MapleRead is an advanced versatile ebook reader app with plenty of useful customization options.There are 3 editions,
SE, CE and CX where SE is the most feature-rich edition. All three of them have become universal apps that run on iPad and iPhone by version 3.0.
- SE: EPUB+PDF reader+server
- CE: EPUB reader
- CX: EPUB reader (free demo with some limitation)
MapleRead is still under active development. For the latest updates, please see
What's New.
Before version 1.5, MapleRead was named BookMaster.With the change of the app family name, I think it is appropriate to start a
new MapleRead thread here for me to answer any question you may have about MapleRead.
In case your question or comment is specific to iPhone (CX) or iPad (CE, SE), including visual design aspects, it will be very helpful to mention it. Moreover, mentioning the version number (e.g. CX 1.5) always helps.
For those of you who are new to MapleRead, the questions your have in mind might have already been addressed in the
old BookMaster thread in this forum or on our website's
FAQ. I strongly encourage you to check them out first.
MapleRead (BookMaster) apps are developed by
Maplepop LLC, a small private company based in USA. I am a member of this wonderful team. I'll be glad to help you with your questions and listen to your ideas on how MapleRead may evolve to be even better.
Thanks
This is a major release with many new features and enhancements across iPad and iPhone models.
- Introduced MapleRead CX (free new iPhone app)
- Renamed BookMaster SE (existing iPad app) as MapleRead SE
- Renamed BookMaster CE (existing iPad app) as MapleRead CE
- Enabled migration of all contents and settings of any MapleRead app to any MapleRead app via backup and restore operations. For example, backup from SE/CE and then restore to CX, and vice versa.
- Introduced Reading Dimmer as a convenient way to choose between system-wide and app-specific brightness control, optionally dependent on night mode, good for battery-saving and extra dimming
- Added new page layout features applicable to EPUB Modern Book style
- Page margin settings: independent control of left/right and top/bottom margins
- Page turn effect: additional page curl effect like Classic Book style (or iBooks)
- Added new EPUB multi-language text translation support
- Fine-tuned EPUB layout algorithms for rendering fidelity of Publisher's style and enforcing of User's override
- Simplified Library View's book search bar
- Drastically speeded up book set copy, move and remove operations when Library has many books
- Addressed some performance issues when browsing in Library views
- Upgraded all built-in theme and scene images to retina resolution
- Upgraded BMD, the file format for import and export of notes, scenes and themes, to be much more compact for user-defined themes that share images with built-in themes
- Gave better visual feedback when the book Download button is pressed in Exchange views
- Gave better visual feedback of import results of books, themes, scenes and notes in PC Upload and Queue views
- Fixed some minor UI inconsistency, popover and rotation issues
More related screenshots may be added to
this webpage later.
@sbaylor - do you have any data on how much battery drainage occurs with using in-app dimming vs global brightness control?
MapleRead 1.5
Did you ever finalize a
privacy policy? I'm guessing reading data is associated with the email address used when registering and then stored on your private server. Any chance you might sync through iCloud in the future?
Other than privacy concerns, I'm really happy with MapleRead 1.5
Quote odamizu
MapleRead 1.5
Did you ever finalize a
privacy policy? I'm guessing reading data is associated with the email address used when registering and then stored on your private server. Any chance you might sync through iCloud in the future?
Other than privacy concerns, I'm really happy with MapleRead 1.5
@odamizu - Obviously you are very eager to see the privacy policy. I'm just curious as to how you can overlook it? There are at least two such obvious places to look at.
(1) On your iPhone or iPad, for every app you may download at the App Store, if you scroll down to the bottom, you'll see Privacy Policy button, two rows below Version History. There is indeed a valid link for MapleRead apps. Did you overlook this when you download the new CX?
(2) When you try to create a new Maplepop account, you'll also see the Privacy Policy if you press Help (below Create Account). Since I'm using an app, I expect this is a standard practice for the developer to provide such a button near the place when I want to read the privacy policy first before giving them email address or other personal information. In this aspect, the developer (Maplepop) completely meets my expectation. Have you ever opened the Sign In dialog in the first place or overlook the Help button?
Only an email address is asked for in order to create a Maplepop account. This is very reasonable. Otherwise, how can it associate whatever data you're going to sync with your devices?
@sbaylor Thanks for devoting time here to answer questions and for the faq link which I found very useful.
I bought the MapleRead SE 1.5 for my ipad and use CX 1.5 for the iphone. Loading books and syncing between devices is working very well. Looking forward to exploring the many features of this app. Thanks again for your efforts.
I wanted to thank you for the latest version and all the improvements.
The addition of the margin settings is great. It doesn't appear that the ability to adjust the appearance of the Title, chapter etc. has been added, did I miss something or will this be added later?
Although I rarely read on my iPhone, it's a nice addition and will come in handy occasionally.
I did notice some issues doing a backup/restore in order to "Enabled migration of all contents and settings of any MapleRead app to any MapleRead app via backup and restore operations. ".
After going through the extremely convoluted process using iTunes, especially for the restore, I finally got it to work. This probably needs it's own set of instructions. I realize that it's mostly iTunes fault for how annoying this is but it's really awkward.
All of my settings were not transferred. The ones I noticed that were not were my OPDS sites, the background image (it shows the MR symbol) and the settings I had for night theme (amber on black). There may be more but I only just completed this.
Before I ask my question, a bit of information about how I use MapleRead.
All my books are stored in a Calibre library. I load books onto my iPad from the Calibre OPDS server.
I can certainly continue to do this for my iPhone as well whenever I have the occasion to read on the phone but I'm wondering if this is the best way or if there are easier alternatives. I don't necessarily need all my content on the phone but would like to hear your recommendations.
Thanks,
Tom
Quote slantybard
I just saw that BookMaster was updated and renamed to MapleRead on my iPad. Having been a MapleRead iPhone beta tester, I checked to see if MapleRead is available for the iPhone in the AppStore and it is!
If you can't see it in the AppStore, then go to the "maplepop" website (developer of MapleRead) and there is a AppStore link on their website. It's also on sale and imho, way too cheap!
Also, all versions of MapleRead have been updated with new features requested by the users including page margin controls
I love this app and think it looks great on my iPhone and iPad (and I have no conflict of interest - I have purchased both versions).
Thanks for your posting. I delayed my announcement for the following reason.
Since MapleRead CX is a new app, it has taken Apple at least over 8 hours to propagate it to several major App Stores (in US, Europe, Asia). Even after 12 hours, "mapleread" is still not searchable in some stores.
Quote slantybard
@sbaylor - do you have any data on how much battery drainage occurs with using in-app dimming vs global brightness control?
Are you referring to the following new feature called
Reading Dimmer ?
Quote sbaylor
...
- Introduced Reading Dimmer as a convenient way to choose between system-wide and app-specific brightness control, optionally dependent on night mode, good for battery-saving and extra dimming
...
In general, power consumption by the iPhone/iPad screen is proportional to its system brightness, as indicated in the System Control Panel. If you google on the topic, you can find some third-party data.
System-wide brightness control is the same as the System Control Panel, but MapleRead gives you the extra convenience, such as brightness control by vertical swipe. App-specific brightness (dimming) control gives you the extra dimming relative to the current system brightness through the application of a translucent black layer. It's most useful for night-time reading, as the lowest system brightness is still too bright for some users, including myself.
The power consumption in this case should still be the same as expected from the underlying system brightness level. The really new thing in Reading Dimmer is to automatically turn on app-specific dimming mode when "Night On" is set. See
this screenshot for how the UI looks. It works for both EPUB and PDF.
I believe this is a new feature not found in any other reader app. Have you seen it before? If this turns out to be as useful as we think, this feature will be copied by other similar apps too.
@gunbad - Your feedback is much appreciated here. Hope visitors to App Store will see your comments there too. Thanks!