Marvin 3.0

[arslonga]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

Any word on embedded font support when not using publisher layout?

I too am very interested in this feature. After a few emails and PMs, the choices I can think of are:

1. Use Hyphen.

2. Modify the original ePub to your liking using Calibre and read the resulting ebook using an app that displays publisher's layout, i.e., the new layout you have instructed Calibre to apply.

[chilady1]

First THANK YOU for Marvin 3 - I am so excited that it is finally here. So far I really LOVE it. One question and it is really small: Marvin use to show the time in the upper corner while inside the book you are reading. Is that feature available and if so how do I turn it on? Thanks in advance for your answer and again loving the new version.

One other question: how do I apply my font preference to all books? I keep having to apply my font preference to each book I open.

[Faterson]

Originally Posted by chilady1

One question and it is really small: Marvin use to show the time in the upper corner while inside the book you are reading. Is that feature available and if so how do I turn it on?

Go to Marvin settings (the cogged wheel in the top-left corner), then tap "EPUB book settings", and then enable the "Show clock in header" option in the "Pagination mode" section.

(It appears that the clock is not available in the "vertical scroll" mode, which may be a bug/omission. I wouldn't know, as I use neither the vertical scroll mode, nor the clock; it would drive me nuts to see the clock all the time while reading. Oh, I do strictly time all of my readings, but in the external Chronology app, since Marvin's timer is no good due to the inability to pause it manually.)

Originally Posted by chilady1

One other question: how do I apply my font preference to all books?

When inside a book, press the "Aa" button in the top-right corner of the screen, and then, on the "Aa" tab, scroll all the way to the bottom, and tap "Apply to all opened books" – that should do it, at least in theory, although I haven't tested this (because I prefer individualized settings for each book).

[wellesradio]

Happy 4th everyone!

So I'm trying out the new Marvin 3.0, and I really appreciate the continuing effort to offer features and apps for all readers. I notice a bit of a glitch, however. In the sidebar/quick menu, under the browser section these is a section titled "annotations and journal". Clicking on this shows me a list of annotations I've made in epubs (imported from Marvin Classic). But they don't link back to the books in any way. It just gives me a snapshot of what I've downloaded along with notes. It seems this would be a key component of an annotations lost. To make matters a little more complicated, when I open the book itself and look under the annotations in the TOC, it appears as if the book has no annotations. They are nowhere to be found, though I am sure I am looking in the right place. In the annotations section of the book the header says, "No Annotations". Just thought you should know. I'd love to help in developing this app. Is it too late to be a beta tester?

[wellesradio]

Oh, and is there any way to hide the quick launch panel? To be honest, I don't much care for it design-wise. I much prefer the look of Classic Marvin and Gerty's tiled book menus. The panel just takes so much screen space, making everything look crowded. Much better if it were a pull down menu or button, I think.

[lazorbeam]

Late to the game, but I'm super pumped about M3 and also the update to the existing Marvin app. I've been using Marvin for 2.5 years and it's the best reader hands-down. (I miss it terribly on my Fire tablet.).

I was worried that focus was primarily on the Gerty app and there woudn't be more Marvin updates. I've been experiencing a glitch when downloading multiple books from Dropbox in 'Get Books'. Very excited to see that addressed in the recent update!

I downloaded Marvin 3 today and it looks just as sleek and intuitive as I've come to love. Looking forward to exploring it more.

[Faterson]

Originally Posted by wellesradio

I notice a bit of a glitch, however. In the sidebar/quick menu, under the browser section these is a section titled "annotations and journal". Clicking on this shows me a list of annotations I've made in epubs (imported from Marvin Classic). But they don't link back to the books in any way. It just gives me a snapshot of what I've downloaded along with notes. It seems this would be a key component of an annotations list.

Absolutely. This is key functionality for annotations, but it doesn't work in Marvin 3 at all. You're being very polite in calling it "a bit of a glitch", so I'll go ahead and call it what it is: a major flaw in Marvin 3. During Beta-testing, I did my very best to persuade Kris that he couldn't possibly release Marvin 3 with such a major dysfunction included, but... there it is.

Please note: old annotations are not really compatible with Marvin 3, so I'm not talking about those. I'm perfectly willing to "pay the price for progress", that is: I'm fine with the old, pre-Marvin 3 annotations not really showing up inside my e-books in Marvin 3. But what I find to be unacceptable is that when you open up the journal in Marvin 3, tapping any annotation (even newly made annotation in Marvin 3) does not take you back to the original book location. This pretty much destroys the Journal for me, rendering it unusable.

Originally Posted by wellesradio

Oh, and is there any way to hide the quick launch panel?

This has been requested by quite a few people, and Kris said it should be possible in a future version. For myself, I love the quick-launch panel, though. Although I requested Kris to make it possible to reorder its items – hopefully that will also be possible in future.

Originally Posted by wellesradio

I'd love to help in developing this app. Is it too late to be a beta tester?

You can always request to join using the procedure quoted below. I'm really unhappy with the Beta-testing process for Marvin 3. It's much inferior compared to the Beta-testing back in the Marvin 2 and Marvin 1 days. Nowadays, Kris only talks to every Beta-tester individually, and I'm afraid this has had a negative impact on Marvin 3. I'm positive that if a standard Beta-testing process had taken place for Marvin 3, it could not possibly have happened for Marvin 3 to be released with such major functionality gaps such as the journal failing to link back to the original book locations from the annotations list.

I hope you will join the Beta-testers, wellesradio, and help improve the annotations functionality in Marvin 3. Marvin 3's annotation capabilities are very imperfect (to put it diplomatically), and many of the deficiencies were already present in Marvin 2 and Marvin 1, but now this new major dysfunction of the Journal has been added in Marvin 3. Let's hope this can improve in future.

Originally Posted by kguil

If anyone is interested in beta testing Marvin, you are welcome to sign up here: http://blog.appstafarian.com/post/144557489963/

[kguil]

@lazorbeam Glad you like it.

@wellesradio The fact that M2 highlights can only be imported as free-form journal entries in M3 is described as a limitation in the Marvin Classic import screen (the screen you used to import M2's backup). M3's highlighting system is considerably more robust than M2's but isn't backwards compatible. Unfortunately, it is a design requirement and not a glitch.

@everyone Just to clarify certain misconceptions being promoted here regarding Marvin's beta testing... The process exists to help Marvin and myself and has been set up in a very efficient way to do precisely that. Also its purpose is to identify defects (crashing, unintended behaviour, etc...) and not as a place to make feature requests. Although I may not always reply, the best way to submit a request is by email, or here on MR.

@wellesradio Just today, I cleared some slots from my beta list so if you're up to some bug-hunting, you're more than welcome. If possible, identify yourself so I give you preference.

[Faterson]

Originally Posted by kguil

@wellesradio The fact that M2 highlights can only be imported as free-form journal entries in M3 is described as a limitation in the Marvin Classic import screen (the screen you used to import M2's backup). M3's highlighting system is considerably more robust than M2's but isn't backwards compatible. Unfortunately, it is a design requirement and not a glitch.

I'm pretty sure wellesradio was not talking just about backwards compatibility, but also – and perhaps primarily – about the inability, as such, to go from the annotations list in the journal to the original book locations. Wellesradio and I aren't the only ones who have spotted this and pointed it out to you, which I really find to be a very grave functionality gap in Marvin 3.

Originally Posted by kguil

Just to clarify certain misconceptions being promoted here regarding Marvin's beta testing... [...] its purpose is to identify defects (crashing, unintended behaviour, etc...) and not as a place to make feature requests.

Talk about misconceptions, Kris. Who said Beta-testing was to be about "feature requests"? But when you introduce brand-new features to Marvin, such as the Journal in Marvin 3, then Beta-testing is definitely the place to get feedback on the new features before they are released to the public at large, right? And yes, even using your definition of Beta-testing, I consider the current Journal in Marvin 3 to be defective. I literally have zero use for the Journal in Marvin 3, other than I'm required to open it whenever I wish to export annotations, but the Journal as such is of no use for me because it's just unpalatable to be unable to tap an annotation and go back to the original location/context inside the book. I'm stunned how Marvin 3 could have been designed that way, and to me, rectifying the current situation would be the removal of a show-stopping defect, and it's not a "feature request" by any means.

But why split hairs over this? The point is, when Beta-testers are allowed to provide collective feedback, or at least to discuss things together before getting back to you, the results of the Beta-testing process are likely to be more beneficial for all sides. It's your call, Kris, of course – I'm simply providing my feedback as a Beta-tester, that I'm seeing a significant drop in quality of the Beta-testing process in Marvin 3, compared to Marvin 2 and Marvin 1. If you yourself are happier today than previously, then good for you, I guess – but that doesn't mean that the product will also be better.

[alok]

@kguil Not sure which thread to post this in, but in Marvin 3, if you search for a term in your annotations/journal entries and edit any entry, the search resets automatically. Is this intended behavior?

[upnseams]

How can I get this to work with my Ipad Air 2. It does nothing. No way to add books. Thanks

[pehkay]

Originally Posted by alok

@kguil Not sure which thread to post this in, but in Marvin 3, if you search for a term in your annotations/journal entries and edit any entry, the search resets automatically. Is this intended behavior?

I raised this up with him. He has some idea coming.

This behaviour is also present in v2.

[Faterson]

Originally Posted by upnseams

How can I get this to work with my Ipad Air 2. It does nothing. No way to add books.

You can use Dropbox or other cloud storage to add books, or you can email a book to yourself and add it to Marvin by opening it from the email attachment.

[June]

@kguil: thank you so much for this app, just found out about it today, tested and had to get the premium. Great work, love the ease of importing books and TTS!

[kguil]

@June Thanks!