Arc Ask Me Anything: Developer on Kobo Arc

[mr_nihilism]

I feel my Arc is not "reading me like a book." No matter how many times I tell it I'm not interested, those darn recommendations keep trying to worm their way into my wallet. Do these suggested titles think I'm playing hard to get - that I'll cave into their advances if given enough time? No, really, stop trying to peddle the romance and Grisham novels. Why won't you listen to me Kobo?! Whyyyyyy !

Edit - I should add I have discovered some really good websites/articles thanks to the discovery bar. It really is hit & miss.

[coreslogic]

Originally Posted by mr_nihilism

Edit - I should add I have discovered some really good websites/articles thanks to the discovery bar. It really is hit & miss.

Discovery bar sorta works after a couple of weeks. At least it shows relevant information and I actually click on some of them. Anyway, i think the real estate usage proportion is debatable but at least it shows something different like a live wallpaper, lol.

[dioioib]

Originally Posted by isayo74

Hi FaisalAbid,

I also want to bring USB OTG up again !

Is there any way to use the koboArc µUSB port to access a storage device (µSD adapter, memory stick, hard disk...) ?

Please give us an answer...

isayo74 have you tried rooting your device? Then using a terminal emulator to create a mount folder using mkdir and then use mount to mount the device file to that folder. It should work Android has all the basic linux commands. You would just need to use a format that the device understands like ext4, ext3, ...

Once my OTG cables come in I can try this for you but that won't be until the new year.

I have checked that the mount command is available on the device. Confirmation for the developer would be appreciated though.

Edit:

I just found this application in the market:
https://play.google.com/store/apps/d...WwudXNib3RnIl0.

[Kobo-Robin]

Originally Posted by mr_nihilism

I feel my Arc is not "reading me like a book." No matter how many times I tell it I'm not interested, those darn recommendations keep trying to worm their way into my wallet. Do these suggested titles think I'm playing hard to get - that I'll cave into their advances if given enough time? No, really, stop trying to peddle the romance and Grisham novels. Why won't you listen to me Kobo?! Whyyyyyy !

Edit - I should add I have discovered some really good websites/articles thanks to the discovery bar. It really is hit & miss.

Discovery is a top priority for myself and my team. We are doing everything we can to fix the bugs and make sure the experience meets demands.

[ppowell002]

Good to hear Robin. Another little issue, when you click on something in Discovery then close it, you are taken all the way back to the first icon so you have to scroll back to where you left off. I've now turned the app off so I'll be watching this space for the improvements.
Best of the season and thanks for being on this site.

[barbs]

My kobo arc keeps going to sleep while I'm using it. The screen will go black and I have to push the power button to wake it back up. I am using the arc while this happen. I have checked all settings, increased sleep time when not in use ( which shouldn't be an issue since it is being used), checked for updates and rebooted several times. Please help

[pilotguy]

Yes, discovery is now disabled on my Arc. I bought one book about WW2 on the first day I had it, and all that shows up is stuff about WW2, even if I try and say "not interested" it keeps popping back up. Anything else I pin about different subjects (I tried lots of different stuff, I even re-did my taste profile) seems to have no effect on what's in the bar. It's all WW2, all the time, so... disabled.

One exception is if I open my "games" tapestry that I created, some other stuff repopulates the bar in there, but my reading and home ones are stuck in the 40s. (A side note: You REALLY think I'd like Ke$ha's new album? I'm reading a book about The Smiths for crying out loud! "A Light That Never Goes Out" by Tony Fletcher if you are interested. Wordy, but a complete history of the band, good read!)

I'd rather see a blank strip than a bunch of photos of Winston Churchill and covers of books I'm not interested in.

Anyway, I get the idea of it, explore new things yadda yadda. I'm just not overly crazy about it to be honest, and it DOES take up a lot of screen real estate that I'd rather use for something else (like shortcuts to my current open books or something).

[chattylibrarian]

Originally Posted by FaisalAbid

We are using the stock keyboard that comes with Android Ice Cream Sandwich. I do find it weird that Google has left this option out in the keyboard.

Downloading a few other stock keyboards from Google Play seems like Google disables this option for tablets.

Im not sure if there is much I can do, but you can look on Google Play for lots of alternative keyboards.

I'd also like popup on keypress. Coming from iOS, it's something I've really come to depend on. Typing on my Arc's keyboard makes me feel horribly fat fingered. Typos galore.

[Skynet_Italy]

Why does the app kodo arc you can not change the margins, as happens on kobo desktop is kobo glo ?

Personally i think it is a very useful function.
Thanks

[mr_nihilism]

Originally Posted by Skynet_Italy

Why does the app kodo arc you can not change the margins, as happens on kobo desktop is kobo glo ?

Personally i think it is a very useful function.
Thanks

I'll second that. The more customization in how we view our books on the Arc the better. Options = good. Limitations = bad.

[JD Gumby]

Originally Posted by Skynet_Italy

Why does the app kodo arc you can not change the margins, as happens on kobo desktop is kobo glo ?

Personally i think it is a very useful function.
Thanks

No one except Kobo knows that. As reading software, the Kobo app is about the worst there is. No margin or line spacing control (not that that worked much of the time on sideloaded epubs), only one font (compared to the half-dozen+ on their physical readers, to which you can add your own), no ability to customize gestures (taps/swipes; not even the rather meagre zone definitions that the physical readers use, much less full gesture customization like most other reader programs allow), and so on.

Fortunately, you can install real reading programs.

[mr_nihilism]

Originally Posted by JD Gumby

No one except Kobo knows that. As reading software, the Kobo app is about the worst there is. No margin or line spacing control (not that that worked much of the time on sideloaded epubs), only one font (compared to the half-dozen+ on their physical readers, to which you can add your own), no ability to customize gestures (taps/swipes; not even the rather meagre zone definitions that the physical readers use, much less full gesture customization like most other reader programs allow), and so on.

Fortunately, you can install real reading programs.

Between the limitations of the Kobo app and the Discovery bar issues, I get the feeling the Arc was rushed just a little in time for Christmas. I really enjoy the device, but it really needs a good solid update.

[UberMike]

This may or may not be the right place but it's midnight, I searched the Kobo FAQ and a couple forums and sites, couldn't come up with anything. Have a few questions about it:

1) I used the browser to grab a .CBR file I got prior to getting the Arc. I then grabbed Perfect Viewer from Google Play but I have 2 problems:

- I can't find the file path where the .CBR was saved, so I can't figure out how to open and test PV to see how it looks with this comic. Where does the Arc store files downloaded using the Browser app? It's in Downloads but trying to click it there launches the Browser again, it doesn't seem to have a file association with Perfect Viewer yet.

- I managed to open an .EPUB in Perfect Viewer and can't figure out how to close it now or open any other files in this app. It's an Android app so not sure if you can offer much advice on it, or suggest a different comic viewer perhaps and I can dump this one?

2) Is there any way to view the browser history?

3) When I go to Settings - Data Usage to see where most of the used data came from, the View app settings button is disabled. When my son took it for the night there was over 6GB of YouTube data used but I can't seem to get any additional information. Is there any more info available? Browser is the only app so far that has the button enabled that I could find.

I think that was all for now, suppose I should sleep and refresh my brain.

[mr_nihilism]

"Is there any way to view the browser history?"

The only way I know how is to open up the Browser itself and then click on that little ribbon icon with the star in it. From there you'll see tabs for Bookmarks, History and Saved Pages.

Hope that helps.

[isayo74]

Originally Posted by dioioib

isayo74 have you tried rooting your device? Then using a terminal emulator to create a mount folder using mkdir and then use mount to mount the device file to that folder. It should work Android has all the basic linux commands. You would just need to use a format that the device understands like ext4, ext3, ...

Once my OTG cables come in I can try this for you but that won't be until the new year.

I have checked that the mount command is available on the device. Confirmation for the developer would be appreciated though.

Edit:

I just found this application in the market:
https://play.google.com/store/apps/d...WwudXNib3RnIl0.

Many Thanks for your answer but I don't know how to do that (rooting the device) so I'm going to wait for someone to try and explain it.
I'm curently exploring every website dealing with the Arc in english and french for one month and no one can tell if the device is ready for USB OTG so I think it's unfortunately not !