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taming · 03-23-2011, 06:18 AM

It took me a long time to actually figure out that whole desktop application thing. I'm not generally stupid, but I didn't get it.

Think of the desktop application as if it were the only way you read books. A book will be new until you open it and read it on the desktop. When sync works properly (and sync does not seem to be happening for me using WiFi 1.9 and desktop 1.9), a change in your reader will change the desktop application library to reflect what you have been doing on your reader. This is the same behaviour one sees if you use the iPad or Android apps on your phone/tablet etc.

When you update your library on the desktop application, it looks to the server and will reflect what you see on the kobobooks.com library in terms of books that are on (or not on) the desktop application. That is why removing books from "I'm Reading", or bookmarking books from the "Purchased" tab will, when you update your library on the desktop application, reflect those changes.

Sync is a whole 'nother thing. When your Kobo is plugged in, pressing sync on the desktop application opens the communication between your reader and the kobo servers. It doesn't really impact the desktop application in terms of what books are there or not. When working properly, changes will be reflected in the desktop application when you update your library from the desktop app. The sync changes should be reflected when you do that.

A new version of the desktop starts you from scratch and will load any books that are in the I'm Reading on the website if they have not been downloaded before. It also will put all those books onto your reader when you sync for the first time. There are advantages and disadvantages to this. 1.9 had some big (to me) and mostly unheralded changes to the way kepub books display on the reader. Kepub books are much better than they were previously. Replacing existing books with the new improved flavour makes a difference.

Folks who never use kepub books, preferring to use Adobe ePUB or books sideloaded through Calibre, will be mightily annoyed when the kepub books show up on their reader because sync is mandatory after a new version is released. The preventive measure is to go onto kobobooks.com and remove everything from I'm Reading, do your first (and probably only) sync, and then put them back if you sometimes want to use the desktop application.

03-23-2011, 06:18 AM	#15
taming Trying for calm & polite Posts: 4,012 Karma: 9455193 Join Date: May 2010 Location: Mostly in Canada Device: kobo original, WiFI, Touch, Glo, and Aura	It took me a long time to actually figure out that whole desktop application thing. I'm not generally stupid, but I didn't get it. Think of the desktop application as if it were the only way you read books. A book will be new until you open it and read it on the desktop. When sync works properly (and sync does not seem to be happening for me using WiFi 1.9 and desktop 1.9), a change in your reader will change the desktop application library to reflect what you have been doing on your reader. This is the same behaviour one sees if you use the iPad or Android apps on your phone/tablet etc. When you update your library on the desktop application, it looks to the server and will reflect what you see on the kobobooks.com library in terms of books that are on (or not on) the desktop application. That is why removing books from "I'm Reading", or bookmarking books from the "Purchased" tab will, when you update your library on the desktop application, reflect those changes. Sync is a whole 'nother thing. When your Kobo is plugged in, pressing sync on the desktop application opens the communication between your reader and the kobo servers. It doesn't really impact the desktop application in terms of what books are there or not. When working properly, changes will be reflected in the desktop application when you update your library from the desktop app. The sync changes should be reflected when you do that. A new version of the desktop starts you from scratch and will load any books that are in the I'm Reading on the website if they have not been downloaded before. It also will put all those books onto your reader when you sync for the first time. There are advantages and disadvantages to this. 1.9 had some big (to me) and mostly unheralded changes to the way kepub books display on the reader. Kepub books are much better than they were previously. Replacing existing books with the new improved flavour makes a difference. Folks who never use kepub books, preferring to use Adobe ePUB or books sideloaded through Calibre, will be mightily annoyed when the kepub books show up on their reader because sync is mandatory after a new version is released. The preventive measure is to go onto kobobooks.com and remove everything from I'm Reading, do your first (and probably only) sync, and then put them back if you sometimes want to use the desktop application. Last edited by taming; 03-23-2011 at 08:17 AM.