App v2.0.5 Feedback
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I tried the text to speech (Select to Speak) in app with the simple view, and yeah, in simple view it's still not scrolling past 1% for me (it just stops reading after it says "1%", which is about one screen's length).
Is there something I need to do to get it to read more? I've got it in vertical simple mode.
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@terrence I’ve gotten text to speak to work just fine when I scroll throughout the whole part all the way to the bottom to make sure everything is paginated. That being said, it always starts reading at the beginning of the part no matter where you are which is annoying, and my success may be different since I use iPhone.
(P.S. Does anyone know how to make these symbols, 《 and 》, to be silent? Every time I read Demon Lord, he pronounces them as “left double angle bracket” and “right double angle bracket” every single time.) -
Anyone getting slow down/choppy again while scrolling in the newest version?
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@nosgoroth Agree with most of that, though the sorting defaults to part release date descending. It's just that the release date the part is tagged with is often (usually?) incorrect.
Also, it's been said elsewhere, but to repeat it here, the app is completely broken on the latest iPhones. On the iPhone XS Max, the paginated views are unusable (text goes right off the screen), and when I tried to use infinite scroll instead there was a line of text that wasn't wrapped (went off the screen to the right).
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@nosgoroth said in App v2.0.5 Feedback:
- Critical for a reading app: Control over line spacing, paragraph spacing and overall margins is a must. As it is, I don't feel comfortable reading on it, and it's the main problem keeping me from subscribing.
This one is kinda tricky because adding a lot of customization can make the app very clunky (try EBookDroid, it takes minutes to find how to change the font size there). Also I didn't expect paragraph spacing to be that important to someone (I would think justified text would come before that, although I'm not a fan of that myself).
I encountered loads of bugs and limitations while programming with Xamarin.Forms but seeing how JNC app develops I wonder if the framework they use is on another level of bad. Dunno about spacing but justified text is only half-working in there.- I don't know if it's working as intended, but I find the latest releases page is confusing -- the default sort order appears to be by release date ascending
That's how it is for non-members. Members have it listed newest-first (regularly, in a slightly broken order).
- The reading options menu just plain sucks, I'm sorry to say. Black on marine blue and nothing to telegraph that buttons are buttons is just painful.
Now imagine having all those customization options in there.
@legitpancake said in App v2.0.5 Feedback:
(P.S. Does anyone know how to make these symbols, 《 and 》, to be silent? Every time I read Demon Lord, he pronounces them as “left double angle bracket” and “right double angle bracket” every single time.)
Should've joined me in persuading the team to use guillemets.
@village-idiot said in App v2.0.5 Feedback:
Anyone getting slow down/choppy again while scrolling in the newest version?
Re: this and some earlier report about the battery drain. (On android) It's pretty easy to enable CPU usage indication in developer options. Or better: "adb shell top", if you have adb installed. That may (or may not) make the reason clearer.
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IIRC, the JNC site is React, and the JNC app is React Native. It basically lets you write iOS apps in JavaScript, only using native UI components instead of web components.
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@_08 Line spacing/paragraph spacing is actually really important to readability, though some people are more bothered by it than others. Also, white space around the edges is also important and having a readable line length. This is pretty basic typography and has been brought into web and app design and adapted to screen reading.
It’s also a big accessibility issue. At least you can adjust font sizes in the app, but more control over basic typography and better default typography would really help the app look more polished and make it easier to read with.
Right-hand justification is a nice to have, but only if it can be implemented well, as it’s easier to read with left-justification only than badly implemented right-hand justification.
As for crowded preference panes, one way to fix that would be to have a separate settings section that could set these kinds of things universally. That way, it wouldn’t matter so much if it were more controls than should appear within each book. Plus it’s possible to design better control panels overall, but that’s a whole other issue.
In my day job, I’m a UX designer, though not a typographer or visual designer, so I’m more sensitive of these issues and what to call them than the average person, but non-designers do notice these things, even if they don’t know exactly what they’re noticing.
Overall, other than the iPhone XS/XS Mac bug that makes it impossible to use those devices, the UX of the app isn’t terrible. I’m not expecting Kindle app levels of design and configuration from an app to read prepubs, but there’s definite room for improvement that would make it a smoother reading experience.
Edit: Just found a decent overview of line length/line height and font size for responsive web design. The same principles apply to designing for multiple size devices like different size phones and tablets: Size Matters: Balancing Line Length And Font Size In Responsive Web Design
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@guspaz said in App v2.0.5 Feedback:
IIRC, the JNC site is React, and the JNC app is React Native. It basically lets you write iOS apps in JavaScript, only using native UI components instead of web components.
Oh, due to the state of the design I had expected the app to be some flavor of Cordova, like Ionic.
@_08 said in App v2.0.5 Feedback:
@nosgoroth said in App v2.0.5 Feedback:
- Critical for a reading app: Control over line spacing, paragraph spacing and overall margins is a must. As it is, I don't feel comfortable reading on it, and it's the main problem keeping me from subscribing.
This one is kinda tricky because adding a lot of customization can make the app very clunky (try EBookDroid, it takes minutes to find how to change the font size there). Also I didn't expect paragraph spacing to be that important to someone (I would think justified text would come before that, although I'm not a fan of that myself).
I encountered loads of bugs and limitations while programming with Xamarin.Forms but seeing how JNC app develops I wonder if the framework they use is on another level of bad. Dunno about spacing but justified text is only half-working in there.Welp, actually, due to everything else missing I hadn't noticed that there is no option for justified text. That kind of needs to be in, too.
Looking at the docs for the styling of the Text component of React Native,
textAlign: justify;seems to be available, but only in iOS. The option for line spacing (lineHeight) is available globally, andletterSpacingseems to be available in iOS and Android 5+- I don't know if it's working as intended, but I find the latest releases page is confusing -- the default sort order appears to be by release date ascending
That's how it is for non-members. Members have it listed newest-first (regularly, in a slightly broken order).
Ooh, I see. Definitely a good idea to show something different to non-members, although maybe a list of the latest free parts would be more effective.
The other order is definitely broken though.
- The reading options menu just plain sucks, I'm sorry to say. Black on marine blue and nothing to telegraph that buttons are buttons is just painful.
Now imagine having all those customization options in there.
Most reading apps I have tried include at least three presets for line spacing and page margins, and manage to look good at the same time. My issues with the current options have nothing to do with the number of options, but in how they're presented. A UX designer, like @lilitu93, is better suited to tackle this problem.
@lilitu93 said in App v2.0.5 Feedback:
@_08 Line spacing/paragraph spacing is actually really important to readability, though some people are more bothered by it than others. Also, white space around the edges is also important and having a readable line length. This is pretty basic typography and has been brought into web and app design and adapted to screen reading.
It’s also a big accessibility issue. At least you can adjust font sizes in the app, but more control over basic typography and better default typography would really help the app look more polished and make it easier to read with.
Good point about better defaults, it's nice to leave a good first impression.
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I'm a new subscriber, because I wanted to pick up the premium ebooks for Occultic;Nine. I do plan to use the app while I have it, to see if I want to keep subscribing. :) But the lack of justified text is a big eyesore for me. That might keep me from being a long-term subscription user instead of purchaser.
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haven't read all the other posts but the only real thing ive noticed id like to see is a favorites section or something so i can bundle the series im actively reading together to easier find and follow. other than that loving the new updated app.
