I used to rave about iBooks, but whatever you did in the last iOS update ruined it. It often won’t open at all. If it does, it crashes at some point while I’m reading. The “reading goal is a joke - I’m getting notices of reaching it less than two pages in. It won’t keep track of where I am in a book (like, I have to scroll and scroll to find my place again) unless I’m internet connected (so in airplane mode, it just has no idea what to do). The in-book menus are missing or extremely confusing to find and use. The continuous-read scroll bar is gone. It randomly bookmarks pages for reasons I can’t understand while you’re scrolling to read. Literally, the only problem I had with the old app was that sometimes it highlighted while I was scrolling, but it was easy to delete so nbd. In an effort to update for the sake of updating, you’ve broken EVERYTHING. Please bring back the old app.
I am a new Books user since I just purchased an iPad a few months ago. I am currently reading a free Jane Austin book (have not purchased an ebook yet). I have used other ebook apps (nook, Libby, etc) and this one is equally fine. I have yet to come across a stellar eReading application.
I wish Apple would take advantage of its ecosystem and give users the ability to annotate on books with an Apple Pencil. In my opinion, it would really make their native app stand out over competitors, as I have not been able to find this feature in any eReader app, and my Apple Pencil sitting inches away from the eBook is yearning to be used. Instead, if I want to take notes I have to open a separate app as opposed to marking up the page. Adding a true freehand annotation feature would really make it a 4- or 5-star application.
The app previously would have had a 3.5 star review from me. Let me talk about why 3.5 stars in the last few years instead of 5 stars. Love the highlighter, change of font, layout etc. what is missing is a genre search. I mean it’s a book app. Plus it is also missing the ability to search within your library and to separate purchases from sample reads that are open to read 2-3 chapters.
Next, is the issues with the “updated version glitch that brought the overall rating down to a 2. I open up a purchased book in my library. A notification pops up that lets me know I won’t be able to do any markings if i don’t update. It gives me the option of clicking “not now” or “update”. I choose update. It simply loops around to the same thing. So all of the previous lacking in the 3.5 star review exist, and now there is the glitch. I will probably go to Kindle or somewhere onc i get a few more bucks to purchase my library content there. That is if Apple does’t at the very minimum address the glitch. And no, i don’t have an antiquated device. I know people who won’t try Apple Books for self-publishing due to the issues with the platform.
Unfortunately, this update makes the product worse. The new themes do not really improve on the previous ones, and all functionality is now in a little icon on the bottom. I can perhaps learn to live with that, although why does functionality have to be hidden like that escapes me. But why did the page animation go away, oh, why?
But: Have you tried to highlight using a pencil? Well, don’t, because it will frustrate you to no end. The selection window does not go away—you have to tap again. Sometimes you get two contextual menus instead of one. But if you happen to double-tap by mistake, you get a bookmark instead. You know what would have been a nice customization? A user’s ability to choose highlighting colors. Or the ability to save one’s annotations in a different document. Right now, this “update” looks like a student’s project (and not a good student either).
Who did the background research for the latest update? They obviously don’t have the slightest “avid reader” love of the simple and elegant features the Books app had. No page turning (which was why I got an iPad in the first place and what I miss the most!!!), hideous redesign of the features, and the awful layout of the details tool bar. It crashes constantly and sometimes just starts moving quickly through pages, especially when I’m looking at a sample. Why give beautifully smooth features an update that makes them perform like a cheap, substandard copy? Wake up, Apple!! Not all updates need to redesign everything. Hopefully there is someone with common sense that will read these reviews and do the right thing! Do you guys even gather the important data of how we use the app instead of how much money we spend on it? Terrible decision, Apple. Especially when you step far away from the simplicity that made Books so beloved. Am terribly disappointed.
Whomever wrote the new version of Books apparently never used it. It's worse in almost every way than the previous version.
No more glance-able, graphic indication of where you are in the book; now it's hidden under an "everything button."
No more specific-to-books brightness control that's one tap away; you'll have to adjust the systemwide setting.
Want to change the font? That's several menus deep, and you can't just change the font—you have to configure a "theme" that also includes colors and other settings. Likewise, changing the background color now requires configuring a theme, and thus, tying it to a font.
Bookmarks? Buried in a submenu.
Meanwhile, the button to leave the book is obnoxiously bold; at least as of 16.1 it disappears once you turn the page.
And that "page-turning" animation. How jarring to anyone who expects a book to act as if it has a binding holding the pages together! Now, Apple Books emulates a stack of cue cards, shuffled from one to the next, with the next page's text moving into frame. It's not like anyone might be trying to READ that text...
Up until now, I've preferred Apple Books as a more refined reading option than Kindle. Steve Jobs cared about typography, and that extended to books, and it seemed like Books used to have at least some of Steve's taste.
I can't imagine Steve would've allowed this version of Books to ship.
The last software upgrade is devastating to what was my reading refuge. I could read on the phone under the covers, or anytime, anywhere and be distracted by reading a book. Now it is an annoying option. Changing pages is uncomfortable, the icons on the page glare, why are they there? having a light up red flag as an icon is distracting while reading ! the lighting is bad; making book marks in the middle of the page is vague. Taking away the ribbon at the top and replacing it with a clunky box is just ugly and inelegant. Taking the book pages from the side does not allow one to know where one is in the book!! I’ve kept my small iPad device in IOS 15 afraid that the ability to read seamlessly will disappear. Please carry out due diligence when making changes to your reading app. Enlist an eye specialist and a reading specialist to better understand reading. Please keep Steve Jobs’ elegant designs always in mind. Don’t fix what is not broken.
I want the page to turn again. The new animation leaves a lot to be desired. New user interface is a little cluttered. A return to simplicity would be nice.
Allow me to be constructive, just a bit. Prior to the update it was possible to have a full page view with no menu or settings accessible via widget. It was nice to have nothing but the page & the text upon it to look at, and all one needed to do to access the menu was tap the screen, and the widgets or doodads you needed to access would become visible. It takes one out of the reading experience just a little bit to have a large X-out button atop the screen the entire time. These are little things, of course, but Apple prides itself on doing the little things well. Let’s see some improvements.
It wasn’t broken, and didn’t need fixing.
One of the biggest reasons why I love and use apple books is the realistic page turning animation. It adds a lot to the reading experience, it was everything for me. With the release of ios 16, I just found out after I updated and went to apple books that it was gone. Instead we got flat, plain, terrible flash cards for a page turning animation. I was heartbroken, I can’t even find alternatives that would give me the same feeling. I wish I could downgrade back to ios 15 just for that reason. Why do you have ruin such a perfect feature. There rest of the features you added including the screen orientation lock and themes were good, that’s fine, but why, why did you remove the skeuomorphic page turn. Another thing is the efficiency of the dark and light mode, it seems much slower now compared to ios 15, back then it would turn into dark mode when you’re in a dark surrounding but now it takes around 3 seconds for it to change, what’s up with that? Are all these just bugs or is this really all you have to give us? I still have hopes for you apple, please fix these, I beg of you.
Honestly, I love this book app it's great, especially for on-the-go reading and I don't have enough time to swipe a book. But these recent updates spoil the mood for this app. For example, I loved the feature where when you turn the pages it's a 3D animation of a page flip! I thought that was a cool and fun feature and it made reading on this app fun, but now the recent update got rid of that and it's just a slide. In my opinion, this makes the app bland and unfun to read from I'm sure others agree. There's also a problem with permanently deleting books that you don't want I think these features should be attended to! Also, the dark color for reading isn't dark anymore like It used to be, when I try to read it's still super bright cause it's more of a gray color than black. I just think you shouldn't change cool features that are fine where they are and instead fix other issues about the app.
Renee_lynn
cbwood2016
GuidryOWilson
A_curious_user
Andasola
macwhizNY
public transportation for all
mistuhbrown
Exkrimazen
Jailynwilliams598#2018
