So Marvin’s Gone!

[Turtle91]

Originally Posted by PNAW59

******************
Hi Wiggo, I got your reference from Turtle91 /Thanks @Turtle91)

Please see below short resume of my problem with. I have read your post, also I have looked at the video you suggested. Do you think the approach in the video might work also for my case?

Resume:

I have used on my iPad, for many years, the ebook reader Marvin. Marvin is recently retired from the App Store. So, now, when I click the Marvin icon, I get the message that the app is not accessible, I suppose due to that it's not in the App Store anymore. I have previously downloaded free epub books that I then included in the Marvin app. Now, what I need is a solution that enables me to access and recover my ebooks.

I can see the books in the Icloud backup, see attached, 22 GB

I can also the book content in the Ipads backup, see attached, 25 GB

However, when I enter the Marvin App via Imazing, the documento folder is empty. I suppose permission is not granted

But, the books are there, in the iphone backup and in the iPad

Are you able to suggest some way to get hold of the books?

Most grateful for any idea about how to achieve this.

Thanks, and best regards, Per

As Wiggo mentioned, just follow the steps from the video. Once Marvin is re-installed on your device, you should be able to restore your marvin backup library just like normal.

I did notice, however, that the icon of Marvin in your image was of Marvin 2 and not the more current Marvin 3. It has been a long time since I played with Marvin 2 so I'm not sure exactly how backup/restore functionality worked in Marvin 2.

[PNAW59]

Originally Posted by Wiggo

@pnaw59:
The video was suggested by @Turtle91, not by me. I have not needed this yet and I only mentioned Imazing.

I don't quite understand what's going on either. Was Marvin offloaded from the system, or is this now a new iPad restored from a backup?

Anyhow. Marvin is not installed (cloud symbol). If you follow the video, you should be able to install it again - You have nothing to lose

@Wiggo:

Thanks for your reply. The situation is that during years I have used the eBook reader Marvin, loading there lots of EPUB ebooks. Now, since spring 2023, I cannot open the Marvin anymore, I get the message that its not available any more in the app store. I have tried to access the document file of Marvin, via imazing, where the books are supposed to be, but access is not granted. However, I can see the Marvin app in the storage in the iPad (25Gb) and in the Icloud backup. So, seeing your comments, my thinking is that if it might be possible to download an older version of Marvin and so access the content, or with a newer version of IOS. I will try as in the video. Any idea from you, or anyone, would be most appreciated.
Best regards, PNAW59

[Wiggo]

No real backup, no mercy.

You have allowed the app to be offloaded from iOS. If you don’t have a second device with Marvin installed, you have no chance of getting Marvin back.

[PNAW59]

Originally Posted by Wiggo

No real backup, no mercy.

You have allowed the app to be offloaded from iOS. If you don’t have a second device with Marvin installed, you have no chance of getting Marvin back.

Thanks a lot for your kind feedback.

[peaceridge]

Can Marvin be installed on a Macbook M2 (I have it on my ipad and in the icoud)?

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by peaceridge

Can Marvin be installed on a Macbook M2 (I have it on my ipad and in the icoud)?

Nope.

[Turtle91]

Originally Posted by peaceridge

Can Marvin be installed on a Macbook M2 (I have it on my ipad and in the icoud)?

As far as I know it is an iOS app only.

....unless someone has an iOS emulator




EDIT: 2900 POSTS in 11 YEARS....WOOT!!!

[peaceridge]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

Nope.

Thanks, saved me from searching elsewhere!

[Turtle91]

…iOS emulator…

          …iOS emulator…

                           …iOS emulator…

Is that another ghost whispering in the wind???

[JSWolf]

But unless these iOS emulators emulate iOS 17.0.3, they aren't all that useful (IMHO).

[Turtle91]

....


Have you looked, tried, or otherwise gotten informed about these emulators?

Or are you just being cantankerous?

[Turtle91]

Originally Posted by Datvigi

I actually figured it out. You can try to restore the tips and while it fails, the app registers your previous purchase and the trial banner goes away. Marvin yet lives

Hi Datvigi - I was trying to restore Marvin from a backup, and from an ipa file...but I couldn't find what you meant by "restore the tips"??


I was successful at restoring/installing the app to my new iPad...and even got all of my books transferred over... but it is still showing the banner. Any way you can give us a step-by-step??

Much appreciated!

[Wiggo]

The button is called “restore previous tips”.

[Turtle91]

OMG! I don't think I've ever seen that button before! It definitely worked! Marvin is up and running all my backed-up books installed, and no banner taking up any screen space!!!

For anyone as ignorant uninformed as I was, here are a few steps to reinstall Marvin even though it is no longer available on the Apple store:

1) Download and install iMazing. I was able to do this with the free version of iMazing although there was a report here that you needed the paid version, ymmv.

2) Follow the directions in this video to install Marvin.

• you either need to have a current version of Marvin installed on another device to extract the .ipa file ---OR--- you can extract the "Marvin.imazingapp" file from an older iOS backup!!

Steps 3 and 4 are optional if you want to restore books from a Marvin backup.
3) Once you have Marvin installed you can use imazing to drag your marvin.m3backup file (the backup of epubs that Marvin makes) to your documents folder in Marvin.



4) In Marvin, goto settings (sprocket in top left corner), select "General settings", scroll all the way to the bottom to "ADVANCED (BE CAREFUL)" and select "Backup and restore". Then select "Restore a backup". If you have your marvin.m3backup file in your Marvin documents folder from the previous step, then it will restore all the books from the time that backup file was made. WARNING: this is destructive and will remove any books you currently have in Marvin....which honestly shouldn't be any if you are trying to install a fresh version of Marvin ... anyway, if there are any books you want to save, do it before accomplishing this step.

5) To remove the banner at the bottom of the screen: go to settings and select "Support Marvin", scroll all the way to the bottom and select the "Restore previous tips" tag. That may, or may not, say it was successful, but the banner should be gone.



Voila! You have a fully functional Marvin restored to your iThing!

I HIGHLY recommend going into your iThing settings and DISABLE Apple's 'feature' to offload unused apps.

6) goto iOS settings, scroll down to "App Store" and deselect (turn off) "Offload Unused Apps". Be aware you will be responsible for removing any apps you don't want if you start running out of space on your iThing.




Cheers!


OBTW: We should probably change the title of this thread from "So Marvin's Gone!" to "We thought Marvin was Gone, but we are smarter than Apple!" (or at least more perseverant...)

[Wiggo]

Addition to point 2: You can also restore your books from this older iOS backup.

Point 7: Even if Marvin app is offloaded, it’s possible to make a new backup in iMazing and restore all your books via this backup. Access restrictions are ignored.