New Reader with great pdf-support: Mantano Reader (like aldiko+ezpdf)

[Adoby]

It seems that full screen mode has been compromised after the update. There is a pesky title bar at the top of the screen now, even if you specify full screen mode. Very annoying. Is it possible to get rid of it?

Also there seems to be a problem with the night mode. Some epubs are not possible to read, they just crash and return to the library view. In default mode it is no problem reading any epub.

[pruss]

Any chance of a continuous view mode (scrolling rather than paging) and a faster search?

Also, in my test (an epub generated from 25mb of html), the search is four times as slow as with Moon+. (On the bright side, Mantano opens the file much faster than Moon+.) It shouldn't be that slow: unzip and grep takes 20 seconds on-device.

[Adoby]

Originally Posted by Adoby

It seems that full screen mode has been compromised after the update. There is a pesky title bar at the top of the screen now, even if you specify full screen mode. Very annoying. Is it possible to get rid of it?

Also there seems to be a problem with the night mode. Some epubs are not possible to read, they just crash and return to the library view. In default mode it is no problem reading any epub.

Just heard back from Mantano Customer Support. There will be an update tonight that will fix the title bar. Also some other glitches.

Addendum: I just installed the update and both the titlebar and the theme problems are fixed. Nice!

This reader is getting better with every update. Now if it could just slow down the Earth's rotation a bit so the days are longer and I have more time to read, it would be just perfect!

[sherbs]

How well does this app handle pdfs? I can't test because my trial period has run out.

ezPDF renders pages well but is painfully slow if you want to just leaf through a magazine. Aldiko is quicker but then the pages aren't rendered that well.

Thanks.

[jgray]

OK, after skipping the last few versions of Mantano, it looks like the latest version just may be worth trying again on my Galaxy Tab 10.1. Alas, the ghost of trials past returns to haunt me (chains and all).

It seems that if I have ever trialed any previous version of Mantano, I can no longer trial any later versions. If I can't try out this new, promising version, I'm not inclined to pay for it, especially with only a 15 minute return via the Market.

I mentioned this issue before and I was promised a solution. I'm still waiting.

Another concern - are you doing something sneaky to my Android device? In an effort to use the new trial version, I deleted all files and folders that were related to this app. I even removed my main Gmail account from the tablet and used a secondary account to download and install the app. Mantano still tells me that my original 7-day trial is up. So, I have to wonder, just where in the heck are you storing this information, and are you messing with my tablet without my knowledge or approval? In the bad old days of copy-protected software, some programs would write information to undocumented areas of the hard drive. This would often cause other problems. If you are doing anything like this, tell me now, so I can rid myself of this app forever.

I'm not overly fond of anti-piracy methods in general. The 7-day trial needs to be automatically renewed for each new version, or at least for major versions. I seriously doubt that very many people will try to avoid paying for this app by reinstalling trial versions every seven days. Those who are willing to do so aren't going to pay for the app, no matter what. Lighten up and give us honest folks a break.

Having such a strict policy on the trial makes me worry that if I purchase the full app, is it a ticking time bomb, ready to be disabled on a whim? Does it have to "authenticate" or other such nonsense periodically to continue working? Considering that this app costs more than most, I want to know that I can continue to use it after purchase, without having to depend on external forces that I have no control over. Remember, you're dealing with a predominately anti-DRM crowd here at MR. We don't like others restricting our usage of what we paid for, whether it is ebooks or software.

Despite the negative tone of the above, I really do want to try the new version. From what I saw previously, it shows promise. If this new version works as well as others have stated, I'm likely to buy it after trying it. However, please do address the concerns I have voiced above.

Joe

[Adoby]

Originally Posted by sherbs

How well does this app handle pdfs? I can't test because my trial period has run out.

ezPDF renders pages well but is painfully slow if you want to just leaf through a magazine. Aldiko is quicker but then the pages aren't rendered that well.

Thanks.

It handles my PDF very well. No issues, except regaring problems inherent in PDF:s. I prefer epub.

[Adoby]

Originally Posted by jgray

Another concern - are you doing something sneaky to my Android device? In an effort to use the new trial version, I deleted all files and folders that were related to this app. I even removed my main Gmail account from the tablet and used a secondary account to download and install the app. Mantano still tells me that my original 7-day trial is up. So, I have to wonder, just where in the heck are you storing this information, and are you messing with my tablet without my knowledge or approval? In the bad old days of copy-protected software, some programs would write information to undocumented areas of the hard drive. This would often cause other problems. If you are doing anything like this, tell me now, so I can rid myself of this app forever.

I suspect that your decive id is stored and used to keep track of devices that have been used to tested the app. The app "phones home" and ask if this user has paid, if not it asks if the device has been used to test the app before. But I don't know.

You might ask some friend to test the app and tell you how it works. You might even be allowed to test it on their device.

I think it is perfectly reasonable to only allow one test period. After that, move on or buy the app. But perhaps Mantano would gain more customers if they every half year reset the database, so you could try out the app again?

They might even send out a mail to inform earlier testers that a new version is out and that they are cleared to test again.

[pruss]

Another option for letting people try new versions would be to allow the app to continue to work well enough for testing, but make it not practically usable after the expiry of the trial, for instance by replacing every seventh paragraph in the book with a notice that this paragraph has been removed as the trial has expired.

[sherbs]

It handles my PDF very well. No issues, except regaring problems inherent in PDF:s. I prefer epub.

Sorry, but I meant retail magazine pdfs which I don't think you're referring to. They can't be converted to epub.

Anyone using Mantano to read pdf mags?

I should also mention I'm referring to tablet use.

Thanks.

[aceflor]

Have they at last implemented the 2-pages view in the landscape mode ?

[Adoby]

Originally Posted by sherbs

Sorry, but I meant retail magazine pdfs which I don't think you're referring to. They can't be converted to epub.

Anyone using Mantano to read pdf mags?

I should also mention I'm referring to tablet use.

Thanks.

I read some magazines in PDF format. Sometimes I find the text a little small. Then I zoom in or read 1/2 page at a time. But that is no different from any other PDF viewer. Otherwise no problems.

I have a Xoom.

@acefloor: No changes. Still two pages only when you zoom out with really small font.

[aceflor]

Originally Posted by Adoby

I read some magazines in PDF format. Sometimes I find the text a little small. Then I zoom in or read 1/2 page at a time. But that is no different from any other PDF viewer. Otherwise no problems.

I have a Xoom.

@acefloor: No changes. Still two pages only when you zoom out with really small font.

Thanks for the info. That is quiet disappointing....

Originally Posted by aceflor

Thanks for the info. That is quiet disappointing....

Why don't you ask for this feature here?

http://mantano.zendesk.com/forums/20...ature-requests

[aceflor]

Originally Posted by savethebutterfly

Why don't you ask for this feature here?

http://mantano.zendesk.com/forums/20...ature-requests

Because I asked for it in this thread here, and Karina confirmed it was planned "in the next update".