[Archived] Marvin ePub reader for iPad

[Faterson]

Originally Posted by maxjens

The size used is almost as large as the font on the ipad keypad (ipad1).

Oops! I'm afraid what you wish to do cannot be done (yet), but I can't stress the importance of getting a Retina-screen iPad enough, especially when the reader is someone struggling with their eyesight. My eye-sight isn't the best, either (especially when I put off my glasses, I resemble a bat sometimes), and the difference between the crispness of fonts on an iPad 1 and iPad 3 is quite dramatic.

Whereas it's a real pleasure to be reading in Marvin on an iPad 3 even without my glasses on, this is next to impossible on the iPad 1 or iPad 2 (iPad mini as well, no doubt), because the screen becomes intolerably grainy to look at, especially if you put it closer to your eyes, which is exactly what a person with impaired eye-sight is naturally apt to do.

[kguil]

artbatista: App Store is broken?

MeSue: It would complain as well if you try and download exactly the same book.

Faterson: Not exactly. To determine whether two books are the same, Marvin compares them byte-for-byte (sort of) - the same book with 2 different filenames is still the same book to Marvin. However, Marvin will also not allow 2 books having the same filename to be in the library.

maxjens: I'll come up with something.

[ProfCrash]

I am sorting by series and I have books that are not series in the list. I checked the metadata to make sure and the series name and number are blank.

[artbatista]

Originally Posted by ProfCrash

I am sorting by series and I have books that are not series in the list. I checked the metadata to make sure and the series name and number are blank.

More details please. The behavior I see, is that Marvin groups all the books without series at the top of the list under the pseudo series "UNKOWN"

Can you post a screen cap of the problem?


Art

[ProfCrash]

I mainly use an iPad and don't know if I can post a picture of it.

When I sort by series there is a large number of unknown, I imagine those are the ones without series info in them. I guess I thought sorting by series would only list the books that were identified as being in a series.

[holymadness]

Press the home button and the power button simultaneously to take a screenshot. It will be saved to your photo collection.

[Faterson]

Originally Posted by ProfCrash

I mainly use an iPad and don't know if I can post a picture of it.

When I sort by series there is a large number of unknown, I imagine those are the ones without series info in them. I guess I thought sorting by series would only list the books that were identified as being in a series.

I agree with ProfCrash. Books that are part of no series, might best be temporarily hidden when that particular sorting criterion is activated.

Or if that (currently) cannot be done in Marvin, it would at least make more sense to put all non-series books at the bottom of the listing, instead of at the top.

All of this will soon be moot, I suppose, because new Marvin Library sorting options, including (virtual) folders, will become available.

[ProfCrash]

Folders or whatever will be awesome but sorting by series will be a powerful tool in the folders. I can see having a folder for science fiction and wanting to search for a series in that folder. It would be more efficient then having a folder with a ton of sub folders.

Maybe making it so that the largest number is on top so that the series populate the top of the list. That is probably easier then having the non-series books be hidden.

[artbatista]

Originally Posted by ProfCrash

I mainly use an iPad and don't know if I can post a picture of it.

When I sort by series there is a large number of unknown, I imagine those are the ones without series info in them. I guess I thought sorting by series would only list the books that were identified as being in a series.

That's the normal behavior. At the top of the list will be those books without series. They're listed as series "unknown". Then the rest are listed by series in alphabetical order.

Cheers

Art

[kguil]

You can also tap the series picker (next to the series sort button).

[gwynevans]

Just an idle thought, but has anyone considered how feasible it would be to try and have a common format for metadata for syncing reading positions across programs? It would be nice to be able to switch from reading on the iPad with Marvin to reading on my N7 with Moon+ and have it auto sync positions via Dropbox...

[kguil]

I think it is a brilliant idea. I'm still coming to terms with the techniques to sync versions of Marvin with itself (say, the coming iPhone version). When I have something in place, I'll write the Moon+ dev to see if we can make something happen.

[Faterson]

Originally Posted by gwynevans

It would be nice to be able to switch from reading on the iPad with Marvin to reading on my N7 with Moon+ and have it auto sync positions via Dropbox...

You know, no matter how nice that would be -- and I love Moon+ Reader --, it's nothing compared to how ultra-nice it will be to have Marvin available for Android as well. Moon+ Reader as the -- in my opinion -- best Android e-reader just lacks some of Marvin's advanced functionality -- let me only mention again what I hold to be Marvin's no. 1 competitive advantage: ability to export/import/restore/merge/share highlights/notes/bookmarks (and coming up now, vocabulary lists) with a single tap of your finger.

[icallaci]

I would LOVE to be able to sync bookmarks between Marvin and Moon+.

[artbatista]

Originally Posted by kguil

I think it is a brilliant idea. I'm still coming to terms with the techniques to sync versions of Marvin with itself (say, the coming iPhone version). When I have something in place, I'll write the Moon+ dev to see if we can make something happen.

As my daughter would say:

OMG, DUDE! That's like, AWESOME!. You are the bestest 'puter thingy person EVER!!!

Back to myself now:

I think is a great idea. How come no one thought of that before?

Cheers

Art