On re-populating the various ebook apps

[pwalker8]

This past weekend, I had to re-populate my various ebook apps with the books from my library on my iPad mini. (I'm a developer and actually do this not infrequently). I use the Marvin, iBooks and Kindle apps for various reasons. I also use the Goodreader app for PDF's, but I only have around 20 or so PDF's so it's not a big deal. Here's what I found.

iBooks was the easiest to re-populate, just choose sync all books and let it work. However, it also took the longest. The iBook sync process is slow. I also had to sync twice to get all the books.

Since the Marvin plugin no longer works for Calibre, I downloaded via the Calibre OPDS method. This took some effort since there is no "get all" option. I had to select each book and download them in groups of 90 or so. With that said, it really didn't take all that long since the download was fast. I really wish there was some alternate way to sync the categories between devices, not just the location in books. That and the inability to order books in a category manually are the two features in Marvin that I want the most.

The Kindle app combined the worst aspects of Calibre and iBooks in that I had to select each book and the download took a long time.

All in all it took a couple of hours to get all the books (roughly 2400 books for each app, though it was a bit less for the Kindle app since not all my books came from Amazon).

A couple of gotcha's that I ran into.

First, I had a number of books in the Kindle app not download at first because it said that I had reached my limit of downloads. It turned out that I needed to go into the manage devices on the Amazon web site and remove my old devices. I actually went ahead and removed all devices except my actual kindle reader (which I haven't turned on in years) and my mother's iPad, then went in and reauthorized my two iPads. When you remove a device, then all the books are deleted from that device. Yea, that's one reason why I always download, de-DRM and load a book into Calibre as soon as I buy it.

I had to sync the iBooks a couple of times to get all the books. I guess the sync times out or something.

wrap up - I really wish there was a calibre for iDevices where I can download my library and sync with my main calibre instance on my Mac. In an ideal world, I would use that to select what book to read, then have the app send the ebook to the appropriate ebook reading app for reading. IMPO, there isn't that much of a difference between the apps when it comes to actually reading the ebook. The Kindle app has the best sync reading location between devices. I do most of my reading in the Marvin app, mostly because of the way it allows me to manage my library.

I always laugh when I read about people who think they need a huge library containing thousands of books on all their devices. With 2400 books, there is no way in hell you could ever read all of those before the device grows old and dies! Seems like it would be smarter to keep the huge library on a computer with backups, and only load a small number of books at a time to the device. But to each their own.

[AnemicOak]

There's something to be said for having everything with you and not having to worry about grabbing it off a computer when the urge/need hits, provided you're even near your library at that time. That can be somewhat addressed by having a copy stored in the cloud (provided your cloud provider works with your device of choice and you have an internet connection), but I find I'm happiest when I have everything at hand.

I really wish there was something like Calibre Companion for iOS.

[pwalker8]

Originally Posted by jswinden

I always laugh when I read about people who think they need a huge library containing thousands of books on all their devices. With 2400 books, there is no way in hell you could ever read all of those before the device grows old and dies! Seems like it would be smarter to keep the huge library on a computer with backups, and only load a small number of books at a time to the device. But to each their own.

Because I don't have access to books on a computer at home when I'm not at home. Sometimes when I finish a book, I have no idea what book I want to read next. It might be a book on a particular subject, it might be a light hearted novel, an old familiar favorite, or something completely different. It all depends on my mood at the time. Many of my books are non fiction where I might need to double check some facts, or figure out how to do something.

[eschwartz]

It really does sound like you want Calibre Companion ported to iOS. It sure is a pity that chaley doesn't have the experience working with iOS. iOS8 shows so much promise for this exact scenario.

[pwalker8]

Originally Posted by eschwartz

It really does sound like you want Calibre Companion ported to iOS. It sure is a pity that chaley doesn't have the experience working with iOS. iOS8 shows so much promise for this exact scenario.

Everything is in place except the reader apps supporting the open in interface. Actually that's been true for a couple of years.

[Anthem]

Originally Posted by pwalker8

Because I don't have access to books on a computer at home when I'm not at home. Sometimes when I finish a book, I have no idea what book I want to read next. It might be a book on a particular subject, it might be a light hearted novel, an old familiar favorite, or something completely different. It all depends on my mood at the time. Many of my books are non fiction where I might need to double check some facts, or figure out how to do something.

So what... do you just buy every book you see and keep a giant catalogue of possible reads with you at all times? How do you remember the titles of the books and search for them in your giant collection of unread books? "That one book I bought four years ago on my Blackberry about that thing I used to be interested in?"

Is it unreasonable to wait until you get home (I am assuming you go there frequently) or get in a good cell data area before you browse for a book and choose one? ( I understand the reference books. There is an obvious use case for that scenario. I'm thinking more fiction books or random popular non-fiction books.)

[eschwartz]

Well, I don't see the need for huge catalogs myself, as I expect to be back at my computer long before running out of books on my TBR.

But I don't see why it would be a problem to actually find the books -- they would be organized according to series, and possibly tagged as well.

[eschwartz]

Originally Posted by pwalker8

Everything is in place except the reader apps supporting the open in interface. Actually that's been true for a couple of years.

I was thinking about the ability to open a book in one app without creating a duplicated copy.

[pwalker8]

Originally Posted by Anthem

So what... do you just buy every book you see and keep a giant catalogue of possible reads with you at all times? How do you remember the titles of the books and search for them in your giant collection of unread books? "That one book I bought four years ago on my Blackberry about that thing I used to be interested in?"

Is it unreasonable to wait until you get home (I am assuming you go there frequently) or get in a good cell data area before you browse for a book and choose one? ( I understand the reference books. There is an obvious use case for that scenario. I'm thinking more fiction books or random popular non-fiction books.)

Is it unreasonable to drive a car because it's more convenient than taking a bus and then walking? Why should I wait until I get home when I don't have to? 2400 books really isn't all that many. I rarely have trouble remembering enough about a book to find it again. That's the point of organization. Even with fiction books, I tend to remember either the author or at least part of the title, enough to narrow it down to a range of books. Also, I tend to group books in categories. For example, I put new books in the unread category until I read them. It's all fairly easy as long as you maintain a degree of organization. Certainly it's a lot easier to do with ebooks than it is with paper books.

[pwalker8]

Originally Posted by eschwartz

I was thinking about the ability to open a book in one app without creating a duplicated copy.

Ah, ok. Yea, the sticking point is that the app has to support that call. I question if the kindle app will support it anytime in the near future, but certainly one can hope.

[Jessica Lares]

Doesn't see why it's wrong to have all your books on hand...

Apps are going to be able to integrate with Spotlight in iOS 9, so having all your books there to search for will be great. I'm really excited about it. Being able to search within books outside of apps would be bliss.

[ekbell]

My main reason (aside from general hoarding tendencies) for wanting all my ebooks on my tablet happens to be the same reason I have a catalog of my pbooks on there as well. I do most of my book buying away from the computer and wish to be able to quickly verify that I do not already own a copy before buying.

[Anthem]

Originally Posted by pwalker8

Why should I wait until I get home when I don't have to?

There are two different approaches to this: cellular data and the carry everything method. They both work. People should definitely utilize whichever makes the most sense for them and their device(s).

Originally Posted by pwalker8

2400 books really isn't all that many.

I would have said anything under 10,000 is peanuts! But that is just me.

Originally Posted by pwalker8

It's all fairly easy as long as you maintain a degree of organization. Certainly it's a lot easier to do with ebooks than it is with paper books.

Definitely. Although, with paper books I tend to see them sitting on the shelf all of the time when I walk by and this acts as a visual update of the books I have, where they are stored, and acts as a reminder about whether I have read it or not. I still prefer e-books for the reasons that you specified, though.

[eschwartz]

Originally Posted by pwalker8

Ah, ok. Yea, the sticking point is that the app has to support that call. I question if the kindle app will support it anytime in the near future, but certainly one can hope.

I may be wrong, but I thought it was an extension of the Open With functionality? If so, an app shouldn't need to do anything more than it was doing in iOS7.