Epub Reader for Windows Phone 8

[Artifex4]

Just released an epub reader for Windows Phone 8.

Can I boast about it here, like put a link to the store page and a screenshot?

Also, what are the chances of getting a review?

Thanks very much!

 

[hopmedic]

Welcome to WPCentral! Yes! Feel free to post links to your app! Tell us all about it!

 

[Artifex4]

Artifex4 READER

An easy to use e-book reader that supports the ePub format.

• High-quality layout based on HTML5
• Page turn animations
• Color themes and font settings
• User bookmarks
• Table of contents
• In-book links

P.S. Thank you Rich, I've been following WPCentral on my WP for a long time and I love it

 

[akthelonelyman]

does it access books from sd card? currently only mohoo reader does that

 

[SlingLaker9811]

Does it allow downloading of books?

 

[Joe920]

An easy to use e-book reader that supports the ePub format.

• High-quality layout based on HTML5
• Page turn animations
• Color themes and font settings
• User bookmarks
• Table of contents
• In-book links

It would be nice if the app description stated how to access the epub files. OneDrive, or other?

 

[Artifex4]

does it access books from sd card? currently only mohoo reader does that

Not at the moment as the API is extremely limited. I would add support for it in a future update.

 

[Artifex4]

Does it allow downloading of books?

Absolutely. Just open an epub file from the web browser. Or email yourself an epub.

 

[Zihad al amin]

Not a good one! Slow

 

[Artifex4]

It would be nice if the app description stated how to access the epub files. OneDrive, or other?

It's very simple, just open an epub from the web browser or from the mail client. Also, if you have no books in the library, you would see instructions on how to add books.

I am planning to add support for OneDrive in the near future as well, of course.

 

[Artifex4]

Not a good one! Slow

Not happy to hear that. What phone are you using? It might also be the epub. Quality-tailored epubs have their chapters split into separate files, so that the book can load fast. It takes around 3-5 seconds to load a chapter on my Lumia 620. It's a faster on 1GB device.

 

[hopmedic]

Not at the moment as the API is extremely limited. I would add support for it in a future update.

Yes, the API is limited... Writing to SD is not allowed. But from what I have read, reading is permitted (I've not tried it myself). SD support would be a good addition for a future update, though. I can see where it would be nice to use a PC to put a book on the card, then read from the app.

I just bought the app, sight unseen. I like to support devs who post here, and a buck isn't much to pay. I'm about to go to bed, though, so I'll try to remember to load up a book in it tomorrow. I've got several ePubs in my SkyDrive, that currently I use Freda to read.

To those who want the SD support, yes, this is a good idea. But something to keep in mind is that for any app, the most important feature is that it ships. If a developer keeps working on an app without shipping it, adding every feature that people might want, the app will never ship, and you'll never get to see it. It's better for a developer to ship something basic, then take feedback, and implement the feedback that is most desired. :wink:

 

[akthelonelyman]

Hey just a request.would be great if u made a chm reader. Most textbooks are in chm format these days. Im sure enough people will buy it.there is not a good chm reader in appstore.

 

[Artifex4]

Yes, the API is limited... Writing to SD is not allowed. But from what I have read, reading is permitted (I've not tried it myself). SD support would be a good addition for a future update, though. I can see where it would be nice to use a PC to put a book on the card, then read from the app.

I just bought the app, sight unseen. I like to support devs who post here, and a buck isn't much to pay. I'm about to go to bed, though, so I'll try to remember to load up a book in it tomorrow. I've got several ePubs in my SkyDrive, that currently I use Freda to read.

To those who want the SD support, yes, this is a good idea. But something to keep in mind is that for any app, the most important feature is that it ships. If a developer keeps working on an app without shipping it, adding every feature that people might want, the app will never ship, and you'll never get to see it. It's better for a developer to ship something basic, then take feedback, and implement the feedback that is most desired. :wink:

From what I've read, the biggest problem with the SD-card API is that if the phone doesn't have an SD card, then it's not going to work, i.e. it doesn't support internal memory. Now imagine how useful it would be to those 64GB Lumias with no SD card slot....

And, yes, I'm going to add features as the app gains popularity and users ask for them. But to me - the reading experience is the most important thing of all - being able to render the xHTML correctly, paginate the content, support in-book links, bookmarks, custom themes and styling, page swiping and turning animations - these were my top priority.

Now I can start working on extra features.

But, truth be told, I'd really like to keep the app simple and to the point.

Rich, thanks for supporting the app, I highly appreciate it.

 

[Artifex4]

Hey just a request.would be great if u made a chm reader. Most textbooks are in chm format these days. Im sure enough people will buy it.there is not a good chm reader in appstore.

I might as well add support for CHM. As far as I remember, it used HTML for representing content, but the metadata was in a binary format.

 

[akthelonelyman]

I might as well add support for CHM. As far as I remember, it used HTML for representing content, but the metadata was in a binary format.

hehe didnt understand that. but count me in if chm support is added

 

[hopmedic]

The last (and only) time I wrote a chm file was for a class more than 10 years ago, but to the best of my recollection, yes, it's written in HTML. The binary format part, I don't know at all. :wink:

 

[Jim Chapman]

Hi - and nice job! The HTML5 rendering is outstanding - better than any other ereader I've seen on Windows Phone. As author of one such reader (Freda) I am most impressed.

I did try it out on a few of my sample of 'awkward test EPUB files' and got some 'invalid cross-thread access' errors popping up. If you'd like me to share those sample ebooks with you, please drop me a note and I'll send them over (either PM me, or tweet to @turnipsoft, or email (redacted- see PM)).

 

[Jim Chapman]

does it access books from sd card? currently only mohoo reader does that

Actually, Freda does it too. But (as noted above) the big limitation is that it only works with removable storage cards. I'm really not sure why Microsoft think that is a sensible limitation to impose.

 

[akthelonelyman]

Actually, Freda does it too. But (as noted above) the big limitation is that it only works with removable storage cards. I'm really not sure why Microsoft think that is a sensible limitation to impose.

i dont know..maybe its enabled in a newer update after i checked it..at the time i looked for such an app only mohoo did it