Marvin Free Edition for iPhone and iPod touch

[ParadiseLost]

I personally think 2-3 books would have been a better choice versus simply one. However, i think that this allows a person to see all the functions that a reader can see in its display of a book just fine. Does it let you see the full sorting abilities, no but if someone is going to be reading on an iphone they are already dedicated to reading and can clearly see this is a trial or a "lite" version, then I think this is fine. (it should be said explicitly somewhere that a full version is available) Its not as if Marvin for ipad has suddenly gone to $10 and there isnt already a free FULL version available. Just my thoughts.

[AnemicOak]

Originally Posted by Faterson

If Kris changed the Marvin Free limit to: "display 10 books, load unlimited books" -- then I'd find such a limit perfectly acceptable.

...and that would likely be enough for a lot of people to not bother buying the full version.

[Faterson]

AnemicOak, there are lots of other ways Kris could have made Marvin Free different from the full version. Limiting the display of books in the Library is just one of those ways, but in particular, to set that limit at one book strikes me as unreasonable and, as stated, draconian.

[Heitor]

I don't know if Kris has already revised the App Store description, but I think he can avoid a great deal of confusion and frustration by inserting this line from his blog post: "Obviously, you can also stick to the free version if you mostly read on your iPads and only plan to keep one book on the go."

This is the perfect scenario of the user that will not upgrade.

[iTalic]

For me, checking out the reading experience (customizability of spacing, colors, etc) on the iPhone is what I am looking for to determine whether I want to buy or not. Stanza does not use the full screen height on an iPhone 5+, so I am looking for a replacement reader. Thanks for releasing this version; I am trying it out now.

[Valkrider]

Kris, unlike some of the other comments on this thread I think that just one book is fine and that is a good compromise.

[kguil]

@Heitor, yes I already updated almost all of the App Store descriptions. Actually, I made it sound to be slightly more restrictive than it really is.

@iTalic, Valkrider, Thanks!

[artbatista]

Originally Posted by Faterson

I'm absolutely serious, Kris. If it's impossible to view several books in Marvin Free in quick succession, switching between the display of them -- then I don't even need to install Marvin Free to know it's useless. As you perhaps know, I always read 7 books simultaneously, so using any app that does not make it possible to easily switch at least among that amount of books, is 100% useless for me.

For the love of God, Alex, don't be so dense.

Of course Marvin free is useless to you. By definition it's useless for anyone that has purchased it.

It is geared towards one and only ONE group: those that do not feel that purchasing the full version without trying is wise. That is not you and it's not me.

This way, they can try everything but the library and decide wether the core features are worth the purchase. Not having a functional library is incentive to purchase.

How many times have you expounded on how anything but the library is what's important?

Chill, dude.

Art

[At_Libitum]

Well now, that certainly was a nice surprise Thanks a bunch for the free version on iPhone. I have been using the iPad app for some time and have been eagerly waiting for an iPhone version since that is where I do most of my reading on. But the fact that it released as payware made me hold off because I have been trying out so many disappointing readers I did not want to risk it behaving too different on the iPhone due to space constraints.

I honestly do not understand what the fuss is all about with the 1 book. At least now I will be able to see how it behaves on an iPhone before taking the next step. And have a better way to compare to the competition. I do not see it as a big deal I cannot switch back and forth between 10 different books, or 2 for that matter.

Those of us that care enough to want to view how well it does with 'problem' cases will no doubt also have enough drive to have put together an eBook containing those problematic things to test against. At least that is what I did...so I personally don't care one iota about it not being able to show how well it sorts...heck you won't even be able to even if the limit were set at 100 books. It also is much less important, much less than how it renders my books, besides I do the managing in Calibre, not in my reader.

I did at least come to one conclusion, even before the free iPhone version. I do not like this switching between "Marvin's formatting" and "Publishers formatting" at all. In fact this may be the deal breaker for me. The biggest objection I have to it is that it forces me to make a choice, and in the absence of a global set 'user defaults', this makes all the difference to me. I want to be able to change just one thing without it also affecting other 'settings'. Marvin's options seem a bit conflicting in that area...why for instance can I change margins regardless of what 'mode' I am in, but cannot switch to a simple night mode? And I don't mean themes. Themes and day and night mode are two different things in my book, themes should indeed affect the whole thing. Font, layout, margins, the lot. But Day/Night mode should not change anything other than reversing colors, yet to be able to use it I have to let go of publisher formatting. ah well, tripple home works too and even better as it changes all the colors not just the font colors...(why does Marvin ignore background color if a book happens to specify a white (or any color for that matter) background in CSS?)

Yuck, I have never noticed this on the iPad, likely because the toolbars are much less pronounced there, but please make it so that it is optional if Marvin itself should match its colors to the one chosen for my book... on an iPhone this looks absolutely horrible if these big bars slide into view.

With regards to the fact that it is not too clear that settings can scroll. A suggestion. Marvin is just about the only reader that uses a sort of popup/slide-in method for this.
I would prefer it much more if that just opened in a 'normal' screen. An iPhone4 isn't that big to begin with and then using only half of it where you also even need to scroll in makes it feel much too cramped. (tip to make it more obvious that scrolling is possible, use a full page border with a small margin so that either only the top or the bottom border shows when reaching the end of a scrollable area.)

Question: reporting perceived issues? This topic or separate one?

[Faterson]

Originally Posted by artbatista

Of course Marvin free is useless to you. By definition it's useless for anyone that has purchased it.

Nope, I said it would even be useless for testing purposes if I encountered Marvin for the first time today.

Originally Posted by artbatista

How many times have you expounded on how the anything but the library is what's important?

There are limits, though. Being unable to open several books in quick succession is beyond the limit (for me).

Originally Posted by artbatista

Chill, dude.

Completely chilled here. Everything relevant as of now has been said, I think; no need to bring me back into the thread with reprimands, eliciting further responses.

[artbatista]

My apologies Alex. It just that sometimes it bothers me when you appear to be badgering for badgering sake.

Personally I believe that a limit of 2 or 3 books is enough for the free version, free users should be given something to work with to see the library in action, at least rudimentary action.

Art

[Faterson]

Originally Posted by artbatista

My apologies Alex.

None needed!

Originally Posted by At_Libitum

I do not like this switching between "Marvin's formatting" and "Publishers formatting" at all.

I don't think that "Publisher's formatting" is suitable for reading. It's good for "reference" purposes, as I see it. Moon+ Reader Pro (on Android) calls that mode more appropriately: Preview Mode.

Originally Posted by At_Libitum

themes affect the whole thing. Font, layout, margins, the lot.

Not currently in Marvin, unfortunately. (They currently only affect font & background colour, that's it.) There's a GitHub feature request open for that:

https://github.com/kguil/Marvin-Roadmap/issues/19

Originally Posted by At_Libitum

Day/Night mode should not change anything other than reversing colors

I agree. In some e-readers, I saw Night Mode to be completely separated from Themes, and it's a good idea. Such a separate Night Mode might then also be available for "Publisher Settings", if anyone insisted on reading books using those, foregoing Marvin's advanced formatting capabilities.

Originally Posted by At_Libitum

why does Marvin ignore background color if a book happens to specify a white (or any color for that matter) background in CSS?

Yes -- that's another current deficiency of Marvin's, and there's another GitHub thread open for that:

https://github.com/kguil/Marvin-Roadmap/issues/99

Originally Posted by At_Libitum

Question: reporting perceived issues? This topic or separate one?

Preferably over on GitHub:

https://github.com/kguil/Marvin-Roadmap/issues

It's Marvin's official bug-tracker and feature-request collector. It's a lot more organised than MobileRead, thanks to its strict one issue = one thread policy. On MobileRead, endless rehashing of the same questions and answers in countless threads is typical.

[pdurrant]

I shall be giving Free Marvin a go. I certainly wouldn't be buying the paid-for version without a free version to try first. Limiting library view to one books seems to be a reasonable limitation to me: It allows testing of the reading environment and customisation sufficiently to be able to tell whether the paid-for version would be worth getting, which is all a free version of a paid-for app is for.

[kguil]

Originally Posted by At_Libitum

Well now, that certainly was a nice surprise Thanks a bunch for the free version on iPhone. I have been using the iPad app for some time and have been eagerly waiting for an iPhone version since that is where I do most of my reading on.

You're welcome.

Those of us that care enough to want to view how well it does with 'problem' cases will no doubt also have enough drive to have put together an eBook containing those problematic things to test against.

Yes. You can always try out a book, see that it's ok, add another one, and so on.

I did at least come to one conclusion, even before the free iPhone version. I do not like this switching between "Marvin's formatting" and "Publishers formatting" at all.

I might be misunderstanding. By default, Marvin opens books using Marvin's layout settings. You can optionally switch to publisher settings (you're not forced to choose) if you like and this is stored on a per book basis. I never, ever use publisher settings myself. I actually dislike it but many people asked for it (to be fair, it's also good for "debugging" badly formatted books).

why for instance can I change margins regardless of what 'mode' I am in, but cannot switch to a simple night mode?

Because, changing the margins doesn't affect the layout instructions (CSS) of the book and the colour settings do (M would have to override the publisher's instructions). Publisher settings only exist for very specific use cases (and some people seem to like it). I've never needed those cases and keep mine always turned off.

But Day/Night mode should not change anything other than reversing colors, yet to be able to use it I have to let go of publisher formatting.

It's a bit more complicated than that especially for books (e.g. programming books) that have things like syntax highlighting and coloured "info boxes".

why does Marvin ignore background color if a book happens to specify a white (or any color for that matter) background in CSS?

It shouldn't behave exactly like that. If you like you can PM me so we have a look at it.

With regards to the fact that it is not too clear that settings can scroll. A suggestion. Marvin is just about the only reader that uses a sort of popup/slide-in method for this.

Apart from the fact that it is made to match M's overall design aesthetic, some panels (especially) in the book are smaller to minimise thumb travel and favour one handed use. I expect iPhones to get larger.

Question: reporting perceived issues? This topic or separate one?

I'd prefer a separate one.

[At_Libitum]

Dang, I got confused with posts...again