So, a severe issue for me with iBooks 1.1 is that in ANY epub book that I converted myself using Calibre, the dictionary feature just says "Dictionary not available" for this language when all my books are in English. The dictionary does work with any paid or free books I downloaded from within the iBookstore.
I am going to re-convert some of these epubs with Calibre. Also, Calibre gets updated very often. I expect an update tonight or tomorrow that might potentially fix this issue.
If I can't get this resolved, I am considering going back to iBooks 1.0
I was able to convert a book from a text file to epub while specifying that encoding should be UTF-8 using this conversion site: http://www.2epub.com/
It worked. The dictionary worked on the resulting epub file. So, I can now put aside that this may be Apple's conspiracy to make us lose the dictionary capability on books that we produce ourselves..
I have been trying all day to access the iBook store. I updated to IOS4 and downloaded version 1.1 of iBook for my iPhone 3GS.
Whenever I try to click the Featured tab on the iBook store I get the message "cannot connect to the iTunes store". I've tried on wifi as well as wifi off. Still nothing.
I've been able to get the free books but doing searches hasn't given me anything current. It's like in Canada all we can get are the public domain books.
I can connect to the iTunes store fine in the app store.
Any Canucks having success or is this a US only thing??
So, a severe issue for me with iBooks 1.1 is that in ANY epub book that I converted myself using Calibre, the dictionary feature just says "Dictionary not available for this language" when all my books are in English. The dictionary does work with any paid or free books I downloaded from within the iBookstore.
Likewise. I'm not having any problems with free books from the iBookstore, but created books don't seem to have access to the dictionary for some reason.
Likewise. I'm not having any problems with free books from the iBookstore, but created books don't seem to have access to the dictionary for some reason.
Once I downloaded the dictionary, this is working for me with ePub books I created in Stanza (converted from PDF). At least some people having this problem seem to have used Calibre, so maybe it's something specific to the ePub books it creates? (Like missing language meta-data? That's just a guess since I don't know enough about the ePub format to know if that is even a possible explanation.)
However, I think the Stanza iPhone app may be headed for the dust bin on my iPhone. Being able to automatically sync my place and bookmarks between my iPhone (to and from work) and iPad (at home) is a definite plus for iBooks. I'll see how the iPhone reading experience is tomorrow. I do like that you can get rid of the margins in Stanza and push the text all the way out to the edges of the screen, much less page turning. On the plus side for iBooks also is that the Sepia background is very close to what I was using in Stanza
This is awesome... Right clicked on a PDF, told it to open in iTunes (not a default option yet) and it stuck the PDF in the Books. Sync'ed my iPhone and now have the PDF in iBooks.
AWESOME tip. Thanks.
Quote:
Originally Posted by MarcZero
Is it just me or does iTunes need a somewhat hefty makeover in the book department? The genres listed are only for music. I'm not sure how to categorize my books. (Should I put the info in the grouping or genre?) ... I am hoping this is just a fix that Apple can push out in the near future, but iTunes needs to make some changes now that it wants to be the center of our digital book library too.
Agreed, but we need to give iTunes time. iTunes is kinda a legacy term in and of itself. Should be rebranded and reworked in the next major update as "iMedia"? Okay, maybe not, but iTunes needs to continue to be "tuned".
This is awesome... Right clicked on a PDF, told it to open in iTunes (not a default option yet) and it stuck the PDF in the Books. Sync'ed my iPhone and now have the PDF in iBooks.
I have to say, the UI for adding PDF's to iBooks vs other apps IS STUPID. There is a designated UI for adding files, like these PDF files, within the apps tab. You go there to add PDF files to apps.
Except for iBooks.
1) it doesn't show up in the list of apps that can accept files, when you select your iPad, then go to the Apps tab
2) until you add/buy a epub/pdf document to iTunes, it doesn't have a 'Books entry under library
So, until I read your comment, I had NO idea how to add a pdf file to iBooks.
To me, this seems to be a stupid 'do as I say, not as I do' kind of thing...
Sigil is pretty good for converting from html or text, not so good from pdf. I have done some of my text that has very strange formatting and it worked with some xhtml tweaking.
What's missing for me here is Mac OSX so i can read my books on any device in my Apple ecosystem. Every device knows who I am, since I log in and every account is connected to MobileMe somehow. It is long overdue that there is a cross-platform language from Apple that doesn't care what hardware it is running on. This applies to probably 75% of the software I use - if it's *me*, then let me use it.
What's missing for me here is Mac OSX so i can read my books on any device in my Apple ecosystem. Every device knows who I am, since I log in and every account is connected to MobileMe somehow. It is long overdue that there is a cross-platform language from Apple that doesn't care what hardware it is running on. This applies to probably 75% of the software I use - if it's *me*, then let me use it.
Well, I don't want the iPad or iPhone version of iBooks, or any other app, to run on OS X, but I would like to see an iBooks version for OS X. Even if I don't do serious reading there, I'd like to have my eBooks accessible for reference at least, and with the ability to sync bookmarks via iTunes, it would be much more useful than using some other eBook reader.
EDIT: Actually, if they are serious about iBooks, they should probably create a Windows version too.
Where are folders??!? Let me see, it took Amazon 3 years to put that function into kindle and even then, a gimped version. How long will it take for Apple to put it in iBooks? I would have thought that they would have done it with this new version as it's relatively easy thing to do.
How do they expect us to organize our collections? It's just one huge book shelf!
anyone know if it is possible to do highlight pdfs in iBooks? I can't seem to get that functionality to show up. With books, the contextual menu shows up when I keep my fingertip over a word, with pdfs the same action does nothing...
I have to say, the UI for adding PDF's to iBooks vs other apps IS STUPID. There is a designated UI for adding files, like these PDF files, within the apps tab. You go there to add PDF files to apps.
Except for iBooks.
1) it doesn't show up in the list of apps that can accept files, when you select your iPad, then go to the Apps tab
2) until you add/buy a epub/pdf document to iTunes, it doesn't have a 'Books entry under library
So, until I read your comment, I had NO idea how to add a pdf file to iBooks.
To me, this seems to be a stupid 'do as I say, not as I do' kind of thing...
I agree, the Books library ought to appear in iTunes even if the library is empty. But what happens if you just drag the PDF into iTunes? Will it not create the Books library automatically? I can't easily check this out, but I expect it's not as dumb as you think.
The big problem I'm having appears to be some sort of memory leak or bug in the new version of iTunes. Dragging a PDF into iTunes results in an endless beach ball. The application isn't actually stalled, but I have to quit and restart iTunes to make the beach ball go away. Anybody else seeing this?
I agree, the Books library ought to appear in iTunes even if the library is empty. But what happens if you just drag the PDF into iTunes? Will it not create the Books library automatically? I can't easily check this out, but I expect it's not as dumb as you think.
...
Yes, it does create the 'Books' library automatically when you add the first book to iTunes. But you have no idea that you have to add ebooks to iTunes this way for iBooks to be able to access them, without googling it.
Comments
So, a severe issue for me with iBooks 1.1 is that in ANY epub book that I converted myself using Calibre, the dictionary feature just says "Dictionary not available" for this language when all my books are in English. The dictionary does work with any paid or free books I downloaded from within the iBookstore.
I am going to re-convert some of these epubs with Calibre. Also, Calibre gets updated very often. I expect an update tonight or tomorrow that might potentially fix this issue.
If I can't get this resolved, I am considering going back to iBooks 1.0
Same problem here.
Same problem here.
I HONESTLY hope this can be fixed either via re-converting to ePub or an iBooks update.
If I can't use the Dictionary function with my own books, I am not using iBooks at all.
I HONESTLY hope this can be fixed either via re-converting to ePub or an iBooks update.
If I can't use the Dictionary function with my own books, I am not using iBooks at all.
I made a post on the apple forums on the subject so hopefully i'll get a response soon.
I'm also trying to figure out if it's possible to use books I already own with other apps such as kindle or B&N?
I was able to convert a book from a text file to epub while specifying that encoding should be UTF-8 using this conversion site: http://www.2epub.com/
It worked. The dictionary worked on the resulting epub file. So, I can now put aside that this may be Apple's conspiracy to make us lose the dictionary capability on books that we produce ourselves..
Whenever I try to click the Featured tab on the iBook store I get the message "cannot connect to the iTunes store". I've tried on wifi as well as wifi off. Still nothing.
I've been able to get the free books but doing searches hasn't given me anything current. It's like in Canada all we can get are the public domain books.
I can connect to the iTunes store fine in the app store.
Any Canucks having success or is this a US only thing??
How about the feature most people asking for, Apple? Open iBookstore to international buyers.
Copyright issues. They have to resolved one country at a time.
So, a severe issue for me with iBooks 1.1 is that in ANY epub book that I converted myself using Calibre, the dictionary feature just says "Dictionary not available for this language" when all my books are in English. The dictionary does work with any paid or free books I downloaded from within the iBookstore.
Likewise. I'm not having any problems with free books from the iBookstore, but created books don't seem to have access to the dictionary for some reason.
Likewise. I'm not having any problems with free books from the iBookstore, but created books don't seem to have access to the dictionary for some reason.
Once I downloaded the dictionary, this is working for me with ePub books I created in Stanza (converted from PDF). At least some people having this problem seem to have used Calibre, so maybe it's something specific to the ePub books it creates? (Like missing language meta-data? That's just a guess since I don't know enough about the ePub format to know if that is even a possible explanation.)
However, I think the Stanza iPhone app may be headed for the dust bin on my iPhone. Being able to automatically sync my place and bookmarks between my iPhone (to and from work) and iPad (at home) is a definite plus for iBooks. I'll see how the iPhone reading experience is tomorrow. I do like that you can get rid of the margins in Stanza and push the text all the way out to the edges of the screen, much less page turning. On the plus side for iBooks also is that the Sepia background is very close to what I was using in Stanza
This is awesome... Right clicked on a PDF, told it to open in iTunes (not a default option yet) and it stuck the PDF in the Books.
AWESOME tip. Thanks.
Is it just me or does iTunes need a somewhat hefty makeover in the book department? The genres listed are only for music. I'm not sure how to categorize my books. (Should I put the info in the grouping or genre?) ... I am hoping this is just a fix that Apple can push out in the near future, but iTunes needs to make some changes now that it wants to be the center of our digital book library too.
Agreed, but we need to give iTunes time. iTunes is kinda a legacy term in and of itself. Should be rebranded and reworked in the next major update as "iMedia"? Okay, maybe not, but iTunes needs to continue to be "tuned".
This is awesome... Right clicked on a PDF, told it to open in iTunes (not a default option yet) and it stuck the PDF in the Books.
I have to say, the UI for adding PDF's to iBooks vs other apps IS STUPID. There is a designated UI for adding files, like these PDF files, within the apps tab. You go there to add PDF files to apps.
Except for iBooks.
1) it doesn't show up in the list of apps that can accept files, when you select your iPad, then go to the Apps tab
2) until you add/buy a epub/pdf document to iTunes, it doesn't have a 'Books entry under library
So, until I read your comment, I had NO idea how to add a pdf file to iBooks.
To me, this seems to be a stupid 'do as I say, not as I do' kind of thing...
What's missing for me here is Mac OSX so i can read my books on any device in my Apple ecosystem. Every device knows who I am, since I log in and every account is connected to MobileMe somehow. It is long overdue that there is a cross-platform language from Apple that doesn't care what hardware it is running on. This applies to probably 75% of the software I use - if it's *me*, then let me use it.
Well, I don't want the iPad or iPhone version of iBooks, or any other app, to run on OS X, but I would like to see an iBooks version for OS X. Even if I don't do serious reading there, I'd like to have my eBooks accessible for reference at least, and with the ability to sync bookmarks via iTunes, it would be much more useful than using some other eBook reader.
EDIT: Actually, if they are serious about iBooks, they should probably create a Windows version too.
How do they expect us to organize our collections? It's just one huge book shelf!
I have to say, the UI for adding PDF's to iBooks vs other apps IS STUPID. There is a designated UI for adding files, like these PDF files, within the apps tab. You go there to add PDF files to apps.
Except for iBooks.
1) it doesn't show up in the list of apps that can accept files, when you select your iPad, then go to the Apps tab
2) until you add/buy a epub/pdf document to iTunes, it doesn't have a 'Books entry under library
So, until I read your comment, I had NO idea how to add a pdf file to iBooks.
To me, this seems to be a stupid 'do as I say, not as I do' kind of thing...
I agree, the Books library ought to appear in iTunes even if the library is empty. But what happens if you just drag the PDF into iTunes? Will it not create the Books library automatically? I can't easily check this out, but I expect it's not as dumb as you think.
The big problem I'm having appears to be some sort of memory leak or bug in the new version of iTunes. Dragging a PDF into iTunes results in an endless beach ball. The application isn't actually stalled, but I have to quit and restart iTunes to make the beach ball go away. Anybody else seeing this?
I agree, the Books library ought to appear in iTunes even if the library is empty. But what happens if you just drag the PDF into iTunes? Will it not create the Books library automatically? I can't easily check this out, but I expect it's not as dumb as you think.
...
Yes, it does create the 'Books' library automatically when you add the first book to iTunes. But you have no idea that you have to add ebooks to iTunes this way for iBooks to be able to access them, without googling it.