# "Book Collections" app



## JimC1946 (Aug 6, 2009)

For anyone who tried the "Book Collections" app for sorting, organizing, and accessing your books and documents on your Kindle Fire, version 1 picked up a lot of negative reviews, most of them about bugs or features that were clunky to use. Version 2 has now been released, and based on my testing, it's very much improved with the bugs fixed and some new features added. It's definitely worth a look.

Book Collections


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## Guest (Aug 21, 2012)

Awesome! Getting book covers in there is definitely big, not to mention all the other stuff.


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## Betsy the Quilter (Oct 27, 2008)

Off to check it out.  Don't much care about book covers, but I'm curious to see if any of my wish list is in there...

Betsy


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## Betsy the Quilter (Oct 27, 2008)

So, the things I found lacking before (read the discussion here):

What you can't do (at least that I haven't been able to figure out so far)
• rearrange the folders once you've created them. 
√ you can now move folders. It's a bit cumbersome, you pick the folder, tap "up" or "down" on the popup, then select the folder and tap again on the popup to move another line. Or you can move the folder to the very top or bottom of the list. But it works.

• move multiple books into a folder at once. You have to select the book and then move it to the folder. 
√ If you've just scanned the Fire, you'll have a list of books. Select the books by clicking in the check boxes. (If you don't tap in the box, the book menu will pop up. Then tap the menu bar at the bottom and select "Bulk Move." EDITED TO ADD: Books can only be moved into Subordinate folders (but at least you CAN nest folders; that's a nice feature, don't know if it was available in v1). So, if you move something into a subordinate folder, you must either remove it from the folder and then put it in the new folder, or copy it to the new folder (you can copy it into other non-subordinate folders, and then remove it from the current folder.
• have a book in multiple collections, as you can on a Kindle. 
√ You can do this when moving books into folders initially or after they are in one collection.
• sort your folders or books by "most recent." Or by alphabetical order or by author's name. 
√ You can sort by alphabetical order and by author's name. But not by most recent.

Still not possible (if I've missed any of these, please excuse me):
• If you've read a book through the "Kindle Reader" that is used by the the app, the fact that you've read it isn't reflected on the Carousel or in the Books tab from the Fire home page.
• Ability to set bookmarks with the "Kindle Reader" that is used by the app.
• Change fonts or font sizes within the "Kindle Reader" that is used by the app. Apparently you can change font sizes and fonts if you check the full definition of a word. And if you change the font size, it does stay changed when next you go into the book. However, you must do this (highlight, full definition, change size) each time you want to change font size as the capability disappears when you return to the book; it is not acceptable that a user should have to do this. Also, you can access the other display options (typeface, color, etc.) this way. They are also retained when you leave the book and return. However, changing to a different typeface doesn't work immediately when leaving the definition and going to the book. One must leave the book and then return to see the new font, although the other changes I tried show up immediately when returning from definition mode. You cal also access the "goto" menu this way, but it doesn't do any good as it only lets you "goto" within the current book, which is the dictionary.
• You can supposedly highlight, get definitions and add notes. However, my highlights and notes were not accessible when looking at the same book through the Books tab, and even worse, not there when I returned to the book using the reader in the Book Collections app.
• Lastly, but most importantly, the app warns you that the "last location" can't be read and provides a handy place to record the last location so presumably you can go back to it easily. But there is no "go to" function in the Kindle Reader as used by the app! So you either have to remember some text and do a search (recommended on their Facebook page ) or use the slider at the bottom of the page. And of course, no synching last location. Edited to add: I have no idea how one would search for the text in the book as a means to "go to location" as the search capability is not available due to the idiosynchracies of the app. For me, this eliminates one of the best features of the Kindle--the fact that it always knows where I am in the book.

Conclusion after playing with version 2:

If you only have a Fire, and the awkwardness of having to find your place in the book by dragging the slider at the bottom each time you return to a book doesn't bother you, I think the changes made to the actual "collections" part help with the issues I had before with that part of the program.

But, for me, the lack of synching between devices (and I do read on several devices), the fact that my highlights and marks disappear when I leave the book, the five taps and then slider drag to get back to my location using the Book Collections app, compared to one or two to get there from the Carousel (depending on whether it's the actual last item or not) are still issues that keep me from wanting to use the app. Your mileage may vary, of course.

Clearly this method of collections is better than the one in the Fire's app.  If nothing else, it is a viable way to sort the books on your device into groupings for browsing.

Betsy


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## JimC1946 (Aug 6, 2009)

Good comments, Betsy.


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## Betsy the Quilter (Oct 27, 2008)

Yes, I'm going to go modify my review on Amazon and give it another star.  But I was hoping you were posting to tell me which things they fixed that I missed.    I really want to like this app....

Betsy


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## JimC1946 (Aug 6, 2009)

Sorry, Betsy, I should have spent more time on it. You've done a much more thorough job than I have.


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## Guest (Aug 21, 2012)

JimC1946 said:


> Sorry, Betsy, I should have spent more time on it. You've done a much more thorough job than I have.


I'm not sure you have anything to apologize for. Betsy has detailed the various repercussions of the Kindle reader not remembering data when accessed through Book Collections, which is probably why Amazon hasn't made something like this. She's made it clear that's generally a deal-breaker for her. That doesn't mean the app isn't way better than it was before or more effective than scrolling through thousands of books on the carousel to find one. And some of her complaints could easily be positives for a lot of people. I consider it a plus that things opened through the app don't jump to the front of the carousel, because that annoys the heck out of me.


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## Betsy the Quilter (Oct 27, 2008)

foreverjuly said:


> I'm not sure you have anything to apologize for. Betsy has detailed the various repercussions of the Kindle reader not remembering data when accessed through Book Collections, which is probably why Amazon hasn't made something like this. She's made it clear that's generally a deal-breaker for her. That doesn't mean the app isn't way better than it was before or more effective than scrolling through thousands of books on the carousel to find one. And some of her complaints could easily be positives for a lot of people. I consider it a plus that things opened through the app don't jump to the front of the carousel, because that annoys the heck out of me.


Jason--All true. I've tried to be clear that if remembering your sync location or your highlights and notes isn't important to you, the app does give you the ability to sort by collections, which the native app doesn't. And that it IS improved.

As for jumping to the front of the carousel, if you read through my review, that's a minor nit overall (one sentence). *shrug* That being said, that things are in order by most recent on the carousel is its major purpose to me. I can pin things to "Favorites" and I can go to the various tabs for Books, Apps, etc to see things in order by title, but the easiest way for me to get back to something I was just using is the carousel. But that's me. I could live with that if I didn't lose so many of the other features that I love about my Kindle.

I realize collections are really important to many people, and I like them, but they're not more important than the convenience of actually reading the book for me.

Jim--I had gone through the earlier version pretty carefully because I was excited about it, so it was a matter of going down my prior list to see what had changed. Made it easy. I'm glad you posted about the changes! People can read through and decide for themselves if this is the app for them. I'm sure it is for many. Just not for me, right now. I look forward to future updates. I kept it as I have great hopes for it.

Betsy


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## JimC1946 (Aug 6, 2009)

I feel better now.


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## Betsy the Quilter (Oct 27, 2008)

JimC1946 said:


> I feel better now.


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## fuschiahedgehog (Feb 23, 2010)

Sorry to hear this - after bad experience with the first go-round, I was hoping version 2 would better suit my needs (many of the same things BtQ lists).

And really, shame on Amazon for this as well.  This functionality should really be part of the Kindle app on the Fire (and other Android devices).


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## Cyanide5000 (Aug 30, 2010)

I never tried the first version - I'll give this one a go and let you know what i think!


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## CegAbq (Mar 17, 2009)

JimC1946 said:


> I feel better now.


Awesome! We definitely don't want you feeling bad  You are too valuable of a KB member.


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## Betsy the Quilter (Oct 27, 2008)

In addition to the Amazon link JimC1946 posted, you can learn more about the app at their blog:

http://fireapps.blogspot.com/p/book-collections-news.html

and their facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/kindlefireapps

If you've tried the latest version of the app, please let us know your thoughts here!

Betsy


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## Hoosiermama (Dec 28, 2009)

Does anyone know if this app works only on the Fire, or does it work with the regular Kindle app on other Android devices, too? Just curious...I'm tempted to buy, but don't want to until I know if it works with others.

Thanks!


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## Betsy the Quilter (Oct 27, 2008)

Hoosiermama said:


> Does anyone know if this app works only on the Fire, or does it work with the regular Kindle app on other Android devices, too? Just curious...I'm tempted to buy, but don't want to until I know if it works with others.
> 
> Thanks!


That's a good question, Hoosiermama...I suspect not, but don't really have any idea. Off to see if I can find out, or perhaps Jason will stop by...

HM, do you have your device registered with the App Store? If so, does it say the app is compatible with the device? Ann, can you check with your Android devices?

Betsy


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## Guest (Aug 23, 2012)

The app is compatible with more than just the Fire, and I would bet that it'd be able to find the Kindle app to open books on other devices (and for all I know it could remember the page numbers on other devices too), but I don't think there's any mechanism to sync multiple copies of the app so that changes on one device would appear on the other, or else there'd probably be more permissions. That said, if you buy an app you're allowed to have it on multiple devices, right? So unless you were ultra detailed about your organization it might not be that big of a deal. I guess it depends on what you'd like to do with it.


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## Ann in Arlington (Oct 27, 2008)

On Amazon, the page for any app normally has a listing on the side that shows which of my 3 android devices the app is compatible with.  For this one, it's showing as compatible with my Razr and Xoom as well as the Fire.


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## booklover888 (May 20, 2012)

Hoosiermama said:


> Does anyone know if this app works only on the Fire, or does it work with the regular Kindle app on other Android devices, too? Just curious...I'm tempted to buy, but don't want to until I know if it works with others.
> 
> Thanks!


I will try it on my Nook Color n2a and let you know.

The updated version for the Fire is MUCH better.


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## Betsy the Quilter (Oct 27, 2008)

Ann and Jason, good to know...

Booklover888, let us know how it works on the Nook!

Betsy


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## booklover888 (May 20, 2012)

Installed and scanned books, set up collections, bulk add, all that is the same as the newly updated Fire verdion.

On attempting to open a book, the Book Collections apps causes the Kindle App to start. After attempting to start, the Kindle app force closes. After 4 tries, I'm done.

Will not open (non-DRM) epubs, says no reader is available (not true, have several on the device).

So, it's no good to me on the rooted Nook, and I am uninstalling now. I don't know how it might work on a phone or other android device, as I don't have anything else to test it on.

Anne



Betsy the Quilter said:


> Ann and Jason, good to know...
> 
> Booklover888, let us know how it works on the Nook!
> 
> Betsy


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## Betsy the Quilter (Oct 27, 2008)

Sorry to hear... Was it supposed to be able to open non-DRM epubs?  I wasn't aware of that.

People who have contacted CS have received refunds....

Betsy


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## booklover888 (May 20, 2012)

Betsy the Quilter said:


> Sorry to hear... Was it supposed to be able to open non-DRM epubs? I wasn't aware of that.
> 
> People who have contacted CS have received refunds....
> 
> Betsy


Well on my Fire it will open epubs, or go to the program that opens them, if I recall. Perhaps I am mistaken.

I like it well enough on the Fire, something to play with. Not going to ask for a refund.


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## Betsy the Quilter (Oct 27, 2008)

booklover888 said:


> Well on my Fire it will open epubs, or go to the program that opens them, if I recall. Perhaps I am mistaken.
> 
> I like it well enough on the Fire, something to play with. Not going to ask for a refund.


Interesting, I,ll have to play with that, not that I read ePubs, I just like to know stuff... 

Betsy


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## Guest (Aug 23, 2012)

booklover888 said:


> Installed and scanned books, set up collections, bulk add, all that is the same as the newly updated Fire verdion.
> 
> On attempting to open a book, the Book Collections apps causes the Kindle App to start. After attempting to start, the Kindle app force closes. After 4 tries, I'm done.
> 
> ...


So it won't open the Kindle app or whatever app the Nook Reader uses? That's good to know at least. So it's pretty much for the Fire.

Now the $5,000 question is whether the new Fires will have anything resembling Collections, or if they'll have similar software that prevents it.


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## Hoosiermama (Dec 28, 2009)

Thanks for the replies. I may give this app a whirl if I decide to keep many books on it. I still have my Touch, and I download everything there, too.


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## JimC1946 (Aug 6, 2009)

foreverjuly said:


> Now the $5,000 question is whether the new Fires will have anything resembling Collections, or if they'll have similar software that prevents it.


I think a lot of folks are expecting/hoping that Amazon will announce the KF 2 very soon. With the pressure that the Nexus 7 is putting on them, and the expected announcement of a 7" iPad, Amazon has got to announce something very soon or risk losing a big share of the 7-inch tablet market. Hopefully they're listening to users on a lot of issues, including what's been discussed in this thread.


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## booklover888 (May 20, 2012)

No...I tried 4 different books, and it started to open the Kindle app, then the Kindle app did a Force Close. After I exited the Book Collections app, I started the Kindle app just to check it, and it opened just fine.

Also I did check with my Fire....and using the Book Collections app, I can tap on an epub, and it will ask if I want to open it in Coolreader or Aldiko, and if I select one, it will proceed to open the selected app and I can read the book. Whereas the mobi/prc books are opened by the Book Collection reader.

But nothing could be read on the rooted Nook Color using the Book Collections app.

Anne



foreverjuly said:


> So it won't open the Kindle app or whatever app the Nook Reader uses? That's good to know at least. So it's pretty much for the Fire.
> 
> Now the $5,000 question is whether the new Fires will have anything resembling Collections, or if they'll have similar software that prevents it.


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## Betsy the Quilter (Oct 27, 2008)

booklover888 said:


> Also I did check with my Fire....and using the Book Collections app, I can tap on an epub, and it will ask if I want to open it in Coolreader or Aldiko, and if I select one, it will proceed to open the selected app and I can read the book. Whereas the mobi/prc books are opened by the Book Collection reader.


That's good to know. You can have all of your books in one place, no matter the type and open them with the appropriate reader. Good for people who have a lot of non-Amazon books. + for Book Collections!

Betsy


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## Ann in Arlington (Oct 27, 2008)

Well, I was going to try it out. . . .put it on my Xoom to test on a stock Android type device -- but I'm not sure I want to pay $2.99 to do so. If there were a free version I'd give it a try and report back. But I'm not that much in need of collections and it sounds to me, from Betsy's review, that it's not quite ready for prime time, so I'm not inclined to spend the money.

Here's the thing: to me, it's pretty important that my device remembers where I left off, so if it doesn't do that, it's a non starter. Being able to organize books neatly on my shelves is nice, but it's rather more important for me that I have a book mark for when I actually read them. It's nice that it reminds you to remember where you left off, but that's really a step back from the Kindle's automatic bookmarking. 

I also do like seeing what I've most recently accessed on the carousel. I am usually reading several books at a time and having them all right there when I turn the thing on is nice. I also need the syncing between devices to work as I have 3 kindle devices and two other devices with the Kindle app.

And I do want to be able to quickly change font size on the fly -- when my eyes get tired, say or, more often, because the different books I'm reading have different default size fonts. I want to be able to adjust with just a tap or two, not the 5 or 6 step process Betsy describes. 

I don't do much highlighting and notetaking, so the deficiencies there wouldn't bother me personally, but I know there are some for whom it would be a huge issue.

All of the above are _much_ more important to _me_ than being able to slot books into categories -- if I feel the urge to get organized, I can do that on Kindle for PC. Though I pretty much never use IT for reading because it's not nearly as portable.  I won't mind if there's eventually a software update -- or 3rd party app -- that enables collections, but it isn't going to work for me if it also removes that which, for me, makes the Kindle the superior e-reader that it is.


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