A new release of the Readium Chrome Extension is available at the store!

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A new version of Readium Chrome Extension (2.18.1) has been posted to the Chrome Store. You can upgrade here:

https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/readium/fepbnnnkkadjhjahcafoag...

This release includes a fix for several bugs related to EPUBs with very large and/or many audio or video assets. In addition. This release adds support for Chrome Extension Packaging 2.0. The primary aspect of this new packaging format that users will see right now is the the Reader will have its own window and icon in the taskbar when running (all platforms). There are other benefits to this packaging change which will be introduced in future releases.

Please let us have your feedback on this release!

Thanks
Ric Wright
Readium Foundation

I think the new window version is pretty clean-looking. Is there a function to revert back to in-browser reading?

No, an application such as the Readium Chrome Extension can be either an in-browser app or a standalone app, it's not switchable. There are a number of interesting features (e.g. drag and drop) that can be enabled for a standalone app. We'll be taking advantage of these in future releases.

I must say I preferred using Readium inside a tab. It made switching between multiple open books easier because you could see the titles. It would be nice to have the option to revert to that behaviour if at all possible.

I notice that non stand-alone apps have a right-click option menu that allows the user to choose between windows or tabs, but those options are disabled for Readium.

Also, full screen mode doesn't work in this release.

@tjm: Hm. I hear your concern and think it valid.  But it is my understanding (though I am not a Chrome expert) that one cannot switch back and forth.  I just looked at some other Chrome apps, some standalone, and some tabbed and I do not see any way to switch them. Can you explain where these "disabled" controls are in Readium that would allow the user to switch? And/or can you name an app that DOES allow one to switch back and forth and where the control for this is?

Thanks, Ric Wright, Readium Foundation

@rkwright: Hi Ric, thanks for looking into it. I actually like the windowed mode, but I suppose you're at the mercy of the window manager when it comes to how easy it is to manage multiple books. For me that's the Windows 7 taskbar in compact mode, which doesn't display titles at all, so it's a bit awkward to use.

The options I was referring to are in the menu you get when you right-click an app button under chrome://apps. For me (in Chrome 42) most apps have:

- "Open as Regular Tab"
- "Open as Pinned Tab"
- "Open as Window"
- "Open Full Screen"

I see those entries for Gmail, Google Calendar, Google Drive, Kindle Cloud Reader and others, whereas for Readium (and Chrome Remote Desktop) they are absent, and instead there's just an entry called "Options" which is greyed out.

This appears to be a Windows-specific feature.  We are looking into it.  We'll post back here soon.

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