Week Two point five - PDF readers and CrApps

As mentioned already, having to use iTunes for transferring everything to the iPad is less than satisfactory. I am so paranoid about synchronisation after I had some data wiped on one synch (because I was using two iTunes accounts, because I live in New Zealand and Apple doesn't believe iPads exist outside the US yet) that I try to avoid synching wherever possible.

So, I had tried a PDF reader called iPDF, which was okay if you were grabbing PDFs off the internet to read, but very unsatisfactory for reference material or ebooks (as mentioned in Week One). A friend recommended another reader called GoodReader. Because I am outside US and buying things is such a mission, I had to try the free iPhone version first. I am really glad I did.

The access method for getting PDFs on to it is really good, I got it going with a minimum of fuss, using the web client to upload files. For an iPhone app, there is just a ton of documentation, and it was not too hard to read.

But then I discovered quickly that the free version allows a maximum of five pdfs. Now, why the heck couldn't it have warned me as I tried to download number six? Nope, I loaded about ten before I tried to read one (that, I have to say, in itself, was a big mistake, read on). Deleting files was doable, but annoying and slow, I was just glad that loading them is a one file at a time deal also, so I didn't have hundreds on board.

I have already mentioned that I have read three novels and some short stories on my iPad, using the iBooks reader supplied by Apple. It's simple, has a few nice functions, but basically you can just pick it up and read. Not so with GoodReader. Before I whinge, I will say up front that I might have some config options to tweak that will help, but I haven't found them yet. I think they have misnamed GoodReader, it should either be called BadReader or perhaps GreatToLoadPDFsButDon'tTryReadingThem. Ugh. It displays whole pages on a scrolling screen, so you have to scroll down to the end before you can tap the screen to turn the page. I don't like it. I can't seem to change it.

So, unless the iPad version of GoodReader is better, I don't want it. I am not prepared to pay any kind of money to find out. I am keen to hear from anyone who has a better option for PDF reading, post a comment here.

Of course, in an ideal world, I would like an eBook reader that will handle PDFs, Epubs, Txt files, and Lits as well on the iPad. That would make life a heck of a lot easier. The alternative is a program I can run on my PC that will convert the formats to one format that I can read on the iPad. I am pretty happy with iBooks, so ePub is the format I want the world to use.

This leads me to the point that GoodReader is an example of a CrApp, or a crap app. That is one thing that has struck me since I began my orgy of applet downloading for the iPad. I am dismayed with the shallowness of some of the apps (iCoach for example looks great, but really doesn't do a heck of a lot). I imagine a lot of effort has gone in to some of these apps, so why don't they go a bit further and make them worthwhile?

POST SCRIPT
I tried another free PDF reader called CloudReaders, basically the same deal as Goodreader, getting the files on seems fine, not seen any five file limit yet, and the interface is a little better. However, it doesn't repaginate for shrinking the text, you have to scroll on the page (both left right and up down). Yuck.

I think pitching the free version of apps at the right level is tricky. Give it too much functionality, and people won't bother with the full app. Give it too little, and people won't think it is good enough to buy. That is possibly one thing that GoodReader got semi-right, limiting the number of PDFs to five gives you a chance to try it properly, find out how much it really sucks, and you get to save your money.

Some of the game apps that have provided genuine entertainment have included:
- Harbor Master - like air traffic controller, beating your high score becomes an obsession.
- Slider (a version of the old 4x4 puzzle with one square missing, my daughter loves it, my son can't handle it, it's dead basic to me, I grew up with them)
- FSS Hockey - air hockey, it's actually not that great
- Chopper Lite - this feels a lot like the old Choplifter, but too easy, which doesn't make you want to get the full version
- Aurora Feint 3 - thinly veiled encouragement to spend money aside, it is basically one puzzle game inside a RPG style package. It's an okay puzzle but it isn't remotely what it pretends to be. It's like Puzzle Pirates with one puzzle and bugger all else.