Marvin and IOS 16 beta

[maxyn83]

Anyone has ios 16 beta? How is Marvin on ios 16? I have tried lots of books apps but I keep on going back to Marvin so hoping it still works on ios 16. Really love this app and can't seem to find any good alternatives.

[Squirsier]

I'm on the latest public beta, and Marvin works like usual. Meanwhile, the Kobo and Google Play Books apps are unusable... Long live Marvin

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by Squirsier

I'm on the latest public beta, and Marvin works like usual. Meanwhile, the Kobo and Google Play Books apps are unusable... Long live Marvin

What's wrong with Kobo and Google?

[Squirsier]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

What's wrong with Kobo and Google?

Kobo will initially load fine after a fresh install. You can also load a book. As soon as you quit the app, from an open book and open it up again (either from the app drawer or after a force quit) the app seems to want to open the last book you were reading again but then nothing appears but the menu items, which you can't tap on because they're not responsive. Nothing can be done from this moment on but uninstall Kobo, re-install, and go through the same circus again.

I just tried Google Play Books again (I installed the last iOS public beta last week) and it seems to work fine now. Before that, when you loaded a book the text did not appear, but the app was still functional.

[maxyn83]

thanks! very happy to hear this! definitely long live Marvin!

Originally Posted by Squirsier

I'm on the latest public beta, and Marvin works like usual. Meanwhile, the Kobo and Google Play Books apps are unusable... Long live Marvin

[Faterson]

Originally Posted by maxyn83

definitely long live Marvin!

Love your enthusiasm, but it's never been finished as a product (stopped being developed half-way through, as I see it), and it's been abandonware for years now.

Still the same glaring functionality gaps today, most notably zero annotations syncing.

Yeah, I'm still sticking around with it, because e-books look nicest in Marvin. But in terms of functionality, MapleRead on iOS and Moon+ Reader Pro on Android are way ahead, though far from perfect as well.

I wonder if we ever get to see a professional-grade e-book reader on any platform. (Moon+ Reader claims that it's just that, but it definitely isn't... But, it's getting continually updated at the very least.)

[Turtle91]

Originally Posted by Faterson

...
I wonder if we ever get to see a professional-grade e-book reader on any platform. (Moon+ Reader claims that it's just that, but it definitely isn't...

I think the only software that will meet your standards is the one you develop yourself. Please, do so!

[Faterson]

Yes, I know that trolling is the norm on this message board but we should not lower our standards.

For an e-reader to fail to provide syncing of annotations is an embarrassment in 2022. It was true 10 years ago, and even more so today.

E-books are very nice to read in Marvin (still nicest out of all iOS e-readers, I think), but Marvin is and always was an unfinished product. Let's not fool ourselves.

It appears that Marvin is forever abandonware now, so perhaps trying to get MapleRead to support and do everything that Marvin does, and then beyond, is the most realistic way to go forward from here.

[maxyn83]

I don't use annotations in my ebooks so I don't really look for it. If I want to annotate, I would use better apps like goodreader or goodnotes.

As for mapleread CX, I just downloaded it and when I tried to download books via Apple Files app, it's not even seamless. I had to first login and clicking on epubs is giving me errors. I have bought a lot of apps over the years and I would support good apps that's worth it but Mapleread is not there yet.

Originally Posted by Faterson

Yes, I know that trolling is the norm on this message board but we should not lower our standards.

For an e-reader to fail to provide syncing of annotations is an embarrassment in 2022. It was true 10 years ago, and even more so today.

E-books are very nice to read in Marvin (still nicest out of all iOS e-readers, I think), but Marvin is and always was an unfinished product. Let's not fool ourselves.

It appears that Marvin is forever abandonware now, so perhaps trying to get MapleRead to support and do everything that Marvin does, and then beyond, is the most realistic way to go forward from here.

[Turtle91]

Originally Posted by Faterson

Yes, I know that trolling is the norm on this message board but we should not lower our standards.

Trolling would be continuously stating the same complaint over and over and over and over......

Originally Posted by Faterson

For an e-reader to fail to provide syncing of annotations is an embarrassment in 2022. It was true 10 years ago, and even more so today.
E-books are very nice to read in Marvin (still nicest out of all iOS e-readers, I think), but Marvin is and always was an unfinished product. Let's not fool ourselves.

You have been complaining about this since the beginning ... Kris (the actual developer of Marvin) did NOT want to go with your recommendations. You might call that unfinished by your standards, I would consider that artistic license....since he is, after all, the decision maker, not you...

I would think that 99% of the people are like Maxyn83: "I don't use annotations in my ebooks so I don't really look for it. If I want to annotate, I would use better apps like goodreader or goodnotes." Either that or the technical roadblocks made that feature (that only you out of our entire Alpha testers group expressed a desire for) too costly for too small a return.

Originally Posted by Faterson

It appears that Marvin is forever abandonware now, so perhaps trying to get MapleRead to support and do everything that Marvin does, and then beyond, is the most realistic way to go forward from here.

If that is true, then continuing to complain about this in the Marvin forum isn't helping with anything. It is....trolling.... I would recommend going to the MapleRead forum and complaining there. You might actually find someone who cares....

Or, as mentioned many times previously, learn how to code and develop your own app. That way YOU will be able to make all the decisions. You may even figure out WHY Kris decided not to implement the demands you continuously state.

[Faterson]

Originally Posted by maxyn83

If I want to annotate, I would use better apps like goodreader or goodnotes.

Absolute nonsense. Annotating is core functionality of an e-reader. Just because you happen not to use it doesn't mean it's not core functionality.

Only on this sorry message board could anyone seriously argue that annotations, and their cross-device (ideally cross-platform) syncing, are not part of core functionality of an e-reader.

Kindle does it, Google Play Books does it (they are just atrocious overall due to their lack of customization options), etc. – so, Marvin should definitely do that as well. I've just received a recommendation for BookFusion, so I'll be taking a look at it (it syncs both cross-device and cross-platform).

By the way, you gotta be kidding when suggesting a heavy-handed PDF reader (!) like GoodReader as a replacement for a versatile EPUB reader.

Incidentally, I had to ditch GoodReader after many years as a PDF reader, too, because of its inability to store Dropbox versions properly, which sometimes leads to data loss. (I notified GoodReader developers about it, but no fix has occurred so far.) So, I'm now reduced to using the obtuse Adobe Acrobat Reader as my PDF reader.

Originally Posted by maxyn83

As for mapleread CX, I just downloaded it and when I tried to download books via Apple Files app, it's not even seamless.

Each of us has different needs. What you mention is something I couldn't care less about. Importing a book takes a few seconds. I don't care how I import books, as long as it can be done quickly, and it can be done quickly in MapleRead. (Generally, I avoid using any Apple software, because it's patently low-IQ, and so I don't use the Files app at all. I typically load my books via Dropbox and its share sheet.)

But I spend many hours reading a book, so I do care about the quality of that lenghty process. Not the import of books, organizing books into collections, etc. – all of that is secondary stuff to me.

Originally Posted by Turtle91

Trolling would be continuously stating the same complaint over and over and over and over......

Not at all. Check or update your dictionary.

If a fundamental flaw/issue remains unresolved in a software program for 10+ years, and there now appears to be no hope for it to be fixed, then restating the issue is not trolling but stating the obvious facts, as opposed to the fantasizing at the start of this thread, portraying Marvin as a nearly flawless e-reader.

Restating the issue means we insist that the issue must be fixed. If not by Marvin (abandonware), then by its competing/successor apps.

Originally Posted by Turtle91

You have been complaining about this since the beginning ...

Of course. Because this core functionality has been missing in Marvin from the beginning. As opposed to Kindle, Google Play Books, etc., which had it 10+ years ago, and Moon+ Reader Pro on Android as well (although not cross-platform in Moon).

Originally Posted by Turtle91

Kris (the actual developer of Marvin) did NOT want to go with your recommendations.

You're lying as always, so talking to you is an utter waste of time.

Kris many times explicitly stated that annotations syncing was among his priorities for future Marvin development.

But he stopped developing Marvin, so we're unlikely to get it, and so it now appears that Marvin will remain a half-finished product forever. I know many people who ditched Marvin because of this particular missing core feature (annotations syncing), and they settled for an, overall, inferior solution like Google Play Books, just because it does offer annotations syncing.

Originally Posted by Turtle91

Or, as mentioned many times previously, learn how to code and develop your own app.

That's like getting a bad meal in a restaurant, complaining to the restaurant's management/the cook, and receiving the reply: "Well, cook your meal yourself!"

Nope. A piece of software should offer quality functionality. If it's not there, the users of that software (especially paying users) have every right to complain about the low quality of the software, and demand that the missing functionality be supplied, bugs fixed, etc. They are not software developers, nor do they have any desire or time to turn into developers – they are their customers. Telling them to develop software for themselves is the epitome of arrogance and stupidity, but it's on a par with the level of discussions on this message board.

[Turtle91]

Originally Posted by Faterson

blah blah blah
…Telling them to develop software for themselves is the epitome of arrogance and stupidity, but it's on a par with the level of discussions on this message board.

The rest of the conversation: Since you are never satisfied with other people’s software, and the only way you will be satisfied is to develop your own…

Since you are sure that Marvin is abandonware, then, by your own logic, whining and complaining here about issues that have LONG been over is just trolling. You are not going to change Marvin with your complaints. So begone foul demon. Go to another forum where your drivel might be productive…. Unless you work for a Marvin competitor and are just trying to drum up customers…

[Turtle91]

Originally Posted by Faterson

You're lying as always, so talking to you is an utter waste of time.

Kris many times explicitly stated that annotations syncing was among his priorities for future Marvin development.

You never were very good at reading a conversation. He was trying to get you to shut up about the subject… “yeah, I’ll work on that for a future update” is a polite way of saying “NO” (notice the functionality was never implemented?? Hello…). The rest of us understood the sub-text… when we tried to tell you politely, you ignored us. You even went on some diatribe about living under a communist regime where you couldn’t speak, so now you don’t care about being rude… so we tried being very blunt. You just don’t accept it… so you continue to whine about what you can’t have, and never will have with Marvin.

[maxyn83]

Originally Posted by Faterson

Absolute nonsense. Annotating is core functionality of an e-reader. Just because you happen not to use it doesn't mean it's not core functionality.

Each of us has different needs. What you mention is something I couldn't care less about. Importing a book takes a few seconds. I don't care how I import books, as long as it can be done quickly, and it can be done quickly in MapleRead. (Generally, I avoid using any Apple software, because it's patently low-IQ, and so I don't use the Files app at all. I typically load my books via Dropbox and its share sheet.)

But I spend many hours reading a book, so I do care about the quality of that lenghty process. Not the import of books, organizing books into collections, etc. – all of that is secondary stuff to me.

Like u said, each of us have different needs, I also couldn't care less about annotations. I don't understand why you're talking about it so much when all I'm asking is if Marvin is useable for IOS 16 beta.

If u don't like Marvin coz it lacks annotation, then don't use it, use MapleRead coz that's what u seem to be recommending. I like Marvin, I will keep using it, if I find other apps that's good enough, then I will buy that.

Originally Posted by Turtle91
Or, as mentioned many times previously, learn how to code and develop your own app.

--- I actually agree with this. Learn to code and make ur own app to ur specifications coz there's no perfect app. There will always be something that's missing for someone. Unless ur willing to pay subscription so developers will keep on updating the app, then u can complain to them all u like. Marvin is what? $10 when I bought it? It lasted years and very worth it for me even without annotation. I was also able to share this app with family sharing so it's a very cheap app.

[kpjgpm]

I'm on the beta and I have found one problem. When I highlight a word to lookup, it shows the definition but then it freezes on iPad. Seems to work ok on iPhone