The Status of Marvin

[peaceridge]

Originally Posted by Turtle91

edit: OK...all playing aside, you can just go in to general settings and turn on the option to "auto-bookmark on close"....then you're all set!

Thanks so much - perfect solution!

[pazos]

For long time Marvin users: could you please let me know which features has Marvin3 that Kybook3 hasn't?

I'm only aware about the light gesture but I never bought the premium Marvin version and just barely tested the freemium one.

I'm pretty annoyed by the lack of good software to read epubs in iOS (beyond the two mentioned above). Android has far superior alternatives. I can't say the same thing about PDF reading where iOS wins IMHO.

[ilovejedd]

Originally Posted by pazos

For long time Marvin users: could you please let me know which features has Marvin3 that Kybook3 hasn't?

Ability to customize tap zones/gestures. I prefer taps on both left and right margins to advance to next page and swipe gesture for previous. Useful if you often switch hands.

Progress/bookmark sync is built-in to the app and is Dropbox (Marvin 2) or iCloud (Marvin 3) based and doesn't require a separate subscription.

Ability to sort by date added or date last opened.

Ability to customize header/footer (and the default settings are pretty sane: title, author on header, page number on footer).

Highlights can span multiple pages (useful when highlighting a passage that spans from bottom of first page to top of second page). Exported highlights in HTML includes chapter titles where the highlight was taken from.

I kept using older devices and firmware that supported Stanza long after Amazon pulled the plug (so pretty much until I discovered Marvin). I expect I'll be using Marvin until Dropbox support breaks (that's the only source that allows direct overwrite, something I need for WIP fanfics).

[svenlind]

For long time Marvin users: could you please let me know which features has Marvin3 that Kybook3 hasn't?

What I really like in Marvin is the use of user defined text commands.

You can mark a word while reading and then activate all kinds of commands. I use it to activate a translation service (English -> Danish). Other possibilities
are Wikipidia, Google maps and many more.

Mapleread can also do this but Marvin is much better to this.

Another thing I like is you can double tap a picture and then zoom as you like.

[Turtle91]

Originally Posted by pazos

For long time Marvin users: could you please let me know which features has Marvin3 that Kybook3 hasn't?

I'm only aware about the light gesture but I never bought the premium Marvin version and just barely tested the freemium one.

I'm pretty annoyed by the lack of good software to read epubs in iOS (beyond the two mentioned above). Android has far superior alternatives. I can't say the same thing about PDF reading where iOS wins IMHO.

Marvin's "Freemium" version IS the premium version - the only difference is the banner at the bottom of the reading area that asks you to support the developer. You can use it for free for as long as it takes for you to be convinced... and you can see what's so awesome about it. At 4.99 it is WELL worth it to show support for Kris, however it is not required to pay to get any "advanced" features. You certainly don't need to subscribe to a recurring payment to get any features.

I took a quick look at KyBook...I couldn't get to the advanced options without paying for it...but what I saw was nice. It actually had very close preferences' menu items/GUI to Marvin - it reminds me very much how Kris made his series of apps

Things that are different/better in Marvin in addition to those listed by the others:

Marvin can be set to use the publisher's css style settings. There are options to "override" in kybook, and kybook says it defaults to the book's settings, but that didn't appear to be consistently applied.

Marvin does a bit better job in applying to book's style settings. For example, kybook didn't honor the center justification on the title pages, even when I tried all different iterations of it's "overrides".

Marvin does a better job of displaying full page images. Kybook added extra blank pages after each image. Also kybook did not honor the background color and styling of the image. Full disclosure - neither Marvin, nor kybook, properly centered the image vertically on the page when using the xMidYMid meet option of the SVG property.

Marvin did a better job with drop-cap styling of the first letter in the opening paragraph of each chapter.

Marvin has the ability to instantly display changes to the preferences - you can see what each option will do as you change without having to apply them.


Granted, I'm geared more toward the technical support/display of an ePub than some of the cataloging functions...which KyBook appears to do a very good job with. I just think that I spend much more time reading a book than looking to find a book to read, that the former shold have the higher priority/focus.

Cheers,

[pazos]

Thanks for the feedback!!!

I will stay with Kybook3 as I barely read reflowable documents on my iPad and I find it ok for my needs. But yeah, Marvin3 looked good. I would buy it instead of Kybook just if it was translated to my language and received proper updates.

As @Turtle91 said KyBook has nice cataloging functions and that is all I need since I use an e-ink ereader to do the most of my readings.

[crashnburn]

So having been a Marvin fan, but still awaiting my used iPad replacement.. via someone.

I now have a Kindle Fire HD 8 - 8" - Light and inexpensively got during post NYE sale.

Whats the closest thing to Marvin that one can get on Amazon Fire HD / Android Tablet for ePubs/ Mobis/ PDFs?
(I dont mind installing Play Store on it using XDA toolkit or Sideloading an APK)

Currently I am using the default Kindle reader & like the highlighting etc. but this is mostly some few books I have on Amazon cloud & would prefer not to rely on it.

Much rather push pull books via Calibre and/ or a Cloud drive with folders.

[rfog]

AFAIK, best Android ebook readers are FB Reader (From FB Reader, not others with same name) and Moon+Reader Pro.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by rfog

AFAIK, best Android ebook readers are FB Reader (From FB Reader, not others with same name) and Moon+Reader Pro.

Is this FB Reader the same as FBReader? FBReader is lousy.

[rfog]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

Is this FB Reader the same as FBReader? FBReader is lousy.

Seems son. This one:

https://fbreader.org/android

Be careful because there are some other versions from others. This one, for me, is the best because has version for Android and iOS and synchronize between them.

And yes, it is not the most beautiful or ergonomic ebook reader, but is the one that has less issues in Android.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by rfog

Seems son. This one:

https://fbreader.org/android

Be careful because there are some other versions from others. This one, for me, is the best because has version for Android and iOS and synchronize between them.

And yes, it is not the most beautiful or ergonomic ebook reader, but is the one that has less issues in Android.

It's the one that's garbage as it doesn't play all that well with the CSS.

[leebase]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

It's the one that's garbage as it doesn't play all that well with the CSS.

I use it all the time for ePub books that I buy from amazon and liberate with Calibre. Works great for my use case. The iOS/Android combo is the main feature, but it handles series, is easy to load books, syncs great between devices, adjusts brightness by dragging finger on page...and multiple zone forward reverse taps that are configurable.

[ilovejedd]

Originally Posted by leebase

I use it all the time for ePub books that I buy from amazon and liberate with Calibre. Works great for my use case. The iOS/Android combo is the main feature, but it handles series, is easy to load books, syncs great between devices, adjusts brightness by dragging finger on page...and multiple zone forward reverse taps that are configurable.

Any reader that doesn't religiously adhere to CSS is crap per JSWolf.

Personally, I intentionally strip most of the publisher formatting from fiction and am quite happy using readers that JSWolf has deemed to be crap. I used to read on a 3.5" iPhone so fancy layouts don't translate well on that anyway and that habit has carried over even on bigger displays.

Technical books where formatting is essential, I tend to read on PDF with GoodReader (iPad).

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by leebase

I use it all the time for ePub books that I buy from amazon and liberate with Calibre. Works great for my use case. The iOS/Android combo is the main feature, but it handles series, is easy to load books, syncs great between devices, adjusts brightness by dragging finger on page...and multiple zone forward reverse taps that are configurable.

Those are features that have nothing to do with actually reading. FBReader is not all that good at playing nice with the CSS. That makes FBReader garbage. It doesn't matter if it has the best eBook organization in the world or if it is the easiest in the world to load eBooks. It matters how good it is at displaying eBooks. FBReader is not good enough for reading.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by ilovejedd

Any reader that doesn't religiously adhere to CSS is crap per JSWolf.

Personally, I intentionally strip most of the publisher formatting from fiction and am quite happy using readers that JSWolf has deemed to be crap. I used to read on a 3.5" iPhone so fancy layouts don't translate well on that anyway and that habit has carried over even on bigger displays.

Technical books where formatting is essential, I tend to read on PDF with GoodReader (iPad).

I do fix the formatting as needed (for me) and if the program doesn't respect the CSS, then it's not displaying the eBook as I want.