CC Beta V3.6.3a-e/V3.6.4 have been published.

[jackie_w]

Originally Posted by chaley

I just put it back how it was. ???

Another miracle! I definitely only got CC List last night.

Originally Posted by chaley

If Samsung devices behave like that then perhaps I should add the text. The problem: "Calibre Companion Grid View" etc won't fit on many devices, resulting in ellipsis. Do you think I could use "CC Grid View" and new users would understand? Or perhaps "Grid View Calibre Companion" and let the word "Companion" get the ellipses (I don't like this much)? Or perhaps "Cal Comp Grid View"? Or perhaps do nothing after all?

EDIT: Idea: one of the books could be the CC logo, making "CC something" be OK.

On Samsung 4.0.4 you only see the CC icon plus caption anyway so something like CC List view, CC Grid view and CC Stack view should distinguish them to a CC afficionado. Maybe someone else can chip in.

On Samsung 4.4.2 you can also see the sample screenshots on the select-a-widget page so it's easier.

Originally Posted by chaley

I sized all of them at 1x1, figuring that people would resize them to whatever they want. However, as you point out some people might not know how to resize them.

How about I make the default size for the grid and stack views 2x2 and the default for the list view 1x2? A user can resize them smaller or larger.

The problem on Samsung Android 4.0.4 is I don't know of any way to resize a widget. Am I missing something? Apps that have multiple-sized widgets seem to offer each size as a separate option in the 'widget ribbon'. I can see that multiple size options for 3 different widgets is undesirable. It's hard to say what is optimal for each, everyone will have their own opinion. Many people will prefer a useable 1x1 option, others will be of the opinion 'the bigger the better". The List is perfectly OK for me at 1x1, so is the Stack (as I know about swiping). The Grid images on the Note1 at 1x1 display much smaller than those on the Note3 at 1x1. I think the Grid would be better to be >=2cols wide. Whether it would further be improved at 2rows tall I'm not sure without seeing it.

Without rambling further the simple answer is - I don't know. What % of CC users have the 'can't resize widgets' problem?

ETA: Here's a screenshot from the Note1. You'll need to reduce it to 13cm diagonal to get a real feel for it.

[chaley]

Originally Posted by jackie_w

The problem on Samsung Android 4.0.4 is I don't know of any way to resize a widget. Am I missing something?

Assuming Samsung didn't remove the capability, long-press on a widget should permit you to move it and also provide resizing handles. The feature arrived in Android 3. The handles look like this:

[jackie_w]

Originally Posted by chaley

Assuming Samsung didn't remove the capability, long-press on a widget should permit you to move it and also provide resizing handles. The feature arrived in Android 3. The handles look like this:

I have that with Samsung Android 4.4.2 (orange box not blue) but nothing with Samsung Android 4.0.4

[nqk]

@Chaley, it now just came.



1) Thank you for the new "tap action" option.
2) Widget only shows 6 books. Nexus 4, Nova Launcher Pro beta 3 (latest), Android 5.1
3) "Resize" works fine with me.

[chaley]

Originally Posted by nqk

@Chaley, it now just came.





1) Thank you for the new "tap action" option.

You are welcome.

2) Widget only shows 6 books. Nexus 4, Nova Launcher Pro beta 3 (latest), Android 5.1

That is what it is supposed to do -- show the last 6 books opened with a reader app. If you don't use CC's "automatically set date read" feature then the 6 books will initially be random, but will show books opened once you open them.

[nqk]

Originally Posted by jackie_w

The problem on Samsung Android 4.0.4 is I don't know of any way to resize a widget.

You may want to try another launcher? Nova works with me, but I don't remember if it supports "resize" in 4.0.4, though.

[jackie_w]

Originally Posted by nqk

You may want to try another launcher? Nova works with me, but I don't remember if it supports "resize" in 4.0.4, though.

I Googled around, apparently you're correct, it is the Samsung stock TouchWiz launcher which is responsible for the non-resizeable widgets on Android 4.0.4.

@chaley, It's anyone's guess how many CC users with a Samsung 4.0.4 device have not updated the stock launcher to one that actually supports resizeable widgets. If you think there may be a lot then having at least one of them default to 2x2 may be a good idea. Speaking only for myself, if I want a CC widget on the Note1 I'll just pick one of the 1x1 options which works OK as-is, i.e. List or Stack.

[chaley]

Originally Posted by jackie_w

@chaley, It's anyone's guess how many CC users with a Samsung 4.0.4 device have not updated the stock launcher to one that actually supports resizeable widgets. If you think there may be a lot then having at least one of them default to 2x2 may be a good idea. Speaking only for myself, if I want a CC widget on the Note1 I'll just pick one of the 1x1 options which works OK as-is, i.e. List or Stack.

There can't be that many. Only 8% of CC users run 4.0.3/4 and they probably aren't all Samsung.

However, I am not worried just about people who can't resize a widget. There are probably a lot of people who don't know how to resize a widget or would be unhappy that the widget "looks bad" out of the box. This is an argument to make the widgets reasonably useful when first placed, which means they should be sized to something appropriate for its shape. For the moment (and in an unreleased version) I have chosen a default of 2x2 for the stack and grid views, and 1x2 (1 wide 2 high) for the list view. Assuming the device allows it and assuming the user knows how, all widgets remain fully resizable.

I have also changed the names so that one can tell what a widget does from its description, shortening "Calibre Companion" to "CC". To help with knowing what "CC" means in the description I have added the CC icon to the widget preview. I realize that some people will think that the actual widget will show the CC icon but they will be disabused of that notion as soon as they try it.

Here is what it looks like. Comments from everyone are welcome.

[Dhevi]

@Chaley: I've given it a few days of trial and so far have not had issues with Mantano crashing with using either the shortcut or widgets.

I will let you know if/when it occurs, if there may be information gleaned from it.

[jackie_w]

Originally Posted by chaley

Comments from everyone are welcome.

That all sounds reasonable to me.

[kaufman]

Sorry I wasn't around to help with this cycle, I've been traveling for two weeks and had limited access to the internet.

The widget is nice, but I've been using the one in Moon+Reader which does pretty much the same thing. I'll probably switch to yours in some misguided attempt to be supportive.

[chaley]

Originally Posted by kaufman

Sorry I wasn't around to help with this cycle, I've been traveling for two weeks and had limited access to the internet.

I hope you went someplace interesting.

The widget is nice, but I've been using the one in Moon+Reader which does pretty much the same thing. I'll probably switch to yours in some misguided attempt to be supportive.

Thanks for the sentiment. However, if what you are using works for you, keep it. Life is too complicated already.

[kaufman]

Originally Posted by chaley

Thanks for the sentiment. However, if what you are using works for you, keep it. Life is too complicated already.

Well, one advantage the Moon reader widget has is that it shows the books in list view (small cover, book titles) rather than cover view (large covers). Now if CC did that, I would switch for sure....

[chaley]

Originally Posted by kaufman

Well, one advantage the Moon reader widget has is that it shows the books in list view (small cover, book titles) rather than cover view (large covers). Now if CC did that, I would switch for sure....

Interesting. That widget has two properties that people rejected for CC's widgets: a title bar, and an opaque background that is probably necessary for text. It also shows the file name, not the book title.

Is anyone else interested in this presentation? It would look something like the Moon+ widget image below, with the book's title and without the reading percentage or title bar.

[kaufman]

Originally Posted by chaley

Interesting. That widget has two properties that people rejected for CC's widgets: a title bar, and an opaque background that is probably necessary for text. It also shows the file name, not the book title.

Is anyone else interested in this presentation? It would look something like the Moon+ widget image below, with the book's title and without the reading percentage or title bar.

My personal preference would be to leave it transparent, because I use a black background.

Its funny, but because of way I name the books files, I had never noticed that it was showing the file name instead of the title/author. Thanks for pointing that out, because now I can't unsee it and the book id and extension are really annoying.