Kobo FW 2.6.1., we'll have to redefine embarrasing

[PinkET]

Originally Posted by alexep

I agree that we should be able to customize the main screen a bit more (dismiss tiles that can't be dismissed, disabling reading life and whatnot) but I don't really see a point in not having your recent activities showing up on your screen since there's not much to do in an ereader anyway. And trust me, I usually HATE that recent activities trend everyone seems to be including in their systems or apps or whatever, like Amazon with their tablets and recently with their Kindle Android app, or Google with Google Books. But if you don't want Sketchpad there, dismiss it. You said it yourself, Sketchpad is impractical on a device like this. I've used it once and never again because it sucks. And then I dismissed the tile from my home screen and that was the end of it. It's an experimental feature anyway.

As far as the tiles UI goes, I'm a big fan, they look great. At least on the Aura, can't speak for the Glo. Same thing on responsiveness, everything works fine here on my Aura. In my opinion, the only thing in your post that qualifies as a failure is the brightness bar being moved from the bottom to the centre of the screen. That's annoying.

Hi Alex, thank for your post and criticism.

I guess on the Aura with 1440 x 1080 pixels the tiles look much better, but the ugliness on the Glo is not a problem for me.

What would have been a killer feature though is to be able to not only dismiss but also fix a book to the home screen. Now when you open books they go to the homescreen and others disappear. What if I want one or a few books to remain there? That's my main gripe, no control, no options. And I read you agree on that.

I understand that some things that I call failures are not failures to everyone.
It all depends what we do on our machine. Again it comes down to having options.

But to say you see only one failure? Doesn't having to press two brightness icons instead of one mean a step back? Well, as an UI designer steps back for me equal failure.
Many people suffer from RSI (Repetitive Strain Injury), neck and shoulder pain, etc.. and all these clicks, swipes and presses are becoming more and more an health issue than people realize in this electronic world.

Recent activities on these gadgets is a step back from favorites or shortcuts because now the gadget decides what you see instead of you. As a result you have to constantly dismiss stuff from your screen. For me this equals failure but I understand others might like it.

Going to bed now, good night.

Mike

[murg]

Originally Posted by BWinmill

PinkET: may I suggest turning rant mode off before posting your opinion. Some of the points are bordering on incoherent because the description are wandering all over the place.

Kobo's firmware has this effect on people....

[theonna]

Originally Posted by murg

Kobo's firmware has this effect on people....

It is funny, that before getting to criticize anything about Kobo, you just have to passionately declare your love.
Like -I love my Kobo Whatever, but...
Well, I have no qualms with not liking Kobo. It is so far the worse UI of any existing ereader, that I've encountered.
Kobo hardware is what makes it attractive.
When would Kobo software designers stop collecting first part( i love my Kobo) and start actually listening to what comes next?

[speakingtohe]

Originally Posted by PinkET

Hi there,

I wasn't going to bother writing down my findings because I don't want to spend my time on negative thoughts or words.
But after seeing this UI (user interface) getting worse with every new version, I just cannot let it pass by.
My wish is to stir something up in the Kobo developers, to hopefully get them to develop an UI that's worthy of the hardware.
I am judging their work, not their person nor their effort.
I may use a harsh comment here and there, but I will refrain from name calling or personal insults.
If any individual feels offended by my criticism, chances are this individual fits the shoe.



Ok, hold on to your seatbelts.

The Kobo Glo is in my opinion a nice piece of hardware, uncomplicated, pretty solid and it potentially could get the job done if it wasn't for the Kobo developers, in particular the one or ones designing the UI.
In 27 years of computering, developing, coding, beta testing, troubleshooting and what not, I did see some really shitty software, but Kobo's firmwares in general and this firmware in particular set a new standard.

One could say, I've seen worse. Yes, maybe, but consider this. Developing for the GLO isn't so hard, on the contrary.
This eReader has little functionality hardware wise; no sound, no multimedia, no backward compatibility to consider, no 3rd party software, no (real) games, no plug an play hardware (except for a SD card).
It is such a simple piece of hardware to write code for, it is embarrassing to see how the Kobo team is struggling to come up with a solid, intelligent UI for it.

I am not biased in any way toward any other brand or against Kobo. The Glo is my first ereader and despite the software I am happy with it. I live a traveling life in a mobile home and I don't have space for books.
When I'm reading a book I forget about the UI ... that is until I need to turn a page, or have to do something other than read on it.
The UI (not just the latest FW) always manages to get in my way, either by letting me wait 4, 5, 6 seconds, or making me press several times, options where you would not expect them to be or the opposite.

What in general I encountered in the time I own the Glo:
Opening books not bringing me to the last read page that I bookmarked,
Sudoku freezing the machine with only option being reboot,
Machine responsiveness reducing to almost zero,
Bookmarks disappearing after FW updates,
FW updates not showing release notes,
FW updates not showing correct FW version,
Latest FW has the release notes button removed altogether. Are we not to know what got messed up this time?

Never imagined a machine with so little functionality could have so many problems, some people's washing machines are more complicated than the GLO
I could fill a whole page with my findings, but I feel this is nuf said.


Now let's get to this latest FW 2.6.1.

Failure1:
Pressing the brightness icon doesn't give you direct control over the brightness anymore. You have to press on a second brightness icon to access the control.
I wonder how many extra presses that will mount to per year? Well, it's double the amount that's for sure. (not to forget every press uses up a bit of your battery)

Failure2:
The brightness control is not conveniently on the bottom of the screen anymore where I could swipe it without moving my hand while continuing reading.
It is in the middle of the screen now, eliminating both mentioned advantages in one go.

Failure3:
One would think it would be impossible to further screw up the brightness functionality, but one would think wrong!

At night I like to turn down the Glo's light a bit and play one or two games of Sudoku before I go to sleep.
But somehow the devs forgot there is no topbar in Sudoku, so there's no way to access the brightness settings.
To turn down the light I now have to do the following:
1. press menu
2. press save and close
3. press any of the four icons (light, wifi, battery or menu) or anywhere on the topbar except home.
4. press brightness
5. turn down brightness
6. press the X or any other part of the screen
7. press any of the four bar icons again
8. press settings
9. press extra
10. press the Sudoku start button

Combine that with the fact I have to press some of them twice or more (responsiveness) and we are looking at anywhere from 10 to 20 presses to turn down the light.

Why are programs like Sudoku under settings in the first place?

Update. "Luckily" in failure4 (the new mainscreen) a direct link to Sudoku appeared after playing it, so as long as I don't open to many books after playing it, I can turn down the light in only 6 steps. Yay!.

(Epic)Failure4: The mainscreen. I always considered the mainscreen a joke ever since I own the Glo, but what on earth are they up to at Kobo? Tiles? Are they planning to integrate it with Windows 8? Come on! A mainscreen should be a nerve-center where everything comes together. This one only gets on my nerves!

I mean, what is Sketchpad doing on my mainscreen after I opened it once? Is it suddenly a favorite because I opened it once? Shouldn't I be the one to decide?
What is Sketchpad doing on the Glo in the first place?
Did you know you can even save the stupid lines you draw with it? As if anything you draw with it could be worth saving!
BTW, better not save them because the drawings will all appear on your mainscreen as if they were books.
BTW, to annoy you even further they will also appear on your mainscreen in a tile called "books added".
BTW, to really piss you off they will also appear in your books library. (better create a shelf for all your "artwork" then).

After I made and saved 8 drawings there were no more books on my mainscreen, just drawings, meaning you have no control over what stays on the screen.
BTW, the direct link to Sudoku is also gone now, so back to ten steps to turn the light down. Bummer.

A word of caution !!!BUG!!!.
When in library, when you click on the menu next to a drawing and chose edit, the Sketchpad opens without any UI, meaning you are stuck in it and only a reset of the Glo can save you.
Opening it by merely pressing on the drawing opens it with UI. So that's a Bug and a design failure. Why the edit option in a menu when just pressing on the drawing does the same thing?

It is becoming pretty sad now. I manually deleted the drawings from the screen by pressing and holding and choosing 'dismiss tile' and now I'm left with 4 books and some tiles with Sketchpad, Sudoku, Chess, Internet browser and Sync, none of which I want there.
There is plenty of room for another book bottom left and without the unwanted tiles at least two more, but for some reason it stays unused. So I start opening some books to see if my screen can be filled with only books again. Nope, Kobo made the program tiles stay at the expense of the books. When I open more books, other books disappear but the programs stay.
So I have to press and hold each of them and chose dismiss tile. Now they are gone but they will be back after the next time you open any of these programs.
You will have a lot of dismissing to do in the future.
On the upside of that, one could say the Glo is getting more interactive with this new FW.

Failure4 could fill a thread on it's own.

Lets examine the search-box that is occupying the whole width of the screen.
What happens when you press it? Can you type directly in the box? Nope, the old search dialog appears!
So, in fact it's a button disguised as a text-box over the entire width of the screen.
Can any of the developers (a word that is getting ever harder for me to use) explain what's the point of this?

More about the mainscreen:
Why can't I still get rid of reading life on my screen? Why is it there when I have it switched off?
What is sync now doing on my mainscreen? Why is it the only tile I can't dismiss?
Why is statistics on my mainscreen? And why does it keep appearing after I dismissed it?
I don't give a damn how many books I have read or how long it took me. Other people might, so make it optional.
Make everything optional, that's my bottom line, it's my ereader! I will decide what's important to me!

Another bug detected. When you turn on wifi the wifi icon disappears from the bar. One would expect and wish for the exact opposite behavior.
Note: Sometimes it will reappear and disappear again after some navigating, so it's unpredictable behavior as well.

About the tiles themselves. I don't want them. They are ugly, they make my bookcovers even smaller than they were before and I have no control over them.
Stop this nonsense and focus on making a real UI for ...... sake! This hardware deserves descent software.

If Kobo needs help, I can create a mock-up UI for this machine that will make everybody happy if not drool.
Fully logic, fully configurable, using the screen real estate efficiently and non obtrusively.
Kobo will have to do the coding, cause coding for Linux is not my thing.

There are still a few UI mistakes and bugs in FW 2.6.1 that were there since the beginning, but I think this post is long enough as it is.

rant off//

Greetings

Mike

Hmm... you left out quite a few bugs IMO. Carry on though I'm listening and with you all the way

[haydnfan]

I only read books, I didn't know that the kobo has apps. I prefer my mainscreen to be my library, you know like the kindle. But I hardly visit the mainscreen and if I do two clicks later I'm in my library.

[aceflor]

Originally Posted by PinkET

....

Am I now the forum's pariah because I don't want Reading life, Shop, Sync and statistics on my home screen? Have I violated some secret code by openly criticizing your sweet little ereader?

I find the term love in combination with an electronic object quite disturbing.
I hope I haven't ended up in a ereader sect here at mobileread.

This board is the least tolerant board of this part (e-book readers) of the forum, so I can't say I am surprised at some reactions. But no, you are not THE pariah, there is a little group of us actually .

[DNSB]

Originally Posted by PinkET

What would have been a killer feature though is to be able to not only dismiss but also fix a book to the home screen. Now when you open books they go to the homescreen and others disappear. What if I want one or a few books to remain there? That's my main gripe, no control, no options. And I read you agree on that.

Why would anyone want a book to remain on their home screen constantly? After all, most people read a book and then move on to the next book. They do not constantly re-read the same book over and over again. The ending never changes.

Personally, I like the change that in the tiled interface, a finished book remains on screen until it rolls off as I find it handy when reading a series to be able to refer back to the earlier books in the series.

Regards,
David

[DNSB]

Originally Posted by aceflor

This board is the least tolerant board of this part (e-book readers) of the forum, so I can't say I am surprised at some reactions. But no, you are not THE pariah, there is a little group of us actually .

I'd disagree with your statement. However, I think I have made it clear on several occasions that neither criticism nor praise of Kobo hardware, firmware, software, underwear, etc. bothers me. What does bother me is the persons who continually harp on a single point whether it be negative or positive. The usual geometric progression -- the first time you are a wit, the second time you are a half-wit....

Regards,
David

[John F]

Originally Posted by DNSB

...

Personally, I like the change that in the tiled interface, a finished book remains on screen until it rolls off as I find it handy when reading a series to be able to refer back to the earlier books in the series.

Regards,
David

I think there is a bug then. I finished a book (maybe 50 books ago), it isn't on my Glo, and I still had it in a tile marked finished.

[davidfor]

Originally Posted by John F

I think there is a bug then. I finished a book (maybe 50 books ago), it isn't on my Glo, and I still had it in a tile marked finished.

That's very strange. I had to add some code into the calibre driver when deleting a book to delete the row used for the tile. When this wasn't done, the tile that should have shown the book had "Downloading" as the title and a blank cover. When looking at this, the book tiles rely on the database record for the book to get the reading state and cover.

[PinkET]

Originally Posted by DNSB

Why would anyone want a book to remain on their home screen constantly? After all, most people read a book and then move on to the next book. They do not constantly re-read the same book over and over again. The ending never changes.

Personally, I like the change that in the tiled interface, a finished book remains on screen until it rolls off as I find it handy when reading a series to be able to refer back to the earlier books in the series.

Regards,
David

Hi David,

I do re-read many books.
I have several technical books on programming, Recording in Cubase and so on. I need to use them as reference quit often while working on projects. They keep disappearing after reading other books. I would like to keep them on my home screen or at least have the choice to do so.

Some people might put their bible on the home screen. Reading in that never ends does it?

I hope this answers your question.

Greetings,

Mike

[Anak]

Originally Posted by PinkET

The Kobo Glo is in my opinion a nice piece of hardware, uncomplicated, pretty solid and it potentially could get the job done if it wasn't for the Kobo developers, in particular the one or ones designing the UI. … This eReader has little functionality hardware wise; no sound, no multimedia, no backward compatibility to consider, no 3rd party software, no (real) games, no plug an play hardware (except for a SD card) … It is such a simple piece of hardware to write code for, it is embarrassing to see how the Kobo team is struggling to come up with a solid, intelligent UI for it..

I agree, the hardware it self is solid, the firmware isn't.
Most ereaders are build from the same hardware components, like a processor from the TI OMAP series, a Freescale i.MX50x series processor, flash memory etc. Most readers are almost identical or very similar to OEM reference designs with only some minor changes.
Hardware wise, design and build quality are they main differences between devices.

Originally Posted by PinkET

Pressing the brightness icon doesn't give you direct control over the brightness anymore. You have to press on a second brightness icon to access the control.I wonder how many extra presses that will mount to per year? Well, it's double the amount that's for sure. (not to forget every press uses up a bit of your battery)

Even while the build quality of Kobo devices are solid, the light button is the most freqently used button of the device and this button is probably the weakest hardware part of the device. Is this button durable enough to be pressed so many times? And as you have to press and hold before it becomes responsive most users probably will automatically use a considerable amount of additional force than is really necessary.

Originally Posted by PinkET

The brightness control is not conveniently on the bottom of the screen anymore where I could swipe it without moving my hand while continuing reading. It is in the middle of the screen now, eliminating both mentioned advantages in one go. … the search-box that is occupying the whole width of the screen … there is no topbar in Sudoku, so there's no way to access the brightness settings … the Sketchpad opens without any UI, meaning you are stuck in it and only a reset of the Glo can save you. … When you turn on wifi the wifi icon disappears from the bar … Why are programs like Sudoku under settings in the first place? … I can turn down the light in only 6 steps …

To generalize, some basic problems are mentioned:

• the screen position of adjustable settings, the display of information etc.;
• the size of these boxes are unnecessary wide;
• menus or settings are not accessable;
• information is not displayed when in use (e.g. wifi icon);
• impractical usability because you have to tap many times to change some settings because these are located in a unlogical place (e.g. "Extras" in the settings menu) or complicated navigation (tap many times) to change a setting.

That's why it isn't always very practical when you try to use (features of) a device.
This has nothing to with (potential) trade offs or choices that have been or not been made. No, they occur because (additional) features were added, changed, improved or whatever else resulting in enhancement over enhancement or addon on addon on addon. Features are just "parked" somewhere in the exisiting menus to test(?) (some) of its functionality (e.g. "extras" in the settings menu). But afterwards hardly ever reviewed if a feature is placed in the most logical menu location or if it is easy to use (e.g. accessable and whithout many navigational taps)

These are legit, general issues. And not limited to the issues mentioned by PinkET.

Developers develop, testers test, users use the device. Yes, I know, there is alot of overlap here. All I'm saying using a device isn't necessarily testing or developing. Testing and developing involes every part of the device but the main focus is on the technical side: does it work or not and if not, how to fix it. Whether a feature works or not does not mean it is also practical in use.

These general issues mentioned here, comments about firmware releases and bugs elsewhere on this forum are the reason why I canceled my preorder of de Kobo Aura HD. It is just not maximizing its potential.
The Kobo Aura HD is - just as Kobos other ereaders - build of general available parts and therefore I assume that competitors will release similar devices. A real side by side comparison will decide which ereader I'll buy.

[PinkET]

Originally Posted by DNSB

I'd disagree with your statement. However, I think I have made it clear on several occasions that neither criticism nor praise of Kobo hardware, firmware, software, underwear, etc. bothers me. What does bother me is the persons who continually harp on a single point whether it be negative or positive. The usual geometric progression -- the first time you are a wit, the second time you are a half-wit....

Regards,
David

Hi David,

I don't have the impression (yet) that this is an intolerant forum.
I am used to the fact the bashers without arguments being the first to comment on any forum, together with the (I don't have any problems, or i love my...) folks.

I always wonder why these people keep commenting with such vigor on posts they view as irrelevant. I wonder if the machine or gadget has become part of their personality, like a pet.
Maybe it's a tamagotchi syndrome.

I agree with the single point comments remark you make.
It's an effort to take a weak spot in ones post an focus on that to discredit everything else without going into any detail. It's common practice and I am not intimidated by it.

Of course my posts have weak spots but let people argue the points I make.
If people are pleased with this new FW that's alright by me. This FW probably fits their way of working with it.
But they must at the same time accept that other people might use the machine differently and openly criticize the lack of flexibility.

That's why I advocate choice and options so everyone can configure the reader as they please.
It's my ereader too, I paid for it and I want to use it the way I chose.

The hardware is perfectly capable, but the software IMO is written by amateurs.

Greetings,

Mike

[PinkET]

Originally Posted by speakingtohe

Hmm... you left out quite a few bugs IMO. Carry on though I'm listening and with you all the way

Thanks for the support.

I wish I new as much about linux as I do windows, because then I would have started an opensource project for the Kobo

Still hoping some people will start this, then I for sure jump on board to help on the UI.
But I guess this thing is to niche.

[PinkET]

Originally Posted by aceflor

This board is the least tolerant board of this part (e-book readers) of the forum, so I can't say I am surprised at some reactions. But no, you are not THE pariah, there is a little group of us actually .

Hi Aceflor,

Thanks for the support.

A message to everyone. I am no trying to insult anybody here not even the people at Kobo.
I am criticizing their work and their unfinished product they made us pay for.

Kobo is not the only one though. The whole consumer electronics scene suffers from unfinished products that by the time they could be complete are obsolete and support is dropped to start a new buggy project once again.

I guess people have grown used to being beta testers.