Firmware 4.18.13737 released

[haydnfan]

Originally Posted by mathil

I always used percentage to do that and then moved around to reach the exact spot

I always search for a phrase. I find that much quicker than jocking around by page #, chapter etc. It is fairly easy to find a unique two or three word phrase on any page of any book.

[haydnfan]

No matter how you like your page numbers, I think that there is a problem here. The problem is that by changing the ADE page number algorithm to the Kobo page number algorithm they took away something that some people were used to and wanted to have.

This is just like when Amazon took away the progress bar. Sure many were glad to see it gone, but some wanted it.

In both cases having the ability to choose what you want is preferable to the company deciding for you. I think that Kobo should restore the old page #s as an option for people that want it. I don't see why we can't have both ways and make everyone happy.

[mathil]

Originally Posted by Phil_C

I'm seeing a problem with the Reading Progress information screen in this firmware. The current and next chapter times remaining and the chapters graphic all "stick" where they start. They do not change as I progress through chapters and the book. They will reset to the proper information if I go to the home screen and back to the book. Then they stick right there again until I repeat the home screen trick.

I set the header and footer to show time remaining, and those progress correctly as I read. But the Reading Progress screen still does not.

The cause is not any of the patches, because I briefly went back to the original 4.18 FW without patching. Same problem.

This is on a Clara with kepubs converted from epub via calibre transfer.

Am I missing something? I'm surprised that no one else has reported this.

I just tried with my Libra and you're absolutely right, it's happening to me as well. I think people haven't been noticing because the Reading Progress screen is not as visible as it used to be in previous firmware versions. Just reported this to CS.

[ratinox]

Originally Posted by haydnfan

In both cases having the ability to choose what you want is preferable to the company deciding for you. I think that Kobo should restore the old page #s as an option for people that want it. I don't see why we can't have both ways and make everyone happy.

Because you can't. Options confuse people so simply having the choice at all will make some less than happy.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by ratinox

Because you can't. Options confuse people so simply having the choice at all will make some less than happy.

If we wanted a Reader with very limited options, we'd be using a Kindle.

[Phil_C]

Originally Posted by mathil

I just tried with my Libra and you're absolutely right, it's happening to me as well. I think people haven't been noticing because the Reading Progress screen is not as visible as it used to be in previous firmware versions.

Yes, they really buried it. In previous versions, it was one or two clicks away. (It would stick once you brought it up and went back to reading. So it was there immediately when you reopened the menu.) Now it is three clicks away.

Maybe they hid it because it no longer works?

[mathil]

Originally Posted by Phil_C

Yes, they really buried it. In previous versions, it was one or two clicks away. (It would stick once you brought it up and went back to reading. So it was there immediately when you reopened the menu.) Now it is three clicks away.

Maybe they hid it because it no longer works?

They probably wanted to have the same look for both epubs and kepubs, but it is true that they could have, I don't know, left a more direct link to it in the top menu instead of hiding it even more. Anyway, I let CS know and hopefully it will be fixed in the next release, whenever that is.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by mathil

I just tried with my Libra and you're absolutely right, it's happening to me as well. I think people haven't been noticing because the Reading Progress screen is not as visible as it used to be in previous firmware versions. Just reported this to CS.

I see the same issue with my H2O. Does this problem happen on an unpatched 4.18.13737?

[Phil_C]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

I see the same issue with my H2O. Does this problem happen on an unpatched 4.18.13737?

Yes, I went back to unpatched original 4.18 -- and same problem. So it is the Kobo FW that is at fault.

Was there any doubt? Our community patchers are way better than Kobo programmers!

[John F]

Originally Posted by ratinox

Because you can't. Options confuse people so simply having the choice at all will make some less than happy.

And it will make some more than happy.

They have options for page turn zones. For what is in the header. For what is in the footer. For show ADE page numbers. For how to sort. To show downloaded books only. ... Think of all those poor less than happy customers.

[ratinox]

Originally Posted by John F

And it will make some more than happy.

They have options for page turn zones. For what is in the header. For what is in the footer. For show ADE page numbers. For how to sort. To show downloaded books only. ... Think of all those poor less than happy customers.

Yup. You can't please everyone.

The most core tenet of UI design is keeping the interface simple and consistent. Providing options to change the UI layout -- in other words make it inconsistent -- is bad UI design. If you're going to break from this tenet then you should have a good reason for doing so. I've yet to see anything in this thread that I consider a good enough reason.

[John F]

Originally Posted by ratinox

Yup. You can't please everyone.

The most core tenet of UI design is keeping the interface simple and consistent. Providing options to change the UI layout -- in other words make it inconsistent -- is bad UI design. If you're going to break from this tenet then you should have a good reason for doing so. I've yet to see anything in this thread that I consider a good enough reason.

Inconsistency? When you change the UI around every couple of releases, I think you are standing on pretty shaky ground saying adding more options makes the UI inconsistent.

I don't really care about UI tenants, or best software practices; I want something that is going to maximize my reading time. Having to repetively click through a UI to keep it "simple and consistent" to get basic functionality that I want goes against my tenant of "don't make a product a PIA to use."

[yur]

I pretty much hate everything about this update except the annotations being easier to reach, but worst of all is that the fixed page numbers are gone. I read with pretty big text, and now a normal length book will display as around 900 pages, just like shitty iBooks, which is messing not just my ability to mark out pages for my studies but also my mental map of the book. couldn’t they have added the option of fixed or fluid page numbers?

For a person who got an e-reader specifically for studies, and who changes font size throughout the day, this is more than a mere nuisance and in the “beyond useless” territory. I wish there was a way to downgrade, but I tried a full reset and the firmware stayed the same. My device doesn’t do anything but produce log files when I try sideloading firmware :/ Has anyone else had his problem? I only read about people dropping the unzipped firmware folder in .kobo and then voilà, the firmware updates?

Does it ever help to complain directly to Kobo and where would one go about doing that?

[ratinox]

Originally Posted by John F

Inconsistency? When you change the UI around every couple of releases, I think you are standing on pretty shaky ground saying adding more options makes the UI inconsistent.

If you apply what I wrote to Kobo's habits?
'nuff said, I think.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by yur

I pretty much hate everything about this update except the annotations being easier to reach, but worst of all is that the fixed page numbers are gone. I read with pretty big text, and now a normal length book will display as around 900 pages, just like shitty iBooks, which is messing not just my ability to mark out pages for my studies but also my mental map of the book. couldn’t they have added the option of fixed or fluid page numbers?

For a person who got an e-reader specifically for studies, and who changes font size throughout the day, this is more than a mere nuisance and in the “beyond useless” territory. I wish there was a way to downgrade, but I tried a full reset and the firmware stayed the same. My device doesn’t do anything but produce log files when I try sideloading firmware :/ Has anyone else had his problem? I only read about people dropping the unzipped firmware folder in .kobo and then voilà, the firmware updates?

Does it ever help to complain directly to Kobo and where would one go about doing that?

It could be that enough people complained about page numbers and wanted them for KePub to be one page = one screen. Just like iBooks and other programs that don't do page numbers correctly. ADe page numbers are quite good and you do get used to them based on your settings.

You can side load a previous firmware. Before you updated to 4.18, did you make a backup of all the files in the user partition? If you did, restore it and do a manual update of the firmware you want ot downgrade to.

But remember, that you won't get any bug fixes or new features if you stick with the firmware you are downgrading to.

To downgrade, all of the files in the firmware ZIP in the .kobo directory. Eject the Kobo and it will install.