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Zen Viewer - A Remarkable File Viewer + Reader for iPad
- Thread starter TheSkinsFactory
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Goodreader is well established, however, Zen Viewer is on sale and looks good so I'm prepared to give it a try. I'm hoping the rate of development and updates remain high and this app keeps getting more and more useful features.
@Fedorov: That's the update we resubmitted yesterday. An issue with xcode crashing killed the function. So the new update should refix what broke.
@Shivetya: Actually read the reviews and you'll find a lot of the bad ones are because they either couldn't figure out how to do something, had an issue with tech support (our partners use Get Satisfaction), are upset because it didn't handle epubs they way they liked (GoodReader doesn't even do epubs btw) or something else. We also have a 4-Star rating. That's not exactly "crappy".
A 1 star rating because he couldn't figure out the logo area on top was just a placeholder for the Favorites section which he could collapse at any time by tapping Hide Favorites.
A 2 star rating because you have to download content into Zen Viewer? I mean seriously?
A 1 star rating because the user couldn't figure out how to log in to Get Satisfaction for support,
I mean come on. We spent a year developing Zen Viewer. An entire year. Is it perfect? Of course not. But we're striving to make it so.
@w00tini: I've viewed 50 MB graphic intensive pdfs with zero problem. As a matter of fact i've tested it against GoodReader and i think ours holds its own. Remember that it also makes a difference how much memory you've used up with other apps, safari too. We're still fine-tuning but it's coming along just fine.
@Shivetya: Actually read the reviews and you'll find a lot of the bad ones are because they either couldn't figure out how to do something, had an issue with tech support (our partners use Get Satisfaction), are upset because it didn't handle epubs they way they liked (GoodReader doesn't even do epubs btw) or something else. We also have a 4-Star rating. That's not exactly "crappy".
A 1 star rating because he couldn't figure out the logo area on top was just a placeholder for the Favorites section which he could collapse at any time by tapping Hide Favorites.
A 2 star rating because you have to download content into Zen Viewer? I mean seriously?
A 1 star rating because the user couldn't figure out how to log in to Get Satisfaction for support,
I mean come on. We spent a year developing Zen Viewer. An entire year. Is it perfect? Of course not. But we're striving to make it so.
@w00tini: I've viewed 50 MB graphic intensive pdfs with zero problem. As a matter of fact i've tested it against GoodReader and i think ours holds its own. Remember that it also makes a difference how much memory you've used up with other apps, safari too. We're still fine-tuning but it's coming along just fine.
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This is the biggie for me. As soon as you have this you will have a new customer!!!
You must be referring to annotations. So here's what's next on the upgrade agenda...
1. Better Dropbox functionality. More room to work with your files, the ability to download folders instead of having to tap single files only, and some other things.
2. Annotations. That's being looked into.
3. Better epub viewing. We want to make it so you can treat it like single pages instead of chapters being one long page. We've tried but the experience isn't so great. So working on that.
4. Wishlist: More video playback file types. Would really like to be able to playback AVI and MKV files in Zen Viewer.
5: Wishlist: A teleprompter function.
6. Wishlist: Create custom notes but done with style and elegance.
and some other things...
No problem Jeff, I beta test many apps, mainly twitter clients but also other excellent apps like Due (for reminders) and Week Calendar, I KNOW my good apps and have no hesitation as a fellow developer in recognising the effort you've put into your product and recommending it to everyone.
I like your wishlist already, may I ask... in GR I can also UPLOAD any file/folder I have stored onto Dropbox if I want to share it with someone, hoping you can implement upload to dropbox please.
Great work guys, and everyone else should just buy it as it's a great price with a beautiful user interface, seriously.
I like your wishlist already, may I ask... in GR I can also UPLOAD any file/folder I have stored onto Dropbox if I want to share it with someone, hoping you can implement upload to dropbox please.
Great work guys, and everyone else should just buy it as it's a great price with a beautiful user interface, seriously.
Funny you should mention that. We're looking into adding a whole new drag and drop area so that you could either just click a download button and grab a whole folder from dropbox, or you could drag and drop from zen viewer to Db or vice versa.
This would be nice. Very nice actually!
And yes in my other post I was referring to having the ability to annotate documents and being able to save them. Mainly PDF files.
Ok, this is my first Ipad reader type app, and i'm giving it a shot; just downloaded and installed dropbox too. Most of it is self-explanatory and just great.
My questions are simple and probably stupid, but please have mercy:
--i get downloading a file from dropbox. can i upload a file <to> dropbox?
--i cannot get my macbook to let me transfer via wifi. if i enter a user name, go to connect in finder, enter the ip address zen tells me to, i get a message saying something like it doesn't recognize the user. i must be missing some basic step.
otherwise, awesome, though i must admit i cannot figure out the support system either.
My questions are simple and probably stupid, but please have mercy:
--i get downloading a file from dropbox. can i upload a file <to> dropbox?
--i cannot get my macbook to let me transfer via wifi. if i enter a user name, go to connect in finder, enter the ip address zen tells me to, i get a message saying something like it doesn't recognize the user. i must be missing some basic step.
otherwise, awesome, though i must admit i cannot figure out the support system either.
Ok, this is my first Ipad reader type app, and i'm giving it a shot; just downloaded and installed dropbox too. Most of it is self-explanatory and just great.
My questions are simple and probably stupid, but please have mercy:
--i get downloading a file from dropbox. can i upload a file <to> dropbox?
--i cannot get my macbook to let me transfer via wifi. if i enter a user name, go to connect in finder, enter the ip address zen tells me to, i get a message saying something like it doesn't recognize the user. i must be missing some basic step.
otherwise, awesome, though i must admit i cannot figure out the support system either.
We're working on a more robust interface with Dropbox. So no you can't upload to it right now but you will be able to in the near future.
Tech support: Our partner uses Get Satisfaction. It's a very well known support system. If you're having a problems you can just email them directly @ zenviewer@hachisoft.com They'll be able to help you with the wi-fi issues you're having.
I just registered here to drop by and thank you guys for this awesome tool. I stumbled upon this thread a few days ago and it instantly became evident to me that I absolutely needed to get this viewer app once I received my new iPad 2.
So far, so great, I'm a happy camper! Only thing that bugs me is the XSLT stylesheet error on Wifi sharing, but judging by your forums this is supposed to be fixed pretty soon.
So, thanks again for this app, I already don't want to use my iPad without it. I hope you'll receive the love and support this tool deserves!
Tom
So far, so great, I'm a happy camper! Only thing that bugs me is the XSLT stylesheet error on Wifi sharing, but judging by your forums this is supposed to be fixed pretty soon.
So, thanks again for this app, I already don't want to use my iPad without it. I hope you'll receive the love and support this tool deserves!
Tom
Thanks Tom! Yes that issue has been fixed and we're still waiting for Apple to approve the new update.
If you don't mind, could you rate us on iTunes the next time you happen to be on it? Every little bit counts
Thanks.Just picked this up last night. Didn't get to play with it a lot, but so far it seems pretty amazing. Love the UI with it's cozy feel, and image rendering is quick and crisp. Seems like a very workable solution that could replace Goodreader, at least for me.
Would like to see iCab integration though.
Would like to see iCab integration though.
Re: iCab. I'll mention it to our coding partner. It will probably have to get bigger first. I heard TUAW recommends it over Safari.
UPDATE: Just IM'ed Caleb, one of the lead coders of Zen Viewer. His response: "interesting, i can take a look at it"
So there is a possibility.
UPDATE: Just IM'ed Caleb, one of the lead coders of Zen Viewer. His response: "interesting, i can take a look at it"
So there is a possibility.
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Now that I've had a chance to play with this a bit more, there is one feature that would make this killer for me.
I have a Spanish learning program that is in PDF format and MP3 format. It would be amazing to be able to play the mp3s while still viewing PDFS, with the controls for the mp3s still available at the bottom so I could rewind if necessary.
Thanks for the consideration!!!! And the responsiveness.
I have a Spanish learning program that is in PDF format and MP3 format. It would be amazing to be able to play the mp3s while still viewing PDFS, with the controls for the mp3s still available at the bottom so I could rewind if necessary.
Thanks for the consideration!!!! And the responsiveness.
Update is going live
So our update just went through and should be propagating the iTunes App Store over the next few hours. This update fixes the Wi-Fi issue as well as fixes the 'Open In' importing feature. So now you'll be able to import and not just export to other apps from Zen Viewer.
So our update just went through and should be propagating the iTunes App Store over the next few hours. This update fixes the Wi-Fi issue as well as fixes the 'Open In' importing feature. So now you'll be able to import and not just export to other apps from Zen Viewer.
lots of potential. interesting take on file management for sure, and a welcomed addition to the needs of file users. sadly it is very sluggish with PDF files over a few megs when compared to Goodreader. I'll certainly keep up with updates but for me it cannot replace GR until I can browse through large PDF files like turning the pages of a book. but the day it can do so I'll move to it for sure.
but really, huge potential... please keep developing
oh, and please lose the splash screen. we already bought the app and don't need to be reminded of what it is. it's not pleasing to make a client wait a few seconds while an app loads.
but really, huge potential... please keep developing
oh, and please lose the splash screen. we already bought the app and don't need to be reminded of what it is. it's not pleasing to make a client wait a few seconds while an app loads.
lots of potential. interesting take on file management for sure, and a welcomed addition to the needs of file users. sadly it is very sluggish with PDF files over a few megs when compared to Goodreader. I'll certainly keep up with updates but for me it cannot replace GR until I can browse through large PDF files like turning the pages of a book. but the day it can do so I'll move to it for sure.
but really, huge potential... please keep developing
oh, and please lose the splash screen. we already bought the app and don't need to be reminded of what it is. it's not pleasing to make a client wait a few seconds while an app loads.
Do you mean the load screen? As far as I know you have to have a load screen. Even GR has their green one. You don't see it again until you reboot your iPad.
As far as PDFs go, I have no problems viewing 50 MB graphic-intensive PDFs. I've tested ours vs GR and I don't see a difference. However, take a PDF in Zen Viewer and view while in portrait mode. Then turn to landscape. The PDF in Zen Viewer fills the screen width by default. Now try that with GR. You get a tiny page. Try viewing CBR, CBZ or EPUBS in GR. You can't. Though we need to tweak our EPUB viewer a bit so that it doesn't show chapters as one humongous page. Our mandate is to bring style to file viewing while balancing that with functionality.
Now don't get me wrong, GR is pretty zippy but he's also had 2 1/2 years to work on it. We spent an entire year building our app. We had an entire file system to design and multiple viewers. So we're behind. But I don't see a noticeable difference in speed when viewing large PDFs. With that said, we're going to see about speeding things up. The guys are working on that now actually.
With large PDFs you load a few pages at a time. If you loaded the whole thing you'd be waiting awhile. So every 3-4 pages a new set loads. They do the same thing. I'd try a couple too. I think some PDFs work better than others. I also think memory has something to do with it. If you did a lot of things before reading the PDF it may have slowed things down.
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