Shubook: I've made the switch.

[kyteflyer]

I never thought I would ever willingly delete Stanza from my iPhone, much less for Shubook, but I have, just now.

I've only been playing with Shubook (the paid version... the free one really doesn't show it off well enough at all) and find that it does most of what I want.

Here's what I have found so far
1) Generic User Interface. I don't much like fancy/different UIs to the Standard Apple iOS UI. Shubook uses standard iOS.
2) I can have multiple books under one Author, with the books listed on a separate page for each author.
3) I can add or subtract labels/categories for each book, and edit the author/title
4) I ran the formatting epub that someone supplied ages ago. Shubook handles standard format very well but doesn't recognise SPAN/Class at all.
5) Vertical swipe to brighten or dim.
6) I can add my own ttf fonts if I wish (I won't but I can)
7) I can use my own book sources as well as the many already included
8) I can use Calibre and Dropbox to access books already acquired
9) Books can be emailed out and in, and web pages can be used to download as well as OPDS catalogs.
10) Reading progress indicator

Whats missing (for my purposes)
1) Pinch/spread for on the fly font resizing
2) Annotations


Apart from that, Shubook now ticks most of my boxes. Its maturing very very nicely.

[sglinert]

I am switching over too. But I really hate the dictionary window. I have to hunt for the word again. Stanza has a neat little popup with the word highlighted.

Other than that, I am content with it.

[kyteflyer]

The dictionary worked for me by pressing and holding a paragraph which then opens in a new page in a different colour, then press and hold the word, and the dictionary opens for that word.

On another matter, the Shubook Dev has pointed out to me that my requests have already been implemented (I didnt ask about on the fly font resize, or annotation). And I quote

1) Open a book, tap the center to bring up the controls, tap the settings icon at the lower right, 'Look & Control for All Books' | 'Brightness Control' | 'vertical swipe'.
2) When no book is opened, tap the 'Settings' tab, then 'Show Reading Progress' (Library section).

I'm completely convinced. Shubook has now won my loyalty away from Stanza. Its pretty much got everything except annotation, which I never used anyway, and seeking a new book cover from the Internet (and it might be there, I just havent found it).. but in any case, I do all that from Calibre.

I'm amazed. When I woke this morning, I was a Stanza Fangirl. By bedtime, I am a Shubook Fangirl.

[Philantrop]

Originally Posted by kyteflyer

On another matter, the Shubook Dev has pointed out to me that my requests have already been implemented (I didnt ask about on the fly font resize, or annotation).

May I ask how you contacted the dev? I do have a few suggestions but didn't find a contact address.

Originally Posted by kyteflyer

I'm amazed. When I woke this morning, I was a Stanza Fangirl. By bedtime, I am a Shubook Fangirl.

And here I was, for some reason thinking you're a guy. My deepest apologies. :)

[kyteflyer]

Originally Posted by Philantrop

May I ask how you contacted the dev? I do have a few suggestions but didn't find a contact address.



And here I was, for some reason thinking you're a guy. My deepest apologies.

Contacting the dev was a matter of following the link to the website off itunes, and then finding a contact email address. http://www.ambibma.com/en/support.html is worth a visit in any case, theres an FAQ there

Nope, not a guy, just an old lady who's been "doing" computers and various other bits and bobs since 1983 Can't help being a bit on the nerdy side, and nerds are almost always seen to be male Apology accepted!

[Philantrop]

Oh, the website is *way* more organised than when I visited it quite some time ago. Thanks for the clue bat! :-)

[sglinert]

On my iPad, the new window opens up, but the word itself isn't highlighted, so I have to hunt for it. That's about my only complaint, though. I especially like the "restore defaults" in the book info panel. Calibre screws up have the exports they import with the title and author reversed. One click in that panel restores the correct author and title.

[edbro]

Originally Posted by kyteflyer

5) There is no swipe to brighten or dim.

It's there under Settings, Look & control for all books, Brightness control.

My big complaint is the dictionary lookup. Another thing I miss from Stanza is being able to view the clock when you tap on the page to bring up the status bar.

[kyteflyer]

Originally Posted by edbro

It's there under Settings, Look & control for all books, Brightness control.

My big complaint is the dictionary lookup. Another thing I miss from Stanza is being able to view the clock when you tap on the page to bring up the status bar.

Did you happen to read my other post above where I said the developer had told me that?

And with regard to the clock, write to the developer, as I did. He may have a solution, or put it in the next update.

[edbro]

Originally Posted by kyteflyer

Did you happen to read my other post above where I said the developer had told me that?

My bad. I admit to jumping around in this thread and the one for Stanza. I did buy Shubook and I like it. It isn't quite as configurable as Stanza but I think I'm going to stick with it as it is being actively developed.

P.S. When I search Shubook in iTunes it offered the helpful suggestion: "did you mean sexbook?"

[greenyouth]

How much is this? Does the price good enough for this app?

[Shykat]

Does Shubook allow you to sort ebooks in the order in which you added them to your device? That's a biggie for me and a feature I always look for in a new program.

[kyteflyer]

Originally Posted by Shykat

Does Shubook allow you to sort ebooks in the order in which you added them to your device? That's a biggie for me and a feature I always look for in a new program.

Theres four methods of sorting. Standard alphabetical list, by Author (each author gets his/her own page... my preferred sort method), Label (you set up your own if the publisher has none, or add to the publisher's) and something called "User" which seems to be ordered by last to first. If you need first to last, no.

[Shykat]

HHuummm, User sort might be what I like. It doesn't matter too much if it is oldest on the top or newest. Just so they stay in the order I install them. Having the ability to do it either way would be nice, though.

Is the reading progress indicator in % of the book or does it show it 4/205 pages?

Does the pay version allow for the upper info bar that shows time and battery usage on your iPhone?

I see you already mentioned that it doesn't have the pinch move to change the size of the screen font. That's a very handy feature to have and I use it frequently so I agree that it would be a good addition.

[kyteflyer]

Originally Posted by Shykat

HHuummm, User sort might be what I like. It doesn't matter too much if it is oldest on the top or newest. Just so they stay in the order I install them. Having the ability to do it either way would be nice, though.

Is the reading progress indicator in % of the book or does it show it 4/205 pages?

Does the pay version allow for the upper info bar that shows time and battery usage on your iPhone?

I see you already mentioned that it doesn't have the pinch move to change the size of the screen font. That's a very handy feature to have and I use it frequently so I agree that it would be a good addition.

Pages by default, and progress indicator by bar, pie icon or none. I think the pages can be turned off but I like that too.

Upper info bar is on by default, you have to choose to switch it off

I saw in your Apabi reader post that the reason you like that sorting method is because of your series books. Thats why I like Author sorting Keep them all together, and work it out as I go. I detest huge lists. I guess the one thing that Apabi has over all the others is the ease with which you can use categories and move books between (so there, I'd create a category for the series and drop the books in there). I havent yet worked out what to do with iBooks categories!!