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davidfor · 05-03-2016, 08:21 AM

It should just work, and it does between my Android phone and Kobo Glo HD. But, there does seem to be a timing issue.

What should happen is that every time you open a book purchased and downloaded from Kobo on the device or app it checks with the Kobo server for the latest reading position and time. If those are later than for the current device/app, it will prompt with a question about reading on another device and if you want to open to that page. This of course requires the device or app to sync the position back to the server. On the device, this is done when you close the book or the device goes to sleep. It might also happen when you go to a new chapter. I don't know what the rules for the app, but it is probably similar.

There is also the full sync. On the Kobo device, you can press a button to do this, and there is an automatic sync. When this is done the reading position for all books on the device is synced along with bookmarks, collections and any new books are downloaded. If a new reading position is synced while doing this, it will be used when the book is opened without prompting. For the Android app, I believe this is done when the app is opened and when you drag down the top of the screen in the app. For the latter, I believe it will skip the sync if not enough time has past since the last sync.

I've just been playing, and there does seem to be some timing issues. I suspect that there is a minimum time between each sync happening. That means if you open a book on one device, turn a few pages and then open a book on another, you might not get to the absolutely latest place. And of course, if you have both opened, I don't think anything is syncing while you actually read.

Disclaimer: The above is based on my experiments with my Kobo devices, the apps on my Android phone and iPad and the Windows desktop application plus discussions here on MR. Some has been confirmed by a Kobo developer for the iOS app, but not all.

05-03-2016, 08:21 AM	#2
davidfor Grand Sorcerer Posts: 24,905 Karma: 47303824 Join Date: Jul 2011 Location: Sydney, Australia Device: Kobo:Touch,Glo, AuraH2O, GloHD,AuraONE, ClaraHD, Libra H2O; tolinoepos	It should just work, and it does between my Android phone and Kobo Glo HD. But, there does seem to be a timing issue. What should happen is that every time you open a book purchased and downloaded from Kobo on the device or app it checks with the Kobo server for the latest reading position and time. If those are later than for the current device/app, it will prompt with a question about reading on another device and if you want to open to that page. This of course requires the device or app to sync the position back to the server. On the device, this is done when you close the book or the device goes to sleep. It might also happen when you go to a new chapter. I don't know what the rules for the app, but it is probably similar. There is also the full sync. On the Kobo device, you can press a button to do this, and there is an automatic sync. When this is done the reading position for all books on the device is synced along with bookmarks, collections and any new books are downloaded. If a new reading position is synced while doing this, it will be used when the book is opened without prompting. For the Android app, I believe this is done when the app is opened and when you drag down the top of the screen in the app. For the latter, I believe it will skip the sync if not enough time has past since the last sync. I've just been playing, and there does seem to be some timing issues. I suspect that there is a minimum time between each sync happening. That means if you open a book on one device, turn a few pages and then open a book on another, you might not get to the absolutely latest place. And of course, if you have both opened, I don't think anything is syncing while you actually read. Disclaimer: The above is based on my experiments with my Kobo devices, the apps on my Android phone and iPad and the Windows desktop application plus discussions here on MR. Some has been confirmed by a Kobo developer for the iOS app, but not all.