you added long ago and might have forgot about. Or sometimes I'm not sure what I'm in the mood to read next and browsing by shuffle is more interesting that scrolling through a list.

[kguil]

Institute, yes. Grid view will be coming.

Sometimes I use shuffle too, get reminded about a book I forgot I had copied over, and add it to my reading list.

- Edit:

By the way, thanks for getting the theme pack!

[Meemo]

Originally Posted by MeSue

I like it. It's a way of exploring books you added long ago and might have forgot about. Or sometimes I'm not sure what I'm in the mood to read next and browsing by shuffle is more interesting that scrolling through a list.

I do the same - I've been known to let Calibre choose my next read - one of the hazards of having so many books is that sometimes I get brain freeze and don't quite know what I want to read next. I'm not (too) crazy - I don't start reading the first book that pops up, just the first "acceptable" one that fits my mood.