MapleRead - eBook Reader and Server for iOS

[slantybard]

Why is this thread in the Marvin forum? I am not the only one who has asked this and no response from any admin/moderator is completely inappropriate and frankly rude to the forum users.

[romad]

Originally Posted by slantybard

Why is this thread in the Marvin forum? I am not the only one who has asked this and no response from any admin/moderator is completely inappropriate and frankly rude to the forum users.

Perhaps, not being competent enough to update Marvin, the developer bought out MaplePop so MapleRead could be renamed “Marvin”?

[pdurrant]

Moved to the Apple Forum, since it seems to be iOS only.

(Reporting threads or posts is the best way to draw our attention.)

[romad]

Good, as that is where it was originally when I moved to MapleRead over 5 years ago.

[cerem0ny]

Love the app but when I open the app the last page read is always moved, either forwards or backwards! Any ideas on how to fix this?

[mark_e_h]

Originally Posted by cerem0ny

Love the app but when I open the app the last page read is always moved, either forwards or backwards! Any ideas on how to fix this?

I use this, mostly because I can't find another app with similar features. But there are lots of places where the app loses context. A few examples:

• Most of the time when opening the app, it opens to the book I was reading. But sometimes to the list of books, requiring me to re-open the book.
• Most of the time it opens to the page I was reading. Sometimes a few pages earlier, as you mention.
• The brightness (dimmer) returns to a "default" mode most (but not all) of the times I leave the app. If I want it brighter I need to set it higher - again and again....
• If I leave the app to search the web for a word or phrase, when I return it sometimes doesn't return to where I left off, or returns to the book list page.
• I frequently use "notes" by highlighting a line or section. When the notes are listed, the order can be chosen. I prefer the list "by location". When I leave and return, the order is always changed to "date last edit" - I have to reselect the order that's useful to me

A few other problems:

• Integration with Calibre is clumsy. Works, just not easy.
• The user interface is a little "weak." For example, if I touch the right side of the page, the animation shows a page turn, but the page doesn't always turn - I sometimes end up on the same page. A "swipe" instead of a "touch" is more reliable. But the touch should work

I don't think the developers pay any attention to this thread. My suggestion is that you go to the mapleread web site, www.maplepop.com, the support page, and send an email (support@maplepop.com). They occasionally respond to mine. Enough people might get them to take notice.


.

[cerem0ny]

Originally Posted by mark_e_h

I use this, mostly because I can't find another app with similar features. But there are lots of places where the app loses context. A few examples:

• Most of the time when opening the app, it opens to the book I was reading. But sometimes to the list of books, requiring me to re-open the book.
• Most of the time it opens to the page I was reading. Sometimes a few pages earlier, as you mention.
• The brightness (dimmer) returns to a "default" mode most (but not all) of the times I leave the app. If I want it brighter I need to set it higher - again and again....
• If I leave the app to search the web for a word or phrase, when I return it sometimes doesn't return to where I left off, or returns to the book list page.
• I frequently use "notes" by highlighting a line or section. When the notes are listed, the order can be chosen. I prefer the list "by location". When I leave and return, the order is always changed to "date last edit" - I have to reselect the order that's useful to me

A few other problems:

• Integration with Calibre is clumsy. Works, just not easy.
• The user interface is a little "weak." For example, if I touch the right side of the page, the animation shows a page turn, but the page doesn't always turn - I sometimes end up on the same page. A "swipe" instead of a "touch" is more reliable. But the touch should work

I don't think the developers pay any attention to this thread. My suggestion is that you go to the mapleread web site, www.maplepop.com, the support page, and send an email (support@maplepop.com). They occasionally respond to mine. Enough people might get them to take notice.


.

Hmmm, agree with all your critiques, it does seem no epub reader app is perfect. Which epub reader app is your personal favourite, mark?

[mark_e_h]

Originally Posted by cerem0ny

Hmmm, agree with all your critiques, it does seem no epub reader app is perfect. Which epub reader app is your personal favourite, mark?

Alas, this one. I haven't (yet) found one better, which is why I know all of the good, and bad, of Mapleread.

It's important to find a reader that allows a lot of notes, highlighting, interactions with the Apple pencil, etc...

If I'm reading fiction those things aren't as important, though I do sometimes highlight the first appearance of each character.

But for complex works - history, or philosophy - think about reading in a physical book. Underline, highlight, marginal notes, mark pages with slips of paper/post-its, multiple bookmarks to quickly find your away around to sections that relate, insert pages of handwritten notes on paper. These are the ways I work through a complex and difficult book. I want the app to come as close to this as it can.

I want to encourage them to improve.

.

[cerem0ny]

Originally Posted by mark_e_h

Alas, this one. I haven't (yet) found one better, which is why I know all of the good, and bad, of Mapleread.

It's important to find a reader that allows a lot of notes, highlighting, interactions with the Apple pencil, etc...

If I'm reading fiction those things aren't as important, though I do sometimes highlight the first appearance of each character.

But for complex works - history, or philosophy - think about reading in a physical book. Underline, highlight, marginal notes, mark pages with slips of paper/post-its, multiple bookmarks to quickly find your away around to sections that relate, insert pages of handwritten notes on paper. These are the ways I work through a complex and difficult book. I want the app to come as close to this as it can.

I want to encourage them to improve.

.

Alas, I think I’m going back to Marvin 3. Just wish I didn’t get these annoying formatting issues every now and then for no reason when I open a book. I read mostly fiction so I think Marvin beats Maple in this regard.

[romad]

Originally Posted by cerem0ny

Alas, I think I’m going back to Marvin 3. Just wish I didn’t get these annoying formatting issues every now and then for no reason when I open a book. I read mostly fiction so I think Marvin beats Maple in this regard.

When I had to dump iBooks, I tried various apps, and it came down to MapleRead & Marvin. For ePubs both apps were neck and neck at the finish line. MapleRead won out because I wanted ONE app that could handle BOTH ePub & PDF e-books.

[cerem0ny]

Originally Posted by romad

When I had to dump iBooks, I tried various apps, and it came down to MapleRead & Marvin. For ePubs both apps were neck and neck at the finish line. MapleRead won out because I wanted ONE app that could handle BOTH ePub & PDF e-books.

I just can’t deal with going backwards and having to find my current page every third or so time I open my book. A fundamental flaw. Marvin 3 it is.

[romad]

Originally Posted by cerem0ny

I just can’t deal with going backwards and having to find my current page every third or so time I open my book. A fundamental flaw. Marvin 3 it is.

I don't have that problem EXCEPT when I fall asleep reading and my hand happens to touch the screen while I'm asleep! When I wake up, I just page forward/back to where I was. Easy Peasy.

[romad]

OK, I'm getting ready to upgrade from my iPad Mini 5 to an iPad Mini 6. However when I went and tapped on the iTunes option it only listed 8 of the over 2,400 books I have in MapleRead SE. Any idea as to why this is? My iMac is limited to MacOS 10.13.6 (High Sierra) and thus also limited to iTunes 12.8.3.1; could that be why all my ePubs & PDFs in MR aren't listed. I remember when I moved from my Mini 4 to the Mini 5, I ended up having to export and install ALL of my ebooks from Calibre because the Backup/Restore didn't work.

[DuskyRose]

Originally Posted by romad

I remember when I moved from my Mini 4 to the Mini 5, I ended up having to export and install ALL of my ebooks from Calibre because the Backup/Restore didn't work.

This may just be me, but I've never thought that the backup/restore on any iPad device actually restores anything but the programs, settings and passwords. Not the database of the programs itself. Not any information that you could load through the 'file share' option on that device.

Since most apps aren't actually owned by iTunes, the info isn't going to be transferred.

I don't think 'backup' is meant to keep a clone of the iThing. I have a handful of iThings, and have never come across the backup restoring everything. Just the apps and settings.

But if there's a way around that, I'd love to hear it. It's a real PITA to have to reload libraries and other data.

[culytera]

I'm looking to replace KyBook 3 since I've been getting issues with syncing my Calibre library on Dropbox. MapleRead seems like it's the closest to having most of the features I want. Firstly, I'm going to explain my setup with KyBook then I have a few questions for how to setup MapleRead the way I'd like or if there's a better setup for it.

My KyBook setup:

• Download fic from Ao3 using FanFicFare
• My FanFicFare settings make the first page's font large which means Calibre's auto-generated cover (using the first page) has fairly readable letters when I see the books on KyBook
• I connect Calibre to my Dropbox folder then send the epub to my Dropbox folder
• I have a user stylesheet installed on KyBook so the first page's style from FanFicFare's settings gets overriden, making the first page readable on my phone
• When I finish reading the book, I delete it from KyBook which will also delete it from my Dropbox folder
• I open Calibre and connect it to my Dropbox folder. I can then see the deleted books based on the "On Device" column
• If I don't want to keep the copy, I delete the book from my Calibre library. If I want to keep the copy, I add a "Finished:yes" tag to the book

I hope I was able to explain my setup properly. It's rather particular, but I'm willing to adjust for MapleRead. I'll get used to it eventually.

For my questions about MapleRead:

1. Does its library view have a large cards option (or something similar)?

- The large cards options lets me read the summary of the fic from the book's icon on the library view. On MapleRead, the book's cover is too small on the current available views.

2. Is there a way to setup my library on MapleRead so that when I delete the fic after I finish reading it, I will easily know which ones are finished when I open Calibre?

3. Can I upload my own font to MapleRead?

4. Can I use Dropbox as a library server on MapleRead without having to import the books through the Files app?