Re: Ibis Reader: an accessible alternative eBook reader for the iPhone/iPod Touch/iPad with some glitches

[Søren Jensen]

Wow Esther. Thanks so much for this awesome information. This app will be very 
usable for us outside the US, where it will take a lot of time before we get 
books in IBooks in our languages. I'll check out this app when I got the time
Best regards
Søren Jensen
Mail & MSN:
s...@coolfortheblind.dk
Website:
http://www.coolfortheblind.dk/

Den May 10, 2010 kl. 8:47 PM skrev Esther:

> Hi All,
> 
> Here's an alternative, promising eBook reader for books in ePub format 
> without DRM: Ibis Reader. It works with VoiceOver on the iPhone, iPod Touch, 
> and iPad, and allows bookmarking but has some odd features in terms of 
> navigation.  You can read DRM-free ePub books either on your computer or 
> mobile device, and keep them in sync.  I'll excerpt the description from 
> Wired's Gadget Lab article by Charlie Sorrel, "Ibis Reader for iPhone: A Web 
> App That Thinks It's a Native App":
> 
> 
> 
> Ibis reader is an e-book reading application that does everything that you’d 
> expect an iPhone e-reader to do, with one big difference: It doesn’t come 
> from the App Store. The app runs on any iPhone or iPod Touch and offers full 
> offline access to your library of books, and is as fast and responsive as a 
> native iPhone application. It manages this through the magic of HTML5, which 
> is supported by Mobile Safari and - crucially - offers offline storage for 
> web-sites.
> 
> To install Ibis you navigate to the page in Safari. You will be asked if you 
> will grant the site 50MB of storage space. After agreeing, you hit the “+” 
> button and add the app to the home-screen. Now, when you hit that button, you 
> are launched directly into Ibis, not just a tab in Safari, and because it 
> stores both itself and your downloaded books locally, it’ll even work with an 
> iPod Touch out of Wi-Fi range.
> 
> The controls are similar to Stanza or Kindle for iPhone: tap either side of 
> the screen to flip pages and touch the center to access more settings. You 
> can browse for public domain books from Feedbooks from within the app, and 
> even add books from the URL of your choice. Anything downloaded is stored for 
> you in a local library, and if you opt to sign up for an Ibis account, you 
> can read, fully synced, across multiple platforms.
> 
> Like Stanza and Apple’s upcoming iPad app, iBooks, Ibis uses the ePub 
> standard format, and you can even upload these files to your account from 
> your desktop web browser, from where they will automatically appear on your 
> mobile device. And because Android uses Webkit for its browser, it too can 
> install and use the app offline.
> 
> I have been playing around with Ibis for a little while and it really does 
> behave like a local application, although sometimes it is not quite as fast 
> when flipping between different sections. In fact, there’s only one thing 
> that really gives it away: scrolling is a lot slower. Whereas in a native app 
> you can “throw” a page and it speedily scrolls up or down, the “elastic” 
> holding the pages of web apps is a lot stronger. It’s not just Ibis. This is 
> a problem with all non-native applications on the iPhone.
> 
> As a full-featured e-reader, Ibis is surprisingly good. As a proof-of-concept 
> for non-approved, non-App Store applications, it is straight-up amazing.
> 
> 
> 
> Additional Information and Some VoiceOver-Specific comments:
> 1. The web site to visit is:
> 
> If you visit this site from an iPhone or iPod Touch, the link to install 
> comes up immediately.  On an iPad, there will be a link to a version that is 
> optimized for the iPad. In both cases, the "+" button is what VoiceOver reads 
> out as the "Utilities" button in Safari.  This is at the bottom center of the 
> screen on the iPhone, and along the top menu bar on the iPad.  The 
> iPad-specific installation is a bit confusing because there is a graphic that 
> is an arrow pointing to the button (that you won't be able to use), as well 
> as the fact that VoiceOver announces the button as "Utilities" instead of 
> "+".  Just ignore this part of the instructions, find the "Utilities" button, 
> and double tap the "Add to Home Screen" button.  I actually found it easier 
> to navigate the iPhone/iPod Touch version of the app, since the links and 
> buttons are laid out out to be close to each other.
> 
> 2. When you reach the account page you can create your account by simply 
> typing in an email address and password into the text fields. There are 
> buttons just above the virtual keyboard for "previous", "next", "autofill", 
> and "done" that you can use to move focus to the next text field (e.g., type 
> in your email address, then double tap the "next" button above the virtual 
> keyboard to move to the password field, and either double tap the "done" 
> button to dismiss the keyboard and access the page to double tap the "OK" 
> button, or double

Re: Ibis Reader: an accessible alternative eBook reader for the iPhone/iPod Touch/iPad with some glitches

[Esther]

Hi,

Just a quick addition: In Ibis reader Voice Over reads through a  
chapter, but the first page doesn't update.  However, if you want to  
move to a later page in that chapter, you could toggle VoiceOver off,  
and simply tap the right side of the screen the number of pages you  
wanted to move to, so if the screen tells you that you are at Page 1  
of 25 when you double tap the center of the screen, and you've come to  
the end of a chapter, you can simply toggle VoiceOver off, and tap the  
right side of the screen 25 times to advance to the first page of the  
next Chapter, then toggle VoiceOver on and start reading again.  This  
is still a little clunky, and maybe someone can suggest better ways to  
read and navigate.


Links work. One of the ePub books I loaded into Ibis Reader is  "Take  
Control of Your iPhone, Second Edition", and links will route you to  
other parts of the book.  It would be much simpler if the current page  
being read by VoiceOver also updated on the screen, though.


HTH

Cheers,

Esther

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Re: Ibis Reader: an accessible alternative eBook reader for the iPhone/iPod Touch/iPad with some glitches

[Esther]

Hello,

I first tried Ibis Reader on an iPad, and the download went pretty  
well.  I was beginning to wonder whether the difference in initial  
responsiveness on the iPod Touch (much more sluggish with VoiceOver)  
was due to space or VoiceOver.  It definitely took a while for the  
download from a selected source to go through on the iPod Touch and  
settle in.  I even power-cycled my device and checked the Wi-Fi  
connection.  This did work better after a while. I'd also be  
interested to hear what others experience.


The page not updating experience, and advancing by double tapping the  
"Next" button (to move focus there) and then double tapping on the  
screen to advance was a little strange.  VoiceOver reads through till  
the end of the chapter, but doesn't update the current page.  There  
should be a more efficient way to work with this.  Ibis Reader has  
some glitches, but works better at present than Stanza does, and might  
work really well with some feedback to the developer.  The iBooks  
interface is better than this, but it's not so easy to add third party  
eBooks without syncing through iTunes.


Cheers,

Esther

On 10 May 2010, at 09:16, Hai Nguyen wrote:

Thank you Ester for this wonderful nugget. I've downloaded and  
installed with no issues thus far. The only downside to this ap thus  
far is the lack of responsiveness with Voiceover on the iPod touch.  
I'm definitely interested to hear what others think.


On May 10, 2010, at 1:57 PM, marie Howarth wrote:


Thanks for this info Ester.

On 10 May 2010, at 19:47, Esther wrote:


Hi All,

Here's an alternative, promising eBook reader for books in ePub  
format without DRM: Ibis Reader. It works with VoiceOver on the  
iPhone, iPod Touch, and iPad, and allows bookmarking but has some  
odd features in terms of navigation.  You can read DRM-free ePub  
books either on your computer or mobile device, and keep them in  
sync.  I'll excerpt the description from Wired's Gadget Lab  
article by Charlie Sorrel, "Ibis Reader for iPhone: A Web App That  
Thinks It's a Native App":




Ibis reader is an e-book reading application that does everything  
that you’d expect an iPhone e-reader to do, with one big  
difference: It doesn’t come from the App Store. The app runs on  
any iPhone or iPod Touch and offers full offline access to your  
library of books, and is as fast and responsive as a native iPhone  
application. It manages this through the magic of HTML5, which is  
supported by Mobile Safari and - crucially - offers offline  
storage for web-sites.


To install Ibis you navigate to the page in Safari. You will be  
asked if you will grant the site 50MB of storage space. After  
agreeing, you hit the “+” button and add the app to the home- 
screen. Now, when you hit that button, you are launched directly  
into Ibis, not just a tab in Safari, and because it stores both  
itself and your downloaded books locally, it’ll even work with an  
iPod Touch out of Wi-Fi range.


The controls are similar to Stanza or Kindle for iPhone: tap  
either side of the screen to flip pages and touch the center to  
access more settings. You can browse for public domain books from  
Feedbooks from within the app, and even add books from the URL of  
your choice. Anything downloaded is stored for you in a local  
library, and if you opt to sign up for an Ibis account, you can  
read, fully synced, across multiple platforms.


Like Stanza and Apple’s upcoming iPad app, iBooks, Ibis uses the  
ePub standard format, and you can even upload these files to your  
account from your desktop web browser, from where they will  
automatically appear on your mobile device. And because Android  
uses Webkit for its browser, it too can install and use the app  
offline.


I have been playing around with Ibis for a little while and it  
really does behave like a local application, although sometimes it  
is not quite as fast when flipping between different sections. In  
fact, there’s only one thing that really gives it away: scrolling  
is a lot slower. Whereas in a native app you can “throw” a page  
and it speedily scrolls up or down, the “elastic” holding the  
pages of web apps is a lot stronger. It’s not just Ibis. This is a  
problem with all non-native applications on the iPhone.


As a full-featured e-reader, Ibis is surprisingly good. As a proof- 
of-concept for non-approved, non-App Store applications, it is  
straight-up amazing.




Additional Information and Some VoiceOver-Specific comments:
1. The web site to visit is:

If you visit this site from an iPhone or iPod Touch, the link to  
install comes up immediately.  On an iPad, there will be a link to  
a version that is optimized for the iPad. In both cases, the "+"  
button is what VoiceOver reads out as the "Utilities" button in  
Safari.  This is at the bottom center of the screen on the iPhone

Re: Ibis Reader: an accessible alternative eBook reader for the iPhone/iPod Touch/iPad with some glitches

[Hai Nguyen]

Thank you Ester for this wonderful nugget. I've downloaded and installed with 
no issues thus far. The only downside to this ap thus far is the lack of 
responsiveness with Voiceover on the iPod touch. I'm definitely interested to 
hear what others think.

On May 10, 2010, at 1:57 PM, marie Howarth wrote:

> Thanks for this info Ester.
> 
> On 10 May 2010, at 19:47, Esther wrote:
> 
>> Hi All,
>> 
>> Here's an alternative, promising eBook reader for books in ePub format 
>> without DRM: Ibis Reader. It works with VoiceOver on the iPhone, iPod Touch, 
>> and iPad, and allows bookmarking but has some odd features in terms of 
>> navigation.  You can read DRM-free ePub books either on your computer or 
>> mobile device, and keep them in sync.  I'll excerpt the description from 
>> Wired's Gadget Lab article by Charlie Sorrel, "Ibis Reader for iPhone: A Web 
>> App That Thinks It's a Native App":
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> Ibis reader is an e-book reading application that does everything that you’d 
>> expect an iPhone e-reader to do, with one big difference: It doesn’t come 
>> from the App Store. The app runs on any iPhone or iPod Touch and offers full 
>> offline access to your library of books, and is as fast and responsive as a 
>> native iPhone application. It manages this through the magic of HTML5, which 
>> is supported by Mobile Safari and - crucially - offers offline storage for 
>> web-sites.
>> 
>> To install Ibis you navigate to the page in Safari. You will be asked if you 
>> will grant the site 50MB of storage space. After agreeing, you hit the “+” 
>> button and add the app to the home-screen. Now, when you hit that button, 
>> you are launched directly into Ibis, not just a tab in Safari, and because 
>> it stores both itself and your downloaded books locally, it’ll even work 
>> with an iPod Touch out of Wi-Fi range.
>> 
>> The controls are similar to Stanza or Kindle for iPhone: tap either side of 
>> the screen to flip pages and touch the center to access more settings. You 
>> can browse for public domain books from Feedbooks from within the app, and 
>> even add books from the URL of your choice. Anything downloaded is stored 
>> for you in a local library, and if you opt to sign up for an Ibis account, 
>> you can read, fully synced, across multiple platforms.
>> 
>> Like Stanza and Apple’s upcoming iPad app, iBooks, Ibis uses the ePub 
>> standard format, and you can even upload these files to your account from 
>> your desktop web browser, from where they will automatically appear on your 
>> mobile device. And because Android uses Webkit for its browser, it too can 
>> install and use the app offline.
>> 
>> I have been playing around with Ibis for a little while and it really does 
>> behave like a local application, although sometimes it is not quite as fast 
>> when flipping between different sections. In fact, there’s only one thing 
>> that really gives it away: scrolling is a lot slower. Whereas in a native 
>> app you can “throw” a page and it speedily scrolls up or down, the “elastic” 
>> holding the pages of web apps is a lot stronger. It’s not just Ibis. This is 
>> a problem with all non-native applications on the iPhone.
>> 
>> As a full-featured e-reader, Ibis is surprisingly good. As a 
>> proof-of-concept for non-approved, non-App Store applications, it is 
>> straight-up amazing.
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> Additional Information and Some VoiceOver-Specific comments:
>> 1. The web site to visit is:
>> 
>> If you visit this site from an iPhone or iPod Touch, the link to install 
>> comes up immediately.  On an iPad, there will be a link to a version that is 
>> optimized for the iPad. In both cases, the "+" button is what VoiceOver 
>> reads out as the "Utilities" button in Safari.  This is at the bottom center 
>> of the screen on the iPhone, and along the top menu bar on the iPad.  The 
>> iPad-specific installation is a bit confusing because there is a graphic 
>> that is an arrow pointing to the button (that you won't be able to use), as 
>> well as the fact that VoiceOver announces the button as "Utilities" instead 
>> of "+".  Just ignore this part of the instructions, find the "Utilities" 
>> button, and double tap the "Add to Home Screen" button.  I actually found it 
>> easier to navigate the iPhone/iPod Touch version of the app, since the links 
>> and buttons are laid out out to be close to each other.
>> 
>> 2. When you reach the account page you can create your account by simply 
>> typing in an email address and password into the text fields. There are 
>> buttons just above the virtual keyboard for "previous", "next", "autofill", 
>> and "done" that you can use to move focus to the next text field (e.g., type 
>> in your email address, then double tap the "next" button above the virtual 
>> keyboard to move to the password field, and either double tap the "done" 
>> button to d

Re: Ibis Reader: an accessible alternative eBook reader for the iPhone/iPod Touch/iPad with some glitches

[marie Howarth]

Thanks for this info Ester.

On 10 May 2010, at 19:47, Esther wrote:

> Hi All,
> 
> Here's an alternative, promising eBook reader for books in ePub format 
> without DRM: Ibis Reader. It works with VoiceOver on the iPhone, iPod Touch, 
> and iPad, and allows bookmarking but has some odd features in terms of 
> navigation.  You can read DRM-free ePub books either on your computer or 
> mobile device, and keep them in sync.  I'll excerpt the description from 
> Wired's Gadget Lab article by Charlie Sorrel, "Ibis Reader for iPhone: A Web 
> App That Thinks It's a Native App":
> 
> 
> 
> Ibis reader is an e-book reading application that does everything that you’d 
> expect an iPhone e-reader to do, with one big difference: It doesn’t come 
> from the App Store. The app runs on any iPhone or iPod Touch and offers full 
> offline access to your library of books, and is as fast and responsive as a 
> native iPhone application. It manages this through the magic of HTML5, which 
> is supported by Mobile Safari and - crucially - offers offline storage for 
> web-sites.
> 
> To install Ibis you navigate to the page in Safari. You will be asked if you 
> will grant the site 50MB of storage space. After agreeing, you hit the “+” 
> button and add the app to the home-screen. Now, when you hit that button, you 
> are launched directly into Ibis, not just a tab in Safari, and because it 
> stores both itself and your downloaded books locally, it’ll even work with an 
> iPod Touch out of Wi-Fi range.
> 
> The controls are similar to Stanza or Kindle for iPhone: tap either side of 
> the screen to flip pages and touch the center to access more settings. You 
> can browse for public domain books from Feedbooks from within the app, and 
> even add books from the URL of your choice. Anything downloaded is stored for 
> you in a local library, and if you opt to sign up for an Ibis account, you 
> can read, fully synced, across multiple platforms.
> 
> Like Stanza and Apple’s upcoming iPad app, iBooks, Ibis uses the ePub 
> standard format, and you can even upload these files to your account from 
> your desktop web browser, from where they will automatically appear on your 
> mobile device. And because Android uses Webkit for its browser, it too can 
> install and use the app offline.
> 
> I have been playing around with Ibis for a little while and it really does 
> behave like a local application, although sometimes it is not quite as fast 
> when flipping between different sections. In fact, there’s only one thing 
> that really gives it away: scrolling is a lot slower. Whereas in a native app 
> you can “throw” a page and it speedily scrolls up or down, the “elastic” 
> holding the pages of web apps is a lot stronger. It’s not just Ibis. This is 
> a problem with all non-native applications on the iPhone.
> 
> As a full-featured e-reader, Ibis is surprisingly good. As a proof-of-concept 
> for non-approved, non-App Store applications, it is straight-up amazing.
> 
> 
> 
> Additional Information and Some VoiceOver-Specific comments:
> 1. The web site to visit is:
> 
> If you visit this site from an iPhone or iPod Touch, the link to install 
> comes up immediately.  On an iPad, there will be a link to a version that is 
> optimized for the iPad. In both cases, the "+" button is what VoiceOver reads 
> out as the "Utilities" button in Safari.  This is at the bottom center of the 
> screen on the iPhone, and along the top menu bar on the iPad.  The 
> iPad-specific installation is a bit confusing because there is a graphic that 
> is an arrow pointing to the button (that you won't be able to use), as well 
> as the fact that VoiceOver announces the button as "Utilities" instead of 
> "+".  Just ignore this part of the instructions, find the "Utilities" button, 
> and double tap the "Add to Home Screen" button.  I actually found it easier 
> to navigate the iPhone/iPod Touch version of the app, since the links and 
> buttons are laid out out to be close to each other.
> 
> 2. When you reach the account page you can create your account by simply 
> typing in an email address and password into the text fields. There are 
> buttons just above the virtual keyboard for "previous", "next", "autofill", 
> and "done" that you can use to move focus to the next text field (e.g., type 
> in your email address, then double tap the "next" button above the virtual 
> keyboard to move to the password field, and either double tap the "done" 
> button to dismiss the keyboard and access the page to double tap the "OK" 
> button, or double tap the "Go" button at the bottom right of the keyboard). 
> Alternatively, you can just double tap the text field for password and input 
> -- the "next", "previous", and "done" buttons are easier to use on the iPad 
> to move focus to fields. Using the "Go" button saves you having to double tap 
> the "OK" bu

Ibis Reader: an accessible alternative eBook reader for the iPhone/iPod Touch/iPad with some glitches

[Esther]

Hi All,

Here's an alternative, promising eBook reader for books in ePub format  
without DRM: Ibis Reader. It works with VoiceOver on the iPhone, iPod  
Touch, and iPad, and allows bookmarking but has some odd features in  
terms of navigation.  You can read DRM-free ePub books either on your  
computer or mobile device, and keep them in sync.  I'll excerpt the  
description from Wired's Gadget Lab article by Charlie Sorrel, "Ibis  
Reader for iPhone: A Web App That Thinks It's a Native App":




Ibis reader is an e-book reading application that does everything that  
you’d expect an iPhone e-reader to do, with one big difference: It  
doesn’t come from the App Store. The app runs on any iPhone or iPod  
Touch and offers full offline access to your library of books, and is  
as fast and responsive as a native iPhone application. It manages this  
through the magic of HTML5, which is supported by Mobile Safari and -  
crucially - offers offline storage for web-sites.


To install Ibis you navigate to the page in Safari. You will be asked  
if you will grant the site 50MB of storage space. After agreeing, you  
hit the “+” button and add the app to the home-screen. Now, when  
you hit that button, you are launched directly into Ibis, not just a  
tab in Safari, and because it stores both itself and your downloaded  
books locally, it’ll even work with an iPod Touch out of Wi-Fi range.


The controls are similar to Stanza or Kindle for iPhone: tap either  
side of the screen to flip pages and touch the center to access more  
settings. You can browse for public domain books from Feedbooks from  
within the app, and even add books from the URL of your choice.  
Anything downloaded is stored for you in a local library, and if you  
opt to sign up for an Ibis account, you can read, fully synced, across  
multiple platforms.


Like Stanza and Apple’s upcoming iPad app, iBooks, Ibis uses the ePub  
standard format, and you can even upload these files to your account  
from your desktop web browser, from where they will automatically  
appear on your mobile device. And because Android uses Webkit for its  
browser, it too can install and use the app offline.


I have been playing around with Ibis for a little while and it really  
does behave like a local application, although sometimes it is not  
quite as fast when flipping between different sections. In fact,  
there’s only one thing that really gives it away: scrolling is a lot  
slower. Whereas in a native app you can “throw” a page and it  
speedily scrolls up or down, the “elastic” holding the pages of web  
apps is a lot stronger. It’s not just Ibis. This is a problem with  
all non-native applications on the iPhone.


As a full-featured e-reader, Ibis is surprisingly good. As a proof-of- 
concept for non-approved, non-App Store applications, it is straight- 
up amazing.




Additional Information and Some VoiceOver-Specific comments:
1. The web site to visit is:

If you visit this site from an iPhone or iPod Touch, the link to  
install comes up immediately.  On an iPad, there will be a link to a  
version that is optimized for the iPad. In both cases, the "+" button  
is what VoiceOver reads out as the "Utilities" button in Safari.  This  
is at the bottom center of the screen on the iPhone, and along the top  
menu bar on the iPad.  The iPad-specific installation is a bit  
confusing because there is a graphic that is an arrow pointing to the  
button (that you won't be able to use), as well as the fact that  
VoiceOver announces the button as "Utilities" instead of "+".  Just  
ignore this part of the instructions, find the "Utilities" button, and  
double tap the "Add to Home Screen" button.  I actually found it  
easier to navigate the iPhone/iPod Touch version of the app, since the  
links and buttons are laid out out to be close to each other.


2. When you reach the account page you can create your account by  
simply typing in an email address and password into the text fields.  
There are buttons just above the virtual keyboard for "previous",  
"next", "autofill", and "done" that you can use to move focus to the  
next text field (e.g., type in your email address, then double tap the  
"next" button above the virtual keyboard to move to the password  
field, and either double tap the "done" button to dismiss the keyboard  
and access the page to double tap the "OK" button, or double tap the  
"Go" button at the bottom right of the keyboard). Alternatively, you  
can just double tap the text field for password and input -- the  
"next", "previous", and "done" buttons are easier to use on the iPad  
to move focus to fields. Using the "Go" button saves you having to  
double tap the "OK" button on the field -- login is immediate.


3. The top buttons on the home page are "My Books", "Get Books", and  
"Sign In/Out". At present "Get Books" poin