Kobalt: an alternative reader app for Kobo devices

[rantanplan]

Originally Posted by MrSilverstrike

Thanks. So if I'm understanding this correctly... the position that's saved to Nickel is not correct, right? Kobalt likely uses a fallback mechanism when it writes its progress update to Nickel, so this may not have anything to do with KOSync.

Correct, the position on Nickel is incorrect, it always opened at the start of the chapter. No KOsync was involved. But my problems with KOsync triggered me to also test Kobalt with the latest 6.x firmware.

Originally Posted by MrSilverstrike

Can you disable it and see if you can reproduce the same issue without KOSync? (i.e. discrepancy between Nickel & Kobalt). KOSync doesn't apply when you open a book with Nickel btw, so I don't recommend mixed usage of Nickel/Kobalt generally either way.

I understand why that would be confusing.

• KOSync currently has a desktop app, that can update the reading progess on Tolino and Kobo, which I didn't use for the tests above.

• Only the Tolino has the on-device KOSync client installed, but it wasn't part of above's test.

• The Kobo never had the on-device KOsync plugin installed, so all the above test were "clean".

• The Tolino doesn't have Kobalt (no support yet), only Kobo. So no testing on Tolino

I hope this clears things up a bit.

[MrSilverstrike]

Right. Okay, if my validation pipeline is done by tonight I plan on pushing beta 5 which should resolve the sync problem and work with Tolino devices!

[rantanplan]

Originally Posted by MrSilverstrike

Right. Okay, if my validation pipeline is done by tonight I plan on pushing beta 5 which should resolve the sync problem and work with Tolino devices!

Can't wait to use Kobalt on Tolino.

[rantanplan]

I've implemented an update for my on-device kosync plugin to deactivate itself if Kobalt is present.

This will resolve any conflicts with Kobalt.

[jackie_w]

Originally Posted by MrSilverstrike

I'm currently in the process of changing Smart Styling so it can become a different preference that's a little bit more transparent and lets you disable the default "normalization" and individual rules.

Normalized will be the default, but if you prefer publisher styling you will have the option to disable any of the normalization which should give you an experience that renders exactly what the CSS says.

I assume this is in response to my previous post about userstyle.css.

Just so you know, I think beta4 is already good enough to read my epubs without any "degradation" compared to the highly-tinkered-with-by-me kepubs I'm currently using. I won't be at all sorry to stop needing the tinkering, including some (maybe all?) of the rendering kobopatches. Nevertheless I'm looking forward to beta5, 6, 7 ...

Nickel kepubs do seem to be much faster to open but it's obvious you're looking for ways to improve that where possible. To be honest opening speed doesn't really bother me as much as it bothers others.

I'm looking forward to seeing beta5, It's nice to see text rendering being given so much TLC. Much as I love Kobos it's never appeared to me as if they have anyone on staff who is expert in this field.

[MrSilverstrike]

Originally Posted by jackie_w

I assume this is in response to my previous post about userstyle.css.

Actually, it's a general improvement, not necessarily in response to your comment! I was dealing with some normalization issues with some of my own books and I wanted to bake it in and make "smart styling" a little more transparent.

In beta 5 there's both experimental normalization (with explicitly named rules, off by default) and the old "smart styling" (on by default) which will probably be rolled into one "Book normalization" feature by the time we get to beta 6.

If all goes well the next few betas will be the last ones before I tag a version 1.0. There'll still be updates after that, but likely at a slower pace as the app nears (initial) completion. I'll then evaluate the app for more long-term use.

Some areas of improvement for after v1.0:

- Localization
- PDF support
- Long term stats (how much you read over the last 30 days, calendar stuff)
- Improved library filtering (on non-Kobo devices)
- and probably a lot more

[rantanplan]

Originally Posted by MrSilverstrike

There'll still be updates after that, but likely at a slower pace as the app nears (initial) completion.

More reading, less building an app ☝️

[MrSilverstrike]

Originally Posted by rantanplan

More reading, less building an app ☝️

Precisely! I have quite a backlog and I need to chill out after this crazy period of building Kobalt. Reading will be a nice distraction, if I don't see any glaring issues in Kobalt while I'm reading with it, that is.

Been throwing a lot of my energy into this in addition to work and I'd prefer avoiding another bout with burnout

[Dal Bhat]

Any thoughts on allowing the search icon to close the dictionary and display the instances of the highlighted term?

[MrSilverstrike]

Originally Posted by Dal Bhat

Any thoughts on allowing the search icon to close the dictionary and display the instances of the highlighted term?

Yes, this is planned for beta 6! Rest assured I have written down most remarks in this thread and most items are pending inclusion.

[Dal Bhat]

So responsive! Thank you. Best developer ever.

[MrSilverstrike]

Another weekend, another release.

Kobalt's fifth beta is now available on the website!

I also have a new public tracker where you can follow the status of upcoming (and past) releases: https://kobalt-dev.nicoverbruggen.be/tracker

Keep the bug reports coming here or on GitHub and they'll show up on the tracker eventually.