MapleRead - eBook Reader and Server for iOS

[violent23]

Okay just decided to give this app a go and I can't help but notice the loading symbol between each chapter. I know it's a small issue, but why doesn't the app load the entire book instead of each chapter separately? I don't want to see a loading symbol nor wait for anything to load when reading, which seems to be the norm on most other readers.

Is this a known bug, or will this always be an issue because of the apps design?

[romad]

Hmm, I haven't seen it (or maybe I've tuned it out) on my iPad. I'll have to pay attention at the next chapter.

OK, I see what you're talking about; it only lasts about a second or two so I've tuned it out.

[violent23]

Originally Posted by romad

Hmm, I haven't seen it (or maybe I've tuned it out) on my iPad. I'll have to pay attention at the next chapter.

An easy way to check is to load up a book that you still haven't started, the first pages before the first chapter show the loading sign frequently. My guess is those pages are broken up individually much like chapters are in the html.

[brad382]

Several of us at work are looking for a better alternative to iBooks, and I have a few specific questions about MapleRead SE. I will forward the answers to the others here at work who are also looking to buy an e-book reading app.

We are all using the 12.9” iPad Pros and read in Landscape mode with two columns visible.

1. Is there an option for “Instant” page turns for both epubs AND PDFs in MapleRead SE? We all do a ton of reading and find any page turn effect to be very distracting, particularly when reading quickly or skimming a book or magazine. Marvin 3 has an “Instant” page turn style where the page advances (or moves back) immediately without any flip, motion, slide, or other effect. Is there a similar option available in MapleRead SE for both epubs and PDFs?

2. Each of us has many epubs and PDFs in our reading library ( all DRM-free ). One of the most frustrating facets of iBooks for us is its insistence on segregating epubs and PDFs when organizing one’s library. Suppose we want to have ten categories or tags in a library, and each category has some epubs and some PDFs. Does MapleRead SE treat epubs and PDFs the same when organizing a library? Or does MapleRead SE place PDFs in a separate heading and tab like iBooks?

3. Can MapleRead SE display PDFs in two columns in Landscape mode on the iPad Pro 12.9”?

Thanks in advance for any answers or insights!

[sbaylor]

Thank you for your questions.

Originally Posted by brad382

Several of us at work are looking for a better alternative to iBooks, and I have a few specific questions about MapleRead SE. I will forward the answers to the others here at work who are also looking to buy an e-book reading app.

We are all using the 12.9” iPad Pros and read in Landscape mode with two columns visible.

1. Is there an option for “Instant” page turns for both epubs AND PDFs in MapleRead SE? We all do a ton of reading and find any page turn effect to be very distracting, particularly when reading quickly or skimming a book or magazine. Marvin 3 has an “Instant” page turn style where the page advances (or moves back) immediately without any flip, motion, slide, or other effect. Is there a similar option available in MapleRead SE for both epubs and PDFs?

MapleRead provides 3 different book styles for reading, namely, Classic Book, Modern Book and Modern Scroll. Each style has its own natural page turn effect (curl for Classic Book, slide for Modern Book, scroll for Modern Scroll) since day one. Since then, we have added curl effect for Modern Book at the request of a customer. I don't see why "none" effect can't be added for Modern Book in some future version of MapleRead, if there is sufficient customer demand. In fact, "none" effect is technically trivial. Having said that, personally I've found that the slide effect is fast enough for me, as I tap to "turn page".

2. Each of us has many epubs and PDFs in our reading library ( all DRM-free ). One of the most frustrating facets of iBooks for us is its insistence on segregating epubs and PDFs when organizing one’s library. Suppose we want to have ten categories or tags in a library, and each category has some epubs and some PDFs. Does MapleRead SE treat epubs and PDFs the same when organizing a library? Or does MapleRead SE place PDFs in a separate heading and tab like iBooks?

Absolutely no problem. The library/bookshelf view does not force segregation of EPUB and PDF books as iBooks does. Note that the organization features are much richer than those provided by iBooks and most other e-readers.

3. Can MapleRead SE display PDFs in two columns in Landscape mode on the iPad Pro 12.9”?

Thanks in advance for any answers or insights!

As you know, PDF has fixed layout. You can't easily perform a layout reflow in general, from a single-column layout to a two-column layout or vice versa, especially for PDFs with figures and tables. Is that what you want? However, if what you want is to be able to view two adjacent pages side-by-side in landscape mode, then this is a more viable option. Is this really what you want?
BTW, you might want to look at the Multi-page-icon view too. They are especially great for reading PDF magazines.

[brad382]

sbaylor,

Thank you kindly for your prompt response.

You are correct – I meant to ask if MapleRead SE can display two adjacent pages of a PDF in Landscape mode on a 12.9” iPad Pro. I used the word “column” because in Image # 4 of 46 in your Gallery, you show an option to display one or two columns in the “Landscape Column Count.” I assume the option to display two adjacent pages of a PDF in Landscape mode is selected from a different menu which is not shown in the Gallery. Is this correct?

I assumed this option exists in MapleRead SE, but I would like to verify it, because, inexplicably, Apple does not allow this in iBooks. The reader can choose to view adjacent pages of an epub while in Landscape, but this option is not allowed with PDFs. This is another example of iBooks slipshod treatment of the PDF reading and library experience.

If you would be willing to add the “instant” or “no effect” page turn style option to MapleRead SE, that, combined with your current strong PDF reading/organization experience, would be HUGE for us.

We’re not a big company, but there would be 20-25 of us who would purchase MapleRead as soon as this feature became available. We’d certainly be amenable to a higher price point / upgrade fee as well.

Thanks again for your help.

[sbaylor]

Originally Posted by brad382

sbaylor,

Thank you kindly for your prompt response.

You are correct – I meant to ask if MapleRead SE can display two adjacent pages of a PDF in Landscape mode on a 12.9” iPad Pro. I used the word “column” because in Image # 4 of 46 in your Gallery, you show an option to display one or two columns in the “Landscape Column Count.” I assume the option to display two adjacent pages of a PDF in Landscape mode is selected from a different menu which is not shown in the Gallery. Is this correct?

I assumed this option exists in MapleRead SE, but I would like to verify it, because, inexplicably, Apple does not allow this in iBooks. The reader can choose to view adjacent pages of an epub while in Landscape, but this option is not allowed with PDFs. This is another example of iBooks slipshod treatment of the PDF reading and library experience.

Currently two-column view is available only for EPUB, as illustrated in the figure you mentioned above. Two-page view for PDF, as you requested, will be considered as a future enhancement.

If you would be willing to add the “instant” or “no effect” page turn style option to MapleRead SE, that, combined with your current strong PDF reading/organization experience, would be HUGE for us.

The "none" page turn effect for EPUB will definitely be in the next release of MapleRead. The "none" effect for PDF will also be considered as a future enhancement.

We’re not a big company, but there would be 20-25 of us who would purchase MapleRead as soon as this feature became available. We’d certainly be amenable to a higher price point / upgrade fee as well.

Thanks again for your help.

There are some issues we would like to discuss with you, perhaps not on this forum. Please contact us by email.

Thanks!

[brad382]

Sbaylor,

I wasn’t aware that the 2-page view option for a PDF is not available in MapleRead SE.

Unfortunately, this option is a must-have for us, as we all have the larger 12.9” iPads, which are particularly well-suited to viewing two pages while in Landscape mode.

If you wouldn’t mind, please keep up informed here regarding MapleRead updates. We would love to purchase MapleRead SE as soon as the PDF 2-page view and “instant” page turn style options are implemented!

What a joy it will be to finally be able to use a single app to for e-reading, rather than having to use two apps, splitting one’s library in two, and always having to remember whether a particular title ( among many hundreds ) is an epub ( use Marvin 3 ) or a PDF ( use Foxit ).

Thanks again for your responses and taking the time to consider our feature requests.

[ShellShock]

• MapleRead SE 1.7.3
• IOS 11.2.6
• Epub: https://play.google.com/store/books/...d=ZZbKxTebmyYC

This epub has a section of illustrations (jpgs) at the back, and a page of links to the jpgs at the front. If I click on one of the links, MapleRead hangs with the rotating wait cursor, and never displays the image. The links work fine in other reader software, e.g., Calibre viewer.

The page of links looks like this:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8" standalone="no"?><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="nl">
<head>
<meta content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" http-equiv="Content-Type"/>
<title>Death Zone</title>
<link href="css/style.css" rel="stylesheet" type="text/css"/>
<link href="page_template.xpgt" rel="stylesheet" type="application/vnd.adobe-page-template+xml"/>
<meta name="Adept.resource" value="urn:uuid:214e2302-ee45-da52-136c-8ffe32102cf8"/>
</head>
<body><div style="display:none;"><a id="GBS.0007.01"/></div>
<h2 class="h2"><a id="page_vi"/><a id="page_vii"/><i>Illustrations</i></h2>
<h5 class="bodytext-center1c"><i>Copyright</i></h5>
<p class="hangindent1a"><a href="picture_section.xhtml#Fig-3a">Illustration 1</a></p>
<p class="hangindent1a"><a href="picture_section.xhtml#Fig-1a">Illustration 2</a></p>

etc

<div style="display:none;"><a id="GBS.0007.06"/></div></body>
</html>

picture_section.xhtml looks like this:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8" standalone="no"?><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="nl">
<head>
<meta content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" http-equiv="Content-Type"/>
<title>Death Zone</title>
<link href="css/style.css" rel="stylesheet" type="text/css"/>
<link href="page_template.xpgt" rel="stylesheet" type="application/vnd.adobe-page-template+xml"/>
<meta name="Adept.resource" value="urn:uuid:214e2302-ee45-da52-136c-8ffe32102cf8"/>
</head>
<body><div style="display:none;"><a id="GBS.0256.01"/></div>
<h5 class="image"><a id="Fig-3a"/><img alt="photo" class="imagefix" src="images/Fig_3a.jpg"/><div style="display:none;"><a id="GBS.0256.02"/></div></h5>
<h5 class="caption">Some text.</h5>
<div class="pagebreak"/>
<h5 class="image"><a id="Fig-1a"/><img alt="photo" class="imagefix" src="images/Fig_1a.jpg"/><div style="display:none;"><a id="GBS.0257.01"/></div></h5>
<h5 class="caption">Some more text.</h5>
<div class="pagebreak"/>

etc

<div style="display:none;"><a id="GBS.0273.03"/></div></body>
</html>

There are 37 illustrations (img elements with a jpg src) in picture_section.xhtml. Is MapleRead unable to cope with a page with this many images?

[sbaylor]

Originally Posted by ShellShock

• MapleRead SE 1.7.3
• IOS 11.2.6
• Epub: https://play.google.com/store/books/...d=ZZbKxTebmyYC

...

There are 37 illustrations (img elements with a jpg src) in picture_section.xhtml. Is MapleRead unable to cope with a page with this many images?

Thank you for reporting the problem. There is certainly no hardwired limit set by MapleRead on the number of images per xhtml that can be handled. Without getting hold of the EPUB file, it's hard to tell exactly what's wrong just by looking at the quoted fragments. However, I can't download the file with the link you provided.

[cedhax]

Hurray! MapleRead SE 2.0 now runs on iPhone as well as iPad!

For those of us "early adapters" of MapleRead SE, which used to run only on iPad, this is an excellent free bonus. Just downloaded the app to my iPhone 8 Plus and having fun playing with it now...

[nimapourkarimi]

Wow, thanks @sbaylor, the new interface is minimalistic and beautiful, I love it.

[slantybard]

The new interface looks ok but if you have set up your reading theme for night with dark background and light text, when you go back to the home screen in list view, the bright white of the new interface can be quite harsh on your eyes. Is there anyway to have a “dark” theme for the main screen in list view?

[cedhax]

Originally Posted by slantybard

The new interface looks ok but if you have set up your reading theme for night with dark background and light text, when you go back to the home screen in list view, the bright white of the new interface can be quite harsh on your eyes. Is there anyway to have a “dark” theme for the main screen in list view?

Perhaps you'd want to go back to the good old Library interface that uses a wood color header in both list view and shelf view? Just turn on "Legacy Transparent Bookshelf" of the app in iOS Settings.

[slantybard]

Originally Posted by cedhax

Perhaps you'd want to go back to the good old Library interface that uses a wood color header in both list view and shelf view? Just turn on "Legacy Transparent Bookshelf" of the app in iOS Settings.

Thanks for that tip. I will use the old interface for now since it’s less bright in the night. I do like the new interface though and would still like the option for a dark theme for the new interface. I already use a dark theme when reading with the background colour of hexadecimal : 333333 (RGB Decimal :51, 51, 51 / CMYK :0%, 0%, 0%, 80%) with white text. That combined with night mode works perfectly when I’m reading in bed and my spouse is sleeping.