Request for a Sigil (Lite) EPUB Reader

[Red Wolf]

This is a request that an EPUB reader be developed based on the Sigil EPUB editing program (Sigil Lite). The idea would be to use the basic Sigil program, remove its editing ability, and scale back the features to be consistent with an EPUB viewer only. The main new feature needed would be the ability to view and print the entire EPUB (not just specific files within it).

Why is a NEW reader needed when there are already programs like Calibre out there? The major reasons are as follows:

1. There is a need for a self-contained (or near self-contained) reader that faithfully and accurately reproduces EPUBs and which could be sent with EPUBs to ensure consistency and fidelity of viewing. This is not a big concern if your content is primarily uncomplicated text, such as in a novel. But when rather complicated tables, images, graphics and more are included, the appearance of the EPUB can vary considerably by reader. Sigil and Calibre virtually stand alone as the two programs that do display complicated EPUBs consistently and properly.

2. However, unlike Calibre, Sigil accommodates EPUB3 multimedia (audio, video, etc.). This is a MAJOR advantage that Sigil has over Calibre.

3. And, unlike Calibre, Sigil can print the EPUB to any printer, not just to a PDF file. For what I do this is another MAJOR advantage that Sigil has over Calibre.

4. Lastly, the EPUB management features included with Calibre are either overrated or not applicable for many of us. In my case I deal with small numbers of very complicated books and multimedia support, consistent viewing, fidelity to the original, and printing ability are far more important to me.

This is not meant to disparage Calibre. Calibre is an outstanding program for what it does, and I certainly use Calibre for certain applications. Unfortunately, Calibre does not meet the above needs for me in a reader.

To whomever in Sigil development might be listening, thank you for your consideration of this request.

[JustinThought]

I have a feeling this is going to go over like a lead balloon. Sigil is an e-pub editor. Not a reader.

That said, I agree with you on a lot of your points. In my (very limited) experience, the e-pub readers are pretty bad about the fidelity with which they display e-books. On my PC, I have a pretty specific use for e-pub reading. Generally, I use it in my classes to display news articles with accompanying audio to help my students improve their listening as well as reading comprehension. (I teach English as a second language.) For that, Calibre worked, then didn't work. Because of that, I have "frozen" my Calibre at 2.71 (he's up to 2.84 now) because there was multimedia support in that one which disappeared in later versions.

I've tried other e-pub readers on my PC, and I haven't found anything that occupied my hard drive for more than a few minutes.

But most of my e-pub reading is done on my Android devices--either my phone, or more frequently my tablet. The same problems crop up there--Moon+, while actually being my preferred reading app, is lousy at presenting the text as the publisher (ehem! usually me) designed it. But it does properly support multimedia, both audio as well as video. Gitden Reader is great at fidelity, but has no support for multimedia. (And rightly so. E-Pub2 isn't designed to support multimedia, from what I understand.)

Maybe one day, there'll be a consensus, but I doubt it.

Now, while we're blue-skying, I'll put in my request. As an obsessive-compulsive proofreader, as I'm reading an e-book on my Android device, whenever I spot a typo, I just have to bookmark it for later repair on my PC. I'd love to see a Sigil-app that would allow me to make those corrections directly on my device.

[jackie_w]

Originally Posted by JustinThought

Gitden Reader is great at fidelity, but has no support for multimedia. (And rightly so. E-Pub2 isn't designed to support multimedia, from what I understand.)

Oh, that's a bit surprising! I thought Gitden was one of the few Android reader apps which claimed to support epub3.

BTW, I'm not arguing with you. I don't actually own any multimedia epubs, so I've never experimented.

[DiapDealer]

I know I won't have time to contribute to any such project. For one thing, It's never been suggested that Sigil's Preview or Book View is the definitive bar against which all epub rendering should be measured. Quite the opposite in fact. We've consistently pointed out that Sigil's rendering is NOT to be taken as the end-all/be all of how things "should" look. There is no substitute for previewing epubs on target devices and target apps.

If you stripped Sigil of all its editing abilities, the only thing you would really be left with is a scrolling WebKit browser.

[Doitsu]

Originally Posted by JustinThought

Gitden Reader is great at fidelity, but has no support for multimedia.

The Android version of Gitden Reader does support multimedia in epub3 books. You can test this for yourself by opening the semi-official EPUBTEST 0100 - Reflowable Content Test epub3 book with it.

Originally Posted by jackie_w

Oh, that's a bit surprising! I thought Gitden was one of the few Android reader apps which claimed to support epub3.

Gitden Reader does support most mainstream epub3 features.

Originally Posted by jackie_w

BTW, I'm not arguing with you. I don't actually own any multimedia epubs, so I've never experimented.

You can use the above test epub3 book that I linked to for your own tests.

[Doitsu]

Originally Posted by JustinThought

On my PC, I have a pretty specific use for e-pub reading. Generally, I use it in my classes to display news articles with accompanying audio to help my students improve their listening as well as reading comprehension. (I teach English as a second language.) For that, Calibre worked, then didn't work.

If your students have Android or iOS tablets you might want to recommend the free Menestrello app to them, which supports epub3 audio books.
(The developer offers a couple of English Public Domain books as free downloads.)

@Red Wolf: In the latest Windows 10 version, Microsoft added epub support to its Edge browser. I.e., a year from now, you could assume that all Windows 10 users will be able to read epubs with the Edge browser.