11-10-2012, 11:10 AM | #16 |
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I think I'm pretty much searching for the same thing you are, Sumguy.
I'm thinking of getting an iPad Mini. I already have my iPhone 4S. I want to be reading a book on my iPhone then stop, pick up my Mini and resume reading the same book at the same spot. I don't need to read on my computer (PC). I just want to be able to read the same book on the two different hand held devices. My ebooks are in epub format and are non-drm. I've gotten them from so many different places but keep them on my PC and currently load them into DropBox and then onto my iPhone for reading. I don't think I would want to read a book while it was in the "cloud" since it would use up too much data transfer time and wouldn't work if you didn't have a constant wifi connection. What would work for me would be an ebook program that would let you read on one device, then when you switch to the other, have it send a signal of some sort to the other device telling it where you stopped reading the ebook and just start at that point. A wifi connection would hopefully work for just the short time needed to send the information between devices. Either make it automatic (my preference) or on request. I'm currently reading ebooks on my iPhone with ShuBooks. It has features that work great for me ... my main one of being able to sort ebooks in the order I load them onto the device.... but no way of syncing. Is there ANY program out there that actually will sync books like you can if you buy them from Amazon and read with a Kindle or Kindle software? It's a super nice feature but I don't buy my books from Amazon. |
11-10-2012, 04:40 PM | #17 |
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iBooks, Kindle and Kobo support that, provided you download the ebook(s) on all devices you're using.
I'm using iBooks on both my iPad and iPhone. At home, I read on my iPad; on the road I'm using my iPhone. Synching reading positions, bookmarks, highlights, etc. works just fine (automatically) over both WiFi and cellular networks and doesn't cause a lot of data traffic. Kindle only synchronises manually, AFAIK, and only the *latest* position. I don't like that. Kobo is out of the question for me for serious usage since it *requires* registration to do anything at all. Plus: I really don't like its look. Synchronising worked for me when I tested it once (for the article in my signature). |
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11-10-2012, 04:47 PM | #18 |
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Then no, you're not searching for the same thing as me. I'm only talking about syncing between a Mac and an iPhone.
The Kindle app will do what you want. You can upload your own e-books as "personal documents", for example by using the "send to kindle" app on your computer. You can convert books in epub format reasonably easily to the mobi format for Kindle, using Calibre etc. Also iBooks might do the same thing, but I really don't know - I only have one iOS device, so I've never tried syncing my own epubs. Probably there's another topic covering that... |
11-10-2012, 04:51 PM | #19 | |
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Quote:
But one thing before we get back on topic - Kindle does automatically sync reading position, bookmarks, and highlights, between iOS and Kindle devices, via wifi and cell networks. Sometimes it takes a while though, in my experience. Last edited by sumguy; 11-10-2012 at 05:05 PM. |
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11-10-2012, 05:03 PM | #20 |
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Well, for me (on iOS), it always asks if I want to jump to my last reading position and I have to confirm that. So, I'd call that semi-automatic. :-)
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11-10-2012, 05:17 PM | #21 |
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HHuummm, so iBooks does sync between hand held devices?
I'm assuming, just so long as you have the ebook loaded on each device, the program just sends the "bookmark" type data from one to the other over wifi? |
11-10-2012, 07:02 PM | #22 |
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Yes.
Not directly. It obviously uses iCloud for that because it does it over cellular networks, too. |
11-11-2012, 04:59 AM | #23 |
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So it seems iBooks does sync bookmarks etc., for sideloaded non-drm epubs, via iCloud. If only Apple would come out with iBooks for Mac, then... problem solved. Why they don't have a Mac app, when all the other major platforms do, is a mystery. I suppose they sell more iPads that way. I for one will continue to get my purchased books from Amazon, since they sync between my MacBook Air, iPhone, and Kindle. I will also continue to complain that it's impossible to sync non-drm books between my MacBook and iPhone! If there was, I'd ditch my Kindle for an iPad Mini in a minute...
Last edited by sumguy; 11-11-2012 at 05:04 AM. |
11-11-2012, 11:17 AM | #24 |
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For me, if iBooks would sort ebooks in the order I load them and keep them in that order, I would be getting an iPad Mini as well and be very happy!
I wouldn't mind having a version of the iBooks reader for my PC desktop if syncing and sorting were available, too! |
11-21-2012, 05:56 PM | #25 | |
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Quote:
Additionally, I'm sure someone else said you can sync non-DRM books on Kindle between desktop and app (booksmarks? dunno) but you do have to convert those books to Kindle format |
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11-25-2012, 01:33 AM | #26 | |
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I got all excited today, thinking I had found a solution to this conundrum... but I havent. It was in the Bookreader app, from the Mac App store. I downloaded the Lite version which only allows one book at a time, and imported an already bookmarked book from itunes, but I guess the bookmarks don't persist in the import because they don't seem to be saved *in* the book. I thought they were, for some reason. Oh well.. I wrote to the dev and asked if it was planned for a future version because if it is, I'll have no hesitation in stumping up for the full version. Its a nice app.
[edit] Crikey, the dev is very responsive! Already have a reply, within minutes of my query... here's the answer, and sadly not what one hoped for Quote:
Last edited by kyteflyer; 11-25-2012 at 01:43 AM. |
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11-25-2012, 12:47 PM | #27 | |
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You get three options: 1. sideload books into kindle or iOS device via USB: - local to the device, doesn't sync with other devices. 2. sideload books into Kindle for Mac, by drag-and-drop: - local to Kindle for Mac, doesn't sync with any devices. 3. send books to the Kindle e-mail address, or use the "Send to Kindle" app on the desktop: - will load into "Personal Documents" section in the Amazon cloud, and sync between Kindle and iOS devices. Will *not* load or sync into Kindle for Mac (this is the missing link!) |
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11-25-2012, 03:55 PM | #28 |
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I wonder if any of the ebook creators could use something like a free cloud server like DropBox for those of use who really would like to have our ebooks synced.
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11-26-2012, 03:53 AM | #29 |
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Its really frustrating. I like reading on the computer sometimes and Bookreader is a nice app (so is Kitabu, which is free) but without bookmark syncing its all a bit of a furphy. sighh. Might write to the Kitabu guy too.
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11-26-2012, 03:54 AM | #30 | |
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