Stupid Kobo App

[koland]

OK, it's annoying enough that the app (and their readers) thinks that it should download every single book I've ever bought from Kobo (as if they would even fit on the Android device where the app is running), but apparently trying to remove a book from your device (the ones you weren't fast enough to pause the download for) does a permanent delete from your library account instead.

Other than a full data removal (via settings), which removes all books on the device, does anyone know how to delete a single book from the Kobo app, without deleting it from your library, as well?

Is there any way to "archive" books in the library, to hide them from the app's library view?

[AnemicOak]

Doesn't deleting the book move it to the deleted "folder" on the website where you can then restore it? I thought that was what someone said. Not an ideal solution maybe, but might be worth checking.

I agree that the way the app starts downloading everything sucks. Pause All should be the default, not something you have to hunt for when it's already started downloading everything. I just tried the iThing version of the app and it didn't do the download all thing, just the Android app.

[taming]

Originally Posted by koland

OK, it's annoying enough that the app (and their readers) thinks that it should download every single book I've ever bought from Kobo (as if they would even fit on the Android device where the app is running), but apparently trying to remove a book from your device (the ones you weren't fast enough to pause the download for) does a permanent delete from your library account instead.

Other than a full data removal (via settings), which removes all books on the device, does anyone know how to delete a single book from the Kobo app, without deleting it from your library, as well?

Is there any way to "archive" books in the library, to hide them from the app's library view?

You do have some other choices when using the Android App.

Books do not have to download automatically--you can work with the settings so only the cover downloads, with the download of the book being automatically "paused", and not downloaded.

The way sync is *designed* to work, an action on any book on any device is mirrored on your other devices. When you delete a book on your reader, phone, or tablet, it is *supposed* to delete from "I'm Reading" on all devices. They do not delete from the purchased list on the Kobo website, and you can reload the books by using the bookmarking feature on the website.

The books you are currently reading will always be listed first. I just ignore the paused books. My preference is to have only one book open at a time on my phone--the book I am currently reading. When I finish it (on any device) it is marked finished on all devices. If I delete it on any device, it is deleted from all devices. And if I decide the book should be born again, it will be born again on all devices, but I have the option on Android Apps, to not actually download the book, but instead to pause it after the cover downloads.

Hope this helps.

EDIT. Books that you have gotten for free from Kobo can be "lost". Last time i checked, free books did not end up in the purchased list, so getting them onto your device after deletion wasn't possible. I highly recommend that people download ADE copies of free books, when they are available, to avoid this.

[koland]

Originally Posted by taming

You do have some other choices when using the Android App.

Books do not have to download automatically--you can work with the settings so only the cover downloads, with the download of the book being automatically "paused", and not downloaded.

The way sync is *designed* to work, an action on any book on any device is mirrored on your other devices. When you delete a book on your reader, phone, or tablet, it is *supposed* to delete from "I'm Reading" on all devices. They do not delete from the purchased list on the Kobo website, and you can reload the books by using the bookmarking feature on the website.

The books you are currently reading will always be listed first. I just ignore the paused books. My preference is to have only one book open at a time on my phone--the book I am currently reading. When I finish it (on any device) it is marked finished on all devices. If I delete it on any device, it is deleted from all devices. And if I decide the book should be born again, it will be born again on all devices, but I have the option on Android Apps, to not actually download the book, but instead to pause it after the cover downloads.

Hope this helps.

EDIT. Books that you have gotten for free from Kobo can be "lost". Last time i checked, free books did not end up in the purchased list, so getting them onto your device after deletion wasn't possible. I highly recommend that people download ADE copies of free books, when they are available, to avoid this.

I've been buying books from Kobo for several years (and actually have several of their readers, which I've learned to NEVER let sync to Kobo, or they'll just download until they die of energy drainage (and run out of space).

The app deletes the book entirely from your library (online, from the website) - I looked in Trash and it wasn't there. The fact that the book in question is temporarily free should have nothing to do with the action taken by the app. Had I not gone and immediately re-added to my library, it would have been lost when the price went up later on.

For all I know, it will do the same with books I've actually paid money for. Those can't be as easily added back (except by those with unlimited purses).

As for "adjusting the settings", well, yes, sort of. If you are quick, after logging in, you can go to settings, manage downloads, pause all and leave the books paused. Any books that downloaded in the meantime, you are stuck with (my Mom can't perform the steps fast enough to stop it from downloaded at least a couple of books. I don't consider that anything but the default (and woe to those that don't notice, as they'll have dozens (or hundreds, in my case) of books dumped on their device, which can only be removed by losing them entirely from your library OR by knowing to go in and delete all application data (the books and bookmarks, etc), then to try to open the app again and do a pause before it downloads them again.

I do download copies of my books, but it's really too bad that their app and devices are so ill behaved that you can't risk linking them to your Kobo account (although I suppose some with very small libraries or who don't mind losing their books when done reading and who are in love with social networking must do so, otherwise why would they waste so many programming hours working on that, instead of creating a decent app).

That doesn't even touch on the poor use of the screen and the massive margins that can't be removed (some of which is probably due to poor EPUB formatting, I'm sure, but which can be easily overridden by the programmer of the reader app).

Alas, your idea of how an app should be designed (and mine, Amazon's and most others), doesn't seem to have much impact on how the Kobo apps or devices actually work.

[taming]

Originally Posted by koland

The app deletes the book entirely from your library (online, from the website) - I looked in Trash and it wasn't there. The fact that the book in question is temporarily free should have nothing to do with the action taken by the app. Had I not gone and immediately re-added to my library, it would have been lost when the price went up later on.

For all I know, it will do the same with books I've actually paid money for.

Somewhere on MR I posted a long, long bit about how the library works after having a long, long series of emails with one of the developers on that side of the house. Books we get for free, never show up in our purchase history (under "my account" in the pink menu at the top of the page). Books that don't make it into the Purchase History can't be restored the usual way.

I have never lost any of the 165 or so books I have paid for. That doesn't mean it couldn't happen, but it hasn't happened yet to me. If it were to happen, as long as it was still in my purchase history, Kobo would know we are entitled to a replacement.

Once you have your settings on "pause" in the Android App, it stays set to pause. At least it does on my phone app. You don't have to race to change the settings every time.

I don't disagree with most of the things you have said in terms of how difficult and unwieldy the whole sync thing can be, but there are some specifics that seem to have some solutions. Kobo really needs to have all the apps for all devices working better than any of them do, at present. it is, IMO, a major problem.

[koland]

What's scary is that a developer there thinks it's OK that you lose a book you picked up during a publisher promotion (even though it might currently be selling for $10-$50, depending on the subject and publisher).

I see no reason ANYONE would ever use the Kobo app, at this point (and will loudly proclaim it to those who ask or read my blog). I also greatly hesitate to recommend their readers for the same reason (although they are OK, this particular bug/feature set is even worse than most I've on Sony or Nook).

Instead, use Kobo to get books, but make sure you use an alternative App (such as Aldiko, which bypasses all the ebookstore disadvantages) or reader (Sony or nook, for the unapprenticed, despite their own peculiar disadvantages).