Page Turning on the iPhone App

Anyone having problems getting used to the page-turning instead of scrolling on the iPhone app?

I actually don't like the page-turning as well as scrolling, but that's not the problem...

It's that they've made the flick into a show-menu gesture, whereas in every other app I have this means scroll down. If it was a totally different gesture okay, but it actually means something different in most of the iPhone contexts. This seems to be a major UI flaw. I naturally flick as I do in every other app, and the frustration of the menu coming up has rendered the app unusable for me.

I understand page-turning in the context of iBooks, when I'm reading serially for a long period of time, but I find when I'm using an online tool I don't read like that. I jump around. I go back to the greek. I look for the next reference. It's a different kind of approach.

I've ended up using YouVersion just for the superior UI. But this is a drag because I have invested hundreds of dollars in Logos and would like to be able to leverage that investment.

One solution would be to put an option for the kind of scrolling the person wants to use. I've seen a couple apps with that.

This to me is illustrative of design that diverges significantly from the UI guidelines. Anyone else having this problem?

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Comments

David P. Moore

they've made the flick into a show-menu gesture, whereas in every other app I have this means scroll down. If it was a totally different gesture okay, but it actually means something different in most of the iPhone contexts.

I agree. I fall for it almost everytime, too, but never took the time to post it on the forum. I'm an occasional user of the app, so I always forget and do just like you said above. Speaking of this, I wish they would implement some kind of page flipping feature, like I'm beginning to see in some of the other book apps. Not a serious functionality to have, but it would add polish to the app.

Levi Durfey

Trevor's post prompted me go to check some of the more popular "reading" apps.

Here are my findings:

Amazon Kindle App -- Flick up and down does nothing; Flick left/right turns page; Tap is show menu.

Apple iBook App -- Flick up and down does nothing; Flick left/right turns page; Tap is show/hide menu.

Stanza App -- Flick up and down brightens and dims screen (that's a surprise the first time you do it!); Flick left/right turns page; Tap is show menu.

It seems to me that the Logos App has to do double duty -- it's a reading app on the one hand (that's almost all I use it for, and I love it for that); and on the other hand, it's a Bible Study tool (no offline searching makes it hard for me to use it for that, however).

As a reading app, Logos is mostly in line with the other reading apps and their UI's -- as a Bible app, it's different from others (e.g., Olive Tree's Bible app).

Chuck P.

https://community.logos.com/discussion/comment/156155#Comment_156155

For me, I love the way the Iphone turns the pages....yes, it took some time to get use to it but, I love reading in bed and can hold the Iphone in one hand and tap the right side to turn the page. If I am in bed and on the internet, I have to hold the Iphone with one hand and scroll with the other hand...I would hate to read a book and have to use both hands to turn the page. The other problem with scrolling like other apps is that I have increased the text size and tapping to change the page it does not over scroll....if scrolling you would always have to know when to stop....of course, this is all my opinion only.....

John Kaess

https://community.logos.com/discussion/comment/157635#Comment_157635

I'm completely content to tap the right side to page forward and the left side to page back. Not only is it intuitive, but it is the way every other reading app I have works. I like consistency between apps.

Craig Rairdin

Reading text on a computer screen has been a subject of research over the last 30 years or so and for the most part the conclusion is that scrolling to read is significantly more difficult than "paging". It's harder for your eyes to keep track of where you are in the text. On the other hand, we're used to finishing one page and moving our eyes to the top of the next page to continue.

As a result, reading comprehension of scrolling text is lower and it is more fatiguing than paging through the text. It's probably because of this (and because of the analogy to the behavior of paper books) that all the popular ebook apps (Kindle, Stanza, iBooks) and the better Bible apps (Laridian's PocketBible, Logos, and to a certain extent OliveTree, which offers it as an option) use paging rather than scrolling to move through the text. Believe it or not, for most people it's a better reading experience.

Craig Rairdin
President
Laridian, Inc.

lostlogik

https://community.logos.com/discussion/comment/157999#Comment_157999

Hi Craig. Your comments ring true and to a large extent I agree with them. However, there are many instances when scrolling is far more valuable. For example when doing research it is desirable to keep moving backwards as well as forwards through text and invariably text I'm reviewing has a page break in the middle. The ability to scroll a page to make the key passage central on the page makes for a lot less eye strain, and that is why I wish it was available as an option.

Todd Phillips

https://community.logos.com/discussion/comment/158007#Comment_158007

Hi Craig. Your comments ring true and to a large extent I agree with them. However, there are many instances when scrolling is far more valuable. For example when doing research it is desirable to keep moving backwards as well as forwards through text and invariably text I'm reviewing has a page break in the middle. The ability to scroll a page to make the key passage central on the page makes for a lot less eye strain, and that is why I wish it was available as an option.

I agree. Paging is good for reading, and scrolling is good for scanning the text to find things. Having a break in the middle of the passage you're studying can be a pain.

BTW, welcome to the forum, Craig! Having you here make this the nexus of Bible software talk on the internet. (We already have a WordSearch e-book developer here).

Craig Rairdin

https://community.logos.com/discussion/comment/158008#Comment_158008

[quote]

BTW, welcome to the forum, Craig! Having you here make this the nexus
of Bible software talk on the internet. (We already have a WordSearch
e-book developer here).

Thanks, but don't get your hopes up. I came here because I got a Google Alert on a keyword I monitor and the subject matter happened to be of interest since we've dealt with the same issue. For the most part we each have our own blogs, forums, and email lists which are the "nexus of Bible software talk" from our own perspectives. I didn't know this forum was here until Google told me about it. :-)

Craig

Todd Phillips

https://community.logos.com/discussion/comment/158159#Comment_158159

[quote]

BTW, welcome to the forum, Craig! Having you here make this the nexus
of Bible software talk on the internet. (We already have a WordSearch
e-book developer here).

Craig

Yeah, I was joking, but at the same time hoping you were a Logos user as well. [;)]

FWIW, I'm still using MyBible on my Palm T|X until it dies. (Sometimes, I wish it would die.)

Trevor LOGOS Garrett

https://community.logos.com/discussion/comment/157635#Comment_157635

Hey Chuck, for what it's worth, I read one-handed by scrolling with my thumb : )

Trevor LOGOS Garrett

https://community.logos.com/discussion/comment/157999#Comment_157999

Hey Craig--could you comment on the idea of using an up-swipe to present a menu when in many other apps this gesture scrolls?

Trevor LOGOS Garrett

https://community.logos.com/discussion/comment/157658#Comment_157658

I'm completely content to tap the right side to page forward and the left side to page back. Not only is it intuitive, but it is the way every other reading app I have works. I like consistency between apps.

What's interesting to me is that we're differentiating between "reading apps" and all of the other apps. What I'm saying is that the "swipe up" means scroll and not "menu" in the apps I'm using all day:

mail
messages
safari
facebook
twitter
itunes
evernote etc

So I'm used to scrolling with a swipe on all of these key apps all the time. I find this to be consistent across all of them all the time. I can even live with the page-turning instead for reader apps (although why not make it an option?) but I argue that the "swipe-up for menu" has to go. It's not just inconsistent with most of the most-used apps, but it actually means something in the most-used apps...something entirely different.

Craig Rairdin

https://community.logos.com/discussion/comment/158462#Comment_158462

[quote]Hey Craig--could you comment on the idea of using an up-swipe to present a menu when in many other apps this gesture scrolls?

We use up-swipe to rotate through open books. So if you have the KJV, NIV, and a commentary open, up-swipe takes you from the KJV to NIV, then NIV to commentary, then commentary to KJV. Down-swipe goes in reverse.

I agree that for people who don't use a program like Logos, PocketBible, Kindle, Stanza, iBooks, etc. very much that it takes some time to get used to. However, once you're accustomed to a program you don't think about it. I've been spending a lot of time in Kindle lately reading some programming books. I'm never tempted to swipe up to scroll because that's not how Kindle works. Ditto PocketBible.

So maybe those who complain just need to spend more time reading the Bible. :-)

Craig

Paul O'Rear

I just came here because I was specifically looking for help as to whether there was an option for smooth scrolling that I somehow missed. I use the logos apps on PC, Mac, iPhone and iPad. On iPhone and iPad, I feel compelled (most of the time) to use Olive Tree's app specifically because of this lack of scrolling support. I frequently have the Greek New Testament open in a split screen window with an English version. When page turning, the verses *never* line up in the Logos app on the iPhone and iPad and is a barrier for use to me.

I agree with other comments on this thread about the use cases for reading in general. If I'm reading a book, I prefer the page turn approach, and usually, the book page is taking up the whole screen. I just don't use Logos that way in general - on the Mac or PC as well, I usually have *many* windows open, all linked to synchronize scrolling with verses, or doing lexical lookups.

Anyway - that's my 2 cents.