Version 2.0 problem

[peaceridge]

When trying to open a previously started book (the cover has a question mark) it goes looking on icloud instead of opening the book. When I send the book from another app again it opens ok, but loses its previous place in the book.

[petrjahoda]

When a book has a question mark instead of cover it does mean, that the book has not extracted cover properly from the file, so it tries to extract it every time you open the book. Does it mean, the book has no cover at all?
What do you mean by 'When I send the book from another app again'?
You can have one book named a.epub, b.epub, c.epub and even it is one book from human perspective, it is three different files, three different books in the app.
So if you import the same book and it is located on a different place in the library, it is a different book/file.

[peaceridge]

Prior to the 2.0 update I had 35 books in JustRead.
All had been partially read.
All had covers.
All had been put on JustRead from MapleRead Se's "Send to" function.
After 2.0:
25 had question marks on their covers.
When I tried to access them, JustRead said it was looking on icloud and I had to cancel out.
I went to MapleRead and sent the books again to JustRead.
They all arrived with covers and were accessible.
They all lost their page position.
They all replaced the question mark covers and there was only one copy in JustRead's libraries (not a.epub, etc)

Hopefully I explained it a bit better.

[petrjahoda]

Hi peaceridge. As I am not familiar with MapleRead and even do not know what that 'Send to' function in MapleRead does, I am afraid I cannot help here.

In justRead.app, everything is about where the files are located, where your Library (which is simply a folder, directory) of books is. There is nothing special about it, no magic. Just a plain old folder/directory, with files in it.

Looks like you have your library (folder/directory with books) in icloud? And maybe iOS offloaded them? Which it can, because it does that with music, photos, and every other files it decides to offload to have more space.

By far the easiest way to add books to justRead.app is to simply copy them into that library/folder/directory (screenshot before and after showing cloud folder that I am accessing from both my computer and the same from my phone) and the pull to refresh in the app.

[peaceridge]

I have no books in icloud (I can't afford the cost).
I have all my books (20,000 approx) in MapleRead. I can't redownload them from Calibre to JustRead because I have limited wifi off my smart phone (I travel).
I guess I won't be able to use JustRead after all.

[petrjahoda]

Hi Peaceridge, thank you for the response and looks like I am starting to understand the problem.

1. So you have 20,000 books already stored in MapleRead's storage on the phone, is that correct? MapleRead keeps its books in its own app folder ("On My iPhone → MapleRead SE"), which is why when you use "Send to" it makes a separate copy into justRead.
That is a bit different with justRead, which just reads books from any folder you pick, and those books stay accessible for any other app to use — no lock-in here.

2. Looks like you have selected a Library folder located in iCloud (I am guessing by your first post "it goes looking on icloud").
You may not have signed up for paid iCloud, but every Apple user gets 5 GB of iCloud storage for free by default, and iOS can use it automatically for app folders without you really noticing.

3. The iOS operating system checks the files in iCloud and "offloads" them if it decides to do so. Offloading means it removes the local copy and all you see is just a placeholder (it has a cloud-with-arrow icon on the file: see the screenshot showing two offloaded files and two that are not). The file is still accessible to the user, but to open it, iOS needs to download it from the cloud first. So when a book is offloaded like this and you open it, the app has to wait for the download before it can use it.

4. You can bypass this by selecting the folder and choosing "Keep Downloaded" (see second screenshot), or by not using any folder from iCloud at all and picking one from local "On My iPhone" instead (third screenshot).

5. I would suggest you select a Library under "On My iPhone", then you don't have to worry about anything else. Whatever you put into justRead will stay in that local folder until you delete it yourself.

6. I am personally using an iCloud folder, because it is for me by far the easiest way to add, remove or change anything. I simply copy a file into that folder on my mac and then pull to refresh on iphone. Delete file on mac, pull to refresh on phone. Change file on mac, pull to refresh on phone. No need to set up anything complicated anywhere.

[peaceridge]

1. Yes. Unfortunately, Mapleread doesn’t store its files in the app folder titled Mapleread. I’m currently researching where it might store its files - that would be a neat solution if I can find them.

2-4. I never selected any folders, just started using the app. I just checked my iCloud folder and there are no books on it. Is there any way for me to stop Justread looking for iCloud?

5. My Justread folder is local, as is my Mapleread folder (it just doesn’t have my books in it - Mapleread's fault)

Thanks for thinking of possible solutions. I’ll keep trying to figure it out.

[petrjahoda]

1. This was something I wanted to avoid with justRead, because I 'do no love' lock-ins, which a lot of apps do (not just for reading), and you cannot access their files.

2-4. You had to select a folder, this is the first step after installing the app. You can find out simply which folder you have selected: in Library, under '...' menu select Change Library and select Change (do not bother with the warning, if you do not choose any folder in the end, nothing will change). There you will see which folder you have selected.

5. You will find out which folder you have selected in the steps above. My guess still is it is not local but in iCloud :-).

Abut Mapleread: I even installed it, add a book in it and wasn't able to found out, where the book is located. As I said, that is a lock-in which I personally do not like. Also this approach create duplicates and fill your storage without anything to do with it.

[peaceridge]

Thanks so much! Yes, the folder was set to icloud. I changed it to the Justread folder and will import my books from Mapleread until I can figure out what I need to do. If nothing else, I will add any new books directly to Justread from Calibre. Light at the end of the tunnel! You are most responsive, I can't thank you enough.

[petrjahoda]

Hi and thank for the information.
2.0.1 version (with that user/password calibre login) is in review, so my guess is it will be in the AppStore by tomorrow morning.

Maybe easiest for you will be to use local folder 'On My iPhone' and use Calibre sync to easily add books to justRead.app.