Fourth iOS 11.3 beta reverts 'Books' app name back to iBooks

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in iOS
Apple has changed the name of 'Books' in the fourth beta release of iOS 11.3, reverting the name of the iPhone and iPad e-reader app back to its former identity of iBooks after just over a month.




Part of Monday's beta release, the name change from "Books" back to iBooks is the only alteration made to the app. Opening the app shows no major updates to it, aside from the reversion of the name to what it is known by in the full public release of iOS.

Apple initially changed the name of the app on January 24, as part of the first iOS 11.3 beta provided to developers, followed the next day by the public beta. At the time, the only change made to the app was its name.

The temporary name change is an indication that Apple is continuing its trend of transitioning its products and services away from its iconic "i" naming scheme. In a similar vein to streaming service Apple Music's name and appearance as Music for the iOS app icon, the brief use of "Books" indicates Apple will be referring to the app and associated storefront as "Apple Books" at some point in the future.

The removal of the "i" prefix also mirrors the way Apple shifted the naming scheme of its notebook line from iBook to MacBook, though it still prevalent across the entire iOS device line as well as in the name of the iMac. The Apple Watch, which effectively follows the modernized non-"iProduct" naming convention, carried the unofficial monicker of "iWatch" in rumors and reports ahead of its unveiling.

Aside from the name change, the iBooks app is rumored to be undergoing a redesign that could launch in the coming months, one that would bring the app in line with the App Store's refurbishment in 2017. Reports have suggested there to be a simpler design for the app, along with a "Reading Now" section, and a tab for audiobooks.

It is unknown if Apple will officially rebrand iBooks to "Books" at the time of the iOS 11.3 release or keep the old name until the rumored refresh ships.

Comments

  • Reply 1 of 17
    melgrossmelgross Posts: 33,510member
    I hope they changed part of the feature set back to what it was. In the latest mess, they eliminated the “all books” category. Instead, all of the books are now in the “books” category, along with PDFs.

    previously, the books category was a temporary placeholder for books, but not PDFs. When you made folders for various authors and subjects, and placed books into these folders, they disappeared from the books category, but remained, along with PDFs, in the all books category. This was very good.

    what happened was that you would just end up with a very few books in the books category. Either books you hadn’t yet read, books for which you hadn't yet made a folder, and books that you preordered. You could easily see what was going on because of the small number of books there.

    but now, they renamed the all books to just books. Everything is there no matter what. So now even though you have books in named folders, they remain in the books category, along with the PDFs. It’s very confusing. I’ve got over 250 books there, along with dozens of PDFs. It’s difficult to find anything, because you have to scroll the entire thing sometimes before you find something. You don’t know if you put a book in the author’s folder or not, because they’re all there. If you were reading back in forth between two or more books, but haven’t looked for a week or so, you forget which books some were.

    it’s a serious mess! I hope they went back to the way it was. Otherwise I’ll be buying more books through the Kindle and Nook.
    SpamSandwich
  • Reply 2 of 17
    tonkinitetonkinite Posts: 7unconfirmed, member
    They may have reverted more than the name, the rewritten Books App is buggy as hell, it loses its place with AudioBooks at the merest misplaced click. In prior betas it crashed frequently as well.
  • Reply 3 of 17
    JanNLJanNL Posts: 327member
    Also reverted in macOS. And is working normal again after a very buggy Books version.
  • Reply 4 of 17
    seanismorrisseanismorris Posts: 1,624member
    My Books app is called Kindle and works great all the time...
  • Reply 5 of 17
    kruegdudekruegdude Posts: 340member
    My Books app is called Kindle and works great all the time...
    I have both. I bet you can too :-)
    revenant
  • Reply 6 of 17
    larryjwlarryjw Posts: 1,031member
    I'm not concerned with beta software having bugs. That's why it's beta. 

    Maybe NDA is preventing information coming out about what functional improvements, if any, are coming. iBooks has an incredible need for improved functionality. Lipstick on a pig is not going to do it for me.


  • Reply 7 of 17
    kruegdudekruegdude Posts: 340member
    The article states that no other changes were made other than the name. Does that mean the changes reflected in the beta version of the iBook app are still in place and only the name changed or did the whole app revert to pre-beta?
  • Reply 8 of 17
    Mike WuertheleMike Wuerthele Posts: 6,837administrator
    kruegdude said:
    The article states that no other changes were made other than the name. Does that mean the changes reflected in the beta version of the iBook app are still in place and only the name changed or did the whole app revert to pre-beta?
    The operational changes to the iBooks/Books app itself in the beta are still there. We've probably got 2-4 more beta releases to go, so we'll see how it goes.
  • Reply 9 of 17
    seanismorrisseanismorris Posts: 1,624member
    kruegdude said:
    My Books app is called Kindle and works great all the time...
    I have both. I bet you can too :-)
    Maybe when Apple offers Kindle Unlimited.  I save $1000+ using it.

    What can I say, I’m an addict...
    kruegdude
  • Reply 10 of 17
    CheeseFreezeCheeseFreeze Posts: 1,246member
    I hope they’ll remove iTunes entirely, which is such a ridiculous app in 2018.

    A total rewrite with just Apple Music, regardless of whether it streams music or uses your migrated iTunes library makes much more sense.

    Remove iTunes Store from iOS as well. On iOS I currently get redirected from the TV app (that has some glaring issues but that’s another subjected) to the store and back. A very bad user experience.

    Anyway...And then integrate all stores per app:

    TV - video and TV subscription playback + video store
    Music - music streaming + library music + music store 

    Same idea for Books.

    Can’t be that hard to bring some consistency, right?
    seanismorris
  • Reply 11 of 17
    seanismorrisseanismorris Posts: 1,624member
    I hope they’ll remove iTunes entirely, which is such a ridiculous app in 2018.

    A total rewrite with just Apple Music, regardless of whether it streams music or uses your migrated iTunes library makes much more sense.

    Remove iTunes Store from iOS as well. On iOS I currently get redirected from the TV app (that has some glaring issues but that’s another subjected) to the store and back. A very bad user experience.

    Anyway...And then integrate all stores per app:

    TV - video and TV subscription playback + video store
    Music - music streaming + library music + music store 

    Same idea for Books.

    Can’t be that hard to bring some consistency, right?
    I don’t think anyone buys songs anymore.  Everything is going to a Netflix (subscription) model.  

    Very rarely will I buy a book, or movie...

    I have rented a movie (Amazon) on occasion.
  • Reply 12 of 17
    kruegdudekruegdude Posts: 340member
    kruegdude said:
    The article states that no other changes were made other than the name. Does that mean the changes reflected in the beta version of the iBook app are still in place and only the name changed or did the whole app revert to pre-beta?
    The operational changes to the iBooks/Books app itself in the beta are still there. We've probably got 2-4 more beta releases to go, so we'll see how it goes.
    Good to know, thanks. 
  • Reply 13 of 17
    mavemufcmavemufc Posts: 326member
    I hope they’ll remove iTunes entirely, which is such a ridiculous app in 2018.

    A total rewrite with just Apple Music, regardless of whether it streams music or uses your migrated iTunes library makes much more sense.

    Remove iTunes Store from iOS as well. On iOS I currently get redirected from the TV app (that has some glaring issues but that’s another subjected) to the store and back. A very bad user experience.

    Anyway...And then integrate all stores per app:

    TV - video and TV subscription playback + video store
    Music - music streaming + library music + music store 

    Same idea for Books.

    Can’t be that hard to bring some consistency, right?
    Wouldn't say its a ridiculous app just depends what you use it for, if you use it, hardly ever go onto it on my phone or but I use it on my iPad and TV all the time, cant see them getting rid of it entirely anyway.
    lolliver
  • Reply 14 of 17
    CheeseFreezeCheeseFreeze Posts: 1,246member
    I don’t think anyone buys songs anymore.  Everything is going to a Netflix (subscription) model.  

    Very rarely will I buy a book, or movie...

    I have rented a movie (Amazon) on occasion.
    Yeah I agree. My suggestion came from the idea to support people's "old style music library" as well. They'll need to be able to access their content too, even though it's considered 'oldskool'.
  • Reply 15 of 17
    melgrossmelgross Posts: 33,510member
    Apple seems to have fixed the Books problems. It’s now back to normal, thank heavens.
  • Reply 16 of 17
    Mike WuertheleMike Wuerthele Posts: 6,837administrator
    melgross said:
    Apple seems to have fixed the Books problems. It’s now back to normal, thank heavens.
    Interestingly, in Friday's beta, not this one.
  • Reply 17 of 17
    melgrossmelgross Posts: 33,510member
    melgross said:
    Apple seems to have fixed the Books problems. It’s now back to normal, thank heavens.
    Interestingly, in Friday's beta, not this one.
    Yes, but I forgot I still had this forum going, so I responded late.
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