my opinion about different ios readers

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

So what iOS reading app allows you to see the eBook as the the coding says it should be and has proper overrides that allows you to turn all of the overrides off so you see the eBook as the coding says it should? Do these apps handle text indents of 0 so you can change the regular text indents while leaving text indents of 0 alone?

I'm guessing there isn't such an app.

For ePub, iBooks is pretty much the only iOS reading app (that I've personally encountered) that displays the book as the author intended.

You're obviously entitled to have your own opinions on reading apps, Jon, but please do moderate your tone a little. "X isn't to my personal liking" is a less confrontational way of stating an opinion than "X is garbage".

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by HarryT

For ePub, iBooks is pretty much the only iOS reading app (that I've personally encountered) that displays the book as the author intended.

You're obviously entitled to have your own opinions on reading apps, Jon, but please do moderate your tone a little. "X isn't to my personal liking" is a less confrontational way of stating an opinion than "X is garbage".

What's your opinion of reading apps that override the CSS and don't allow you to see the eBook as the CSS intended? This includes apps that have options to override some of the CSS but still don't get it correct. Like overriding indents and then all the indents of 0 are no longer working.

[MartyTX]

Originally Posted by cedhax

Everything? Stanza can read PDF, but Marvin can't.

You are correct.

I rarely do any "pleasure reading" in the PDF format, and should have said that Marvin does everything that I want in a reader.

That's one of the reasons the great debate goes on and on ... we all do not want/need the same features.

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

What's your opinion of reading apps that override the CSS and don't allow you to see the eBook as the CSS intended?

I know, from what I've seen other people say right here at MR, that some people want all their books to have a uniform appearance, hence my response would be that this is a facility that is valuable to some readers.

It's no use at all to an ebook creator, of course, but readers far outnumber creators.

[ekbell]

Originally Posted by kyteflyer

Maybe he likes the app to tell him what to read. I'd hate random order, crazy stuff.

I rather enjoy shuffle sort as an option. If I want to read a particular title, author, or subject then I'll use the search functions but when I'm just browsing shuffle sort often brings up interesting books I've forgotten about. It's like a lucky dip with no horridly useless prizes!

I do wish that Marvin would offer an [author, series] sort, though.

[JSWolf]

A shuffle can be a pain if most books are part of a series.

[ekbell]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

A shuffle can be a pain if most books are part of a series.

That does sound annoying. Most of my books (79%) are not part of a series which may be one of the reasons I enjoy the shuffle.

As for the publisher setting vs reading app overrides. I'd prefer an app that fully allowed both but as I have to choose I prefer the option that gives me the maximum ability to adjust.

In the end I can live with a reader that allows me to organize my books and adjust things so that no words are too tiny to read, all words are arranged in such a way as makes sense (occasionally a problem with sidenotes and footnotes), without overly large spaces between lines, or annoying line breaks.

[cedhax]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

Stanza is garbage. It doesn't work well enough not to be.

Apps that don't respect CSS are garbage. Apps have an override mode but still don't respect the CSS are garbage. When you have overrides, all overrides have to be able to be shut off so the CSS can be used where it's wanted. One thing some apps do is they screw up a text indent of 0. That has to be handled differently than a regular indent. If a text indent of 0 is going to be overridden, then it has to be separate from a regular text indent.

The other issue is fonts. Marvin is garbage because when you are in override mode, it doesn't respect the CSS properly. For example no embedded fonts are displayed.

So what iOS reading app allows you to see the eBook as the the coding says it should be and has proper overrides that allows you to turn all of the overrides off so you see the eBook as the coding says it should? Do these apps handle text indents of 0 so you can change the regular text indents while leaving text indents of 0 alone?

I'm guessing there isn't such an app.

Actually, we've got through this kind of comparison in various threads before. Let me repeat some highlights for the sake of the "later-comers". Among the 3 apps that support EPUB as part of their offering and whose developers have hung around in mobileread forums, in choronological order, namely, Marvin, Hyphen, and MapleRead, only MapleRead satisfies JSWolf's requirements above regarding honoring zero-text-indent and embedded fonts.

Let's get the facts straight, regardless of your favorite ereaders.

[tomsem]

So Marvin, Hyphen, MapleRead: who wants to be the first to include random-selecting a different book when you shake the device?

[JesseTheK]

I'd like to chime in why I prefer KyBook 2. I'm not a Calibre user because it's too complicated for me.

KyBook 2 is versatile: reads ePubs, mobis, PDFs, and audio books!

Offers filing options: I can create folders on my iPad and move my books there.

I can read from Dropbox, iCloud, and other cloud services.

KyBook 2 has more features than I can use, and it's possible for me to find them.

I used Marvin 2 and 3 daily and I would still spend a lot of time doing UI discovery. It was too confusing.

I read on the iPad because it's physically easier: no pages to turn and fonts as big as I like. In an earlier life I was a book designer, so being able to override publisher's CSS is vital.

[Alohamora]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

What's your opinion of reading apps that override the CSS and don't allow you to see the eBook as the CSS intended? This includes apps that have options to override some of the CSS but still don't get it correct. Like overriding indents and then all the indents of 0 are no longer working.

Any app that did not allow me to completely ignore the publisher's CSS would be rubbish for me.

[crashnburn]

Thanks for these insights. If there's any updates on such matters please do share.

I was down with some domestic & health issues so all these things had to take a back seat.

Is Marvin still the best in terms of eBook Highlighting & Reading?

PS: Is there any match or near equivalent in the Android/ Amazon Kindle Fire Tablet world as an alternative (when we have both iOS iPad & Kindle 8)?

Originally Posted by gabaldini

This is my opinion about my experience with four different reader apps in ios,:

• customization. For me is the most important feature,one of the reasons I prefer ios to an eink reader, the possibility to add url schemes,search your own dictionary, etc
  Marvin and Kybook 2 are great
  Mapleread and Hyphen dont have the possibility to add url Schemes
• Database
  Marvin , Mapleread and Hyphen has very nice databases , Marvin has a random order that I like a lot.
  Kybook must improve
• interface
  Here Mapleread and Hyphen are the best
  Kybook and Marvin are ok.
• page count
  Hyphen seems the best, in Marvin you can customize the page information you want, Kybook is good too, Mapleread only gives pages in chapter
• pdf
  here Mapleread se and kybook 2 are the winners

My conclusions

Marvin is the best , but lacks pdf support and has some minor issues
Mapleread and Hyphen are magnificent apps but lacking the possibility to use reader own dictionary , or app
Kybook 2 is a great app, but his database is not very good
I expect these apps would improve to give the readers all they want!

Originally Posted by pwalker8

One of the reasons that there isn't one and only one ebook reader is that everyone likes different things. I find that I like reading via Marvin better than reading via Maplereader. It's not any one thing. It syncs well enough for me across multiple iPads (I use a pro and mini in my reading) and I simply like the Marvin screen better for reading.

My current configuration is calibre companion and marvin.

The downside is that reading apps for the iPad is basically a hobby rather than a livelihood. The money just isn't there. Most people are satisfied with the iBook and Kindle apps and never go beyond them. It would be nice if someone would constantly be improving their app, but I think it's a bit unrealistic to expect that to happen.

Originally Posted by svenlind

Mapleread does have URL schemes, but not as many as Marvin. The upcoming version of Mapleread will extend this option.

I really like both Marvin and Mapleread. I therefore use Calibre Companion for IOS to organize my ebooks on my iPad devices. It makes it easy to follow my whims on the choice of ereader app.

Originally Posted by cedhax

Actually, we've got through this kind of comparison in various threads before. Let me repeat some highlights for the sake of the "later-comers". Among the 3 apps that support EPUB as part of their offering and whose developers have hung around in mobileread forums, in choronological order, namely, Marvin, Hyphen, and MapleRead, only MapleRead satisfies JSWolf's requirements above regarding honoring zero-text-indent and embedded fonts.

Let's get the facts straight, regardless of your favorite ereaders.

Originally Posted by JesseTheK

I'd like to chime in why I prefer KyBook 2. I'm not a Calibre user because it's too complicated for me.

KyBook 2 is versatile: reads ePubs, mobis, PDFs, and audio books!

Offers filing options: I can create folders on my iPad and move my books there.

I can read from Dropbox, iCloud, and other cloud services.

KyBook 2 has more features than I can use, and it's possible for me to find them.

I used Marvin 2 and 3 daily and I would still spend a lot of time doing UI discovery. It was too confusing.

I read on the iPad because it's physically easier: no pages to turn and fonts as big as I like. In an earlier life I was a book designer, so being able to override publisher's CSS is vital.

[HarryT]

This thread is a year and a half old. Why not tell us what your impression of the various reading apps is now you've had the opportunity to try them?

[crashnburn]

Originally Posted by HarryT

This thread is a year and a half old. Why not tell us what your impression of the various reading apps is now you've had the opportunity to try them?

I was down with some domestic & health issues so all these things had to take a back seat.

^ That's why not. Unless of course the response is meant for someone else who has DONE SO.
Wanting to getting back to my reading, currently have an ancient iPad 2 (16 GB) with very old version Marvin.

Contemplating if I should get a not so ancient, used or new iPad at a low price or something else. Very out of touch & researching. So, appreciate the graces of people who are more up to date.

[pwalker8]

Originally Posted by crashnburn

I was down with some domestic & health issues so all these things had to take a back seat.

^ That's why not. Unless of course the response is meant for someone else who has DONE SO.
Wanting to getting back to my reading, currently have an ancient iPad 2 (16 GB) with very old version Marvin.

Contemplating if I should get a not so ancient, used or new iPad at a low price or something else. Very out of touch & researching. So, appreciate the graces of people who are more up to date.

I will say that a more up to date iPad would be useful if you have more than a few hundred books. My iPad Pro syncs up with Calibre a lot faster than my iPad mini. The author of Calibre Companion said that CC uses the iPad internal cache memory so more of that is better.

I still use the Marvin/Calibre Companion combination. Marvin hasn't been updated in a while. Maple Reader seems to be under active development. I've used it from time to time and it's improved a lot. I like the feel of Marvin more, but would have no issues using Maple Reader if Marvin becomes no functional in future iOS releases.