Booklover 2.6 is out — With iCloud Drive integration, new page transition, HEIF support and more!
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In this 2.6, we have redesigned the internal file management system of the app as a preparation for a bunch of feature additions we wanted to make. Some of the outcomes have already been shipped with the 2.6. From this version, the app can automatically display book files stored in iCloud Drive in its Library. Also, now it enables you to manage data and file(s) for each book separately. There are also a handful of new features that help your digital reading life more pleasant. Let’s check them out!
1. iCloud Drive/Booklover
After you have installed Booklover 2.6.0 or later in your iOS device, a folder named “Booklover” is created in your iCloud Drive. Booklover will automatically register your book files in the folder to its Library.
For a book whose file is in your iCloud Drive/Booklover folder, you will see a label that indicates the book has its content file in iCloud Drive at the right top of the book cover.
To open the book whose file is located in iCloud Drive, tap the book cover first in order to download and cache the content file into your device. Once the content file has been cached, the book can be opened by another tap. After reading the book, you could clear the cache file manually from the Delete option for the book to free up the disk space, if you like. (Normally, iOS will clear the cache files for you as needed).
2. Improved Book Management
In order to manage “remote books” that are outside of your device (in iCloud Drive this case), and also to prepare for book data synchronization among multiple devices planned in the near future, we made a couple of improvements on how the app manages books (data and file) in the Library. Below are some of the new features as the outcomes of the process.
2–1. Separated management of book data and content file
Previously, deleting a book in Booklover means removing its content file from the app. This in turn means that the book was completely “forgotten” by the app, including its reading status, metadata and such. If you wanted to read the book again and added the book file to Booklover, it treated the book as a newly registered book.
From this version, you are able to select a option to remove content file(s) of a book ONLY, keeping its data. A book whose content file only has been removed from your device or iCloud Drive will appear to be gone from the Library. However, Booklover actually keeps its data (such as reading status, settings and metadata) and the book can be “resurrected” as it was before when you add the same content file back in the place.
2–2. Ghost books
When you removed a content file of a book keeping its data, although the book will disappear from the Library, the book data is still kept in the database of Booklover. We named a book in such state “ghost book” for the sake of convenience.
Books that are in the “ghost” (data-only) state can be checked by selecting the “Manage Ghost Books” option in the Side Menu.
Ghost books, whose cover appears half-transparent in the Library, cannot be opened and read as its content file has been lost. However, they can still be edited or deleted in the view. A ghost book can be “resurrected” by adding the same content file for the book to the same place. Ghost books can also be displayed together with non-ghost ones in the Library if you turn the “Show Ghost Books” option ON in the Library Settings.
Ghost books are useful when switching to a new device, for example. Before this version, if you had turned the iTunes/iCloud backup OFF and switched to the new device, all the books registered to Booklover library would be gone along with their content files. Even after you have put all their content files back into the new device, their data (status/settings/metadata) would be reset because Booklover would treat them as brand-new books. From this version, that is not the case. By putting the content files back in, all the books will regain their previous state/settings/metadata using the data from the ghost books.
2–3 File management
From this version, you are able to manage content file(s) of a book from the File View within the Book Info. Files can be renamed (Rename File), relocated between Local and iCloud Drive (Relocate File), or deleted (Delete File), without affecting the data of the book.
2–4 Relocate(Move) files
You can open the File View by tapping the “File” row at the top of Book Info. Tap the “Relocate File” button to relocate the file between Local(device) and iCloud Drive. In order to relocate a file in iCloud Drive to Local, the file needs to be downloaded and cached to the device first.
2–5 Manage duplicated books
When there are more than one content files for a book, Booklover is now able to group and display them under a single book.
When there are multiple files which belong to a book, you will see a badge which indicates the number of the duplicated files in the book cover in the Library.
If you tap the badge, Booklover will open the File View with the list of the files. Here you can select the file to be opened among them, or delete redundant one (Left-swiping row for the file will reveal the Delete button).
3. New page transition styles
“No Animation”, “Stack”, “Crossfade”, “Zoomfade” page transition styles are newly available from this version, in addition to the existing “Scroll”. (Stack, Crossfade, Zoomfade are available only on iOS 11 or above.)
4. Sort books by Date Added
Now you can sort your books by Date Added as well in the Library. Tap the Library Settings (glass) icon in the bottom tool bar, and check the “SORT BOOKS BY” options.
(This feature was added in response to a request from a Booklover user — thanks!)
5. Support for HEIF(.HEIC) archived books
Booklover now supports book files (CBZ/ZIP, CBR/RAR) that have HEIF(.HEIC) files archived in it on iOS 11.2 or later. Books scanned in high resolution can keep its file size much smaller without losing quality, by saving its page images in HEIF format.
Note: In older devices, rendering a image in HEIF format may take longer.
6. Newly designed Cover Placeholder
We have fully re-designed the “Cover Placeholder”, the alternative book cover which is displayed before the cover image for a book has been displayed in the Library.
Previously, there were only Book Icon and Filename displayed in it. From 2.6, there are Title, Author, Status Icon and File Types displayed in it so that you can get a better grasp of the book without the cover image.
Also, if you long-press the Scroll Slider (the knob which appears beside the scrollbar when scrolling begins), the Library turns to the “placeholder mode” where Cover Placeholders are displayed instead of images for all books during the scrolling.
7. “Ignore Unsupported Files” setting
Now you can make Booklover ignore books with file formats which the app cannot open by changing the “Ignore Unsupported Files” setting in the General Settings. (Defaulted to ON)
8. Abolish page image cache files generation for the Skimming Mode
From version 2.6, Booklover no more creates and saves page images to be displayed in the Skimming Mode in the Reading View in advance as cache files when the book has been opened. They are created on-the-fly in the Skimming Mode as needed.
This reduces CPU load and memory usage when the book has been first opened, making the Reading View more stable and responsive.
9. Reset Application Data in the iOS settings
In case where the application failed to launch repeatedly for unknown reasons or other applicable situations, now you are able to reset the app data within iOS “Settings” — “Booklover”. By resetting the database or the settings for the app, you are able to reset the state of the app without removing your book files.
NOTE: Please use this reset feature as a last resort. If you have set authentication PIN for the app, it is NOT going to be reset.
Finally,
Each features listed above will be detailed in the following articles. Stay tuned!
Booklover is available on the App Store
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Thanks to Radu Marcusu for making his great photos available freely on Unsplash. (Photo by Radu Marcusu on Unsplash)
