BookFusion eBook Reader & Management Sync Across All Devices Android, iOS & Web

[maxyn83]

Searching for a Marvin alternative and your app is mostly mentioned. Tried it again today (free version) but just adding a book is so bad in the "upload a book" section. Still no way to select multiple books and add them in one go via dropbox/icloud. Also, is it possible to use the app without having to login?

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by skillachie

Thanks will do.

With regards to hyphenation at no point did I say it was not important. I said at the time hyphenation was not a highly requested feature.(had a typo as highlight in previous post) We collect feedback across our support system, reddit , discord, surveys and https://bookfusion.hellonext.co/?sort=top and for some reason it was not highly requested so we prioritized accordingly. Personally, I have never used it but I do not observe very wide gaps. However, that is my personal preference/perspective not all other readers and this is why we made the reading experience customizable. It will be added, we placed it on our backlog


As I said, I understand it is very important to you and we will look at adding it. We have no issues there. Hope you understand. Thanks for the feedback JSWolf, hope you have a good day/evening today.

Most of those have nothing to do with making the reading experience better. All they (at most) care about is changes to how books are stored/handled. I would think that making the reading experience much better would be top priority. That should be what yoi care about most and then the other stuff.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by maxyn83

Searching for a Marvin alternative and your app is mostly mentioned. Tried it again today (free version) but just adding a book is so bad in the "upload a book" section. Still no way to select multiple books and add them in one go via dropbox/icloud. Also, is it possible to use the app without having to login?

BookFusion isn't it yet until it has hyphenation.

[skillachie]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

Most of those have nothing to do with making the reading experience better. All they (at most) care about is changes to how books are stored/handled. I would think that making the reading experience much better would be top priority. That should be what yoi care about most and then the other stuff.

Originally Posted by JSWolf

BookFusion isn't it yet until it has hyphenation.

JSWolf,

Thank you for your input. We have heard you and will be adding it to be released in the next 2 weeks. Hope once this is released it gives us some good karma in your book that we want to make the reading experience much better.

We already have an upcoming release being reviewed by Apple so we won't be able to put it in that release but the next one in 2 weeks.

[skillachie]

Originally Posted by maxyn83

Searching for a Marvin alternative and your app is mostly mentioned. Tried it again today (free version) but just adding a book is so bad in the "upload a book" section. Still no way to select multiple books and add them in one go via dropbox/icloud. Also, is it possible to use the app without having to login?

Selecting multiple books - This is an oversight and agree that you should be able to select more than one book at a time. This will be resolved in 2 weeks.


Dropbox/iCloud/One Drive/Google Drive - Support for uploading from these services will be added won't be within the next 2 weeks. Integration needs to be done not just with iOS but with Web and Android as well


Use app without login - Yes. You can use the app with all features unlocked for free without logging in with up to 10 eBooks. You can skip the sign up screen. This is currently for iOS only . (Android app needs to be refactored to support the same)

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by skillachie

JSWolf,

Thank you for your input. We have heard you and will be adding it to be released in the next 2 weeks. Hope once this is released it gives us some good karma in your book that we want to make the reading experience much better.

We already have an upcoming release being reviewed by Apple so we won't be able to put it in that release but the next one in 2 weeks.

Thank you very much.

Question: How good in BF at handling ePub 3?

[skillachie]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

Thank you very much.

Question: How good in BF at handling ePub 3?

I want to say we are the best with EPUB 3 but try it for yourself with and EPUB 3 books you have and let me know what you think. You do not need to create an account. If any of your EPUB 3 books fail let me know and we can get it fixed.

But we implemented strong EPUB 3 support previously.

[maxyn83]

Originally Posted by skillachie

Selecting multiple books - This is an oversight and agree that you should be able to select more than one book at a time. This will be resolved in 2 weeks.


Dropbox/iCloud/One Drive/Google Drive - Support for uploading from these services will be added won't be within the next 2 weeks. Integration needs to be done not just with iOS but with Web and Android as well


Use app without login - Yes. You can use the app with all features unlocked for free without logging in with up to 10 eBooks. You can skip the sign up screen. This is currently for iOS only . (Android app needs to be refactored to support the same)

Really wish I can pay to unlock the 10 ebooks only without the need to login. I don't want to use your cloud service as I already pay for onedrive and icloud. Would also rather have my books on my phone.

[sgspecker]

While I really like Calibre, I see value with the greater integration that BookFusion brings to the party.

I haven't tried the Calibre plug-in yet but I have a few questions/comments based on playing with your web app.

Formats

• Are there any plans to support audiobooks? I would really like to have a common place to put all of my books!
• Does BookFusion support multiple formats for a given book... similar to Calibre?

Metadata

• Is there a way to update the metadata (similar to Calibre)?
• I saw a discussion earlier in the thread about two-way sync back to a Calibre library. At that time, it didn't sound like that was supported. But the BookFusion website made it sound like it might be supported today. Is that the case?
• Who can see our reviews of books? Only those who can see our books or everyone?

Who can see this book...

• Can we "bulk" edit this book property? I could not find a way to do this.
• Similarly, can we change the default setting for this property?
• Like others earlier in this thread, I found the "T&C" language around "public" declarations of books to be confusing and scary. What happens if I accidentally make one of my purchased books public?

Duplicates - this becomes a concern with big libraries

• Is there a duplicate checker feature?
• Can duplicates be flagged when importing books?

Other

• Can you export from BookFusion iOS app to other iOS reader apps (e.g., Marvin3)? I may end up liking your reader better but I haven't tried it, yet.
  API
• I see that API mentioned on your site. Do you publish an API that we can use to write our own scripts/programs?
  

Thanks Much,
Scott

[tulanespartan]

First, I'd like to say that I really like BookFusion's ereader. I am new to your iOS app, having used Marvin3 for years. I read exclusively on two devices, a Kindle Paperwhite Signature Edition and my iPhone 13 Pro Max. On my iPhone, I use the Kindle app for books purchased from Amazon, and now BookFusion for ebooks purchased elsewhere. I've tried almost every eReader app on iOS over the years, and I always came back to Marvin due to it's clean library layout, and the way I could customize my reading experience as desired. My only complaint about Marvin over the last few years is the way I had to make heading adjustments to deal with the notch at the top of the iPhone. With Marvin now gone for good, I decided to make the jump to BookFusion.

Personally, I like the clean appearance of your library and the ability to adjust margins up, down, and sideways to take advantage of my iPhone's large screen. As you can see, I really have no need for syncing between devices, and the main thing that prevents me from using Apples built-in Books ereader is the lack of margin control. The free version of BookFusion is adequate as I have no need to sync, and I don't need to store my entire ebook library in an ereader. That being said, I would be willing to pay a one time app fee for the ability to store a larger number of eBooks in BookFusion on my iPhone.

All that being said, I would like to make a few of suggestions. First, I would love to see an option for choosing page turn animation, including Slide, Curl, or None. In lieu of that option, I'd suggest increasing the speed of your current slide animation. Also, I've noticed that BookFusion is not as reliable as other ereaders when it comes to tapping on the sides of my screen to change pages, and I often end up having to slide the page over manually since tapping didn't work at firs. This is not to say that tapping doesn't work at all, just that I seem to really have to tap harder in just the right spot.

Next, it would be nice to be able to change from a light screen to a dark screen easier within the ereader. I like the ability to save different presets, in my case "Daytime" and "Nighttime," but an option to automatically change between the two using iOS's Automatic light to dark change would be nice. Marvin had an option to tap the screen with two fingers to switch between different presets, which I used all the time. Either solution would be great.

Anyway, thank you for all the work you continue to put into BookFusion.

[JSWolf]

Any idea when hyphenation is coming? I'm thinking of maybe getting an iPhone 15 and when I do, Marvin will be going away. So I'd need Hyphenation before the iPhone 15 comes out.

[tulanespartan]

A hyphenation option was added to the iOS app several weeks ago.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by tulanespartan

A hyphenation option was added to the iOS app several weeks ago.

Awesome! Now I can give Bookfusion a real go and see if it will do to replace Marvin.

[skillachie]

Originally Posted by skillachie

Selecting multiple books - This is an oversight and agree that you should be able to select more than one book at a time. This will be resolved in 2 weeks.


Dropbox/iCloud/One Drive/Google Drive - Support for uploading from these services will be added won't be within the next 2 weeks. Integration needs to be done not just with iOS but with Web and Android as well


Use app without login - Yes. You can use the app with all features unlocked for free without logging in with up to 10 eBooks. You can skip the sign up screen. This is currently for iOS only . (Android app needs to be refactored to support the same)

FYI this was resolved about a month ago. You can select multiple eBooks to upload

[skillachie]

Originally Posted by maxyn83

Really wish I can pay to unlock the 10 ebooks only without the need to login. I don't want to use your cloud service as I already pay for onedrive and icloud. Would also rather have my books on my phone.

To be honest, if the only thing you are missing from Apple Books is the ability to control margins, I am sure they will be adding it soon so they should be able to cover your needs specifically at no cost. Unfortunately, however we cannot charge a single one time fee as it is not sustainable no reasonable. We are not Apple/Google, nor do we sell user data or ads.

• Expectations of continuous updates and new features are not a "one time" expense. Unfortunately we cannot reasonably offer a one time payment due to the following reasons:
• Salaries are also due monthly(app needs to be maintained) . Developers have expenses and families too.
• Infrastructure, storage and other costs are due monthly
• Other recurring expenses

Most apps that offer a one time payment, often end up not being maintained pass a couple years since the developers/company need to work on other projects to supplement their income. This has happened to Marvin 3, Kybooks and multiple others.

Even if we did not have the cloud aspect or upcoming social (https://www.bookfusion.com/reading/branch ) and other features we would still need to charge a yearly fee if our intention is to maintain the app for the long term.

In summary there are recurring expenses that will always be due monthly or yearly. We want to build a sustainable company that does not depend on ads or selling users data that stands the test of time that provides value to readers worldwide.

As a result, we won't be able to provide a single payment plan as they are not sustainable. We do have the option for individuals that get value from our apps to support development starting at only $1.99/month or $18.99 year
This does not work for everyone and that is okay. Im sure there are various solutions that match the needs and budgets for all readers based on the value they get from the product.