Original Aura running 4.3.8945. Should I update?

ZodWallop · 12-12-2017, 04:50 PM

So I have an original, 6" Aura and stopped updating and turned off WiFi after 4.3.8945.

I don't have any complaints about how the device runs and have stopped following firmware updates. But now I'm wondering if I'm missing out on anything. Have there been speed improvements or improvements to the layout engine? Any other bonus new features I should consider?

I only read Calibre sideloaded Kepubs. I prefer the old style, tiled home screen. I have various patches enabled, removing header, footer, better hyphenation. I forget what else.

JSWolf · 12-12-2017, 05:34 PM

Yes, you should update. There have been speed improvements.

You can side load 4.6.10075. Just see https://geek1011.github.io/KoboStuff/kobofirmware.html to get the link for the Aura.

jackie_w · 12-12-2017, 05:44 PM

I like the latest firmware, myself, but you may not if the tiled home screen is important to you. You'll only see a max of 4 recently opened books. Finished books automatically disappear from the home screen.

The things I like most are the menu in the top left corner which now means you can go to anywhere from anywhere. I also like the extra Authors tab under My Books as it makes it very easy to see all books by a particular author without needing to do it via Collections.

I think most patches are still available but a couple are no longer possible. I can't remember off-hand which they were because they weren't ones I use. You'd have to read the various fw Patch threads by GeoffR to see which ones bit the dust.

If you upgrade and decide you don't like it, it's not the end of the world, as you always have the option to go back to whichever fw you want. It takes a bit of time but there are no technical barriers.

ZodWallop · 12-13-2017, 10:42 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jackie_w

I like the latest firmware, myself, but you may not if the tiled home screen is important to you. You'll only see a max of 4 recently opened books. Finished books automatically disappear from the home screen.

The things I like most are the menu in the top left corner which now means you can go to anywhere from anywhere. I also like the extra Authors tab under My Books as it makes it very easy to see all books by a particular author without needing to do it via Collections.

I think most patches are still available but a couple are no longer possible. I can't remember off-hand which they were because they weren't ones I use. You'd have to read the various fw Patch threads by GeoffR to see which ones bit the dust.

If you upgrade and decide you don't like it, it's not the end of the world, as you always have the option to go back to whichever fw you want. It takes a bit of time but there are no technical barriers.

Thanks for all that. So with the newer firmware you can no longer hack it to get the tiled homescreen? That's what I did with my current firmware.

Can you dump the ads? (Recommended/Find your next great read)

I'm not terribly worried about speed improvements. It's an e-reader after all. I don't expect blazing speed. The menu and the author tab sound really nice, but I think not enough for me to drop the tiled home screen.

jackie_w · 12-13-2017, 11:17 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ZodWallop

So with the newer firmware you can no longer hack it to get the tiled homescreen? That's what I did with my current firmware.

Correct. The old tiled home screen is well and truly gone. Patches cannot bring it back.

Quote:

Originally Posted by ZodWallop

Can you dump the ads? (Recommended/Find your next great read)

There are one or two "slots" (of six) on the home screen where 3 Recommended books might be shown. For one slot it was easy enough to replace this with 3 books from one of my own Collections just by opening a book from that Collection. The other slot will display 2 of your recently opened (but not finished) books. So, again, easy to manipulate. Some people see 3 books by one of their authors, instead. I haven't seen any Recommended books since Day 1 of the firmware when the new home screen appeared. None of my Kobos displays a home screen thumbnail for any book which I haven't sideloaded myself.

There is another perma-slot (bottom left) which displays 'Find your next great read' (text only, no thumbnails). If even that is too much to bear, oren64 created a recent Patch to remove both slots on the bottom row.

ETA: I suppose I ought to add that I never enable wi-fi on any of my Kobos so I don't know whether my experience is typical for all users.

davidfor · 12-13-2017, 05:40 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ZodWallop

Thanks for all that. So with the newer firmware you can no longer hack it to get the tiled homescreen? That's what I did with my current firmware.

Can you dump the ads? (Recommended/Find your next great read)

When Kobo changed the home screen, people accused them of putting more ads on the screen. Just like you have. But, if that was their intention, my devices demonstrate that they failed miserably. As jackie_w said, there are two places that could show "ads". These would be recommendations or related books. But, they can show other things from your library. One will show currently opened books, the other either an author or a collection. I haven't seen the recommendations or related tiles for months. I think they showed for a couple of days after I got my Aura ONE. Once I started using it, they disappeared never to be seen again. They showed on one of the other devices after a factory reset. Again, they didn't last more than a few days.
[QUOTE]
I'm not terribly worried about speed improvements. It's an e-reader after all. I don't expect blazing speed. The menu and the author tab sound really nice, but I think not enough for me to drop the tiled home screen.

I would love to have the tiled home screen with all the other changes. I've settled on the new one and can see why Kobo designed it and why some people like it better.

compurandom · 12-13-2017, 06:04 PM

Technically, kobo has 3 slots for possible ads.

The biggest of these is the large spot that either has book recommendations if has nothing else to put there or a random(?) bookshelf or a few books from a random(?) author or the last shelf or author you looked at. Occasionally books from an author from pocket show up there, or a bunch of books written by authors with the same first name, or something. Whatever is there is usually at least vaguely related somehow to something you more or less recently read, but it's sort of random. I think it only puts recommendations there if you looked at them recently or if it has absolutely nothing else to put there, which is why most people only see it early on.

At the bottom, there is a left and right slot each with two lines of text that links to something. They're relatively small, and IMHO not worth even trying to remove. I think the left one just permanently links to the kobo store. The right one randomly cycles between "Discover...related reads", "Catch up ...on pocket", "Browse...categories" (at the kobo store), "...Reading Stats", "Read the user guide..."
Personally, I like the reading stats and pocket reminders; I'm kinda over reading the user guide, and wish I could remove that from the rotation, but the two kobo store items are not really bothersome, and I might even use them if the kobo store recommendations ever showed me something I cared about.

I'd actually like to see more creative things put in those bottom two lines. It'd be nice if both of them changed instead of just the right one. Of course, it'd also be nice if the pocket app supported tags like the android version did...

JSWolf · 12-13-2017, 06:25 PM

New firmware 4.7.10413. See the link below for the link to side load unless you want to wait to be able to sync. As of this message, only beta and bestbuyca are the affiliates that are serving this.

https://www.mobileread.com/forums/sh...d.php?t=292981

ZodWallop · 12-13-2017, 11:12 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by davidfor

When Kobo changed the home screen, people accused them of putting more ads on the screen. Just like you have. But, if that was their intention, my devices demonstrate that they failed miserably. As jackie_w said, there are two places that could show "ads". These would be recommendations or related books. But, they can show other things from your library. One will show currently opened books, the other either an author or a collection. I haven't seen the recommendations or related tiles for months. I think they showed for a couple of days after I got my Aura ONE. Once I started using it, they disappeared never to be seen again. They showed on one of the other devices after a factory reset. Again, they didn't last more than a few days.

I think 'accused' is a loaded word. When the new home screen rolled out, it DID have ads that couldn't be dismissed the way they could on the old version.

But I also think there's been too much focus on them. I could live with them. I did on the Nook. I just remember that I didn't care for the new home screen. It's not terrible, just not as nice as the old one.

Maybe if I have a weekend free I'll update and see what I think of it.

compurandom · 12-14-2017, 07:34 AM

I didn't like the new home screen because I was using the old one to bypass some performance bugs.

The new home screen has changed my reading workflow in what I think is mostly a good way.

If I were to change the new home screen at all, I'd want these changes:

* The bottom left tile ("my books") does the same as "my collections" just after you've looked at a shelf. It takes one tap more to actually get to my books from that screen. (I.e., it doesn't do what I expect, and what it does do is functionally redundant.)
* The bottom right tile picks stuff semi-randomly. I'd like to either understand why it picks things or have more control over what it picks.
* As I detailed in my last message, the bottom left and right text lines could be more interesting than they are now. (Maybe they do more if you use more social media accounts than I do?)

For extra bonus functionality:
* The bottom left and right tiles pick 3 books and collages their covers; it'd be nice if I could actually select one of those three directly.
* Sometimes the 3 picked are the most recent 3 from that group, sometimes it seems more random. I like random, it stirs things up. If I could pick books from the collage, I'd also like to tell it to make the selection *more* random. (an option maybe?)

I think these suggestions are all minor improvements, for the most part I like the new home screen. However, without the performance fixes they've put in in the last two (widely distributed) firmwares, the new home screen would be unusable to me.

ZodWallop · 03-02-2018, 10:39 AM

Well, last night the cat decided to step on the USB cable as I was adding stuff to the Aura. She jiggled it just enough to cause the Aura to disconnect and reconnect while the database was being updated.

I signed out and signed back in, which forced me to reconnect to the Wi-Fi and I'm now running 4.7.10413. I've decided to just live with it for a week or so and see what I think.

First impression? The bottom bar is too busy. Do you need the settings cog there? You can already access it via the hamburger menu. Same with Home.

issybird · 03-02-2018, 11:03 AM

Funny you should bring this up today. Only last night I was looking at the home page on my Aura One and it just made me happy. The seven books I'm reading plus the ten collections I've accessed most recently. One-touch navigation to virtually anywhere on the device I'm most likely to go.

Compared to my Glo HD, which has the new screen. So much waste. One collection. Four books. "My Books" which gets me nowhere useful at all but requires another click. A link to the store, when I'm never going to shop from the device. And it's not even as if I can choose which collection or which books. I hate it. And there are things I do like about the most recent firmware, but they don't begin to offset the utility of the old home page.

ZodWallop · 03-02-2018, 11:54 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by issybird

Funny you should bring this up today. Only last night I was looking at the home page on my Aura One and it just made me happy. The seven books I'm reading plus the ten collections I've accessed most recently. One-touch navigation to virtually anywhere on the device I'm most likely to go.

Compared to my Glo HD, which has the new screen. So much waste. One collection. Four books. "My Books" which gets me nowhere useful at all but requires another click. A link to the store, when I'm never going to shop from the device. And it's not even as if I can choose which collection or which books. I hate it. And there are things I do like about the most recent firmware, but they don't begin to offset the utility of the old home page.

I agree that the old home screen seemed better and more efficient. I'd like to see a return of the tiles, maybe with a more updated look if Kobo's concern is that it was out of date looking.

But I'm going to give the new home screen the old college try for a week and see what I think.

llcj · 03-02-2018, 11:59 AM

I agree with Issybird completely. I have an irrational extreme loathing of the new home screen; I rarely visit it and use the 'My Books' page as my homescreen.

ZodWallop · 03-02-2018, 01:29 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by issybird

Funny you should bring this up today. Only last night I was looking at the home page on my Aura One and it just made me happy.

Maybe my cat knew something when she was jiggling the wire?

12-12-2017, 04:50 PM	#1
ZodWallop Gentleman and scholar Posts: 11,495 Karma: 111164374 Join Date: Jun 2015 Location: Space City, Texas Device: Clara BW; Nook ST w/Glowlight, Paperwhite 3	Original Aura running 4.3.8945. Should I update? So I have an original, 6" Aura and stopped updating and turned off WiFi after 4.3.8945. I don't have any complaints about how the device runs and have stopped following firmware updates. But now I'm wondering if I'm missing out on anything. Have there been speed improvements or improvements to the layout engine? Any other bonus new features I should consider? I only read Calibre sideloaded Kepubs. I prefer the old style, tiled home screen. I have various patches enabled, removing header, footer, better hyphenation. I forget what else.

12-12-2017, 05:44 PM	#3
jackie_w Grand Sorcerer Posts: 6,264 Karma: 16544692 Join Date: Sep 2009 Location: UK Device: ClaraHD, Forma, Libra2, Clara2E, LibraCol, PBTouchHD3	I like the latest firmware, myself, but you may not if the tiled home screen is important to you. You'll only see a max of 4 recently opened books. Finished books automatically disappear from the home screen. The things I like most are the menu in the top left corner which now means you can go to anywhere from anywhere. I also like the extra Authors tab under My Books as it makes it very easy to see all books by a particular author without needing to do it via Collections. I think most patches are still available but a couple are no longer possible. I can't remember off-hand which they were because they weren't ones I use. You'd have to read the various fw Patch threads by GeoffR to see which ones bit the dust. If you upgrade and decide you don't like it, it's not the end of the world, as you always have the option to go back to whichever fw you want. It takes a bit of time but there are no technical barriers. Last edited by jackie_w; 12-12-2017 at 05:47 PM.

12-13-2017, 06:04 PM	#7
compurandom Wizard Posts: 1,023 Karma: 500000 Join Date: Jun 2015 Device: Rocketbook, kobo aura h2o, kobo forma, kobo libra color	Technically, kobo has 3 slots for possible ads. The biggest of these is the large spot that either has book recommendations if has nothing else to put there or a random(?) bookshelf or a few books from a random(?) author or the last shelf or author you looked at. Occasionally books from an author from pocket show up there, or a bunch of books written by authors with the same first name, or something. Whatever is there is usually at least vaguely related somehow to something you more or less recently read, but it's sort of random. I think it only puts recommendations there if you looked at them recently or if it has absolutely nothing else to put there, which is why most people only see it early on. At the bottom, there is a left and right slot each with two lines of text that links to something. They're relatively small, and IMHO not worth even trying to remove. I think the left one just permanently links to the kobo store. The right one randomly cycles between "Discover...related reads", "Catch up ...on pocket", "Browse...categories" (at the kobo store), "...Reading Stats", "Read the user guide..." Personally, I like the reading stats and pocket reminders; I'm kinda over reading the user guide, and wish I could remove that from the rotation, but the two kobo store items are not really bothersome, and I might even use them if the kobo store recommendations ever showed me something I cared about. I'd actually like to see more creative things put in those bottom two lines. It'd be nice if both of them changed instead of just the right one. Of course, it'd also be nice if the pocket app supported tags like the android version did... Last edited by compurandom; 12-13-2017 at 06:07 PM.

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12-12-2017, 05:34 PM	#2
JSWolf Resident Curmudgeon Posts: 80,456 Karma: 150249609 Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: Roslindale, Massachusetts Device: Kobo Libra 2, Kobo Aura H2O, PRS-650, PRS-T1, nook STR, PW3	Yes, you should update. There have been speed improvements. You can side load 4.6.10075. Just see https://geek1011.github.io/KoboStuff/kobofirmware.html to get the link for the Aura.

12-13-2017, 06:25 PM	#8
JSWolf Resident Curmudgeon Posts: 80,456 Karma: 150249609 Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: Roslindale, Massachusetts Device: Kobo Libra 2, Kobo Aura H2O, PRS-650, PRS-T1, nook STR, PW3	New firmware 4.7.10413. See the link below for the link to side load unless you want to wait to be able to sync. As of this message, only beta and bestbuyca are the affiliates that are serving this. https://www.mobileread.com/forums/sh...d.php?t=292981

12-14-2017, 07:34 AM	#10
compurandom Wizard Posts: 1,023 Karma: 500000 Join Date: Jun 2015 Device: Rocketbook, kobo aura h2o, kobo forma, kobo libra color	I didn't like the new home screen because I was using the old one to bypass some performance bugs. The new home screen has changed my reading workflow in what I think is mostly a good way. If I were to change the new home screen at all, I'd want these changes: * The bottom left tile ("my books") does the same as "my collections" just after you've looked at a shelf. It takes one tap more to actually get to my books from that screen. (I.e., it doesn't do what I expect, and what it does do is functionally redundant.) * The bottom right tile picks stuff semi-randomly. I'd like to either understand why it picks things or have more control over what it picks. * As I detailed in my last message, the bottom left and right text lines could be more interesting than they are now. (Maybe they do more if you use more social media accounts than I do?) For extra bonus functionality: * The bottom left and right tiles pick 3 books and collages their covers; it'd be nice if I could actually select one of those three directly. * Sometimes the 3 picked are the most recent 3 from that group, sometimes it seems more random. I like random, it stirs things up. If I could pick books from the collage, I'd also like to tell it to make the selection more random. (an option maybe?) I think these suggestions are all minor improvements, for the most part I like the new home screen. However, without the performance fixes they've put in in the last two (widely distributed) firmwares, the new home screen would be unusable to me.

03-02-2018, 10:39 AM	#11
ZodWallop Gentleman and scholar Posts: 11,495 Karma: 111164374 Join Date: Jun 2015 Location: Space City, Texas Device: Clara BW; Nook ST w/Glowlight, Paperwhite 3	Well, last night the cat decided to step on the USB cable as I was adding stuff to the Aura. She jiggled it just enough to cause the Aura to disconnect and reconnect while the database was being updated. I signed out and signed back in, which forced me to reconnect to the Wi-Fi and I'm now running 4.7.10413. I've decided to just live with it for a week or so and see what I think. First impression? The bottom bar is too busy. Do you need the settings cog there? You can already access it via the hamburger menu. Same with Home.

03-02-2018, 11:03 AM	#12
issybird o saeclum infacetum Posts: 21,467 Karma: 236076651 Join Date: Oct 2010 Location: New England Device: Mini, H2O, Glo HD, Aura One, PW4, PW5	Funny you should bring this up today. Only last night I was looking at the home page on my Aura One and it just made me happy. The seven books I'm reading plus the ten collections I've accessed most recently. One-touch navigation to virtually anywhere on the device I'm most likely to go. Compared to my Glo HD, which has the new screen. So much waste. One collection. Four books. "My Books" which gets me nowhere useful at all but requires another click. A link to the store, when I'm never going to shop from the device. And it's not even as if I can choose which collection or which books. I hate it. And there are things I do like about the most recent firmware, but they don't begin to offset the utility of the old home page.

03-02-2018, 11:59 AM	#14
llcj Addict Posts: 250 Karma: 883854 Join Date: Oct 2012 Location: Canada Device: kobo touch	I agree with Issybird completely. I have an irrational extreme loathing of the new home screen; I rarely visit it and use the 'My Books' page as my homescreen.

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