Firmware 4.18.13737 released

[compurandom]

Originally Posted by theducks

I've been using this release for a few days now and I have yet to find something the old one did better.
The one thing I would like to see: Desensitize ON PAGE LINKS in the page turn area (edges) everywhere. I frequent get false selections, when I was just trying to turn a page

The best way to fix this is to switch to swipe only to turn pages.

I actually have the reverse problem -- links near the bottom and sides of the screen are very difficult to activate, even with page turn set to swipe only.

[Quoth]

Yes, I decided long ago that swipe only is best. I'd be tempted to get an ereader with page turn buttons (I do have 3 ancient ereaders with them). I mainly read on Kobo Aura H2O

[haydnfan]

Originally Posted by davidfor

And Kobo have left you the option. Just use epubs, and you will get the page numbering you desire.

No where in my post did I say that I personally wanted the old page numbers back. I prefer the new page numbers and have been asking for it for YEARS.

I concede that one can use epubs instead of kepubs *shutter.* But that takes considerably more effort than buying a book directly from the Kobo store. If you, or people you know, use epubs, Calibre and sideloading fine. But that is certainly not the use case for everyone.

And it doesn't fully invalidate my point. Firmware updates should never take away features, especially popular features. Ratinox did have a very good rebuttal to my argument, which I'm about to get to.

[haydnfan]

Ratinox,

You've made a very good point. It is hard to disagree with breaking the KISS philosophy. But I think that I can. So bear with me.

Kindle followed that philosophy to a fault in their early generation models. They had a very simple, uniform interface. Don't get me wrong, I find it more pleasurable to read on those older models for that reason. Showing a progress bar and percentage was all I needed. Having font size choices was all I needed. Listing the books on the device was again all I really needed.

But a curious thing happened. People repeatedly started talking about how great Kobo was for providing more options like boldness, justification, progress etc. etc., and Kindle started adding these extra features to appease different groups of readers. You can argue that it compromised the UI. But honestly for most people it is set it and forget it.

The more complex UI doesn't deter from the reading experience because nearly all of the time the settings are hidden from view. It does not detract from reading.

And this is how I disagree with you. I don't think that necessarily keeping a UI simple is what good design philosophy should be. It is that the UI should not get in the way or be overly cumbersome or confusing. It is a subtle but important difference. Adding an extra option for page numbers doesn't detract from the reading experience. It doesn't create confusion. It doesn't make the UI cumbersome.

Simplicity of design should be interpreted as an aesthetic and not a dumbing down or reduction in necessary, enriching features.

[Alanon]

I'm not sure why design philosophy got so many people riled up, but here's my two cents.

I think most would agree that epubs would (and do) look better without any tacked on pages. That still means little, especially when one factors in other potential applications. While I dislike the system, the look and feel of the ADE tacked on numbers, I still get out of my way to use them, because page numbering on electronic media is a problem whenever you want to cite something. Citing by book and chapter is simply sloppy scholarship, and will be received with heightened scrutiny. ADE numbering is the only thing approaching a standard that someone might reasonably have access to, and know how to use. You cannot refer anyone to your bookmark or annotation. One could say that ebooks are limited and should not be used for that purpose - tell that to academic publishers.

Some standards need to exist - as they do in the printing world, especially if one wants the practice to evolve. Paper books come in a wide range of formats, type layouts, footnotes, endnotes and many, many other things. Some of them we personally might not like (ever have to read small-print?), but we still buy the book and read it for the content. I see no benefit to freewheeling anarchy and not standardising some non-intrusive ebook elements for the sake of total personal freedom. With that attitude ebooks won't develop at all. I see no reason for not having options like page numbers even if some people find them superfluous and don't use them. After all, a great number of people simply do not read, but that does not mean that books are merely a decrepit analogue format, doesn't it?

[ratinox]

Originally Posted by haydnfan

But a curious thing happened. People repeatedly started talking about how great Kobo was for providing more options like boldness, justification, progress etc. etc., and Kindle started adding these extra features to appease different groups of readers. You can argue that it compromised the UI. But honestly for most people it is set it and forget it.

I don't think this breaks good UI design philosophy at all. Fine-grained typeface and font controls are useful, practical features because different people have different vision charactistics. Being able to accomodate different people's needs when presenting content is one way that ebook readers are superior to print.

This is an entirely different thing from positioning page numbers. The physical location of numbers unrelated to the content makes no practical difference when presenting the content to anyone except as the "position" is removed entirely to free up space for more of the content. Ignoring my opinion about faux page numbers for the moment, I see no reason to display these numbers with the content. Put them on a tap-panel like the typeface and font controls.

[MGlitch]

As the issue of page numbers has grown significantly out of the bounds of this firmware release, and has spilled into a different thread also not about page numbers, I've created a thread to try and get the other threads back on topic.

https://www.mobileread.com/forums/sh...02#post3899702

[JeanPierre]

Originally Posted by issybird

• They're a consistent enumeration across books, which means that I can estimate for myself how much longer a book will take, especially useful when reading nonfiction, when Kobo's time estimates include all the back matter, which will not be read.

I just skip to the back matter, check the estimated time remaining and remember to subtract it from the current time remaining as I read.

I have it set up so the header shows the chapter progress in pages, and the footer shows the time remaining to read the book.

[anacreon]

I was very surprised just now to see my Libra synchronizing and the wi-fi on without my say so - I only synchronize for Pocket.

My parameters, when checked, remained the same: NO automatic synchronization. And I have the "Always show confirmation dialog before upgrading" patch activated.

I turned the reader off. When I turned it back on, the wi-fi was on.
I repeated the process, this time the wi-fi was off - as it should be.

I don't understand. Anybody had this kind of problem with the latest F/W?

[davidfor]

Originally Posted by anacreon

I was very surprised just now to see my Libra synchronizing and the wi-fi on without my say so - I only synchronize for Pocket.

My parameters, when checked, remained the same: NO automatic synchronization.
And I have the "Always show confirmation dialog before upgrading" patch activated.

I turned the reader off. When I turned it back on, the wi-fi was on.
I repeated the process, this time the wi-fi was off - as it should be.

I don't understand. Anybody had this kind of problem with the latest F/W?

The only way to turn off synchronisation is to turn off WiFi. The "Automatic sync" option is only for the full daily scheduled sync. The device will sync at other times, such as returning to the home screen. There is no way to turn this off except to turn of WiFi.

I can't comment on the WiFi coming on. I run with WiFi on nearly all the time. On the rare times that I turn it off for a while, I have never caught it coming on without me doing it.

[JeanPierre]

Déjà vu.

[4691mls]

Originally Posted by JeanPierre

I just skip to the back matter, check the estimated time remaining and remember to subtract it from the current time remaining as I read.

I have it set up so the header shows the chapter progress in pages, and the footer shows the time remaining to read the book.

I always check to see what page number the back matter starts. This was easier with Sony as all I had to do was open the table of contents, which listed a page number for each chapter as well as for other content such as an excerpt at the back of the book. I didn't actually have to go to the excerpt to see what page it started on. I wish Kobo would do this with its table of contents.

[dmapr]

Originally Posted by 4691mls

I always check to see what page number the back matter starts. This was easier with Sony as all I had to do was open the table of contents, which listed a page number for each chapter as well as for other content such as an excerpt at the back of the book. I didn't actually have to go to the excerpt to see what page it started on. I wish Kobo would do this with its table of contents.

I wish so too and even mentioned it in the firmware wish thread: https://www.mobileread.com/forums/sh...&postcount=808 and https://www.mobileread.com/forums/sh...&postcount=859

[JeanPierre]

I like that idea very much, actually. I hope it gets implemented one day.

[Quoth]

Originally Posted by davidfor

The only way to turn off synchronisation is to turn off WiFi. The "Automatic sync" option is only for the full daily scheduled sync. The device will sync at other times, such as returning to the home screen. There is no way to turn this off except to turn of WiFi.

I can't comment on the WiFi coming on. I run with WiFi on nearly all the time. On the rare times that I turn it off for a while, I have never caught it coming on without me doing it.

I've never seen WiFi turn itself on. Even with search you've to tap acceptance.

I wonder is the "sync" on returning to homescreen only updating things related to the two bottom small tiles?

It's annoying that the WiFi icon is now missing from reading menu as WiFi can be turned on by searching highlight on Wikipedia or Google but not turned off till you are on the homescreen.

I only use WiFi for search.