User Reviews: Apple Books

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  • Scroll Reading Issues with iOS 16

    Frustration with iOS 16 disfunction leaves me wondering if the upgrade was tested before being released. I agree with the previous reviewer and won’t re-address those same concerns. However, I will address the book mark and scroll reading issues. The slightest touch while scroll reading activates the red book mark which (because I’m reading) needs to be cleared. Sometimes touching the red bookmark is enough to clear it, but other times you have to open the Themes and Settings menu and remove the bookmark there as well. This seems to be more sensitive with iOS 16 than previous versions.

    Even more frustrating, though; when using the scroll reading feature near the end of a chapter the (scroll) screen jumps ahead - sometimes paragraphs ahead, sometimes pages ahead, sometimes to the end of the current chapter, or other times to the end of the book. Imagine trying to find where you were reading last when that happens. (An opportunity to use the search feature as long as you have the exact verbiage.)

    Anyway, to fix the jumping scroll issue I change from scroll to page turning or sometimes I have decreased the font size, and then sometimes I have to close the book because it won’t reload after a font size change. And since the pages are renumbered you can’t just go to your last page and continue reading. Please FIX this bug in the near future. Thank you.
  • fixing something that isn’t broken?

    HELLO APPLE - what the H with the 16 update? it’s a book app,not rocket science! i can’t read the book I just purchased b/c YOUR APP keeps returning to the start of the chapter I’ve already read. The app just suddenly goes back to the start of this chapter as I’m trying to read. It’s ridiculous. I will be asking for my money back and finding a new app! ZERO Stars Did anyone truly check with users of the apple book app before this upgrade to 16? With this upgrade, I have to tap more times to access any of the features or tools I use most (except now I have a bookmark for almost every page because of the way I scroll with my thumb and somehow trigger a bookmark). I usually use continuous scroll but why take away options for other experiences? why do I have to leave the app to adjust brightness? And now when sampling a book, I can’t read a few pages w/o a persistent banner telling me how much this next book is going to cost. It’s like test driving a car with the sticker price still pasted on the windshield. Disappointing.

    Again, this app is pathetic - no bug fixes yet? Too many likely.
  • Biggest disappointment ever.

    The very first iBook app was the best. It was very easy to set up categories of books and then drag the books to the bookshelf. The page turn feature was great as was the range of fonts and character sizes. Many supposed upgrades later and all those wonderful features are gone or so cheapened to be disgusting. If I want to read a book with two pages shown, the largest font size is so small to be almost impossible to read. Jump up a character size and you end up with a continuous scrolling book with a character size way too big. I could go on and on, but unless the developers are paying attention, it’s just a waste of time….. I do not like audible books, my mind doesn’t work that way. I fully understand that apple makes way more profits from audiobooks and music and games. But I have been a loyal apple customer for a long time. Print books are the best, but I would have to buy a bigger home. Please, please, please fix this! Otherwise I may have to start looking elsewhere. Kindle, which used to be the worst book app is now way ahead of apple. You are very close to being at the bottom of my book app reading choices.
  • A reasonable rant with a touch of optimism

    Greetings,

    Disgruntled, albeit, devoted user here. The sad reality about the new books app, after IOS16, is that we are at the mercy of the developers to correct an issue that is surely nestled at the bottom of their to-fix-list, considering all the other “fires” Apple is putting out after the update. As you can probably tell, everyone hates the app right now, or the the very least is putting up with it because 1) they are better human beings than me or 2) have not known what once was. I am not opposed to a lil’ shake up, I will say, because we all like shiny new things but, be weary of your ambitions for the road to H-E-double-hockey-sticks is paved with good intentions after all. Now, A lot of the changes are cool/useful, but the overall experience has been tarnished by the new and improved laggy interface, a broken double-tap book mark feature, and a lifeless page turn animation (RIP skeuomorphic aesthetic). I only complain because I know what the app can be, guys. One star for now but, I waggle a 5-star carrot that I’ll readily give once you right this wrong. Please.
  • How dare you!

    UPDATE: the more I use this updated version of Books the more I HATE it. The stupid little thing in the bottom righthand corner to control everything is the worst designed button in the history of screens. FIRE THE ENTIRE DESIGN TEAM WHO TOOK ONE OF APPLE’S BEST APPS AND TRASHED IT.

    Since 2010; I have but using iPads to read all of my books. The design, the layout, was absolutely stellar from the very beginning. The graphics of turning a page made the transition from reading a paper book to a virtual book seamless. But then 2022 came along with the release of the latest iOS for iPads. An apple, with its horrible wisdom decided to hand over this project to someone who obviously has never read a paper book. I am furious. As a loyal Apple user for over 25 years, I am seriously open to other providers not just for reading books; but I am ready to go back to paper books, giving up my Apple Watch for real watch, putting down my iPhone, and maybe even considering going with another type of cell phone that is not an apple. With your meals price increases for Apple services, I’ve already canceled those and I’m ready to give up everything that is Apple. Apples become too greedy without any consideration for its very loyal customers changing books it’s just the latest, possibly the straw that breaks many of our backs interest to taking any more from Apple. Yes I am upset. Yes, I have been loyal for many many years. Yes, I really may leave.
  • Great app but…..

    This app is really great b/c it has so many different audio books and regular books to read. I think this app is great also b/c when you are traveling, you can just pick any book to read so you don’t have to pack like 30 books. You can also listen to the audio books when you are trying to sleep. But this app is also annoying b/c it doesn’t have every book, which I don’t expect it to. This app can also be annoying when it makes you pay like $5, which kinda REALLY PISSES YOU OFF(sorry for the language). I also don’t know why everyone hates this app and gives it bad ratings. Everyone out there who rated this app bad, those bugs you talk about are all b/c of the device you are using, the device is prob just glitchy. Soooo yeah this is a ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ app.
    Byeeeeeeeeeeeee!
    😀😛😜😝😁😃
  • Extremely disappointed

    I’ve always loved Apple’s Book app, but the recent update is awful. The 3D page turning was a 10/10 and to take that away makes me extremely disappointed. The visualizer made it so much easier for me to read books on the app.
    If it wasn’t for the decision to remove that amazing feature, the new update probably deserves 3 stars. It isn’t elegant. Instead of the app being immersive and functional it now feels as if I am in a pop up window when I’m reading. The “x” in the corner and the weird swipe to exit feature seem like an ad dismissal, not a return to menu option.
    All this to say, no one likes change, but some changes are actually bad. Please bring back the 3D page turn feature and maybe we’ll eventually get used to the new tacky interface.
  • took away copy paste? no?

    non english books needs to list the translator and the author. very important. similar for english to X translation.

    ---

    been using this app since it was new but 4 stars now because they took away ability to copy n' paste. i'm an academic, i want to take notes of interesting phrases, not steal your text. what ever happened to rip mix burn? another reviewer commented that prior copy paste added extra boilerplate copyright text. that was kind of annoying but at least it worked. other issue: if you accidentally touch the bottom page bar, you hyperspace jump to another page and there doesnt seem to be an undo. this is the latest ios15.x version, apparently 16 has gone off the rails? according to other reviewers. wait now i am confused. maybe the ios 16 version is missing copy paste, and ios 15 is ok.
  • There is no reason why this app should be this bad

    Visually this app is one of the best ebook readers you can get for free. That’s why I’m confused how it is handled so poorly.

    I’m sure others have mentioned it, but this app deletes local files like a weed whacker. I have literally lost books WHILE I was actively reading them because the app seemed to think they were taking up space. There is no option to disable this feature. WHY? I manage the storage on the rest of my phone, why are relatively small ebook files so beyond the pale?

    This would be okay by me if not for the other issue that makes this app unusable. For whatever reason, and this is also a widely reported problem, I cannot download ebooks over my cellular data. I have incredibly fast unlimited service capable of downloading 4k video so it’s not a speed or memory issue. I can even download ebooks over poor wifi connections with only one or two bars. I have disabled and reenabled cell service for this app and my phone many times. It just. Doesn’t. Work. So congrats to apple for making a reading app that can’t fulfill its most basic function of allowing you to read on your own time. I recommend Marvin, despite its best features being paywalled.
  • From Classy to … this update is Horrible

    I hate this update. I use iBooks daily. I read for hours. It is my thing. I dislike: -how sensitive the screen is so it bookmarks every darn thing. Annoying and waste of time. -I keep the app open all of the time and the words on the page jumble and the content has to reload so I have to close the app and restart. - There is no longer a toggle on the right that also indicates how far you are in the text - The overall layout and lack of highlight options. - I try to highlight a section and it is never accurate and I cannot select the small portion I want to remove from the highlighting. It chooses the entire section. -I don’t like the widget at the bottom opposed to a tool bar you can select. Again the layout is terrible. -This is not user friendly and I may stop using as I would prefer to have a book. -Feels more like an app and less like a hook and the original iBooks mimic the book experience jus in electronic form. This. UPDATE. IS. TERRIBLE. The app doesn’t even work well anymore. It is always crashing. Plus the percent complete does not work and doesn’t count your completed books correctly. It only goes to the next to last page, says complete, but doesn’t count in the graphic representation on your reading goals. PLEASE FIX THIS MESS!!!

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