Kobo future firmware feature request thread

[DNSB]

Originally Posted by Lavender

Can you explain the diff between side-loading, and syncing? I plan to use calibre to load all my books on my clara bw. Which method does that fit under?

That would be sideloading. Syncing is when you purchase an ebook from Kobo and it is sent OTA to your Kobo.

[Lavender]

Originally Posted by DNSB

That would be sideloading. Syncing is when you purchase an ebook from Kobo and it is sent OTA to your Kobo.

Thanks again for the info. Very helpful.

[vikbi8]

Is this possible to create Password Protected Collections ? Books inside this collection couldn't be read / displayed without password ?

[vikbi8]

Another feature... A "Surprise Me" button : just write (or not) some criterias (pages / ...) and it randomly choose on book to read !

[DNSB]

Originally Posted by vikbi8

Is this possible to create Password Protected Collections ? Books inside this collection couldn't be read / displayed without password ?

I actually asked about that one time. It is not going to be implemented since a Kobo is considered as a single user device. You can use a PIN to protect the entire reader but not bits and pieces.

Originally Posted by vikbi8

Another feature... A "Surprise Me" button : just write (or not) some criterias (pages / ...) and it randomly choose on book to read !

Highly unlikely. You can use calibre to select a random book.

[compurandom]

Originally Posted by vikbi8

Another feature... A "Surprise Me" button : just write (or not) some criterias (pages / ...) and it randomly choose on book to read !

I wrote a calibre action chain that picks a few random books, adds them to the "random" shelf, and then schedules them to be sent to the device.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by compurandom

I wrote a calibre action chain that picks a few random books, adds them to the "random" shelf, and then schedules them to be sent to the device.

I suggest you edit your chain so if a book in a series is chosen that it then picks the first book in that series. Otherwise, you could end up with books in the middle of a series.

[compurandom]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

I suggest you edit your chain so if a book in a series is chosen that it then picks the first book in that series. Otherwise, you could end up with books in the middle of a series.

Before I start the chain, I select a category. The chain selects a book from the current filters.

I have categories that are either all first in series (or next in series) or books not in a series.

So it's not a totally random set of books. Remember, the selection of random numbers is too important to be left to chance.

[Apollyon202]

If I am not mistaken, all kobo devices have a built in LED. Would be fun if the LED indicator could have a bit more functionality.
Rather than relying only on small on‑screen icons, set the LED to indicate low battery:
- Constant on below 20-30 %
- Fast blink below 10 % or something like that.

[DNSB]

Originally Posted by Apollyon202

If I am not mistaken, all kobo devices have a built in LED. Would be fun if the LED indicator could have a bit more functionality.
Rather than relying only on small on‑screen icons, set the LED to indicate low battery:
- Constant on below 20-30 %
- Fast blink below 10 % or something like that.

Minor nit there is that the LED would consume a significant amount of power for an eInk device.

[Apollyon202]

Originally Posted by DNSB

Minor nit there is that the LED would consume a significant amount of power for an eInk device.

Although I'm not sure about the exact type of LEDs but that shouldn't be the case. KOReader or even an open PDF document could be more power hungry. Not to mention the Colour devices which have to have constant frontlight on and even on higher brightness.

[DNSB]

Originally Posted by Apollyon202

Although I'm not sure about the exact type of LEDs but that shouldn't be the case. KOReader or even an open PDF document could be more power hungry. Not to mention the Colour devices which have to have constant frontlight on and even on higher brightness.

Since using my Sage, I read with the frontlight either off or at ~5%, not sure how much power that takes. Given that the Sage is overly aggressive at reducing power usage, that KOReader also implements power saving. Using the native PDF reader does not disable power management and an eInk screen takes no power if it is not actively being modified, why would reading a PDF document use that much extra power? I would prefer to avoid any extra power usage.

As for my KLC? It lasts for weeks between charging and I again really see no advantage to using an LED to monitor battery charge. If I really wanted to monitor battery charge, I would use an addon that displays the battery charge at the top of the screen as part of the eInk display. A lot easier than turning my Sage to see the LED on the side or my Clara HD to see the LED on the bottom.

[Apollyon202]

Usually the PDF is the type of document where the average user are zooming in and out, scrolling etc. By that when reading a PDF, which is not best document type for an ereader consumes way more power than proper ereader formats, especially compared to a tiny LED light.

I didn't say that LED battery feedback should be mandatory, but it would be nice to have as an option. Newer devices of course, where the LED went to the front panel. It is there in every single kobo reader, but if you take care about it (like not tinkering and risking untested firmware hacks) the LED's function is pretty much useless. Yeah, it's blinking during boot and illuminates during charging (optional), but that's it. I boot up my Libra 2 like a few times a year, it's always in sleep mode when I'm not using it. Would be nice though, if the LED had more purpose, as right now it doesn't have many but it's always there.

Edit: just came to mind.. I remember when like a decade ago, my smartphone at that time had LEDs, like multiple. It was blinking if something happened, like a missed call, a message or battery low. It was fun, because if it wasn't blinking then nothing happened and I didn't have to check it. I miss those times.