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Which comic book app should I get?

I still find that Comicglass doesn't open many CBR files. Comicbooklover opens all files without a problem. However, Comicglass clearly has better functionality. One feature I saw in Bookman I wish were available in Comicglass is "Open file in another program." This would help save me time without having to tether the iPad to the computer. This proved handy with the occasional cbr file that could only open in Comicbooklover.

If anyone is in touch with the developers, please pass this suggestion on.

Thanks.
 
I find ComicGlass opens around 90% of the comics I come across, but you're right in that ComicBookLover seems to be the VLC of comic apps; it opens everything.

So I keep CBL on the iPad for those odd files, also CloudReader which will sometimes open a file that CG won't.

As for the tethering, the best setup is to attach a usb hard drive to your wireless router if possible (such as Airport Extreme). You can use the FileBrowser app to browse that drive and hand off the cbr to whatever comic app you like.

I never use iTunes to transfer media to my iPad.
 
I know this was answered somewhere. But what app can i use to put my comics into folders. I have to scroll through like 5 pages of bookshelves to read my comics. I rather one bookshelf and folders on it with each series. Is that Comic Glass or does the new Bookman do it now? I noticed it was on sale.
 
Smoothness said:
I know this was answered somewhere. But what app can i use to put my comics into folders. I have to scroll through like 5 pages of bookshelves to read my comics. I rather one bookshelf and folders on it with each series. Is that Comic Glass or does the new Bookman do it now? I noticed it was on sale.
Click to expand...

I contacted bookman dev about that function and he told me it's there. Personally I haven't tried it yet, but in the old (now lite) version you could make different libraries that would act like folders.
 
madamocta said:
I contacted bookman dev about that function and he told me it's there. Personally I haven't tried it yet, but in the old (now lite) version you could make different libraries that would act like folders.
Click to expand...

Yes it is in book man and has been for quite some time. I haven't used the newest version (haven't downloaded it). But the folders is actually pretty good.
 
Tedddman said:
I find ComicGlass opens around 90% of the comics I come across, but you're right in that ComicBookLover seems to be the VLC of comic apps; it opens everything.

So I keep CBL on the iPad for those odd files, also CloudReader which will sometimes open a file that CG won't.

As for the tethering, the best setup is to attach a usb hard drive to your wireless router if possible (such as Airport Extreme). You can use the FileBrowser app to browse that drive and hand off the cbr to whatever comic app you like.

I never use iTunes to transfer media to my iPad.
Click to expand...

Wait, does my Mac need to be on while doing this? I have a Timecapsule with an additional HD attached to it. Will filebrowser open Timecapsule without the computer being on? I was using Tonido for this (free app) but it requires the computer to be on.

Thanks.
 
No need for the computer to be on, just the router (which is probably always on anyway).

That's what is so cool about FileBrowser. With extra configuration, you can even access the AirPort attached disk remotely from any wi-fi connection. It's like a personal cloud server.
 
Why is comic zeal so expensive??? ( 7 dollars!)

What functionality does it have to justify this price over apps like comicboooklover(free), comic glass, etc.

I have tintin/asterix comics scanned in PDF format. What I want is an app that will rotate from one cell to the next cell In a natural fashion automatically.

I think the marvel comic app does that. Does the comic file have to be designed in a particular format for the app to be able to do that?

What app is best? Comic zeal, CBL, comic glass, or some other app?
 
ComicZeal really doesn't have anything to set it above the pack; I think ComicGlass trumps it in every way that counts for a lower price.

The $7.99 price tag on CZ is a holdover from the early days of the iPad when it was pretty much the only game in town (and after its only competition, Comic Reader Mobi -- a $15 app -- was banned from the App Store).

Now CZ hasn't been updated since last August; competition has caught up and surpassed it. It's getting by on name recognition.
 
Tedddman said:
ComicZeal really doesn't have anything to set it above the pack; I think ComicGlass trumps it in every way that counts for a lower price.

The $7.99 price tag on CZ is a holdover from the early days of the iPad when it was pretty much the only game in town (and after its only competition, Comic Reader Mobi -- a $15 app -- was banned from the App Store).

Now CZ hasn't been updated since last August; competition has caught up and surpassed it. It's getting by on name recognition.
Click to expand...

It's sales must be high if it is still keeping the price so high.

Are you and I missing something? Are there some little but crucial things that CZ does better?

Does CZ have the ability to automatically go from one pane/cell to another even in scanned PDF comics???

Edit - why was mobi app banned? Was it providing illegal stuff? I am not going to JB my iPad just to get the mobi app!
 
Mobi was banned for USB syncing after being told to remove it. Something every app is allowed to do now.

The closest CZ comes to a panel view mode is "pan assisted movement" where it will move right to left or top to bottom to show you the rest of the page when you are zoomed way in. The problem is that most comics are not laid out in a consistent panel configuration from page to page, so you still end up doing a lot of manual zooming and moving anyway.

The downside of CZ (showing its age) is that it still has to convert all cbr/cbz files into its own cbi format, which results in lag upon import and loss of quality. Almost all apps just read them natively now except Zeal.

Unfortunately, there can never be a true panel view for scanned comics, it's something the publishers set up for digital editions with embedded boundary markers for each and every panel zone.
 
Tedddman said:
Mobi was banned for USB syncing after being told to remove it. Something every app is allowed to do now.

The closest CZ comes to a panel view mode is "pan assisted movement" where it will move right to left or top to bottom to show you the rest of the page when you are zoomed way in. The problem is that most comics are not laid out in a consistent panel configuration from page to page, so you still end up doing a lot of manual zooming and moving anyway.

The downside of CZ (showing its age) is that it still has to convert all cbr/cbz files into its own cbi format, which results in lag upon import and loss of quality. Almost all apps just read them natively now except Zeal.

Unfortunately, there can never be a true panel view for scanned comics, it's something the publishers set up for digital editions with embedded boundary markers for each and every panel zone.
Click to expand...

Unless the app can traverse from one bubble text to another seamlessly, reading comics would be a pain in the a$$!!

So, will you suggest comic glass as best comic reading app? Even for scanned comics PDF format like tintin & asterix?
 
Tedddman said:
Mobi was banned for USB syncing after being told to remove it. Something every app is allowed to do now.

The closest CZ comes to a panel view mode is "pan assisted movement" where it will move right to left or top to bottom to show you the rest of the page when you are zoomed way in. The problem is that most comics are not laid out in a consistent panel configuration from page to page, so you still end up doing a lot of manual zooming and moving anyway.

The downside of CZ (showing its age) is that it still has to convert all cbr/cbz files into its own cbi format, which results in lag upon import and loss of quality. Almost all apps just read them natively now except Zeal.

Unfortunately, there can never be a true panel view for scanned comics, it's something the publishers set up for digital editions with embedded boundary markers for each and every panel zone.
Click to expand...

Small correction: you don't have to convert to cbi with zeal, it can read cbz and cbr.
At the moment I would say two best apps are comic glass and bookman

EDIT: seeing that you have pdf format maybe you would be better of with bookman, it's very fast and can read a lot of formats
 
Colors6 said:
Unless the app can traverse from one bubble text to another seamlessly, reading comics would be a pain in the a$$!!

So, will you suggest comic glass as best comic reading app? Even for scanned comics PDF format like tintin & asterix?
Click to expand...

I have not tried PDF's in ComicGlass yet, but I'm not rating it above Bookman.

One thing it does is that it puts it's folders/sub shelves in the same display with the comics. In Bookman, to get to subshelves/folders, you have to activated a separate menu to navigate.

And the sheer number of configuration options in ComicGlass is mindboggling.
 
madamocta said:
Small correction: you don't have to convert to cbi with zeal, it can read cbz and cbr.
Click to expand...
ComicZeal actually still converts cbr and cbz files to its own internal format, the process is just automatic now upon import and reading of the comic.
 
Whoah! I just bought Bookman Pro, and I've come around. My biggest complaint thus far of all Comic Readers has been solved. This thing now opens all the CBR files it once had trouble with. I recommend everyone gives this app a second look. That makes this my goto comic reader, over comicglass.

I just have one question for people. Is there anyway to view the other bookshelves from the main bookshelf, without pressing the "file cabinet" icon on the bottom of the page?

Thanks.

P.S. Thank you Garachico. Your suggestion to rename folders to pkg works with Bookman as well.
 
The one thing about Bookman is that the zoom is just terrible. Zoom in even a little bit and everything gets blurry; it doesn't refocus the zoomed image like every other iOS app with zoom. Shouldn't this be an easy API to add in?

Otherwise it's not bad and I'd use it more often, but I've gotten used to ComicGlass's persistent zoom from page to page.
 
Gaelinic said:
.

I just have one question for people. Is there anyway to view the other bookshelves from the main bookshelf, without pressing the "file cabinet" icon on the bottom of the page?

Thanks.

P.S. Thank you Garachico. Your suggestion to rename folders to pkg works with Bookman as well.
Click to expand...

On the sub-bookshelves, no. You have to use the icon, which is why i'm Prefering comicglass.

What are you liking in bookman over CG?

On yhe .pkg trick, does that work on windows, mac, or both?
 
VideoBeagle said:
On the sub-bookshelves, no. You have to use the icon, which is why i'm Prefering comicglass.

What are you liking in bookman over CG?

On yhe .pkg trick, does that work on windows, mac, or both?
Click to expand...

I'm on a Mac. Not sure about Windows.

As for Bookman, I mainly like the fact that I can actually store an entire run of comics from one folder in the app and actually read it. The problem with all the other readers, and including Bookman until recently, was that a good 20-30 percent of the comics would not open.

I agree that Comicglass offers more viewing options and can be scaled to your preferences better. I'm not sure about the zoom function. I haven't compared the too with the latest update in Bookman. But, I found it annoying that I would get to a comic that would not work in Comicglass. I would then have to upload that comic to Comicbooklover and continue the read. With the latest Bookman, I can now continue reading using one app. It makes it much easier and simpler for me. I'm not looking for any other feature.

Comicglass also does not offer a way to open the file in another app like Bookman. This was useful for those single issues that I couldn't view. I would move it within iOS to the new app. Bookman offers this option. Comicglass does not.

Bottomline for me is if a comic reader cannot open a file, then it doesn't matter how many features it has. I'll never get that far if I can't actually read the comic.
 
I had ComicZeal but I switched to ComicGlass after reading about it in this thread. I like it more and use it more then I used CZ.
 
on the .pkg trick...wow.

It works in more than just the comic programs...

It will work in any program with folders (like Zen Reader).

I'll have to try it on windows, but on the mac, it takes advantage of a quirk of the Mac OS that sees a folder with .pkg (or .action) as an extension as an archive file, as opposed to a container of files.

This is a brilliant way around an annoying limitation in iOS..bravo.
 
Absolute-Zero said:
Am I the only one that makes comics/manga into pdf and reads them using iBooks? :confused:
Click to expand...

I am going out on a limb and saying yes! :D


Upgraded Bookman and now I wish I didn't. I was hesitant to do so, and the developer even touted no adds. So I did it. There are adds... So it looks like I will be buying the paid version as I really like this app.
 
rhett7660 said:
I am going out on a limb and saying yes! :D


Upgraded Bookman and now I wish I didn't. I was hesitant to do so, and the developer even touted no adds. So I did it. There are adds... So it looks like I will be buying the paid version as I really like this app.
Click to expand...

I was also hesitant to do so, but the only adds are when browsing the files, there are none while reading, so it's not too bad. Still, the full version is no brainer if you like the lite
 
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