iFlow Reader

[tomsem]

If you collect reader apps for iOS like I do, check out iFlow Reader (both iPhone and iPad versions available). It has a number of interesting features:

• AutoScroll - scrolls text at an adjustable speed, eliminating need to 'turn pages'
• History Log/Navigator - review reading activity and navigate to previous reading positions
• annotations/bookmarks
• Bookshelf - can upload non-DRM or Adobe DRM books purchased elsewhere to your iFlowReader account so they can be read with iFlow Reader

Library borrowing is not supported yet, but 'they are working on it'. Also it doesn't support iTunes File Sharing. They also plan PDF support when they 'solve some rendering problems' - maybe including PDF reflow?

The ability to upload other content to a bookshelf feature is interesting (txtr also has this as well as sharing), but I'm still looking for a solution that includes a web app ereader (like Google eBooks and Ibis), and OPDS support so readers that support that can use it. I also hope they add apps for Android, Windows Mobile, Blackberry etc.

I will probably continue to use Bluefire as my primary ebook app because of its library borrowing support, but I definitely plan to play with iFlow more.

[Dylrob]

I just downloaded it. Will comment later.

But seriously... "iFlow"? On an iPad?

[BenG]

You can only use it once a month.

[toddos]

I checked it out a couple weeks ago and wasn't really happy with it. The UI is all kinds of weird in comparison to other apps, and their whole claim to fame of "getting rid of pages" is what every ebook reader does -- there aren't pages in ebooks. In fact it seems kind of lazy to me, since it's easy to render HTML in one long, scrolling "page". It's much harder to handle page breaks, widows and orphans (not that any other ebook reader does that), etc.

I guess if you prefer to scroll up and down smoothly rather than "page" through a book, this reader would be decent. For me, there are so many better readers out there that this app was a waste of bandwidth to download.

[hapmas77]

I do not know how to sideload book into this app.
It does not sync with itunes, and I also cannot load book using USB cable.

[tomsem]

Originally Posted by hapmas77

I do not know how to sideload book into this app.
It does not sync with itunes, and I also cannot load book using USB cable.

It does not allow side loading, apparently (I tried, but it didn't 'see' the book I put in its Books folder), but if you get an iFlow Reader account, you can upload ebooks to your storage there and then download from there.

[tomsem]

Originally Posted by toddos

I checked it out a couple weeks ago and wasn't really happy with it. The UI is all kinds of weird in comparison to other apps, and their whole claim to fame of "getting rid of pages" is what every ebook reader does -- there aren't pages in ebooks. In fact it seems kind of lazy to me, since it's easy to render HTML in one long, scrolling "page". It's much harder to handle page breaks, widows and orphans (not that any other ebook reader does that), etc.

I guess if you prefer to scroll up and down smoothly rather than "page" through a book, this reader would be decent. For me, there are so many better readers out there that this app was a waste of bandwidth to download.

I can't say yet that I'll prefer it 100% of the time, but I like auto-scrolling mode as a way of avoiding having to keep touching the screen as much, as well as helping focus my attention. The tilt-controlled scrolling speed option is interesting. It's nice not to have to worry about autolock kicking in because I'm not reading fast enough. So far, this is the only reading app I've seen that has this mode.

Also, with other apps I have had problems with excessively large margins (left right bottom), with no way to adjust (darnit, the screen is small enough as it is, without taking up 30% of it with whitespace). iFlow seems to not have this problem.

I'm discovering things I don't like: it doesn't keep up with rapid page turns, no section break indications, no 'night mode', no position indicator you can drag to move quickly to another section of the book, no means of organizing a large collection.

But it dares to be different, and I think that's a welcome thing in an environment where reader apps are mostly just copying each other instead of innovating.

[egarbacz]

Thanks for pointing out this app. I have been looking for a reader with a good autoscroll since giving up on ereader. This has a very good implementation and so far has rendered the few ePubs I loaded perfectly. It would benefit by adding the following:

• Retina display
• Support more fonts
• Allow easier sideloading of books (support dropbox, calibre, and others)
• Custom colors and backgrounds
• Library book support

Even with all of this missing this has become my primary reader just for the autoscroll, I never understood why that is not a more popular feature.

Ed G.

[toddos]

I guess if you want or need autoscroll there aren't many other options out there. For non-autoscroll reading (and personally, I can't stand using autoscroll), iFlow is just too weird/sparse/broken to successfully compete against superior alternatives like Stanza, Bluefire, and even iBooks (which is really sad, because iBooks is about the worst reader on iOS at the moment).

[jaybee]

I like iFlow very much--especially the autoscroll and the history functions.
Two things to remember:
I sometimes don't bother to turn off the display on my iPad, letting it "automatically" turn off after a period of disuse. This doesn't seem to work with iFlow--apparently the automatic shutoff is disabled.
Also, if you are tempted to flip a piece of lint off of your screen, be careful. With the inertial scrolling system, you may wind up several pages away from your reading point.