Questions about iBooks and Books

AliceWonder · 09-18-2019, 01:31 PM

Back in the 80s and 90s I was a typical maclot, MacAddict subscription (late 90s), whole 9 yards, until I discovered Linux. Haven't really used Apple in decades.

I was recently given a 3rd gen iPad to test the ePub projects I'm working on - where I discovered iBooks respects the publisher fonts except in paragraph nodes, causing different fonts to be used for things like list items than are used for paragraphs and different fonts for code blocks in a div (styled like pre but with wrap) than in code tags. Really disconcerting to the eye.

Found a solution - iBooks wants a custom XML file in META-INF to tell it to use some options, including publisher fonts for paragraph tags.

So (as a command line geek) I wrote a python script that lets me create/manage that custom iBooks configuration file - https://github.com/VeryGoodErotica/g...ooksOptions.py

Feels like MS with their IE ignoring the standards and requiring customization of web pages all over again.

But now I hear that iBooks is being replaced by something called Books?

Is that desktop only or is that on iOS devices as well?

I borrowed use of an iMac to open the ePub books I'm working on, and it looked like iBooks was the app, and it looked just like the display on my 3rd gen iPad only showing two pages at once. The iMac I had use of is an older one, is Books only available on the newer iMacs? Or is it a separate app that has to be specifically installed?

Does Books use the same custom XML file within META-INF or does it use a different one or does it not use one at all?

leebase · 09-18-2019, 01:44 PM

iBooks became Books for iOS 12. It will be Books going forward. If you don't have iOS 12, you can't have Books. iPad 3 does not run iOS12.

Here are the supported iPads:
12.9-inch iPad Pro 2nd generation
12.9-inch iPad Pro 1st generation
10.5-inch iPad Pro
9.7-inch iPad Pro
9.6-inch iPad
iPad Air 2
iPad Air
iPad 5th generation
iPad mini 4
iPad mini 3
iPad mini 2

AliceWonder · 09-18-2019, 02:28 PM

Does it use the same META-INF/com.apple.ibooks.display-options.xml or does it use a different file or does it use none at all?

Biggest concern for me is to make sure it uses publisher fonts even for paragraph nodes.

09-18-2019, 01:31 PM	#1
AliceWonder Connoisseur Posts: 97 Karma: 200000 Join Date: Aug 2019 Device: none	Questions about iBooks and Books Back in the 80s and 90s I was a typical maclot, MacAddict subscription (late 90s), whole 9 yards, until I discovered Linux. Haven't really used Apple in decades. I was recently given a 3rd gen iPad to test the ePub projects I'm working on - where I discovered iBooks respects the publisher fonts except in paragraph nodes, causing different fonts to be used for things like list items than are used for paragraphs and different fonts for code blocks in a div (styled like pre but with wrap) than in code tags. Really disconcerting to the eye. Found a solution - iBooks wants a custom XML file in META-INF to tell it to use some options, including publisher fonts for paragraph tags. So (as a command line geek) I wrote a python script that lets me create/manage that custom iBooks configuration file - https://github.com/VeryGoodErotica/g...ooksOptions.py Feels like MS with their IE ignoring the standards and requiring customization of web pages all over again. But now I hear that iBooks is being replaced by something called Books? Is that desktop only or is that on iOS devices as well? I borrowed use of an iMac to open the ePub books I'm working on, and it looked like iBooks was the app, and it looked just like the display on my 3rd gen iPad only showing two pages at once. The iMac I had use of is an older one, is Books only available on the newer iMacs? Or is it a separate app that has to be specifically installed? Does Books use the same custom XML file within META-INF or does it use a different one or does it not use one at all?

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09-18-2019, 01:44 PM	#2
leebase Karma Kameleon Posts: 2,934 Karma: 26616647 Join Date: Aug 2009 Device: iPad Mini, iPhone X, Kindle Fire Tab HD 8, Walmart Onn	iBooks became Books for iOS 12. It will be Books going forward. If you don't have iOS 12, you can't have Books. iPad 3 does not run iOS12. Here are the supported iPads: 12.9-inch iPad Pro 2nd generation 12.9-inch iPad Pro 1st generation 10.5-inch iPad Pro 9.7-inch iPad Pro 9.6-inch iPad iPad Air 2 iPad Air iPad 5th generation iPad mini 4 iPad mini 3 iPad mini 2

09-18-2019, 02:28 PM	#3
AliceWonder Connoisseur Posts: 97 Karma: 200000 Join Date: Aug 2019 Device: none	Does it use the same META-INF/com.apple.ibooks.display-options.xml or does it use a different file or does it use none at all? Biggest concern for me is to make sure it uses publisher fonts even for paragraph nodes.

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