my opinion about different ios readers

[ashamam]

For me a critical issue with maple reader is the backgrounds. It just can not achieve the same dark textured high res background that Marvin has as a stock option. Would love to hear Marvin was getting some love.

[crashnburn]

Interesting article.

https://fs.blog/2015/01/marginalia/

Another reason why we need "e readers" with "ability to annotate/ make contextual notes" - keep them linked with the book as well as be exportable contextually when needed/ wanted.

[crashnburn]

Originally Posted by pwalker8

I will say that a more up to date iPad would be useful if you have more than a few hundred books. My iPad Pro syncs up with Calibre a lot faster than my iPad mini. The author of Calibre Companion said that CC uses the iPad internal cache memory so more of that is better.

I still use the Marvin/Calibre Companion combination. Marvin hasn't been updated in a while. Maple Reader seems to be under active development. I've used it from time to time and it's improved a lot. I like the feel of Marvin more, but would have no issues using Maple Reader if Marvin becomes no functional in future iOS releases.

Thanks for those insights. I wonder if "any" iPad Pro would qualify for the same? As the iPad Pro gens are currently changing QUITE a lot.

[pwalker8]

Originally Posted by crashnburn

Thanks for those insights. I wonder if "any" iPad Pro would qualify for the same? As the iPad Pro gens are currently changing QUITE a lot.

You just have to look at how much cache memory the device has. I believe for the current pro, the 1TB version has 6 GB while the others have 4 GB. The one that I have, last year's model has 4 GB. The first generation has either 4 GB or 2 GB.

The iPad Mini 4 has 2 GB, while the original iPad mini had 512 MB.

[HLS]

Why would anyone want another reader app? is not ibooks good enough?

[ilovejedd]

Originally Posted by kcladyz

Why would anyone want another reader app? is not ibooks good enough?

The deal breaker for me is you can't disable the page turn animation in iBooks. That's one of the first things I look for on a reader app.

Also, I believe prior to iOS 8 or 9, updating the firmware deleted all books in iBooks. I don't like how closed iBooks is, either, particularly now that Apple has removed book support in iTunes for Windows so only Mac users have an easy way to get EPUB files stored in iBooks.

Plus, third party apps have extra features and offer better support for sideloaded books (e.g. ability to export highlights to multiple formats, subjects/tag metadata support, Calibre series metadata support, etc).

[ShellShock]

I read on a IPad mini. I used Marvin for a long time, and really like it, especially it’s dropbox UI. But I had one major problem with Marvin: every time I opened it, it would not go back to the same page where I was last reading. It would always be out of position by several pages, which is very frustrating. As Marvin is not being maintained now, the chances of a fix seem very slim.

So now I use MapleRead. It usually remembers where I left off reading fine, and it is being actively maintained. However it’s dropbox UI is poor compared to Marvin. Also, occasionally it will completely forget the reading position and take me back to the title page - this is not as bad as Marvin which loses my reading position every time.

I would use Marvin all the time if it were not for the reading position bug. Other people seem not to have the same problem, so it may be how I have my page layout configured, or because sometimes i rotate the screen orientation. This causes Marvin to repaginate/reflow and I suspect that is when it loses track.

[pwalker8]

I don't think any one reading app can be all things to all people. There are aspects of all the four major iOS reading apps (Books, Kindle, marvin and maplereader) that I like and dislike. Right now, Marvin is the one that suits me the best. My biggest grip with both Books and Kindle is library management and how they try to force you into the way they do things. Neither play particularly well with other apps or ways of doing things.

[cedhax]

Originally Posted by ashamam

For me a critical issue with maple reader is the backgrounds. It just can not achieve the same dark textured high res background that Marvin has as a stock option. Would love to hear Marvin was getting some love.

I think, by "maple reader" you really mean "MapleRead".

IMHO, MapleRead offers a much richer built-in set of day/night book themes (including background color) than Marvin, Books (iBooks), Kindle or every other reader apps that I have tried. It also gives you an easy way to create your own customized themes, including customization on top of existing themes. Moreover, you can use any image, overlaid with your chosen color, to serve as the background.

[cedhax]

Originally Posted by crashnburn

Interesting article.

https://fs.blog/2015/01/marginalia/

Another reason why we need "e readers" with "ability to annotate/ make contextual notes" - keep them linked with the book as well as be exportable contextually when needed/ wanted.

Indeed an interesting article.

So is this one https://fs.blog/how-to-read-a-book/

The more analytical reading I do, the more I highlight and write notes.

https://fs.blog/2015/01/marginalia/
In the world of ebooks, the future of marginalia and reading looks different. With electronic reading devices, the ease of inserting these thought fragments has diminished. I have Kindle and while I’m trying to use it more, there are issues. By the time I’ve highlighted a section, clicked on make a note, and labored intensively at the keyboard, I’ve often lost the very thought I was trying to capture.

I agree. That's one of the reasons why I only use Kindle for books I don't need to take notes on, and am willing to go through the trouble of converting books purchased from amazon, and reading them in MapleRead, which has the best integerated note taking and note management system, IMHO.

When I exchange notes with friends via MapleRead, the notes are kept separately without messing up each other. This is a very unique feature, that seems to be not explicitly covered anywhere in its documentation. I think I discovered it by just doing it. That's fun! I doubt if most MapleRead users even know about this feature.

[Difflugia]

Originally Posted by kcladyz

Why would anyone want another reader app? is not ibooks good enough?

I prefer to read white-on-black (night mode or whatever). iBooks doesn't handle this correctly for epubs with images or PDFs.

I ended up switching to Bluefire Reader, which does.

[MartyTX]

Originally Posted by ShellShock

I read on a IPad mini. I used Marvin for a long time, and really like it, especially it’s dropbox UI. But I had one major problem with Marvin: every time I opened it, it would not go back to the same page where I was last reading. It would always be out of position by several pages, which is very frustrating. As Marvin is not being maintained now, the chances of a fix seem very slim.

So now I use MapleRead. It usually remembers where I left off reading fine, and it is being actively maintained. However it’s dropbox UI is poor compared to Marvin. Also, occasionally it will completely forget the reading position and take me back to the title page - this is not as bad as Marvin which loses my reading position every time.

I would use Marvin all the time if it were not for the reading position bug. Other people seem not to have the same problem, so it may be how I have my page layout configured, or because sometimes i rotate the screen orientation. This causes Marvin to repaginate/reflow and I suspect that is when it loses track.

I have the same reading position problem with some of my books. I've found a procedure that consistently works for me on my iPad Mini. It may not work for you, but it's worth a try:

- In Marvin's "General Settings" scroll down to "Behaviors" and activate "Auto-bookmark on close". Then start your reading session with Marvin.
- When you are ready to stop reading with Marvin, tap the center of the page.
- Tap the red-X on the upper-left to get back to Marvin's home screen.
- Close Marvin the way you normally do.

[cedhax]

Originally Posted by ShellShock

I read on a IPad mini. I used Marvin for a long time, and really like it, especially it’s dropbox UI. But I had one major problem with Marvin: every time I opened it, it would not go back to the same page where I was last reading. It would always be out of position by several pages, which is very frustrating. As Marvin is not being maintained now, the chances of a fix seem very slim.

So now I use MapleRead. It usually remembers where I left off reading fine, and it is being actively maintained. However it’s dropbox UI is poor compared to Marvin. Also, occasionally it will completely forget the reading position and take me back to the title page - this is not as bad as Marvin which loses my reading position every time.

I would use Marvin all the time if it were not for the reading position bug. Other people seem not to have the same problem, so it may be how I have my page layout configured, or because sometimes i rotate the screen orientation. This causes Marvin to repaginate/reflow and I suspect that is when it loses track.

IMHO, the latest version (3.0.4) of MapleRead is very robust in terms of remembering the current reading progress (position). So far, even occasional forgetfulness has never occurred. And there is no knob to turn to make it work well.

[cedhax]

Originally Posted by Difflugia

I prefer to read white-on-black (night mode or whatever). iBooks doesn't handle this correctly for epubs with images or PDFs.

I ended up switching to Bluefire Reader, which does.

FYI, with MapleRead you can read a typical black-on-white PDF in night theme such that it is displayed as white-on-black. This was already the case when I first picked up MapleRead several years ago. I was impressed.

[Difflugia]

Originally Posted by cedhax

FYI, with MapleRead you can read a typical black-on-white PDF in night theme such that it is displayed as white-on-black. This was already the case when I first picked up MapleRead several years ago. I was impressed.

Thanks. I've installed the CX version and will give it a shot.