Ode to Marvin

[leebase]

In the beginning was Stanza, and God said it was good. Fictionwise was a great source of books and Stanza could configure easily to other sources.

Then B&N bought Fictionwise and Amazon bought Stanza. And that was bad.

Apple came out with iBooks and of course there is the kindle app. I actually like the skuemorphism of the iBooks app and it became my default "non-kindle" book reading app. The "Open In" feature came along and removed the big sticking point of Stanza's feature.

Many ebook apps have since appeared. BlueFire was an "almost" but I just couldn't love it like Stanza.

But now there is Marvin and I am in love again. Marvin doesn't have the iBooks skuemorphism which many will like...but it has every imaginable formatting tweek such that I barely miss iBooks for that.

It HAS the great "connect to book servers" feature. It has the "drag finger to adjust brightness" that I loved in Stanza. Improved over Stanzas actually.

It has nice fonts (question: which fonts do you folks like best for reading).

It has this way cool feature I never even thought to ask for. It can "read' your book and create a compendium of all the names. I read lots of complicated books with many many characters. Reading Bourne Dominion and I had taken a bit of a break. With Marvin when a name appears, I can do a quick check of where that name was introduced into the story. FANTASTIC!

I'm sure there's more, but I'm already sold. Well worth they $5 for the iPhone version and the inexplicably free iPad version.

Now if they could just add the iBooks page curl and skuemorphism I'd REALLY be over the moon.

[Jessica Lares]

Welcome to the club.

[kguil]

@leebase - Wow! Thanks! Page curling is on the feature request list (although I admit it is a low priority for now).

[Faterson]

Originally Posted by leebase

question: which fonts do you folks like best for reading

Arvo, Volkhov and Futura. (For headings, Verdana.)

[MeSue]

Great post!

Fonts: I was a dedicated Open Sans'er, but recently switched to Arvo after several folks here kept singing its praises.

[leebase]

Originally Posted by kguil

@leebase - Wow! Thanks! Page curling is on the feature request list (although I admit it is a low priority for now).

Page curl not important, I only use it to show off the iPad. When reading I just tap. However, I do like the image of a book page that the iBooks app gives. I imagine you could just put an image and display your text on top.

Also, I lime Apple's Sepia theme colors and can't seem to match it with you many many choices.

BTW, you might as well have a color wheel than the gazillions named choices for color, better yet, a few really well designed combinations to choose from.

What are the themes for purchase? The affect the look of the book as you read?

Thanks again for a terrific app

[Faterson]

Originally Posted by leebase

BTW, you might as well have a color wheel than the gazillions named choices for color

I disagree. The plethora of colours, along with their poetic names, is one of Marvin's most delightful features, and it must stay.

I agree with you, though, that we should get the option to add our own custom colours.

We have already requested this from Kris several times in the past. So far, Kris has always rejected these requests.

There is a thread available on this issue in Marvin's official bug-tracker on GitHub:

https://github.com/kguil/Marvin-Roadmap/issues/126

As you can see, Kris denied the request and moved it to the "Closed" section.

However, I'm not giving up. I hope Kris will change his mind on this later on. Feel free to post your own support for better colours management to that thread; it's possible to attach your comment on it even though the thread is currently in the "Closed" section.

Also, please note that there already is a MobileRead thread talking about this issue:

https://www.mobileread.com/forums/sho...d.php?t=222471

There is, in fact, an entire Marvin forum section on MobileRead:

https://www.mobileread.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=260

... so that you can say the current thread is misplaced in the Apple Devices subsection.

Originally Posted by leebase

better yet, a few really well designed combinations to choose from.

Why not, but what I believe we need even more than presets, is the option to save an unlimited amount of our own colour/settings themes. I have posted that issue to GitHub as well:

https://github.com/kguil/Marvin-Roadmap/issues/19

I am also eagerly awaiting the addition of background textures (Stanza supported them):

https://github.com/kguil/Marvin-Roadmap/issues/15

because I find all solid-colour backgrounds dull and unsatisfactory for me, compared to textures.

Originally Posted by leebase

What are the themes for purchase? The affect the look of the book as you read?

Nope, they will only affect Marvin's interface, the default red, mostly on the Home screen. I regret that Marvin now strives to mimic the fug-ugly iOS 7 "flat" silliness, and I find Marvin's Library ugly today, whereas I liked it in earlier Marvin 1.x versions. Today in Marvin 2.x, the Library is mostly just that hideous (à la iOS 7) expanse of blinding white with barely any interface colour to be seen.

[kguil]

I'm looking at the pre 2.0 screenshots and the screens aren't any more or less colourful (if anything, I find that the darker greys I used before, made everything look duller).

The only layout difference in the library is that the progress bar has been replaced in favour of a *coloured* percentage label that I find easier to read. You might be noticing more whitespace because now I'm using a thinner (though still regularly weighted) font. In fact the text in 2.0 is larger and easier to read in many cases.

[Faterson]

I can no longer compare it to versions 1.x, but all I can say is, Marvin's Library in the most recent 2.x versions instantly strikes me as ugly, employing the hideous iOS 7 pseudo-aesthetics of blinding whitespace. I try to avoid opening Marvin's Library now because it's really awful to look at. The right-hand slide-out panel is not optimal, either (gives you the feeling of "cramped space").

The worst thing that has recently happened is the "progress" row of dots being removed, replaced with technocratic percentage numbers. I just hate that. I have nothing against the percentage numbers, but in addition to the progress row, not instead of it.

So, now we have neither a visual progress row, nor a visual book length indicator, and we now only have hideous iOS 7-like blinding whitespace instead, leaving most of the iPad screen unused. All in all, a failed Library design, in my opinion.

For the associated GitHub issue, see https://github.com/kguil/Marvin-Roadmap/issues/32

[kguil]

I repeat, no whitespace has been added to the library screen or the organiser. I'm just using a lighter, albeit bigger and easier to read, font. The whitespace you're seeing has always been there and I have plans to put it to good use.

The progress as a percentage (which has always been there) is now coloured and I find it considerably easier to read.

[Faterson]

Because the row of dots to indicate reading progress has been removed (I have no idea why!), this has definitely resulted in increased whitespace...

[At_Libitum]

Originally Posted by Faterson

Because the row of dots to indicate reading progress has been removed (I have no idea why!), this has definitely resulted in increased whitespace...

How? did the bottom margin also increase then?

FWIW. I am myself much more attracted to a simple colored line at the bottom edge to see my progress. Although to be honest I don't care much one way or the other for any kind of progress indication while I am reading. I did however liked the piechart like icon in the library better, but that might also just be cause I am more accustomed to it from using Stanza.

In Expanded view however I would have liked it better if progress were still located on the right. And the Words count always at the left. Putting them next to each other gives the feeling Word count could change (dumb since it can't of course...but habitual I look at right for a variable information item)

The only thing I never liked much is the bottom half of the home screen. Or better said, how it's used. In landscape mode it's not that awkward, but in portrait mode it looks more so.

Why not change the orientation same way? In landscape mode instead of top-bottom split, make a left right split, put the current book cover left or right with all of the meta info and a 'light version' library overview at left or even better perhaps to show a 'reading list'.

And in portrait mode you keep the original layout but instead of the current thumbrow of read books again either a cover flow of your 'reading list' or a 'light version' library overview.

And when you are thinking of something else to make it stand apart. Why not add a 'cover screensaver' which kicks in after having had the home screen opened for x amount of minutes without activity?

As for the rest, I recognize myself partly in the OP's post. On the iPhone I still stick with Stanza, habits die hard.

[Faterson]

Originally Posted by At_Libitum

How? did the bottom margin also increase then?

I don't know. If Kris makes an install file of Marvin 1.x available for us, I could test it on my iPad 1, comparing it side-by-side with iPad 3. All I know is: while I was never fascinated by Marvin's Library design, I never found it ugly, either. Until now. As soon as the rows of dots were removed, leaving especially the right-hand side of the iPad screen largely empty, the blinding whitespace overstepped the boundaries of the tolerable for me.

I have always disliked white backgrounds, but the disaster that is iOS 7 has made me downright allergic to them now, so I may be more sensitive to whitespace now than before. So many apps that looked perfectly fine until iOS 6, now look absolutely ghoulish with all the blinding whitespace inserted just so that the app apes iOS 7's anti-aesthetics. I can't wait for 2019 or so when the flat fad will be abandoned in droves again after everyone gets fed up with it.

To clarify: I'm only talking about the Library screen here. The progress bar inside the book itself while reading the book is still (optionally) there, and I find it essential.

[pwalker8]

I've pretty much moved from mostly iBooks and some Kindle app to Marvin. The collections and being able to sync changes to those collections via calibre is the real kicker for me. I tend to read on my iPad and my iPad mini at different times during the day. As long as I have an internet connection, I can sync my location in a specific book between the two with no problems at all.

[kguil]

Originally Posted by At_Libitum

How? did the bottom margin also increase then?

Nope.