Every firmware update makes the user experience worse, instead of better

[davidfor]

Originally Posted by ZodWallop

That's not new, is it? I resisted updating until a broken database forced me to. And I remember seeing series along with author and title in the library.

The series info and subtitles have been displayed for a while. But, there has been a change fairly recently which I think makes it look better. That might be what Teresa is talking about.

Originally Posted by ZodWallop

Earlier, I mentioned that I think the bars are now too cluttered with duplicate information. Since I have the reader, I'll be specific now.

People use their readers differently, so if the things I mention are useful to you, please say why. I thought the <Home button seemed useless, but it was pointed out that that button changes. Good to know.

And that change is something I use frequently. Sometimes I wish it had "Books" instead of "Home", but the consistency is probably more important.

In the top bar, what is the refresh button needed for? Is it something you actually need access to while reading? I'd rather it be removed and the clock was moved back towards the center of the bar.

There isn't a refresh button on the top bar, so I assume you mean the sync button. That isn't strictly needed when reading, but the top bar is the same everywhere. Consistency is important.

In the bottom bar, the <-> button gives access to the table of contents. But now right next to <-> there is a TOC button.

In the bottom bar, there is a reading settings cog button. But then at the far right i you tap ..., there is Reading Settings.

My gripes here aren't just about esthetics. By having these duplicate settings, it seems like Kobo's OS isn't well designed or thought out.

I can agree with these being duplicates and possibly not needed. But, I don't really think they clutter the interface. I hope this is a sign of usage testing that showed people used these two function frequently enough for them to be "promoted" to the bottom bar. Personally, I'm happy about the ToC button, but not so much about the settings.

[Terisa de morgan]

Originally Posted by davidfor

The series info and subtitles have been displayed for a while. But, there has been a change fairly recently which I think makes it look better. That might be what Teresa is talking about.

Yes, I think the subtitles have been promoted to their own line (so they are more clear shown now), but I don't remember exactly. I remember this change made me to modify how I updated metadata.

Originally Posted by davidfor

I can agree with these being duplicates and possibly not needed. But, I don't really think they clutter the interface. I hope this is a sign of usage testing that showed people used these two function frequently enough for them to be "promoted" to the bottom bar. Personally, I'm happy about the ToC button, but not so much about the settings.

Same here in both aspects.

[compurandom]

I love having TOC and HOME buttons in redundant places. Having them buried deep in the menu may be redundant, but it's also consistent, and I do occasionally use those. Having them in the bottom and top bars is wonderful -- it means I don't have to find them in the menu when I need them, and it's one or more clicks fewer to get where I'm going. I use both the home, toc, and (transient) collection buttons in the top and bottom bars extremely frequently.

I don't use reading settings much, but it doesn't take much space, and maybe other people use it.

The refresh button is needed if you just added a book from the kobo store and want to download it immediately. Also, on the pocket screen, the refresh button will cause newly bookmarked articles to download. Use of those will vary depending if you use those things. (Note: the main refresh button gets both new books, firmware updates, and pocket articles. There's a separate refresh on the pocket screen that just gets pocket articles.)

Davidfor calls it a sync button, and that is what it does, but I notice the pocket articles specific one says refresh.

[JohhnyMix]

Wait, kobo had games? I am new to the kobo's and bought the H2O 2017 model and would have been awesome to play chess or sudoku but if the higher resolution killed the games then its pretty weak. Atleast give a option to install it or not and leave the less memory space to the buyers.

[ZodWallop]

Originally Posted by JohhnyMix

Wait, kobo had games? I am new to the kobo's and bought the H2O 2017 model and would have been awesome to play chess or sudoku but if the higher resolution killed the games then its pretty weak. Atleast give a option to install it or not and leave the less memory space to the buyers.

They're still there. Just not chess. Go to Settings/Beta Features.

[PeterT]

The games are not on all devices....

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk

[JohhnyMix]

Originally Posted by ZodWallop

They're still there. Just not chess. Go to Settings/Beta Features.

Ha, yea i was reading that they took those games away on the newer models with a higher resolution screen so save data.

[ZodWallop]

Originally Posted by PeterT

The games are not on all devices....

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk

I thought the firmware was the same on all Kobos. I guess not. Seems funny that the cheaper models keep the games. You think they would remove it from all of them sharing the same firmware numbers so those with Cadillac devices don't feel screwed.

[ottdmk]

The firmware is basically the same. Thing is, certain features are disabled depending on the hardware it runs on.

[ItalianUruguayan]

Originally Posted by ottdmk

The firmware is basically the same. Thing is, certain features are disabled depending on the hardware it runs on.

They can be enabled with a patch, though.

[robko]

Originally Posted by JohhnyMix

Ha, yea i was reading that they took those games away on the newer models with a higher resolution screen so save data.

I suspect it has much less to do with saving space and much more to do with the fact that on the higher resolution new devices the games would be shrunk to a barely readable size. And yes, it could be fixed, but since these were never official features and I suspect were originally used to learn/figure out how do things it probably doesn't make economic sense for them to spend the developer time to update and test them on higher resolution screens.

[the.Mtn.Man]

My 1st gen Kobo Aura is running a custom patched version of 3.12.1 but only because the two-finger light adjustment has been effectively broken on that device in every firmware since.