[Archived] Marvin ePub reader for iPad

[orion2001]

Thanks Faterson. Just as a side note, there are still many reasons why one may not use a cloud alternative even though it can make life easier (partly due to Apple choosing to sandbox all apps and hide the underlying file system).

In my case, there are certain proprietary documents that I cannot put up on the cloud so I'd need to manually transfer it between my computer and my iPad. Additionally, many employers will ban/block Dropbox and other cloud storage solutions, so it makes the technology less appealing when you spend a good chunk of your week at work. I don't use evernote for the same reason.

Personally, I'll take Android over IOS any day of the week due to a unified file system and the ability to move data easily and share data between apps without having to duplicate it every time, but when it comes to reading/annotating PDFs and Epubs, the quality of apps on the iPad is far superior to Android, and that is why I still use my iPad. If iAnnotate and Marvin were both on Android with the same quality as on IOS, I'd probably move to Android right away.

[humler]

Kris, I want to thank you for your nice job. To me Marvin is the best ePub reader for iPad. I've got an iPad mini and Marvin is amazing. Would it be possible to add Google Drive sync in next updates?

[Faterson]

Originally Posted by orion2001

In my case, there are certain proprietary documents that I cannot put up on the cloud so I'd need to manually transfer it between my computer and my iPad.

Definitely. But even in that scenario, wouldn't the direct OPDS catalogue connection to Calibre be much faster than the iTunes detour?

Originally Posted by orion2001

If iAnnotate and Marvin were both on Android with the same quality as on IOS, I'd probably move to Android right away.

Well, 50% of your wish will likely come true.

I use GoodReader for PDFs myself, and wouldn't know about iAnnotate for Android. It's a common experience, though, that one and the same app has lower quality on Android than on iOS. It's true of the Kindle app, for example. Let's hope Marvin will eschew this trend.

[denisea]

I'd like to make one comment on the discussion about how best to transfer books to Marvin. I'm one of those eager folks who missed the beta test window and is desperately waiting for 1.2 for the OPDS integration.

1. Yes, Faterson is correct that you can accomplish many things without running iTunes at all. However, there are reasons why someone might still want to. For example, if you have a lot of ripped music (not purchased from Apple, for example), iTunes is really the only way you can transfer that music to your iDevice. If you're using iTunes for one thing, you might be inclined to use it for many.
2. I've found that OPDS is limited when you're dealing with big MB ebooks (typically reference or graphics-laden books). And yes, there are ePubs that can have many MB (I have one that's just under 100mb). In those instances, transferring over a cable makes things easier.
3. The cloud is great, until it isn't. The minute you've experienced a security breach with any of your cloud-stored data, you start to feel differently.
4. I would never recommend that someone who has removed the DRM from a book (even one they bought) store it in the cloud. That's tempting fate.
5. The only time I've used save to disk in Calibre is if I want to save it to an alternate location. Otherwise, I rely on the autosave feature that's been mentioned.

[JTravers]

Originally Posted by kguil

Vertical scrolling is coming for sure but not in 1.2. I'm already working on it.

This is great. Really looking forward to it. Will you have a way to scroll ahead by a full "page" without having to do it? (Readability and River of News, for instance, are setup so a double tap scrolls down a page automatically.)

Kind regards.

[Wickedkitten]

Originally Posted by Faterson

Another advantage of the cloud software transfer method not mentioned so far is that you do not need to have your main computer and your handheld device running at the same time. To perform an iTunes sync, you must be running both devices simultaneously, which can be inconvenient. In contrast, you can just, literally, "drop" your books into Dropbox, resting assured you will find them on your iPad (and all other devices!) whenever you switch it on at a later time.

It’s not just a case of literally dropping your books into dropbox though. First you drop your books into dropbox, then it has to index and sync them to dropbox, and then you have to download them one at a time from dropbox.

I actually have 1.5gb of ebooks and case files in Marvin right now, and if I were to delete them all, and copy them to my dropbox folder, first off it would take well over an hour to upload them and then who knows how long tapping them all one by one to download them all onto my iPad again.

That might work alright for you but for me, it is a lot quicker to just copy them directly onto my iPad.

Also I’ve noticed with Dropbox it has a fairly major problem dealing with large pdf files from the iOS app so once again, its easier to just copy them directly onto my iPad rather than copy them to dropbox and then copy them onto my iPad.

[ProfCrash]

Not to mention. I always have my Kindle near by. If there is a book I really want to read and it is not on Marvin, I can always read it on my Kindle (which has 3G).

[artbatista]

Personally, I dislike iTunes profoundly.

I have to agree with Alex, iTunes is not the only way to load books to Marvin.

One of the easiest ways is simply to use the browser, download the book and "open with" Marvin.

Cheers

Art

[artbatista]

Originally Posted by Faterson

OK. I haven't seen this becoming an issue in practical use. It only concerns metadata and the cover picture (not the book text), and I set those before converting anything to EPUB.

More pertinently for Marvin, version 1.2 now includes a metadata editor, so that even if the metadata or the cover happen to be incorrect after you load a book in Marvin, it's easy to fix those. In fact, one of the nicest new features in Marvin 1.2 is the ability to attach a random cover picture from your iPad's photo library to an EPUB that lacks it. Which is the case for most Project Gutenberg releases. So I just open the Google Images search engine, input the book title there, save the thumbnail of the book cover of an original paper edition in the iPad's photo library, and then add the cover to the book in Marvin. It makes Marvin's Library look fantastic!

First, I strip DRM, second, I update metadata. Third I hand edit in Sigil, looking mostly to have a file split at chapters and that he TOC is there and works, or creating one if it isn't. Fourth, I convert to ePub.

At this point I simply browse to it using either safari or Marvin's browser and import.

Cheers

Art

[ChristopherTD]

I have a book, newly converted to ePub by Calibre. it opens happily in Calibre's viewer, and in Bluefire Reader. Marvin says it is malformed or encrypted and won't open it. Is it particularly sensitive? Is there a way to discover what Marvin doesn't like? Or should I just hold on till 1.2 emerges?

[Turtle91]

Sounds like it has Adobe DRM??

[kyteflyer]

Originally Posted by artbatista

Personally, I dislike iTunes profoundly.

I have to agree with Alex, iTunes is not the only way to load books to Marvin.

One of the easiest ways is simply to use the browser, download the book and "open with" Marvin.

Cheers

Art

Nobody ever said it was the only way. What we are saying is that iTunes just not as horrible as some of you make out and some of us PREFER to use it, either all the time or some of the time.

Lets just get on with the discussion about Marvin, not the "best" way to load books to it. The "best" way is the one that suits each of us individually and I really wish you guys would get that through your heads.

[artbatista]

Originally Posted by ChristopherTD

I have a book, newly converted to ePub by Calibre. it opens happily in Calibre's viewer, and in Bluefire Reader. Marvin says it is malformed or encrypted and won't open it. Is it particularly sensitive? Is there a way to discover what Marvin doesn't like? Or should I just hold on till 1.2 emerges?

Not particularly sensitive. I do believe that Kris improved how Marvin deals with malformed books in version 1.2

If you want to know for sure, I'll PM you my email. Send me the book as an attachment and I'll try it and report back.

Cheers

Art

[artbatista]

Originally Posted by Turtle91

Sounds like it has Adobe DRM??

If it had DRM it would not open in Calibre's reader.

Art

[Turtle91]

Originally Posted by artbatista

If it had DRM it would not open in Calibre's reader.

Art

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