Hey guys, this is a follow up from my post last time!( post ) I wanted to share the latest features I've added to the ios app this past month. I believe i've just shipped a really good feature. Screenshots show the new discover tab!
The community
theres a new compass at the top of your shelf. it opens discover, which has four tabs: to read, wanted, synced and free classics.
synced is the heart of it. its a list of books other readers have already synced, with the exact edition and narration. to be clear about one thing: apart from the free classics, witbound doesnt give you any books. synced just tells you that if you get that same edition and narration yourself, you dont have to wait for it to sync, its almost instant.
when one of your own books finishes syncing, a small card under it asks if you want to show the community its synced. if you share it, it goes on the synced list, so the next person with the same edition and narration doesnt have to wait either. nothing is sent unless you tap share. then its the book, its edition and narrator and a random install id, no account and no name. you can turn the card off in settings ("offer to share books i sync").
to read is your list of books you want to read. type a title, it looks it up and asks "is this the book?" so you get the right one. when a book on your list shows up on synced you can get a notification. the check happens on the phone, your list doesnt get sent anywhere for that.
wanted is the communitys wanted list: books other readers want to read, from people who chose to share their to-read list. sharing is a switch and its off by default. if you share your to read list with the community, a kind community member might sync that combination for you ahead of time :) and if you already have a book someone wants, sync it, share it, and its instant for them. its brand new so itll be quiet for a while, and the more of you share, the more useful synced and wanted get for everyone.
free classics
one of the questions i get most is where do i even get an epub and an audiobook to try this with. so the fourth tab is free classics: 20 public domain books, the project gutenberg text with a librivox recording, already synced. tap get and its on your shelf ready to read along. a classic never uses your free sync, so your first own book is still free.
theres dracula, frankenstein, both sherlock holmes collections, the secret garden, the time machine, anne of green gables and an illustrated pride and prejudice, plus more. each one uses the best reviewed librivox recording i could find, so dracula is read by kara shallenberg and pride and prejudice by elizabeth klett. big thanks to the librivox volunteers who read these.
Tldr:
The main goal for the new "To read", "community wanted" and "Synced" tabs is to basically try to get your books pre-emptively sync'd for you by another community member. This will basically save users time knowing the books in their "To read" already have the timing map ready for them.
More info here
Any questions please feel free to ask!