Aura Why no updates on kobo.com?

[dordale]

Originally Posted by Question Mark

Good learning experience, but not one that I intend to repeat with my KA1 until offered some serious reason to update.

That's what I do. I keep wi-fi off on my readers--load all my books via Calibre/USB. I check the threads here every time there is an updated firmware release to see if it has something I'd consider worth upgrading for.

If I do decide to update the firmware, I do it manually, realizing that it'll take a little effort on my part to re-install the patches I want. I'm currently running 4.2.8432 on my Aura One, which came out at the end of January.

[petercreasey]

Q, I don't understand all the ado about the new home screen. Who cares?

I still have the old home screen.

I only use the home screen when trying to sync (the firmware) so "new" or "old" shouldn't matter to me.

[davidfor]

Well, I care. I used the home screen frequently. It is displayed in a large number of circumstances and the change means the home screen is not anywhere near as useful to me as before.

[AnemicOak]

I'd love to do away with the home screen altogether and make the library screen my default "home", but from what I've seen of the new home screen I prefer the old one.

[Question Mark]

Originally Posted by petercreasey

Q, I don't understand all the ado about the new home screen. Who cares?

I still have the old home screen.

I only use the home screen when trying to sync (the firmware) so "new" or "old" shouldn't matter to me.

I suppose I could have lived with the new homescreen. If I had to. But when there's an alternative? No.

I like having some control over what shows up on my device. That's the same reason I don't want all my Kobo books to automatically download or sync. I can appreciate how those are useful features to many people, but I really feel that they should be optional.

I don't really want to see advertising on a device that I have paid for. I know where the Kobo store is if I am in need of any recommendations. I don't even so much mind the little box for previews which I can click on at the bottom of the screen. But advertising that takes up a significant chunk of real estate on my screen? That's a different matter.

[Sweetpea]

Originally Posted by petercreasey

Q, I don't understand all the ado about the new home screen. Who cares?

I still have the old home screen.

I only use the home screen when trying to sync (the firmware) so "new" or "old" shouldn't matter to me.

I use it every time I switch books. I press the house icon and it takes me to the home screen. There I select one of the other books I'm reading or open the collection where I can find the next book.

I've never synced the firmware, so I've no idea how to do that

[Question Mark]

Originally Posted by dordale

That's what I do. I keep wi-fi off on my readers--load all my books via Calibre/USB. I check the threads here every time there is an updated firmware release to see if it has something I'd consider worth upgrading for.

If I do decide to update the firmware, I do it manually, realizing that it'll take a little effort on my part to re-install the patches I want. I'm currently running 4.2.8432 on my Aura One, which came out at the end of January.

That will be my procedure henceforth. I'm actually still running 4.2.8110 on my KA1... and very happy that i chose my original Aura to experiment with first.

I actually decided to roll back the firmware on my Aura to firmware 3.19.5761. Although patching my Aura recovered the old homescreen for me, it started behaving erratically. When I attempted to open sideloaded epubs, the screen would often show up blank.

Not sure what happened since I didn't change the settings on any of the other patches, but figured it would just be easier to roll everything back until I have more time to experiment with patching.

[TuxGirl]

Petercreasey:

As a software developer (not for e-readers, but still), I might have some thoughts that might help you understand this issue...

1) all software of a non-trivial size has bugs. How big, and how easy to run into varies, but it all has bugs.
2) you generally don't want the majority of your customers running into the big bugs
3) you may have to have 60% of your userbase running a specific piece of software before you find out about a huge bug.
4) generally, it is bad to push new software to everyone at once, unless your sample size is particularly small or the changes are particularly trivial
5) it is utterly impossible to find every single bug before pushing to production

I remember at one point we were pushing out some new software at an old employer. We had it set to take less than 1% of requests first. Then, we had it take progressively more, very slowly. We blacklisted the CEO's account from using the new system until we had been handling 80% of requests with the new system for over a week with no major issues. Why? Why should the CEO get his requests pushed through the old system when so many other people were getting the new system? Well, because Murphy's law states that the CEO was more likely to run into issues than anyone else, because he would be furious...

Anyway, in terms of updates for devices, I honestly think the smartest way to push out would be similar to what Google does with Android releases. Have a public beta, where anyone who knows how to install the software themselves and wants to can do that and run the new software for a while. When that appears to be reliable, then slowly, gradually push to the rest of the public.

Generally, you are better off having your more technical users be the ones to run into your bugs. Why? Well, for one thing, they aren't going to panic. Also, they are going to write better but reports, and so be able to provide the right information to help debug the issue. On top of that, since they self-selected, they have less basis to point fingers and say that you messed their stuff up.

[wroane]

I just received my KA1 to replace my broke H2O yesterday from rakuten, and my software is 4.1.7729. I have synced a few times and no new updates. I have gone through a number of threads, but am still left wondering, am I missing any great improvements?
(Not counting the homescreen, which seems to be debatable, lol.)

[filmo]

Kobo uses beta testers that use pre-release firmware to find bugs and user interface problems. Some of them are active on this forum. But some to all of these beta testers they might not have new versions of Kobo readers before they are sold to customers.

Microsoft a much larger company always has major problems with new versions of their operating system and computers from DOS to Windows 10.

[DNSB]

Originally Posted by wroane

I just received my KA1 to replace my broke H2O yesterday from rakuten, and my software is 4.1.7729. I have synced a few times and no new updates. I have gone through a number of threads, but am still left wondering, am I missing any great improvements?
(Not counting the homescreen, which seems to be debatable, lol.)

If you are happy with your KA1 now, wait for the OTA update. The new firmware versions have some improvements but some new bugs as well.

[MGlitch]

Originally Posted by davidfor

There is an option on the "My Account" page on the Kobo store for email updates. Doesn't that work?

Likely it would but it's not something that bothers me at the moment