So Marvin’s Gone!

[Turtle91]

“Should” be able to. Have you tried it??

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by Turtle91

“Should” be able to. Have you tried it??

I can't try it as I have no spare ioS devices to try it with.

[Faterson]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

But will you be able to restore your purchase with Marvin on a different iOS device now that it's gone?

Of course not! I have lost many apps that way, that were working perfectly fine for me despite not having been updated for years – until I bought a new Apple device, and Apple did not allow me to restore those apps on the new device, despite their presence in the full device backup.

That's why Apple is so unbelievably stupid and despotic, and that's exactly the no. 1 reason why I threw away the iPhone back in around 2017, switching to Samsung's Note series (now replaced with S Ultras), and haven't looked back since.

Originally Posted by peaceridge

There is no way for me to make the background of Moon+ Reader really white, so it is out for now also.

Please try again. That should definitely work 100% in Moon+ Reader. This is the one feature area where Moon+ Reader dominates over all the other competing apps (Marvin, BookFusion, MapleRead and all...) – unlimited background colors and textures management, and easy, fast switching among them.

As I mentioned, I also use Moon+ Reader and BookFusion on my Onyx Boox e-ink devices, and, naturally, I have set up 100% white background in Moon+ Reader there. Of course that on a black-and-white e-ink device, you need your backgrounds to be 100% white if possible (any colors or even shades of colors will interfere with your reading experience on a black-and-white e-ink device), and this works flawlessly for me in Moon+ Reader, BookFusion and other apps.

[peaceridge]

Originally Posted by Faterson

Please try again. That should definitely work 100% in Moon+ Reader. This is the one feature area where Moon+ Reader dominates over all the other competing apps (Marvin, BookFusion, MapleRead and all...) – unlimited background colors and textures management, and easy, fast switching among them.

As I mentioned, I also use Moon+ Reader and BookFusion on my Onyx Boox e-ink devices, and, naturally, I have set up 100% white background in Moon+ Reader there. Of course that on a black-and-white e-ink device, you need your backgrounds to be 100% white if possible (any colors or even shades of colors will interfere with your reading experience on a black-and-white e-ink device), and this works flawlessly for me in Moon+ Reader, BookFusion and other apps.

I did set the background to absolute white, but it still has a beige tint to it. My other apps do have an absolute white background, so I know it is not my tablet.

[Faterson]

I really doubt it's Moon+ Reader that does that for you. Depending on an Android device's setting, it may treat/display some apps differently from others. Moon's own settings are clear: setting FFFFFF as background color is pure white, and that's exactly how it behaves on my Android devices.

(You could also try a workaround of making a "pure white" screenshot and then setting that as background "picture/texture", which should result in the same desirable outcome.)

[peaceridge]

Originally Posted by Faterson

I really doubt it's Moon+ Reader that does that for you. Depending on an Android device's setting, it may treat/display some apps differently from others. Moon's own settings are clear: setting FFFFFF as background color is pure white, and that's exactly how it behaves on my Android devices.

(You could also try a workaround of making a "pure white" screenshot and then setting that as background "picture/texture", which should result in the same desirable outcome.)

After much digging, one of 2 things may be happening: 1. it appears Moon+ Reader Pro uses a background that cannot be turned off. You have to pick a background and the "whitest" is tan. I've been trying to download a pure white, but haven't found one yet. 2. I did have the book set to use the author's CSS. When I turned that off, the background did get better. I'll keep trying, appreciate your help.

[JSWolf]

Does anyone know what the last version of iTunes is that allows a backup that contains the apps and not just a reference to them?

[Faterson]

I'm confident, peaceridge, that it's just some sort of a misunderstanding. Moon Reader's interface quite unequivocally shows the option of a 100% white background (FFFFFF), and I can't imagine the app putting any overlay over that. (I would definitely notice any such thing on my 2 Onyx Boox e-ink devices.)

Jon, that ship has sailed. Apple purposely blocked the option to restore old apps from backups, even if you tried to use that ancient iTunes method of doing that. This happened in iOS 7 or thereabouts. It's pure despotism on Apple's part, nothing less. Until then, it was possible to restore older apps via third-party apps (Mac or Windows desktop helper apps), but in iOS 7 or thereabouts, Apple blocked even those last few remaining options. That's when I knew that I had to throw away the iPhone, and within a year, I switched over to Samsung's Note platform, and haven't looked back since.

[Turtle91]

Originally Posted by peaceridge

After much digging, one of 2 things may be happening: 1. it appears Moon+ Reader Pro uses a background that cannot be turned off. You have to pick a background and the "whitest" is tan. I've been trying to download a pure white, but haven't found one yet. 2. I did have the book set to use the author's CSS. When I turned that off, the background did get better. I'll keep trying, appreciate your help.

I vaguely remember a similar issue early in Marvin’s development. I think it ended up being a night mode overlay of some sort from the device that was causing the funky color. You may be experiencing something similar with moon+

[skillachie]

Will address some of the other posts but wanted to quickly chime in.

I looked at BookFusion. I wasn’t able to add personal libraries, or any OPDS sources, so I couldn’t add any of my own books or test epubs. Apparently you have to “have your administrator contact them to get added”. I have my entire library available via OPDS and I don’t like the idea of paying them a monthly fee to store my books on their server.

You are looking at public or organizational libraries. The libraries section is not related to your personal bookshelf. You can upload your own files without even having to create an account by going to the bookshelf and selecting the upload icon.

We do not support OPDS but provide a Calibre plugin that can be used if you use a Calibre server

Also, they seemed very eager to allow people to “open books with” other apps and “send your books to kindle”. That didn’t fill me with confidence about their reading experience. It seemed like they were more interested in being a book manager/organizer… but even then they were very happy about linking with calibre to sync. Soooo, I’m not sure exactly where they are going??

This is an interesting take, one that is a first. We provide those options to not lock our readers in. Why should an app restrict how easily you can send your files to be used how you see fit? Other readers are happy to see that approach when compared to forcing the user to stay locked in the app.

I couldn’t select any type of “publisher’s styling” so I couldn’t tell how faithfully it presented the standard css/html… especially because I couldn’t view the css/html of the books I had to download from only their built-in libraries.

To be honest, it does not seem that you really gave the app a chance. You could have uploaded EPUBS or PDFs straight from the bookshelf but you did not for some reason. We respect publisher styles but you can customize the experience with one of the many options.


It seems you already made up your mind and so could not actually try the app. We can only continue to build, the feedback speaks for itself but at the end of the day we won't be able to please everyone

Originally Posted by Turtle91

I looked at BookFusion. I wasn’t able to add personal libraries, or any OPDS sources, so I couldn’t add any of my own books or test epubs. Apparently you have to “have your administrator contact them to get added”. I have my entire library available via OPDS and I don’t like the idea of paying them a monthly fee to store my books on their server.

Also, they seemed very eager to allow people to “open books with” other apps and “send your books to kindle”. That didn’t fill me with confidence about their reading experience. It seemed like they were more interested in being a book manager/organizer… but even then they were very happy about linking with calibre to sync. Soooo, I’m not sure exactly where they are going??

I couldn’t select any type of “publisher’s styling” so I couldn’t tell how faithfully it presented the standard css/html… especially because I couldn’t view the css/html of the books I had to download from only their built-in libraries.

It would be nice to have an app that is being maintained. But BookFusion has a ways to go before it compares to Marvin. I’ll continue using Marvin until that changes. Just remember to backup your devices. When you get a new device simply restore your backup to the new device.

Edit:
I tried MoonReader+ a few years ago… wasn’t too impressed. I’ll look at it again. Hopefully things have gotten better.

[skillachie]

Originally Posted by peaceridge

Everyone is different, I could care less about custom fonts. I just want to be able to read in Landscape in 2 columns and tap on either side to go forward. When BookFusion improves its reading experience for me, I'll give it another try. I don't mind paying for a really good full-featured ereader app.

PS There is no way for me to make the background of Moon+ Reader really white, so it is out for now also.

I am curious, we support that functionality already with BookFusion. When last have you tried the iOS app?

What else are you looking for with regards to the reading experience that you see currently missing from the iOS app?

[skillachie]

Originally Posted by Richard Moody

As the title says - I went to re-download the app, and it’s gone from the App Store!

I loved it for 10+ years.
What can I replace it with?

An alternative that you can consider is BookFusion if you are open to trying something new that is not Marvin.

It can be found at https://apps.apple.com/us/app/bookfusion/id1141834096 . Take a look at the reviews and then test drive it for yourself as well.

While we might not have all the full feature set of Marvin, we do have most and are happy to explore adding any missing feature that readers deem a must have.

[Turtle91]

Hi Skillachie - thanks for replying!

Originally Posted by skillachie

...
You are looking at public or organizational libraries. The libraries section is not related to your personal bookshelf. You can upload your own files without even having to create an account by going to the bookshelf and selecting the upload icon.

Ah, I found it. Honestly it wasn't the easiest (most intuitive) to find. Now that you pointed it out though I will be able to find it later. It may be that I'm used to referring to 'libraries' when referencing collections of books as that is what all the other software programs I've used over the previous 10+ years has called them...and even your webpage talks about the personal digital libraries one can access... so please excuse the confusion.

Originally Posted by skillachie

We do not support OPDS but provide a Calibre plugin that can be used if you use a Calibre server

That is a little confusing. Why would you support Calibre with a plugin, but not a standardized Open Publication Distribution System (OPDS) which Calibre uses to serve all the books an individual has in their library??

I long ago gave up plugging a wire into a computer to transfer my books. I needed to access my books from literally all over the world and Calibre's OPDS server provided that capability for me to download, upload, and edit my library from anywhere with an internet connection.

Originally Posted by skillachie

This is an interesting take, one that is a first. We provide those options to not lock our readers in. Why should an app restrict how easily you can send your files to be used how you see fit? Other readers are happy to see that approach when compared to forcing the user to stay locked in the app.

Perhaps I wasn't clear enough. I don't mind the ability to send a book to another app. As a matter of fact, that was the only way I could figure out how to open a couple of my books in Bookfusion. I used Marvin to download the books from my OPDS server, then I used Marvin to send the books to Bookfusion.

What I was concerned about was what Bookfusion's primary function was aimed at: a book management app, a book reading app, or an annotations syncing app. The description provided on the apple store gave me the impression that Bookfusion was trying to be a 'jack of all trades' rather than an awesome reading experience. Again, don't get me wrong, I'm not saying you can't have an awesome reading experience while doing all those other things. It's just much more difficult to do if your focus is spread...and that's the impression I got from your description. (notice the ?? at the end of the paragraph)

Originally Posted by skillachie

To be honest, it does not seem that you really gave the app a chance. You could have uploaded EPUBS or PDFs straight from the bookshelf but you did not for some reason. We respect publisher styles but you can customize the experience with one of the many options.

I gave the app a chance as far as I could without being able to upload a book. It's kinda hard to give it a chance when I can't see it do its job

Now that I was able to work out a way to get books uploaded I was able to take a look at it. In general it did a much better job than I've seen in other apps in following the publisher's CSS...although I did find some errors from both books. I'm happy to let you know about them offline...The Marvin forum is probably not the correct venue for that. You say Bookfusion 'respects publisher styles' which is all well and good. However, it would be nice to know what you are respecting and what you are not. I noticed that Bookfusion was NOT respecting some of the publisher's CSS and since I was the publisher I want to see the results of my hard labor - not have an app disregard it because it thinks it knows better!
Marvin had a compromise which allowed the user to select "Publisher's Layout" if the user wanted the app to respect ALL of the publisher's CSS. Kris and I discussed the issues involved with presenting the vast majority of crap-formatted epubs on the market in as good a light as possible while still honoring the publishers formatting artistry. That settings switch was the result.

Originally Posted by skillachie

It seems you already made up your mind and so could not actually try the app. We can only continue to build, the feedback speaks for itself but at the end of the day we won't be able to please everyone

It also seems you already made up your mind about what I like and don't like But no, I haven't actually made up my mind. I have been a big fan of Marvin since it's inception because it is the best reading app out there. That does not mean I do not look at other options. When I find one that exceeds Marvin, or Marvin ceases to function on my devices (which hasn't happened yet), then I will, of course, switch to something else.

I totally get that you are continuing to build...and that is a BIG PLUS. I certainly don't expect a perfect app on the first iteration. But I also am not one to shy away from stating any deficiencies I see. OPDS support and honoring publisher artistic layout when the user desires it are two big issues.

Hopefully, you don't dismiss my criticism outright??

[vikarti]

Originally Posted by Turtle91

I looked at BookFusion. I wasn’t able to add personal libraries, or any OPDS sources, so I couldn’t add any of my own books or test epubs. Apparently you have to “have your administrator contact them to get added”. I have my entire library available via OPDS and I don’t like the idea of paying them a monthly fee to store my books on their server.
.

Different business model.
As far as I understood, they assume you will monthly/yearly subscription fee to get some storage on their server, their apps will sync with it. It's also possible to sync from calibre to said server (as in - upload all books and their metadata/update metadata).
Thanks to subscription fee, you will also give reason to keep improving their apps and service.

They are very good.
My current issues with bookfusion more on library management side of things/some issues in non-primary functionality (like readwise integration)/inability to send metadata like last-read time back.
PDF support is...usable (more usable compared to Moon+ if you need it on large screen)

Only real alternative I found is Calibre Companion+Moon+(+WSA to get it working on big screen). And CC is abandonware now. I did check calibre sync and it's not alternative for me yet.

[peaceridge]

BookFusion does indeed everything I need in an ereader app. And it is a very nice app. As a former programmer I understand the work it takes to keep up with something like this and the need to get paid for it, however, on a limited income I cannot subscribe to it. If it was a one-time purchase, I could budget it. Therefore I'll continue to use Marvin as long as I can.