Hi everybody
I'm in the same situation - long time Marvin user, also originally paid for it - and gladly. And while it has been great, the time to move on has unfortunately finally come. I do know about the trick using iMazing, and I actually have a licensed copy of iMazing. But Marvin has begun to show some errors, for example marking a word and looking for a definition or searching for it on the Internet locks up the whole app. There's currently no guarantee it will even work on iOS 17 and/or iPhone 15.
In my mighty quest to replace Marvin
I've looked at and tried:
- KyBook 3
- FBReader
- MapleRead
- Yomu
- PocketBook
- Apple iBooks
- Kindle
- tiReader
- Aldiko Next
- BookFusion
- Bookmate
- ... and some others I have forgotten about because the moment I wanted to start them they either crashed or looked their age...
-
i2reader Cloud
Of some apps I also purchased the full version, sometimes in the hopes to unlock a missing feature. And while some of the apps have been good, there was always something missing.
But I think I found my replacement. It's the last app in my list,
i2reader Cloud. It can be found at
http://en.i2reader.net/
My personal selection criteria - and I'm well aware that your mileages will vary - have been:
- Not "abandon-ware". Regular updates; it doesn't have to be every two weeks. But updated in the last 1-2 years, even if it's only "fixed compatibility with iOS 16" or "fixed display on new iPhone 14 Pro with 'dynamic island'" or something similar is good enough.
- Download books from an OPDS catalog with authentication.
- Show metadata on downloaded books, at least: Author(s), title, series name, number of book in series. Bonus if it also shows categories.
- Should use pretty much the whole screen, no unnecessary white space on top and bottom of screen.
- Horizontal scrolling, NO animation.
- Navigate one page back on left edge of screen and to next page on right edge of screen.
- Customizable style - I prefer white background and black letters. But in combination with easily reachable adjustment settings for screen brightness.
- I don't mind paying for the App, but prefer a one-time purchase instead of a monthly/yearly subscription. (on the other hand, if the author releases a "major" version every 3-4 years I'll probably upgrade and pay just to support their work)
Just to clarify: I'm in no way affiliated with the author. I also don't get a free version for this mini-review, since I also already bought all the in-app purchases; even the ones I'll probably never use like auto-scroll and auto-turning. It amounts to about 9 US$ and is, in my opinion, well worth it to support a developer.
Regards
Fermin