Firmware 4.23.15505

[koboy]

Originally Posted by DNSB

I suspect adding, debugging and testing the functionality to allow sorting collections by last access time would not be worth the number of people who would consider such a function useful. The database does have a field for last modified and last accessed time in the Shelf table so most of the work on that end has been done however an index for the last accessed/modified time would need to be added.



I don't search for collections. I search for authors, titles, series, the occasional Kobo store book, the occasional library book. As mentioned all too often, I found collections un-useful when I made them granular enough to be worth having.



Not just I personally would not use it. It's also that I don't see that the number of people who would use that functionality is sufficient to justify the development cost.

And because I can't resist... a new keyboard with a functional shift key would keep you from appearing to be the re-incarnation of e.e. cummings. Though it was tempting to type my entire response to you in UPPER CASE.

how can you possible know how many people would or wouldn't use sort collections list by recent? it's purely your own speculative guess/opinion. that is unless you speak for every Kobo ereader user in the world.

i believe you'd have been more welcoming of the idea to add the option if 1/ it was something that you would have wanted and therefore used. 2/ had the suggestion been made by someone else.


best wishes koboy

[DNSB]

Originally Posted by koboy

how can you possible know how many people would or wouldn't use sort collections list by recent? it's purely your own speculative guess/opinion. that is unless you speak for every Kobo ereader user in the world.

Just like most of what I post, it's my opinion. I have not heard of anyone else requesting such a feature. I tend to check the Kobo future firmware feature thread and I have only seen one request for that functionality. Somebody by the username of koboy if I remember correctly.

Originally Posted by koboy

i believe you'd have been more welcoming of the idea to add the option if 1/ it was something that you would have wanted and therefore used. 2/ had the suggestion been made by someone else.

If it was something I wanted, I would have made the suggestion to Kobo. As for who made the suggestion? Unless the suggestion hits me as "Yeah! That's neat! Why didn't I think of it?"—which your request didn't—I would like to see more than one person making a request before I begin to think that this might be a popular feature regardless of being cold pancakes and no honey to me.

[koboy]

Originally Posted by DNSB

Just like most of what I post, it's my opinion. I have not heard of anyone else requesting such a feature. I tend to check the Kobo future firmware feature thread and I have only seen one request for that functionality. Somebody by the username of koboy if I remember correctly.



If it was something I wanted, I would have made the suggestion to Kobo. As for who made the suggestion? Unless the suggestion hits me as "Yeah! That's neat! Why didn't I think of it?"—which your request didn't—I would like to see more than one person making a request before I begin to think that this might be a popular feature regardless of being cold pancakes and no honey to me.

just like you i see many requests in the Kobo future firmware feature thread, unlike you i don't feel the need to comment on them negatively.

i recall back in the good old days of firmware version 3.16.0 mentioning on here how surprised i was that the firmware didn't allow you to add a password when turning on the device. i was extremely pleased when Kobo finally grasped what a good idea it was. who knows perhaps one day they might catch up with me again.

best wishes koboy

[danielk1591]

Originally Posted by 93terp

Yes! Yes! Yes!

I confirm, I would also like the menu to appear in reading mode

[ps67]

Originally Posted by danielk1591

I confirm, I would also like the menu to appear in reading mode

I prefer the page dedicated only to the text, so I don't agree. At least not without the option of removing it.

[Iñigo]

Originally Posted by ZodWallop

Not heard of him. I love the sixties throwback covers his books have. But none are available in English. Also, looks like he became a house name with many ghostwriters writing under his name. I don't like that practice. There's an American author, William Johnstone, who does the same. I find it distasteful.

One of my preferred readings from this year has been “Butcher's Crossing”, by John Williams.
I know it's old stuff but perhaps you haven't read it yet.

[MustardOrMayo]

I got screenshots!

Unless otherwise stated, the screenshot on the left is of firmware 4.23, while the screenshot on the right is of firmware 4.22. Don't mind the time displayed, as I'm very much a "night" person!



The most obvious change: window title replaced with a clock, and new bottom navigation. You'll also notice a bug here with the Pocket integration, that I've been meaning to report to Kobo for some time, along with other bugs relating to the Pocket integration and previews (samples).

The pop-out menus for things like Wi-Fi and brightness are identical to that of the previous firmware, so I won't show those unless someone wants me to.



Here's the new "My Books" view, with the new scroll bar and tab style on show. Not much has changed here besides those two.

(EDIT: I forgot to show Cover View, but not much has changed with that besides the new tab style and scroll bar)

Besides the new tab and scroll bar style, the "Discover" tab is identical to the "Kobo Store" option on the previous firmware. Unfortunately, I forgot to capture the menu on 4.22 before upgrading. As such, I won't be showing screenshots of those, unless someone here wants me to.



However, one thing I miss is the "Go to page" feature, which I usually used while scrolling through my wish-list. This screenshot is from firmware 4.22.



Instead, when dragging the scroll bar itself, the number of the page that will appear upon release is shown. As someone mentioned, both vertical and horizontal swipes work here This screenshot is from firmware 4.23.



As others mentioned, the Web browser is now inside a dialogue box, like when tapping to open Wikipedia articles, Web searches, or links within books, while reading.

The entire reading UI, and pop-up menus for the status icons in the top right, remain identical to the previous firmware, but may be changed in the next. Even the clock here is still in the top right, as opposed to the top left. That's why I won't be sharing screenshots of this unless someone wants me to.

"Beta Features" games and sketch pad do still work, and even though the window titles are no longer visible, they aren't too important to me, but I'd still like to see those, or it may just be me having not fully adjusted myself to using this new UI.

I have more screenshots available on request.

[lkmiller]

What's the bug with Pocket?

[the.Mtn.Man]

Didn't mean to spin this thread off into a lengthy discussion about the home screen, but I'm getting the sense that I'm the only one who actually liked the classic layout. Ha ha!

[Poppaea]

I like the new design!

To me it does not look new but old. Just looks like the home screen on my beloved Sony PRS-650. :-)

[the.Mtn.Man]

Originally Posted by ps67

I prefer the page dedicated only to the text, so I don't agree. At least not without the option of removing it.

I miss the old "hamburger menu" from previous firmware versions where you could choose your destination from within a book. In the current version, you can only go back to your last destination. So if you opened the book from the home screen, you can only go back to the home screen. If you opened it from "My Books" then you can only go back to "My Books". You also can't do things like toggle WiFi from within a book. You have to leave the book, and then you can tap the WiFi icon.

I really don't understand the thinking that goes into removing existing features.

[koboy]

Originally Posted by the.Mtn.Man

Didn't mean to spin this thread off into a lengthy discussion about the home screen, but I'm getting the sense that I'm the only one who actually liked the classic layout. Ha ha!

not quite the only one. https://www.mobileread.com/forums/sh...d.php?t=330525

best wishes koboy

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by DNSB

Not just I personally would not use it. It's also that I don't see that the number of people who would use that functionality is sufficient to justify the development cost.

I don't know how much effort it would take to add in collections sorting by last used date. If the date is already kept, then I would think it would not take much to do this.

[DNSB]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

I don't know how much effort it would take to add in collections sorting by last used date. If the date is already kept, then I would think it would not take much to do this.

The date is already in the database. It's just not an option that I have much personal interest in given that I gave up on collections years back. I've attached an image from an backup of what the table looks like.

[MustardOrMayo]

Originally Posted by lkmiller

What's the bug with Pocket?

When saving 4 or more articles from the same author on the same website to Pocket, Kobo's home screen algorithm mistakes them for books. Tapping on it causes it to open the author page in the "My Books" section, but it shows no books, with wording as though I hadn't purchased anything on my Kobo account yet. (Screenshots available on request)