Suggestion: Justified text.

Wes Saad
Wes Saad Member Posts: 1,601 ✭✭✭
edited November 21 in English Forum

Love fast app switching. Still feeling pain from the lack of justified alignment. I've mentioned this before, but to me it's a big need. This may be a personal preference thing, but I much prefer full justified text on the iPhone rather than simple left aligned. 

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Comments

  • R. Mansfield
    R. Mansfield Member Posts: 629 ✭✭✭

    I think it's a personal preference. Left aligned text is generally easier to read because it's easier for your eyes to find the next line if they don't all look the same. But perhaps this could be a preference setting for those who wanted it. 

  • MJ. Smith
    MJ. Smith MVP Posts: 53,139

    I think the suggestion is to align on both the left and the right as most published books are.

    Orthodox Bishop Alfeyev: "To be a theologian means to have experience of a personal encounter with God through prayer and worship."; Orthodox proverb: "We know where the Church is, we do not know where it is not."

  • R. Mansfield
    R. Mansfield Member Posts: 629 ✭✭✭

    Yes, I realize that. Chris was suggesting text with full justification which is what publishers use. I was saying that I prefer text that is only aligned on the left because it is easier to read. Therefore, perhaps it could be an optional setting so he could make his text like that if he wants to.

  • Ken F Hill
    Ken F Hill Member Posts: 477 ✭✭

    Left aligned text is generally easier to read because it's easier for your eyes to find the next line if they don't all look the same.

    I agree completely.  Left aligned text also eliminates ugly and distracting variable-spaced gaps between words which also slows reading.  I hope if any changes are made they are optional.

  • Wes Saad
    Wes Saad Member Posts: 1,601 ✭✭✭

    Justified along left and right, like a book, is what I meant. But as I do a more careful comparison between Logos and other readers, that's not the main issue. I do a *lot* of reading using the Kindle app, and I was surprised to notice that it doesn't justify the text. I thought it did. iBooks gives the option to justify, but it's off by default. 

    Look at the screen grabs below: First is Amazon's Kindle app; send is iBooks; third is Logos. Looking at them side-by-side, I'd say the main issue is the amount of white space around the words. I think the margins in Kindle and iBooks makes reading a little easier (though I couldn't explain why). I haven't yet done a lot of reading with the Logos app and part of the reason is I just find it less comfortable to read from. While I prefer the justified text, the white space is probably the main difference between the apps.

    You can also view these at http://gallery.me.com/chrisroberts#100468 where you might see the white space around the text a little easier.

    Amazon's Kindle app:

    image

    Apple's iBooks app:

    image

    Logos app:

    image

  • Ken F Hill
    Ken F Hill Member Posts: 477 ✭✭

    One potential difference is the fonts being used.  It is hard to tell, but the fonts look different in each, although the Kindle and Logos seem a closer match than either to the iBook.  Look at the "Ch" combination (Churchill, Christians, Christians).  I wish the Logos sample had an uppercase "G" to better compare.  Fonts can make a big difference in readability.

    I brought screenshot samples of the 3 into my drawing program and created a rectangle to fit between words.  At my screen resolution, the word spacing in Kindle is 0.059 inches ; in Logos is 0.072 inches ; and the right-justified iBook varies from 0.069 to 0.253 -- that's one of the reasons I do not like right-justified text.  Of course, a screenshot of a screenshot is not the best way to compare text so these numbers are approximate.

    I guess it is true what they say about no accounting for taste -- I like the Logos sample the best.

    [edit] BTW - how do you get screenshots of the device?

  • Ken F Hill
    Ken F Hill Member Posts: 477 ✭✭

    I think it's a personal preference. Left aligned text is generally easier to read because it's easier for your eyes to find the next line if they don't all look the same. But perhaps this could be a preference setting for those who wanted it. 

    I don't understand why this is so difficult to make optional.  It used to be that if a book was not downloaded to the ipod it was left justified --  that has been changed somewhere along the line.  But text in popups is left-justified.  The code is there to view both ways.  This is my least-favorite aspect of Logos for ipod/iphone.  I scanned my ipod showing Bible text and a popup.  In the Bible, there are HUGE spaces between words -- very distracting.  After huge-gap lines, normal-spaced lines look squnched together.  My eyes are constantly adjusting, and that is in addition to the issue raised in the quote above.  The only excessive spaces in the popup are where lines would normally break in poetry.  (Sorry for the poor quality)  Anyway, the code already seems to be there for both display styles.  We just need a switch to turn it off/on.  How hard can that be?

    image    image