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usagora

macrumors 601
Nov 17, 2017
4,869
4,454
Press "See all" and then try to select.

Correct, you can't use the drag and drop after clicking "see all" but as I demonstrated, you can indeed do so from the initial search results. You can also drag and drop multiple books to a collection in Books view.
 

macdos

Suspended
Oct 15, 2017
604
969
Correct, you can't use the drag and drop after clicking "see all" but as I demonstrated, you can indeed do so from the initial search results. You can also drag and drop multiple books to a collection in Books view.
How does that help me migrate 1300 Spanish books to a collection? And then 800 French books? And then 800 Chinese books? And then 500 Japanese books? and then… then… then… then…?

Why do you defend an obviously fracked up pos software?
 

usagora

macrumors 601
Nov 17, 2017
4,869
4,454
How does that help me migrate 1300 Spanish books to a collection? And then 800 French books? And then 800 Chinese books? And then 500 Japanese books? and then… then… then… then…?

Why do you defend an obviously fracked up pos software?

I'm just telling you how you can work with it as it is. Go yell at Apple, not me.
 

usagora

macrumors 601
Nov 17, 2017
4,869
4,454
I was yelling at Apple, and then you stepped in as a fanboy.

Last I checked, Apple doesn't read these forums. Try Feedback Assistant. If simply giving you tips on how to use what you've got (until Apple makes changes) makes me a "fanboy" then I guess I'm a fanboy ? Apparently you're more interested in ranting and calling Books expletives. Get it out of your system, I guess ??‍♂️
 

Tavicu

macrumors regular
Jul 25, 2013
203
355
Romania
I know in finder you can increase or decrease the size of icons by holding CMD + (+/- key). You could try it. Maybe it will work to resize the thumbnails in books :)
 

theedoor

macrumors member
Dec 3, 2020
37
9
I know in finder you can increase or decrease the size of icons by holding CMD + (+/- key). You could try it. Maybe it will work to resize the thumbnails in books :)
CMD + (+/- key) doesn't work.

I'm probably going to be sending a bunch of feature requests and bug reports in the coming days.

No clue how that page turn animation was thought to be an improvement.
 

MacGizmo

macrumors 68040
Apr 27, 2003
3,184
2,487
Arizona
19,1 iMac, macOS 12.0.1: Look at a screen shot of my 27" iMac screen. Can you believe how huge my library books are displayed? I have a 27" screen. Did know one using betas ever complain about this disgusting waste of space?
I believe the display size is based on your monitor resolution. My 27" retina display is set to 3200x1800 pixels and I see 24 covers without scrolling at all.
 

usagora

macrumors 601
Nov 17, 2017
4,869
4,454
Even something as simple as highlight passage across pages doesn't work (yes I just submitted a bug report).

By "across pages" do you mean A. where continuing the highlight would require a page flip, or B. continuing a highlight across the gutter/centerfold? Because the latter works. I just tried it. EDIT: Actually, the former works too, but is buggy. I started a highlight by left-clicking and dragging at the bottom of one page, continued holding down the left-click, then pressed the right-arrow key to turn the page, then continued to drag the cursor and let go - it highlights across a page flip - only problem is you can't see what text you're selecting on the second page, so you have to guess where to let go of the left-click.

In addition to OP's complaint, which I also first noticed. The page turn animations are slower,

Page flips take about a quarter second or less for me. Definitely very fast. So this sounds like something with your system rather than the app.

no button to return to library from a book.

Books open in separate windows from the library, so simply click on the library window to get back to it or click the red "x" at top left of book window or press Command + W to close the book window.

And it looks like all my books recent in terms of recency which is just annoying.

I'm not even sure how to interpret that grammatically. I'm assuming that was accidentally mis-typed.
 

theedoor

macrumors member
Dec 3, 2020
37
9
By "across pages" do you mean A. where continuing the highlight would require a page flip, or B. continuing a highlight across the gutter/centerfold? Because the latter works. I just tried it. EDIT: Actually, the former works too, but is buggy. I started a highlight by left-clicking and dragging at the bottom of one page, continued holding down the left-click, then pressed the right-arrow key to turn the page, then continued to drag the cursor and let go - it highlights across a page flip - only problem is you can't see what text you're selecting on the second page, so you have to guess where to let go of the left-click.



Page flips take about a quarter second or less for me. Definitely very fast. So this sounds like something with your system rather than the app.



Books open in separate windows from the library, so simply click on the library window to get back to it or click the red "x" at top left of book window or press Command + W to close the book window.



I'm not even sure how to interpret that grammatically. I'm assuming that was accidentally mis-typed.

I'm not going to reply point by point because, as you've stated elsewhere in this thread, you're simply giving tips. These tips are appreciated, but they are not going to stop me from submitting feedback to Apple.

In Big Sur, page flips either seemed faster due to the design or were literally faster. I doubt my 1 year old M1 MBP is a system that can't run Books with nothing else open.

I know how the book opens from the library, if I close the library (which I prefer to do) I can't return to the library from within the book. If I red-x out of a book with the library closed, I have to re-open the main Books window from the task bar.

Again, your comments are appreciated, but it comes off like you're trying to tell people how to prefer to use an app. As I stated elsewhere, I would not have upgraded had I known Books was going to be redesigned this way.
 

usagora

macrumors 601
Nov 17, 2017
4,869
4,454
I'm not going to reply point by point because, as you've stated elsewhere in this thread, you're simply giving tips. These tips are appreciated, but they are not going to stop me from submitting feedback to Apple.

In Big Sur, page flips either seemed faster due to the design or were literally faster. I doubt my 1 year old M1 MBP is a system that can't run Books with nothing else open.

I know how the book opens from the library, if I close the library (which I prefer to do) I can't return to the library from within the book. If I red-x out of a book with the library closed, I have to re-open the main Books window from the task bar.

Again, your comments are appreciated, but it comes off like you're trying to tell people how to prefer to use an app. As I stated elsewhere, I would not have upgraded had I known Books was going to be redesigned this way.

I'm not trying to get you to do or not do anything. But you're saying x, y, and z are wrong or impossible, yet I'm seeing that they aren't, so I'm giving you my thoughts on those. We can either kick and scream until Apple makes the changes you want or learn how to best work with what we've got at the moment. I'm not really a Books user, so I can appreciate that you have more refined wants/needs than I do for the app, but I have to also adapt when Apple or other developers change (in a way I don't like or am not used to) apps that I DO use heavily. I also submit feedback to the developers just like you've done.

But I do have to press you on one point here. How is this page-turning speed an issue? See my video below. I mean, I simply don't get the complaint.

 

theedoor

macrumors member
Dec 3, 2020
37
9
I'm not trying to get you to do or not do anything. But you're saying x, y, and z are wrong or impossible, yet I'm seeing that they aren't, so I'm giving you my thoughts on those. We can either kick and scream until Apple makes the changes you want or learn how to best work with what we've got at the moment. I'm not really a Books user, so I can appreciate that you have more refined wants/needs than I do for the app, but I have to also adapt when Apple or other developers change (in a way I don't like or am not used to) apps that I DO use heavily. I also submit feedback to the developers just like you've done.

But I do have to press you on one point here. How is this page-turning speed an issue? See my video below. I mean, I simply don't get the complaint.

I never said they were wrong or impossible, just that it's different. I've submitted a few more bug reports today anyway but would also like to discuss these issues with other Books users.

For the page-turning, I think I pin-pointed my issues:

1) in your video I believe you are tapping the right arrow, if you hold and press the right arrow it's slower.

2) the redesign of the page-turning now shows the right side of the book first, where as in Big Sur it would show the left side before advancing.

If I wanted to read a paragraph(s) that split between pages I would need to entirely advance the page in order to complete the passage. If I want to re-read the first part of the paragraph(s), I would entirely turn the page back.

This action now mimics a real book (i.e. if you start turning a page you would see the right page first), where previously it didn't.

In Big Sur if, for e.g., I was reading a cookbook and wanted to refer back to the previous page I could use the trackpad to "half-turn" the page and get both the right side and left side of the book on the same page (while holding the position on the trackpad).

Now in Monterey I need to do full page advances.

So while the time to advance a page may be the same, the perceived time of the advance feels longer since I will need to wait the full page turn to continue reading.

Does that clear it up? I'll probably just paste this whole comment into my bug report lol
 

usagora

macrumors 601
Nov 17, 2017
4,869
4,454
I never said they were wrong or impossible, just that it's different. I've submitted a few more bug reports today anyway but would also like to discuss these issues with other Books users.

For the page-turning, I think I pin-pointed my issues:

1) in your video I believe you are tapping the right arrow, if you hold and press the right arrow it's slower.

2) the redesign of the page-turning now shows the right side of the book first, where as in Big Sur it would show the left side before advancing.

If I wanted to read a paragraph(s) that split between pages I would need to entirely advance the page in order to complete the passage. If I want to re-read the first part of the paragraph(s), I would entirely turn the page back.

This action now mimics a real book (i.e. if you start turning a page you would see the right page first), where previously it didn't.

In Big Sur if, for e.g., I was reading a cookbook and wanted to refer back to the previous page I could use the trackpad to "half-turn" the page and get both the right side and left side of the book on the same page (while holding the position on the trackpad).

Now in Monterey I need to do full page advances.

So while the time to advance a page may be the same, the perceived time of the advance feels longer since I will need to wait the full page turn to continue reading.

Does that clear it up? I'll probably just paste this whole comment into my bug report lol

I'll have to compare to Big Sur tonight to better understand what you're saying in your 2nd point (I'm on my MBA right now which is on Monterrey . . . my iMac is at home and still on Big Sur). But, yes, I was clicking the right keyboard arrow to turn the pages. If you press and hold the arrow, it will turn a few pages quickly and then 1 page turn will be a bit slower, then a few more quick again, then another slower one, etc. That might be by design to allow the user to gauge where they are in the book while still flipping through it relatively quickly. Otherwise, it would be quicker just to use the Table of Contents.
 

theedoor

macrumors member
Dec 3, 2020
37
9
I'll have to compare to Big Sur tonight to better understand what you're saying in your 2nd point (I'm on my MBA right now which is on Monterrey . . . my iMac is at home and still on Big Sur). But, yes, I was clicking the right keyboard arrow to turn the pages. If you press and hold the arrow, it will turn a few pages quickly and then 1 page turn will be a bit slower, then a few more quick again, then another slower one, etc. That might be by design to allow the user to gauge where they are in the book while still flipping through it relatively quickly. Otherwise, it would be quicker just to use the Table of Contents.
Yes, its easier to see side by side if you aren't familiar with Books. To me it's like a reversion to skeuomorphism where it tries to mimic real books.

Also found another bug where the 3 finger tap/1 finger force doesn't define a word (another bug report submitted). Even bringing up the context menu and clicking "Look Up Selection" doesn't work.
 

usagora

macrumors 601
Nov 17, 2017
4,869
4,454
Yes, its easier to see side by side if you aren't familiar with Books. To me it's like a reversion to skeuomorphism where it tries to mimic real books.

Also found another bug where the 3 finger tap/1 finger force doesn't define a word (another bug report submitted). Even bringing up the context menu and clicking "Look Up Selection" doesn't work.

I'm using my MBA in clam-shell mode and with a mouse currently, so I'm too lazy to unhook everything to test the tapping method right now, but the context menu method IS working for me:

 

theedoor

macrumors member
Dec 3, 2020
37
9
I'm using my MBA in clam-shell mode and with a mouse currently, so I'm too lazy to unhook everything to test the tapping method right now, but the context menu method IS working for me:

Very hit and miss on my machine - bug might just specific to EPUBs. Submitted a bug report anyway.
 

b.kind

macrumors newbie
Apr 29, 2020
28
44
Honolulu
Sigh, I will chime in.
I also dislike the current Books app display changes.
I can not easily browse a list of books, even in List view.
I used to enjoy browsing my many books. Now it feels like a sliver.

So, I completely get the OP's complaint.

The next version of Books will probably be better.
Apple is melding elements of MacOS and iOS, converging - and sometimes, the results just suck.
I do not want iOS on my desktop. Honest.
 

fessura

macrumors regular
Mar 29, 2009
104
14
Yes provide feedback. I did and on iPadOS, it was changed. iPhone I think could also maybe change to 3 across in portrait. Too small? iPhone Music app covers similarly 3 per row?
 

blackxacto

macrumors 65816
Original poster
Jun 15, 2009
1,200
131
Middle TN
It is a total nuisance to only see 4-5 covers across a 27” screen. Its stupid wasteful design.

MHO Apple puts Apple Books and Apple Photos last in priorities. I have submitted feedback for both apps for two years w no results.
 

chucker23n1

macrumors G3
Dec 7, 2014
8,904
11,800
I honestly don't get the complaint.

The complaint is that the thumbnails are stupidly large on medium-sized displays. It seems they've only ever tested that UI on an iPad and maybe a MacBook Air. On this 20-inch display, it already seems a bit large. I can't even imagine how dumb it must look on a 27-incher, much less their own 32-inch Pro Display XDR.

There doesn't appear to be a way to change the size. Nothing in the menu bar, or Preferences, nor pinch to zoom.

It's a minor thing, but it does feel a bit careless.
 

fessura

macrumors regular
Mar 29, 2009
104
14
Very possibly most have small libraries. Most do not have a grid of images/covers as numerous in apps such as Music or Photos. Some have many hundreds or more books but perhaps such are the minority. The store uses smaller book covers so they realize when displaying many works, smaller is better. The library should be similar.
 

theedoor

macrumors member
Dec 3, 2020
37
9
I'm using my MBA in clam-shell mode and with a mouse currently, so I'm too lazy to unhook everything to test the tapping method right now, but the context menu method IS working for me:

I just found something more reproducible. On the first paragraph of a page (either left or right page), the context menu (3 finger tap) won't come up. Tested on several epubs from various sources.

Bug report submitted.

Books.app really sucks now.
 
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