Stanza in iOS5... dead...

[addressee]

Originally Posted by Philantrop

Heh, *anything* you put *anywhere* on the net ceases to be private the very moment you do. It's not just Facebook, it's MobileRead and any other site, too.

Don't believe any privacy and data protection claims on the net. If enough money is thrown at any site's owner, he'll sell your data faster than you can say "no".

You don't think that's really >me< on FB do you?

BTW, Philantrop, thanks for starting the Wikipedia page on iOS readers.

I'm in the middle of downgrading from iOS5 to 4.3.2. Going to 4.5 wouldn't work for some reason. Maybe I'll find a way to get to 4.5 and be 'somewhat current'. There's nothing critical for me in 5.0, but I'll be using Stanza in 4.x.x.

[1611mac]

Originally Posted by Micah

Just to let folks here know, we've heard the requests loud and clear, and we are switching our feature priority list around to get some features important to exStanza users in soon. Things like Collections, Edit Meta, User Added OPDS, quick brightness control, etc have jumped to the top of the list. We hope to get an update out with at least a few of those in the next couple months (adding features takes work, time, and testing). I know everyone has their pet feature, and some will be disappointed by our choices, but we are tyring to gauge what are the most common requests, and we also take into consideration how long a given features would take to release.

Please, please, please add Arial as a font option.

[kyteflyer]

Originally Posted by addressee

You don't think that's really >me< on FB do you?

BTW, Philantrop, thanks for starting the Wikipedia page on iOS readers.

I'm in the middle of downgrading from iOS5 to 4.3.2. Going to 4.5 wouldn't work for some reason. Maybe I'll find a way to get to 4.5 and be 'somewhat current'. There's nothing critical for me in 5.0, but I'll be using Stanza in 4.x.x.

I have failed completely on my 3GS to be able to downgrade. I've tried almost everything (and some things not suggested) at modmyi but every time I end up with an error, and stuck in recovery, then having to kick out and back to iOS5.

[edit] Have managed to downgrade to 4.1 which for some reason apple is still signing. And there I will stay, until such time as theres an update or it becomes mandatory to upgrade again.

[ilovejedd]

Originally Posted by kyteflyer

That may be but theres only a Trial, or an $8 app. I wont be committing to something like that until I know I can't replace Stanza with something suitable on iOS. In the meantime, fbReader is very configurable and its free. I might give the trial a go and see if it is a possibility but I won't be paying for it until I am sure of what I am doing. I've spent masses in the apple appstore... not planning to repeat that with Android.

Edit: then again... very impressed by its capacity to import all the other books you already have downloaded to the device. Maybe buying is not yet out of the question.

I remember buying the Mantano Reader app for $5. Maybe there was a promotion at the time. I used the trial and was impressed enough that I got the paid version. In some ways, it's better than Stanza but there are still a lot of things Stanza does better.

[kyteflyer]

Originally Posted by ilovejedd

I remember buying the Mantano Reader app for $5. Maybe there was a promotion at the time. I used the trial and was impressed enough that I got the paid version. In some ways, it's better than Stanza but there are still a lot of things Stanza does better.

I like the way stanza organises its database, and I didnt really realise how much I liked it until I was getting a lot of books into the alternatives. With a few books, almost any will do. With a lot... nothing less than Stanza.

[Micah]

Originally Posted by 1611mac

Please, please, please add Arial as a font option.

I hear you. Know that for whatever reason we have not been able to use system fonts, so we have to install all fonts. We were originally concerned about download size, as one has no way to know until after Apple encrypts your app how big it will be afterwards (but surely bigger than what you give them). Arial is a fine sans and I will see if we can get a license to include it.

[Micah]

It is not without irony that Stanza was the best eReader app (by far) and never made a dime in profit (but made good money for the founders). This just shows the distance between online booksellers and readers. What booksellers ask about is social features, browser based solutions, sync location across devices, analytics. But people who love to read, on their devices, ask for different things. Easy brightness controls, absolute configuration, place in book, show the time, config tap zones, lots of reading options, lots of books to organize - so need to tag, search, browse. These are the people book sellers should be paying attention to. Because they are the ones that love to read.

[ilovejedd]

Originally Posted by kyteflyer

I like the way stanza organises its database, and I didnt really realise how much I liked it until I was getting a lot of books into the alternatives. With a few books, almost any will do. With a lot... nothing less than Stanza.

You sure you were able to put Mantano through its paces? Because it does allow filtering based on subject (tags) and custom collections similar to Stanza. Aside from that, you're also able to filter by author, publisher, series (based on calibre's implementation), language, format and folder. Mantano also allows sorting based on title, author, series, rating, addition date and last access date, along with the ability to choose between ascending or descending order.

One thing Stanza still does better is OPDS/catalog support which I'm highly reliant on. This is the primary reason I'm not ready to give up Stanza just yet. I've also yet to find a phone that will let me decrease brightness to as low a level as the iPhone/iTouch + Stanza combination allows me to.

[DaleDe]

There is another app that can do OPDS and then direct the book to the app of your choice. It is called eBook search.

Dale

[ilovejedd]

Originally Posted by DaleDe

There is another app that can do OPDS and then direct the book to the app of your choice. It is called eBook search.

Assuming this works similar to the catalog support in MegaReader (same app developer), then nope, it's not quite as flexible as Stanza. Stands to reason considering OPDS was originally created in partnership with Lexcycle and patterned after Stanza's catalog format. Stanza supports legacy stuff better, as well as other parts of the specification, it seems.

[NimNams]

Originally Posted by Micah

It is not without irony that Stanza was the best eReader app (by far) and never made a dime in profit (but made good money for the founders). This just shows the distance between online booksellers and readers. What booksellers ask about is social features, browser based solutions, sync location across devices, analytics. But people who love to read, on their devices, ask for different things. Easy brightness controls, absolute configuration, place in book, show the time, config tap zones, lots of reading options, lots of books to organize - so need to tag, search, browse. These are the people book sellers should be paying attention to. Because they are the ones that love to read.

Great post. As someone who works in online marketing, I find this rings especially true.

[kyteflyer]

Originally Posted by ilovejedd

You sure you were able to put Mantano through its paces? Because it does allow filtering based on subject (tags) and custom collections similar to Stanza. Aside from that, you're also able to filter by author, publisher, series (based on calibre's implementation), language, format and folder. Mantano also allows sorting based on title, author, series, rating, addition date and last access date, along with the ability to choose between ascending or descending order.

One thing Stanza still does better is OPDS/catalog support which I'm highly reliant on. This is the primary reason I'm not ready to give up Stanza just yet. I've also yet to find a phone that will let me decrease brightness to as low a level as the iPhone/iTouch + Stanza combination allows me to.

Yes, I did. The others do similar but they (and mantano) dont have
a) a alphabetical list which you just hit appropriate letter to get to (instead of having to scroll)
b) groupings by author or subject
and
c) it seems, no slowdown when there are hundreds of books in there.

Stanza is still the go.

That said, there were parts of iOS5 I missed, surprisingly, so I have upgraded again, and instead of Mantano or any other app on android, I have once more taken the original iphone out of mothballs and am using that as a nocturnal reading device.

For casual reading on the go, doc surgery waiting room etc, bluefire will do me.

[ilovejedd]

Originally Posted by kyteflyer

a) a alphabetical list which you just hit appropriate letter to get to (instead of having to scroll)

I actually hated those tiny letters in Stanza. I often tapped on those accidentally and lost my location in the library. In this case, I like how Mantano handles scrolling better. It allows me to do a fast scroll ala-Stanza but offers better refinement. With Stanza, you pretty much jump from S -> T, with Mantano, I have the option to go from SA-SE to SM-ST.

Originally Posted by kyteflyer

b) groupings by author or subject

Mantano definitely supports this (along with custom collections, publishers, series, language, formats and folders). It has more options for organization than Stanza does.

Originally Posted by kyteflyer

it seems, no slowdown when there are hundreds of books in there.

Haven't experienced any noticeable slowdowns in Mantano running on a relatively slow LG Thrive with a library of 350 books (just working on a test set for now, my iPhone has 3,000).

Originally Posted by kyteflyer

Stanza is still the way to go.

On this point, I do agree with you.

[Karin54]

Originally Posted by ilovejedd

I actually hated those tiny letters in Stanza. I often tapped on those accidentally and lost my location in the library. In this case, I like how Mantano handles scrolling better. It allows me to do a fast scroll ala-Stanza but offers better refinement. With Stanza, you pretty much jump from S -> T, with Mantano, I have the option to go from SA-SE to SM-ST.


Mantano definitely supports this (along with custom collections, publishers, series, language, formats and folders). It has more options for organization than Stanza does.


Haven't experienced any noticeable slowdowns in Mantano running on a relatively slow LG Thrive with a library of 350 books (just working on a test set for now, my iPhone has 3,000).

Why are You going on and on about Mantano, when the subject is about Stanza in iOS5.

[kyteflyer]

Originally Posted by Karin54

Why are You going on and on about Mantano, when the subject is about Stanza in iOS5.

My fault, sorry. I started saying I might switch to fbreader on android until Stanza was updated. However, as far as I am concerned, the issue is over. I am not interested in Mantano and I don't *really* think anyone else in this thread is, either.

Bring back Stanza!!

Originally Posted by ilovejedd

On this point, I do agree with you.

So lets also agree *not* to discuss any other OS reader in this thread.