MapleRead - eBook Reader and Server for iOS

[ki5ck]

Originally Posted by QuietShelfLife

@ki5ck -- regarding KOReader sync

Thanks. I've started using BookLore, and it has quite a bit of reading stats and syncs read status with HardCover.app, but that uses KoReader sync.

[QuietShelfLife]

BookLore looks interesting -- hadn't heard of it. The HardCover integration is a nice touch for tracking reading stats across devices. How's the actual reading experience compared to MapleRead or Apple Books? I'm always curious whether these newer readers handle complex EPUB CSS well or if they cut corners on rendering.

[ki5ck]

BookLore has an online reader I haven't tried. An official reading app is in progress. BookNexus (in beta) syncs well with Booklore, but it's slow. I've been using MapleRead as my go-to reader, but that doesn't sync stats with BookLore.

Still searching for the Holy Grail of readers that does everything I want.

[DJUNGELSKOG]

Originally Posted by QuietShelfLife

@ki5ck -- regarding KOReader sync, the tricky part is that KOReader stores its reading position and annotations in sidecar files (.sdr folders with Lua metadata). There's no standardized sync protocol between KOReader and iOS readers. The closest workaround I've seen is using a shared Calibre server where both KOReader and MapleRead pull from the same OPDS catalog, but reading progress sync between the two would require custom integration on MapleRead's side.

Readest supports koreader sync and it works pretty well. I don't like Readest for other reasons though, but maybe it would work for you.

[QuietShelfLife]

Ha, the Holy Grail quest -- I feel that. Every reader nails one or two things and drops the ball on everything else. BookLore's HardCover integration is clever though.

@DJUNGELSKOG -- good to know about Readest and KOReader sync. The reading stats side really does deserve its own protocol at this point -- OPDS handles discovery and download fine, but there's nothing standardized for "I read to page 247 last night on my iPad."

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by QuietShelfLife

Ha, the Holy Grail quest -- I feel that. Every reader nails one or two things and drops the ball on everything else. BookLore's HardCover integration is clever though.

@DJUNGELSKOG -- good to know about Readest and KOReader sync. The reading stats side really does deserve its own protocol at this point -- OPDS handles discovery and download fine, but there's nothing standardized for "I read to page 247 last night on my iPad."

This is why ADE (RMSDK) page number are so good. It's based on a count of 1500 charters. So margins, font, font size, line-height, and screen size will have no effect on the page numbers. Page 247 is page 247 regardless.

The only thing that might happen is on a different screen size, you might see page 246 of xxx when you are also at the start of 247 because 247 could also start on that same screen.

You won't get any better page numbering for eBooks.

[cedhax]

Originally Posted by peaceridge

Thanks, yes I have that, but it doesn't work. I put the address in, Firefox drops the last 4 digits and comes back with a not found. I'm on a Macbook. I'd like to download it from Dropbox.

Ok I can get to pc upload in Safari. However, it won't upload ttf files. It shouldn't be so complicated to add a user font!

Installing fonts via Firefox on macOS always works very well for me since day one. The description and screenshots of PC Upload explain the process clearly. In particular, there is a screenshot of User Font Installer. MapleRead's documentation is so rich that I can hardly find any competition.

[slantybard]

The most recent update has caused a new issue - when reading a book in full screen modern view, the iOS time, battery, and wifi info shows up at the top of the screen and is brighter than the reading text depending on theme and is distracting when reading at night. I can't find a setting to get rid of this. Does anyone know how to get rid of it?

Update - I've heard from the developers that this will hopefully be fixed in a future update.

[MegDreamsofBooks]

The big new 7.0 update is mostly nice, but I've run into two issues I think I'm going to have to track down their contact info and report:

1 - the lovely dark blue with Sepia overtones theme is gone, which was my favorite for reading in "Night" mode
2 - attempting to update/overwrite metadata on a book downloaded from an OPDS server ends up just duplicating the book in MapleRead SE

[slantybard]

Originally Posted by MegDreamsofBooks

The big new 7.0 update is mostly nice, but I've run into two issues I think I'm going to have to track down their contact info and report:

1 - the lovely dark blue with Sepia overtones theme is gone, which was my favorite for reading in "Night" mode

2 - attempting to update/overwrite metadata on a book downloaded from an OPDS server ends up just duplicating the book in MapleRead SE

2. I also had this issue and contacted them about it being a bug. They changed the default behaviour in MR 7. Previous to MR 7, metadata was taken from the opds and now it defaults to embedded metadata instead. Unfortunately, when calibre changes the metadata (ie tags), the embedded metadata changes and MR thinks it is a completely different book, thereby making a duplicate entry.

To fix this so you don't get duplicates, log into your opds server and click on the "down arrow" and then select "prefer" and finally select "prefer OPDS over Embedded" under the metadata differ section.

[MegDreamsofBooks]

Originally Posted by slantybard

2. I also had this issue and contacted them about it being a bug. They changed the default behaviour in MR 7. Previous to MR 7, metadata was taken from the opds and now it defaults to embedded metadata instead. Unfortunately, when calibre changes the metadata (ie tags), the embedded metadata changes and MR thinks it is a completely different book, thereby making a duplicate entry.

To fix this so you don't get duplicates, log into your opds server and click on the "down arrow" and then select "prefer" and finally select "prefer OPDS over Embedded" under the metadata differ section.

Ah, that's good to know, I stared at that setting when I did the last metadata update but kept the default, which got the duplicate book. I'll have to remember to switch it next time I have to update a book.