[FREE + FULL] Manga Blaze - a manga reader and organiser for Windows and Windows Phone

[val.m]

Hi guys,

I'd like to share with you my first app, Manga Blaze. It's a manga reader that helps you track and organise your favorite series.
As a manga fan myself, I had a need for something that I couldn't quite get from the other available apps so I decided to give it a go and here's the result.

I hope you like it!

Manga Blaze is available for Windows 8.1 and Windows Phone!

Manga Blaze

Manga Blaze is the best way to read your favorite manga. It can keep track of your progress and you'll be notified when new chapters are released.
Browse the catalogs of multiple manga sources and download chapters to your phone so that you can read them anywhere.

Some of the features:
? A large variety of settings, configure the app the way it best suits you
? A configurable live tile, with various display templates and data options, including new WP8.1 templates
? Download chapters to read offline
? Resume reading quickly from the last page that you were on
? Keep track of your reading progress
? Multiple manga sources (18 so far and more are coming):
- English: MangaReader, MangaFox, MangaHere, Batoto, GoodManga, KissManga, MangaEden, MangaPanda, Mangable
- Italian: MangaEden, Batoto (Italian)
- German: DeManga, Batoto (German)
- Spanish: MangaHere, Batoto (Spanish)
- Russian: ReadManga
- French: Batoto (French)
- Portuguese: Batoto (Portuguese)
? Browse each source by applying various filtering criteria (genre, release year, status, alphabetical)
? Quickly check the recently released manga chapters on each source
? Easily update all your favorites or just a part of them
? Find new series either by name or author
? Backup your data on OneDrive and easily restore it if you need to
? Configure updates on app startup
? A background agent to notify you of the latest releases for your favorite series
? Bookmark specific pages, so that you can quickly get back to them
? Set custom posters for your favorites
? I?m open to your suggestions to make the app better

Additional Manga Blaze features can also be unlocked by in app purchase, which enhance the experience in various ways..

Manga Blaze Plus is available since the WP7 days, when no IAP were available, so if you're running WP8+, I recommend you use Manga Blaze.

Here are the changes in the new WP8.1 version:

? General: Improvements to chapter downloading, UI and under the hood
? General: Changed the way downloaded chapters are stored and handled, they are shown in chapter list always, doesn't matter if manga is in favorites or not (NOTE: offline data downloaded in the existing WP8.0 version will be removed)
? General: Reworked many parts of the app, should be much more stable now
? General: Improved the app multitasking, should work much better when returning to the app
? General: Missing images now show default image
? General: Splitting images will now work when reading online chapters
? General: Splitting images can be configured if split images should overlap
? General: App settings are now properly backed up/restored
? General: Notifications for new chapters should work better now
? General: New logo
? Home view: Context menus for recent items, remove from recent, add downloads and more
? Home view: Update button now includes various update options
? Home view: The pivot items can be hidden, configurable in settings
? Home view: Recent list can now show mangas with the same name from different sources
? Home view: New landing tips when first staring the app or when there are no recent items
? Manga details: Resume reading works not only for favorites
? Manga details: Chapter count is now based on actual number of available chapters
? Manga details: Last released chapter is shown bellow the chapter count
? Chapter view: You can now switch reading direction and reading mode while reading
? Chapter view: UI tweaks, progress for chapter downloads and reading direction indicator
? Chapter view: Menu option to reload the current page if it failed to load
? Chapter list: Updated chapter display, chapters can be selected one by one
? Chapter list: Chapters can be sorted by number or release date
? Chapter list: Additional context menu options, like download chapter and more
? Live tiles: New tile options, including WP8.1 tile templates
? Live tiles: Improved wide tile for custom tiles
? Live tiles: Fixed issue with constant reminders for new chapter when the chapter number is a decimal
? Sources: Fixed various issues like handling volume data, chapter number and titles, proper sorting
? Sources: Added Batoto sources in Spanish, Portuguese, German, French, Italian
? Sources: Added ReadManga (Russian) source
? Various other tweaks and bug fixes

Manga Blaze | Windows Phone Apps+Games Store (United States)



Manga Blaze Plus | Windows Phone Apps+Games Store (United States)



Manga Blaze app for Windows in the Windows Store



Screenshots from the Windows Phone 8 version:

 

[stmav]

Re: [FREE APP] Manga Blaze - a manga reader and organiser

Thanks for bringing a new app to the attention of our members here on WPCentral. It looks interesting and useful. Good luck with your apps, and please feel free to check out the other forums and interact with members here.

 

[WavingReds]

Re: [FREE APP] Manga Blaze - a manga reader and organiser

This is awesome, I was wondering will there be a W8 version of it to sync back and forth on devices

 

[val.m]

Re: [FREE APP] Manga Blaze - a manga reader and organiser

This is awesome, I was wondering will there be a W8 version of it to sync back and forth on devices

I definitely plan to make a W8 version, but due to time constraints I'm not sure when I'll get the chance.
I hope sooner rather then later, though.

 

[val.m]

Re: [FREE APP] Manga Blaze - a manga reader and organiser

There's a new version available.
2.1 for WP8 and 1.4 for WP7.

? Added KissManga source
? Option to select the reading direction for each manga, left to right or right to left, as well as a global default setting
? Fixed memory usage issue when reading online chapters in slide view, which causes the app to suddenly close
? Fixed issue when trying to open downloaded chapters that are not in favorites list
? You can now save chapter images to the phone media library
? New chapters can be directly downloaded from the agent update notification
? Improvement to SkyDrive backup:

- Option to use single file for the backups
- Backup/restore of manga bookmarks
- [full version] backup/restore application settings​

? Various tweaks and minor improvements
? The free version will be ad supported for the foreseeable future

? [full version, WP8 only] Downloaded very large chapter pages can be split to be viewed without loss of quality and without being cut halfway (webtoons for example)
? [full version] Before saving the chapter page to the media library, the image can be edited with a number of tools
? [full version] Custom images can be set as manga posters, just pick any image and edit it if you like with the available tools
? [full version] No ads

Manga Blaze | Windows Phone Apps+Games Store (United States)
Manga Blaze Plus | Windows Phone Apps+Games Store (United States)

 

[aeroljames06]

Re: [APP + FREE] Manga Blaze and Manga Blaze Plus - a manga reader and organiser

tnx for the post... so i tried this app and its really good.. i decided to buy it, but now i have 2 apps and i can't restore backup from the trial to the paid app.. is there any way to do this? thanks in advance

 

[val.m]

Re: [APP + FREE] Manga Blaze and Manga Blaze Plus - a manga reader and organiser

Yes, you can. There's the option to backup your data to SkyDrive, just go to settings and scroll to the bottom of the options list.

The backup files work across both apps, since they use the same code.

I hope this helps.



Sent from my Windows Phone

 

[wonderlump]

Re: [FREE + FULL] Manga Blaze and Manga Blaze Plus - a manga reader and organiser

Hey, I love this app. I've had a good experience with it so far, but i had some issues with my phone and had to reset it. I did the backup with the skydrive, and can even see the file if i browse, but when I go to restore it, the button is greyed out. Did I do something wrong?

 

[val.m]

Re: [FREE + FULL] Manga Blaze and Manga Blaze Plus - a manga reader and organiser

Hey, I love this app. I've had a good experience with it so far, but i had some issues with my phone and had to reset it. I did the backup with the skydrive, and can even see the file if i browse, but when I go to restore it, the button is greyed out. Did I do something wrong?

Hi, to restore from your backup file, first you must select it.

Tap the Browse SkyDrive button and then navigate to the location in your SkyDrive where the file is located and tap on the file name.
You should get a toast notification that the file was selected for restoring.
Navigate back to the SkyDrive settings page, the restore button should be enabled and you can start the restore process.

If you have any problems, I'll be glad to help.

 

[val.m]

Re: [FREE + FULL] Manga Blaze and Manga Blaze Plus - a manga reader and organiser

A new update is available for both WP8 (2.2.0.0) and WP7 (1.5.0.0) versions of the app.

Here's a quick summary of the changes:
• [WP8] A new panorama home view with various options to customize it (you can switch to the old one if you want to)
• [WP8] [full version] New live tile customization options
• [WP8] [full version] Options to update mangas on app startup
• [WP8] Manga Blaze can be unlocked to the full version, no need to switch to Manga Blaze Plus
• Added MangaHere (Spanish) and DeManga (Deutsch) sources
• Search by author
• Manga catalogs can be filtered by initial alphabetic
• Fixed various issues with the existing sources
• You can now reorder the sources list
• In manga details, an option to find more from its author
• In chapter list, an option to delete all read downloaded chapters
• Tap on poster image in details to save it
• Fixed OneDrive issue with selecting files from the root folder
• Fixed issue with downloaded list showing chapters that were actually deleted
• Various tweaks and fixes
• Reduced the number of ads to just one

 

[val.m]

Re: [FREE + FULL] Manga Blaze and Manga Blaze Plus - a manga reader and organiser

A small update for the WP8 version is now available:

Changes in version 2.2.1.0
• Fixed KissManga catalog browsing issue
• Added the iconic tile option
• Option to disable the live tile, use default app icon tile

 

[ShreyansShah]

Re: [FREE + FULL] Manga Blaze and Manga Blaze Plus - a manga reader and organiser

i am not a Manga fan, but ur apps show ur efforts man.
nice work.

 

[val.m]

Re: [FREE + FULL] Manga Blaze and Manga Blaze Plus - a manga reader and organiser

i am not a Manga fan, but ur apps show ur efforts man.
nice work.

Thanks, I try my best.

 

[val.m]

Re: [FREE + FULL] Manga Blaze and Manga Blaze Plus - a manga reader and organiser

Another small update with some fixes.

Changes in version 2.2.2.0
• Fixed MangaReader updates browsing issue
• Fixed an issue with removing from favorites

 

[pedrodg28]

Re: [FREE + FULL] Manga Blaze and Manga Blaze Plus - a manga reader and organiser

I have a complait, i know that in japanese, you read right to left, but i don't care, couldn't you add an option to swipe to left instead to right to go to next page? the app is well made, fast and reliable, but swyping to right to go to next page, that single thing makes me hate it.

 

[val.m]

Re: [FREE + FULL] Manga Blaze and Manga Blaze Plus - a manga reader and organiser

I have a complait, i know that in japanese, you read right to left, but i don't care, couldn't you add an option to swipe to left instead to right to go to next page? the app is well made, fast and reliable, but swyping to right to go to next page, that single thing makes me hate it.

Hi,

You can already do that.
On the manga details page, just bellow the rating stars, the reading direction is specified.
Just tap on that to toggle between left to right and right to left.

The app tries to get the direction from the manga details, but that information is not always available.
You can also specify a global reading direction for those cases when no such information is present.

 

[pedrodg28]

Re: [FREE + FULL] Manga Blaze and Manga Blaze Plus - a manga reader and organiser

Hi,

You can already do that.
On the manga details page, just bellow the rating stars, the reading direction is specified.
Just tap on that to toggle between left to right and right to left.

The app tries to get the direction from the manga details, but that information is not always available.
You can also specify a global reading direction for those cases when no such information is present.

Wow, now i feel like an *****, thank you, it did work

 

[Kronus24]

Re: [FREE + FULL] Manga Blaze and Manga Blaze Plus - a manga reader and organiser

I'm really liking this app, and the ui setup, the options live titles options, double wide. But I would really like to see this a universal app. Because I want to buy for both WP8.1 and W8.1. But if it comes down to it, its worth buying it twice that's for sure. Would love an update.

Downloaded your tv blaze and going to give that a try, love the UI. But again universal app would surely give you the upper hand. thanks for all your hard work.

 

[SlingLaker9811]

Re: [FREE + FULL] Manga Blaze and Manga Blaze Plus - a manga reader and organiser

Anxiously waiting for Windows 8.1 version

 

[val.m]

Re: [FREE + FULL] Manga Blaze and Manga Blaze Plus - a manga reader and organiser

Anxiously waiting for Windows 8.1 version

Working on it.