Just released: Readmill for Android

[PeterT]

Not compatible with Nexus 7 (2012) using Android 4.3

[ClairePMR]

Originally Posted by henrikberggren

LH07: For now we only support non-DRM ePub 2. In the near future we'll support Adobe DRM as well as PDF.


cklls: For DRM'ed files to work you have to upload the .acsm file. On Android we don't support DRM just yet but sit tight, it'll be there soon. And we'll take a look at why website sync does not work.

If you re-read my note, it said "DRM-free epub files." These include epubs that I've created from my own personal documents which have never had DRM protection, and downloads in pure non-DRM epub formats.

[norb3rto]

Not compatible with HTC One Android 4.2.2.

[Purple Lady]

I just installed it and I will not be using it. Importing books seems to work quickly - it found 415 books in seconds but I only imported two. Nothing else seems ready for prime time.

When I first opened a book it nearly blinded me - you should use whatever brightness the user currently has and then allow a change.

Nothing but font size, brightness and night mode can be changed. I do not care for your font type and find it difficult. I also want to change justification and line spacing at a minimum. These are very basic things that are missing.

Night mode is very strange - pictures are made reverse mono color.

I am not that interested in the social aspect and the basic reading is unusable. Is the ios version as limited as the android version?

[jillmess]

My ebooks are all stored on an sd card and there doesn't appear to be any way to tell the app where to import from. It would only find/import the 2 epubs on internal memory.

[Mike L]

if you have interest in what extra value we can give you more than just being an excellent reader then Readmill is probably not for you.

My feeling is that an ebook reader's function is to let me read ebooks, and for me that's simply not a "social" experience. I don't want to "share highlights & recommendations with friends" or do any of the other social things.

For me, reading is something I do in private. If I want to discuss what I'm reading with my friends, I'll talk to them either face to face or in an on-line medium like a forum. I don't feel I need an app to help me with this.

As I (and others) said, if the social aspects were optional, I would definitely take a look at this product. I just don't want to be forced into the login business.

Mike

[Teknikal]

I actually don't think the social idea is a bad thing it's probably necessary to stand out from the rivals in some way and this seems as good a way as any.

Requiring a login does seem a little suspect on a reading program though especially when it's asking for something as potentially revealing as a facebook account or something others like to to keep private and spam free like their email address.

My feedback despite not actually using or seeing the app would be the login idea is fine and most people (90-95%) will probably just use their facebook account but it would be nice to have the option of a readmill account instead that wasn't tied to anything but readmill, I doubt that's in the business plan but like I said in my first post good luck getting it off the ground as I think it does have potential.

[GeneS]

I just tried Readmill on my Asus Transformer. Nice job on a very attractive interface. Reading on Readmill is definitely a pleasant experience. In spite of that, three negatives that may prevent me from choosing it as my reader are 1) that Readmill apparently cannot import my library stored on my sdCard (I first have to move the book to internal memory), and 2) Readmill is not one of the readers listed if I click/tap on a book stored in my Dropbox folder, and, 3) I have my library backed up in numerous places -- I dislike having to import a book and then manage yet another copy stored on yet another cloud.

your noble effort will probably fail to gain traction - having to log in, or divulge any info at all to social media is not a good idea as they have a long history of not caring for users, only for ad revenue.

If you don't just want to be a footnote in the history of ereaders, you may want to consider a focus on compatibility issues (see above). I, for one, would never use this app even though the interface looks neat.

[PatNY]

New readers for Android are always welcome, so I was interested to see what this was all about. Unfortunately, there are 2 big obstacles for me:

1) Books are kept in the cloud. That means no access to them when there is no internet access. I will never adopt a reader app that relies heavily on internet access for its main functionality.

2) There are only 2 theme choices: black-on-white OR white on black. For my eyes, I find both options too harsh. So any reader that doesn't give the user the option to customize the page color and fonts won't do for me.

--Pat

[Jessica Lares]

Happy Readmill user since launch. Happy to see it on Android, although I just left that platform.

Windows Phone next please.

[Lyor]

Originally Posted by henrikberggren

.......

VelvetElvis, Lyor: What Android version are you using? Happy to look into why it does not work.

.......
.

Android version 4.3

[henrikberggren]

Thanks so much for everyones feedback. Will try to answer everything below.


cklls: Sorry, I misread your post. Please send an email to support@readmill.com if the syncing is still broken. We'll fix it for you.

norb3rto: We tried to filter out a few devices and by mistake included lots of others. We're sending in a bugfix update tomorrow at the latest and will fix these issues at the same time.

Purple Lady: Thanks for the specifics PL. We'll continue to make the experience better, it's early days for us and we're learning as we go.

jillmess: We've heard this from a lot of people and we're looking into it. Sorry about it.

Mike L: I understand that its not for everyone. We wanted to start with the people who are interested in reviews, recommendations and features like that thats why we have a login wall. We'll look into making all of that optional in the future.

Teknikal: Thanks so much Teknikal, I appreciate your support. We're very interested in all kinds of feedback and are serious about making this into a good product.

GeneS: Thanks for your feedback. 1) See jillmess reply above. 2) We know this and are fixing it 3) I understand that, nobody wants yet another cloud. However, imho, there is no cloud service for ebook out there. Amazon/Google/Apple etc. are all walled gardens, Box/Dropbox etc. are not made for books so we think there is room for someone who cares about books only.

emt: Thanks for your feedback. I obviously don't agree but time will tell!

PatNY: Thanks Pat! 1) Cloud does not mean that you need an internet connection all the time. You can store as many books as you want on your phone and read them completely offline. 2) We're looking into more reading modes soon so sit tight.

Jessica Lares: Thanks Jessica, sorry to see you go. Maybe we'll start with Windows only for you

Lyor: see the answer to norb3rto.

Thanks everyone!

[Jessica Lares]

Originally Posted by henrikberggren

Jessica Lares: Thanks Jessica, sorry to see you go. Maybe we'll start with Windows only for you

LOL. Hey, I'm pretty sure there are others who would love it too!

I did try out Read Rover from your intern though. Very nice.

[VelvetElvis]

Originally Posted by Mike L

My feeling is that an ebook reader's function is to let me read ebooks, and for me that's simply not a "social" experience. I don't want to "share highlights & recommendations with friends" or do any of the other social things.

For me, reading is something I do in private. If I want to discuss what I'm reading with my friends, I'll talk to them either face to face or in an on-line medium like a forum. I don't feel I need an app to help me with this.

As I (and others) said, if the social aspects were optional, I would definitely take a look at this product. I just don't want to be forced into the login business.

Mike

Ditto on all the above.

I feel there's always room for another quality ebook app, and was glad to see that my device is finally supported. However, the _mandatory_ logon requirement forced me to remove the app.

Pity that both modes of operation weren't supported. The larger the installed base, the more popular the app would become.