[Archived] Marvin ePub reader for iPad

[Faterson]

Originally Posted by bounce

My next request would be a export vocab out of all books at once

Yes, this is already possible in the current Beta version of Marvin.

Originally Posted by bounce

Chrome's "language immersion add-on"

Google Translate is already integrated in Marvin's Vocabulary List, and it's working great, given its limitations. Those limitations are huge -- what Google Translate typically produces, especially when it comes to entire sentences (not just isolated words), resembles translation parodies rather than proper/useful translations. It often literally hurts the brain to read Google Translated passages into, say, Slavic languages (whose grammar, given all the declination and conjugation patterns, is a lot more complicated than, say, English grammar). So I'm rather skeptical, in terms of the usefulness of a deeper integration of Google Translate into Marvin.

[Faterson]

Originally Posted by Faterson

Finally, there's the 3rd way: switching to a top-quality 3rd-party dictionary app. And I love Lingvo. But, this makes it necessary to return to Marvin manually ever time (using the 4-finger swipe gesture).

I wonder if it wouldn't be possible -- maybe in a future iOS release -- to "embed" the 3rd-party dictionary app's window within Marvin, so that it would be easier to dismiss that window = to return from the 3rd-party app to Marvin. You know, many apps even today embed the Safari browser's window inside them, and when the user is done using the Safari window, they can just tap the button "Done" in the top right corner, and they're right back inside the original app. Needless to say, it's easier to perform a single tap in the top right corner of the screen, instead of a 4-finger swipe gesture for every word you look up.

[kguil]

luvmy4brats, I'll look into this and fix it for the next update.

ChristopherTD, font and layout preferences are persisted per book.

icallaci, I'll look into it.

Mike76, I'm not too happy with iOS' stock dictionaries. At some point I'll look into replacing them with better ones. I'll soon be adding a button in the edit menu (the one that shows when you tap-and-hold a word) that will let you assign custom functionality to it (e.g. sending the selected text to translate or a custom dictionary app).

bounce, as Faterson mentions exporting the vocabulary for all books in your library is included in the version being tested right now. If all goes well (and it is) the new version will be available very soon.

[MeSue]

Originally Posted by Faterson

I wonder if it wouldn't be possible -- maybe in a future iOS release -- to "embed" the 3rd-party dictionary app's window within Marvin, so that it would be easier to dismiss that window = to return from the 3rd-party app to Marvin.

What about a split screen using Marvin's built-in browser? For a good example of what I mean by split screen in an app, see Olive Tree's Bible+ app.

[Meemo]

Originally Posted by Karin54

I have a series of 14 books. They are sorted like this:
1, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 2, 3 etc.

Can something be done about this?

I number a series like that with 01, 02, 03, 04, 05, 06, 07, 08, 09, 10...

That eliminated the problem for me (it was happening on Kindle, Sony, etc).

[Faterson]

You can now normally use 1, 2, 3 in the fixed Marvin version -- looks less ugly than 01, 02, 03. The decimals will be fixed, too, I'm sure.

[Meemo]

Originally Posted by Faterson

You can now normally use 1, 2, 3 in the fixed Marvin version -- looks less ugly than 01, 02, 03. The decimals will be fixed, too, I'm sure.

That'll be awesome for any future series - not sure I'm up for changing them all at this point.

[Faterson]

Originally Posted by MeSue

What about a split screen using Marvin's built-in browser? For a good example of what I mean by split screen in an app, see Olive Tree's Bible+ app.

Thanks for the hint, Sue. That app uses internal split-screens a lot.

Here is what I like best about Olive Tree's Bible+ app: you can open 2 books at the same time in it! See the first screenshot attached to this message. You can pull up the screen divider from the bottom, to determine how tall the second (lower) pane should be.

I think someone requested this ability from Marvin earlier in this thread: ability to open and display 2 Marvin books at the same time. To achieve that, I currently use 2 iPads. That's not necessarily "worse", because at least you can enjoy both books in full-screen mode. On many occasions, though, it would be more convenient to have both books displayed on the same screen.

It would be, for example, ideal if you wish to read a book in a foreign language you're learning. The upper pane would show the book in the original language, while the lower pane would display the translation of that same book in your native language. That would be a great learning tool! Olive Tree's Bible+ app is even so smart that when you flip a page in the upper section of the screen, it also automatically flips the page in the lower section of the screen, so that the same passage is displayed in both screen sections. (Naturally, that's easier to achieve for Biblical editions, thanks to the availability of numbered Bible verses, but Marvin might at least approximate something like that using the book's overall % as location.)

The second screenshot shows a map in the lower section of the screen, but that seems like Olive Tree's internal map, not a Google Earth map or Apple Map. So that it's the app's internal content again.

If Kris could somehow arrange for the content of a 3rd-party dictionary app to be displayed in that lower section of the screen, that would be great. So, ideally, what would happen, would be:

1. You tap & hold a word in Marvin, and press the Translate button
2. The lower pane would pop up from the bottom of Marvin's screen, to the exact height you prefer (= the custom height you set up previously); because enforcing an even, uniform 50% to 50% split every time would be dumb. The dictionary definition/translation would be displayed in the lower pane. At the same time, Marvin would ensure (by auto-scrolling, if necessary) that the word being looked up would be visible in the upper pane of the screen, in its full context. (This would avoid the issue with Apple's pop-up bubble dictionaries, where the bubble overlays the full context of the word being looked up.)
3. The reader studies the dictionary definition/translation in the lower part of the screen. As soon as you're done, you'd just tap your finger anywhere in the upper part of the screen (in the book text, in Marvin itself), to dismiss the lower part of the screen, which would make the lower pane automatically slide away.

That would be ideal, wouldn't it? Of course, those who prefer to read books in Marvin in the landscape format, might choose a vertical split of the screen, instead of the horizontal split. In such a case, the "dictionary pane" might pop up from the right side of the screen, and it would slide back from left to right after you no longer need it.

It's possible Kris could arrange for the Safari browser window to appear in such a way in the screen subsection. That's better than nothing, but generally, third-party iOS dictionary apps have a higher quality than free online dictionaries accessible by browsers like Safari.

The solution that would oblige everyone, would be if every user could decide for themselves, what it is that should appear in the screen subsection: a Safari window? Or the window of a 3rd-party dictionary app?

I'm afraid, though, that iOS makes the latter option impossible, at least for now. That is, I'm afraid it might be impossible to display the content of 2 different apps at the same time on current iPads, apart from that Safari (and perhaps also Maps) exception. If Kris could somehow circumvent that apparent iOS restriction, that would be fantastic.

[Mike76]

Originally Posted by Faterson

The Kindle app is the smartest, when it comes to the display of dictionaries. They are no translation dictionaries, either, however. It's very smart, on Kindle's part, just to pop up the definition at the bottom or the top of the screen. If you want to see the entire definition, you just tap for "more" there.

You're absolutely right. In addition there is another great solution in Kindle app: after reading the definition/translation of an unknown word I always make a note containing the actual translation (and/or my thoughts about it at times). When I re-read a section it requires only a short tap on those little blue Note icons to pop up my previous tanslation. This is a really helpful function for me in learning foreign languages. I know that Marvin has a similar feature but there the short tap on a highlighted word brings up both the Note dialog and the virtual keyboard -I think the solution of the Kindle app is much more elegant.

[Faterson]

You're correct but, you know, the Kindle app is so unspeakably lame in virtually all other aspects relevant for e-reader software, that these benefits aren't enough to make it even usable for me. And I mean just usable -- considering a switch away from Marvin to Kindle would be sheer lunacy.

While we're "loving to hate" the Kindle app, I might praise one more feature it has: the exquisite page-flip animation. Marvin doesn't have that, either. But, those are details to me, compared to the essential functionality of an e-reader app.

As an example, take the Kindle app's worst sin: it makes even a simple copy/paste of a highlighted passage, within iOS, impossible. There's no excuse.

[Tacty]

i went to changing background color today...it looks like benetton shop...could we get some old papers color, or something like this for background...i've found that any solid color in ipad looks strange, at least for me..i would like to see some "imperfect color" like an old book, an old newspaper, or such, it makes my reading much pleasurable..i hope i'm not alone in this...as much as ipad has a perfect screen, reading books on it is still slightly unnatural for me, because all those variations of beige, yellow or brown or orange backgrounds are screaming at my eyes...we need something to soften up boring plain colours, something with wrinkles and such..

[Philantrop]

This would probably best be accomplished by simply allowing people to choose a background image.

[Turtle91]

Originally Posted by Tacty

i went to changing background color today...it looks like benetton shop...could we get some old papers color, or something like this for background...i've found that any solid color in ipad looks strange, at least for me..i would like to see some "imperfect color" like an old book, an old newspaper, or such, it makes my reading much pleasurable..i hope i'm not alone in this...as much as ipad has a perfect screen, reading books on it is still slightly unnatural for me, because all those variations of beige, yellow or brown or orange backgrounds are screaming at my eyes...we need something to soften up boring plain colours, something with wrinkles and such..

+1

I don't know how difficult it is to get extra background images, but textured is definitely more natural.

I also think the page turn animation is cool - the one with the wobbly page and it changes shades and such... I used it to convince some of my more "hidebound" friends that an ereader can be just like a book!! It is important to have A transition, and if the page flip can be accomplished without bogging down the app then I'm all for it. However, no matter how cool it is, it is just a gimmick. If it slows down the app then I change it to a less CPU intensive transition, like slide.

[Faterson]

Originally Posted by Turtle91

I don't know how difficult it is to get extra background images, but textured is definitely more natural.

Originally Posted by Tacty

could we get some old papers color, or something like this for background...i've found that any solid color in ipad looks strange, at least for me...

I couldn't agree with you more, guys! Solid-colour backgrounds are not just strange, but (to me) above all boring.

But don't worry -- Kris knows about this request, and textured backgrounds are coming in a future Marvin release. He said he hadn't included them in Marvin because he had thought no one was using them nowadays anymore, but as he'll be able to read here, too, that's not the case.

For me in Stanza, my favourite textured backgrounds used to be Wood for Day Mode (looks fabulously especially on the iPhone) and Bedroom for Night Mode -- that's the black one with sort of red flames showing through here and there. In Apabi Reader, I liked Parchment. Anyway, lots of options are possible, including the "old newspaper" style. I prefer delicate, non-obtrusive textured backgrounds, like those three mentioned above.

Originally Posted by Tacty

as much as ipad has a perfect screen, reading books on it is still slightly unnatural for me, because all those variations of beige, yellow or brown or orange backgrounds are screaming at my eyes...

Same here. And this is why I currently use Marvin for 99% in Night Mode, even during day-time. (That is, solid-black background -- but Stanza's "Bedroom" background would become Marvin even more!)

Originally Posted by Philantrop

This would probably best be accomplished by simply allowing people to choose a background image.

Technically, yes. The best is to offer both (I think Stanza does that): offer the Marvin user a selection of, say, 12 to 15 textured backgrounds, and give the Marvin user the option to use a custom background image for screen background, too.

Originally Posted by Turtle91

I also think the page turn animation is cool - the one with the wobbly page and it changes shades and such... I used it to convince some of my more "hidebound" friends that an ereader can be just like a book!!

Again, we're on the same page, Turtle. (Pun unintended.)

Only earlier today, here is what I wrote to the Marvin Beta-testing group, regarding page-flip animations:

Originally Posted by Faterson

I currently prefer no animation, or the slowest slide in Marvin.

My preferred animation would be "flip page", where the speed of the flip depends on the speed of the reader's finger. See the Kindle app -- fabulously done there (sentences even readable from reverse side of the page as it is being flipped, in "miror mode", of course).

When it comes to the "slide" animation, here again, I'm missing the option to let the slide be as slow/fast as the reader's finger is. If I move my finger very slowly from right to left, the slide would be just as slow, temporarily displaying parts of 2 screens at the same time. It would be a very cool effect, especially in a situation where the coolest effect of all (page flip) isn't on Marvin's menu.

[Tacty]

i'm glad i'm not alone in this request for textured backgrounds. my favorite so far is paper 1 from cool reader on android...any kind of wooden, paper, books textures would be perfect, as much of them as possible ( there are a lot of blue, red and green ones which could be left out without anyone noticing they're missing i think)...it makes reading books on any tablet much more pleasurable and natural...