The Best There Was
Marvin 3 is the best reading app ever created. None of the mediocre store-linked apps that dominate the field even come close. Not Books, certainly not Kindle, and, sadly, none of the many other failed efforts no longer extant due to the corporate monopolies that have rendered eReaders a dead market.
Whatever it’s flaws, Marvin 3 is a skilled labor of love unmatched by anything before or since. It’s the last attempt to serve serious readers rather than greedy publishers, a vanishing breed in a world of ever-increasing functional illiteracy.
I can’t blame the developer for giving up, but I do wish it were otherwise. I’d gladly pay more for an evolving product than I do for my MS Office or Adobe Creative Suite subscriptions, or any of the other mediocrities that dominate the software industry through rapacious business practices rather than elegant design. A good reader is worth more to me than just about else I buy, and I wouldn’t mind being paying accordingly for something truly wonderful.
Whatever it’s flaws, Marvin 3 is a skilled labor of love unmatched by anything before or since. It’s the last attempt to serve serious readers rather than greedy publishers, a vanishing breed in a world of ever-increasing functional illiteracy.
I can’t blame the developer for giving up, but I do wish it were otherwise. I’d gladly pay more for an evolving product than I do for my MS Office or Adobe Creative Suite subscriptions, or any of the other mediocrities that dominate the software industry through rapacious business practices rather than elegant design. A good reader is worth more to me than just about else I buy, and I wouldn’t mind being paying accordingly for something truly wonderful.
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Still the best
It’s sad that the developer of Marvin 3 has abandoned the app, because even without updates for several years it’s the best of available ePub ereaders. The amount of customization available is amazing, and once the user gets the settings tweaked it’s so easy to use. I’ve used almost every ereader available for iOS and some of them are quite good, but none match Marvin 3.
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It seems that the developer has abandoned this app
This was a great app but for several years now the developer has not responded to questions or bug reports. It has a nasty habit, when task switching, of reopening you book at some random past location. If you don't set a bookmark every time you switch, good luck. Now, with ios 16, things like the dictionary lookup no longer work right. After lookup, the app just freezes. Same for Marvin 2 (no surprise there)
There are other apps out there and I don't feel that you should reward the developer for his lack of interest by purchasing this. Just my opinion, of course. I have switched to Mapleread. It's not perfect but it works with ios q6 AND the developers respond to questions!
There are other apps out there and I don't feel that you should reward the developer for his lack of interest by purchasing this. Just my opinion, of course. I have switched to Mapleread. It's not perfect but it works with ios q6 AND the developers respond to questions!
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Notes and annotations
I know it isn’t your fault about the update, I do want to say though that since iOS 16 update trying to add notes and annotations and highlight has been god awful!! No idea what Apple did but it ruined it. 😭😭 I mean I am able to do it still, it’s just takes longer and the options glitch and overlap each other when you try highlighting
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Actually… Still works!
The fact that this App has not been updated for 5 years is unfortunate. Yet, it is remarkable also, because the App remains unrivaled. For those 5 years (and many more before) this has remained absolutely the best App for anyone who cares about the aesthetics of the reading experience, iPhone screen real estate, menu options etc.
I’m writing this review to help other readers who, like me, are not thrilled by the alternatives to Marvin.
It did seam that the iOS 16 killed Marvin. I, together with other users who wrote about this, thought so, and I started looking for the replacement. Nothing came close, so I decided to toggle Marvin one last time. By accident, I found out that YOU CAN STILL HIGHLIGHT TEXT, and do all the things we’ve been able to do before. You just have to be a little patient. When the “text selection menu“ comes up (from the system, not the app), just tap the arrow on the right. Tap the seemingly blank sections of the menu that will appear, and you’ll get the options you’ve had before - highlights, notes, dictionaries etc)
So, although Marvin has been wounded by this iOS 16, it has not been killed.
Undoubtedly, this App, clearly abandoned by its developers, will die sooner or later. But, until it dies, it shall remain the best.
I’m writing this review to help other readers who, like me, are not thrilled by the alternatives to Marvin.
It did seam that the iOS 16 killed Marvin. I, together with other users who wrote about this, thought so, and I started looking for the replacement. Nothing came close, so I decided to toggle Marvin one last time. By accident, I found out that YOU CAN STILL HIGHLIGHT TEXT, and do all the things we’ve been able to do before. You just have to be a little patient. When the “text selection menu“ comes up (from the system, not the app), just tap the arrow on the right. Tap the seemingly blank sections of the menu that will appear, and you’ll get the options you’ve had before - highlights, notes, dictionaries etc)
So, although Marvin has been wounded by this iOS 16, it has not been killed.
Undoubtedly, this App, clearly abandoned by its developers, will die sooner or later. But, until it dies, it shall remain the best.
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