Marvin, Calibre, Syncing Multiple iDevices...

[fncll]

I bought and used Marvin with Calibre and iOS plugins to populate Marvin on my iPad Mini. Totally great!

My question: how do I sync my Marvin library between my Mini and my other iPad?

[kguil]

@fncll - Marvin doesn't sync books between devices. It would require automatically uploading people's books to a third party cloud service (like Dropbox) which I'm still not sure is a good idea.

[FredipusRex]

Originally Posted by kguil

@fncll - Marvin doesn't sync books between devices. It would require automatically uploading people's books to a third party cloud service (like Dropbox) which I'm still not sure is a good idea.

I wonder if you could work with something like the COPS OPDS server to use it as a private cloud. I already use it as a 24/7 book server rather than leave Calibre running and have set things up so I can access it anywhere. Add a "On Marvin" tag that can be read and updated and you're pretty much there (as you can already read and download from OPDS feeds).

[fncll]

What might be the best way to approximate syncing, then (meaning: get the same set of books on all devices)? Tag the books in Calibre, perhaps? Surely I'm not the only one who uses Marvin on multiple iOS devices?

Also, maybe it wouldn't be bad to allow the user to make the choice if they want to use a cloud storage service? My entire library is in Dropbox already and I use Calibre, which could also be the hub. Perhaps, though, the "sync" I am looking for would be best accomplished as part of the Calibre services/plugins?

[kguil]

There's a problem using Dropbox for book sync. There are two scenarios here, each having disadvantages:

1) Books are stored in a Dropbox 'sync' sub directory that Marvin can look in: This would entail duplicating books - one in "Marvin's" sync sub directory and one in the book's original place.
2) Books are kept in their original Dropbox location: (a) The sync process to determine whether there are new, updated or deleted books can slow things down, and (b) some people store several thousands of books in their Dropbox (I've had support issues with 70,000+ books). Although I personally find this to be an unreasonable amount, this will cause all sorts of support issues during auto download.

I really find that cloud sync is really useful (I'd love it for myself) but given that it is known that sometimes cloud services "scan" your content, I don't really want readers to have trouble using their DRM free books. Having Marvin automatically upload stuff can be a problem even with a prompt (some people don't read them or understand what's going on).

[DaleDe]

I think the Marvin folder in dropbox is quite a bit more hidden (private) than the root (public) and could be supported for syncing in addition to its purpose now. While it is not fully hidden I think this feature would be useful and the user can determine whether or not to use it.

Dale

[Philantrop]

I couldn't agree more with Dale. I think you're way over-cautious here, Kris.

[vikarti]

if scan-by-cloud-service is the only issue..what about encrypting books Marvin itself uploads to 'sync' folder ? (with key stored in iCloud or entered by user). This should prevent scan-by-cloud-service-and-report-to-.... from working

[bethohio3]

Originally Posted by fncll

What might be the best way to approximate syncing, then (meaning: get the same set of books on all devices)? Tag the books in Calibre, perhaps? Surely I'm not the only one who uses Marvin on multiple iOS devices?

We use Marvin (and sync with calibre) on 4 devices (we each have an iPhone and an iPad).

I didn't realize there were any difficulties--I open calibre, connect the device, open Marvin and select Get Books, and then in calibre, send the ones I want to the device memory.

The devices don't sync with each other--they each sync with calibre.

Good luck!

[kguil]

@Dale @Philantrop - The Dropbox API doesn't work like that (forgive me if I misunderstood your posts). These are the two options developers have:

1) Full access to Dropbox.
2) Access only the app's private/sandboxed directory.

Marvin needs full access to Dropbox since there's the function to look for and let you download books anywhere in your Dropbox (e.g. if you keep calibre in Dropbox like I do). Developers aren't given both options (full access and sandboxed).

One of my concerns is that if books are already in some directory X in my Dropbox, for sync to work, Marvin would have to duplicate/copy them to another sync folder. This would result in seeing duplicate books in Marvin's Dropbox screen and of course take more space.

[DaleDe]

Originally Posted by kguil

@Dale @Philantrop - The Dropbox API doesn't work like that (forgive me if I misunderstood your posts). These are the two options developers have:

1) Full access to Dropbox.
2) Access only the app's private/sandboxed directory.

Marvin needs full access to Dropbox since there's the function to look for and let you download books anywhere in your Dropbox (e.g. if you keep calibre in Dropbox like I do). Developers aren't given both options (full access and sandboxed).

One of my concerns is that if books are already in some directory X in my Dropbox, for sync to work, Marvin would have to duplicate/copy them to another sync folder. This would result in seeing duplicate books in Marvin's Dropbox screen and of course take more space.

Sorry, I didn't realize Dropbox had this limitation on its developers. That seems stupid to me and perhaps you can persuade them as to the error in their ways. A developer should have public area access and access to their own private area but not other private areas.

Dale

[markbond1007]

Personally, i am not too worried about syncing all the books in Marvin to other devices, but rather if I download one from Dropbox (say) I would like Marvin to auto download when I start Marvin up on another device.

I am quite happy to maintain my list of "readable" books on Dropbox with Calibre's Save to Disk/Connect to Location function. Marvin already synchronises reading location (although it can sometimes be a bit wrong but still its good enough). All it really needs to do is keep books installed from a central location installed across devices (if Calibre allowed me to send to multiple devices in one go I would use that, but it doesn't!).

When I install from dropbox Marvin already checks to see if the book has already been downloaded so it shouldn't be too difficult to tie all this together (well I hope it wouldn't anyway).

[Wearever]

I purchased the Marvin App. for my Ipad mini. Can I use this app. on another Ipad as well or do I have to purchase Marvin again, for each Apple Device, Iphone or Ipad ? They would be for same account on Itunes.

[DaleDe]

Originally Posted by Wearever

I purchased the Marvin App. for my Ipad mini. Can I use this app. on another Ipad as well or do I have to purchase Marvin again, for each Apple Device, Iphone or Ipad ? They would be for same account on Itunes.

All apps on the same account can be used on another device.

Dale

[Wearever]

Originally Posted by DaleDe

All apps on the same account can be used on another device.

Dale

Thank you DaleDe. I was hoping I wouldn't need to buy Marvin again for each device.