What's fixed in the upcoming beta 5

[nicoverbruggen]

The following is a list that I'll keep updating. These changes are currently on develop for the upcoming beta 5.

Tip

Can't wait? You can try out a beta 5 candidate here: build removed due to last-minute bug discovery.

Fixes

• Fixed tapping outside the dictionary popup so it closes the popup and clears the selection without turning the page.
  (see Tapping outside the dictionary popup doesn’t close the popup #66)
• Fixed returning to your previous page after visiting a bookmark across different menu styles.
  (see Bookmark #58)
• Fixed undercounted reading time on Kobo when the device enters standby while the page remains visible.
  (see Session time show less #59)
• Added detailed reading-session start and end events to Kobo’s reading history.
  (see Kobo does not seem to log detailed reading session events when using the Kobalt reader #62)
• Fixed temporary search highlights remaining after changes to typography or page layout.
  (see Typesetting Changes After Searching for a Word Causes Visual Bug #61)
• Fixed stale PIN-screen images appearing during sleep and wake.
  (see Sleep screen shows the lock screen instead of current page #54)
• Reduced occasional page-turn stalls by moving local progress saves to a background writer and reducing unnecessary storage work.
  (see Sometimes page turning lags #67)
• Added retries for blocked progress saves after opening a book, helping Kobo’s library and sleep screen recognize the current book.
  (see Current book reading not consistently moved to top of My Books #78)
• Fixed long presses accidentally turning the page instead of opening word selection.
  (see Long-press navigation conflict, small link hitboxes, and page turn lag #80)
• Fixed Stats Mode overlapping Light, and restored the default menu view when Light closes.
  (see Default Menu style Stats - not closed when light menu selected #68)
• Fixed the default chapter graph and navigation views disappearing with annotation mode enabled.
• Added a screen refresh after dismissing footnotes to clear leftover highlight traces.
  (see Black highlight on tapped footnote leaves e-ink ghosting after closing the popup #75)
• Fixed chapter page counts when chapters share a screen.
  (see Landscape mode page numbering? #70)
• Added Russian hyphenation patterns and fixed conversion of English hyphenation exceptions.
  (see Russian hyphenation support in Kobalt #72, Odd hyphenation? #71)
• Fixed opening books whose obfuscated embedded fonts use unusual MIME labels.
• Fixed dictionary list bullets and right-to-left list markers, as well as text contrast on dictionary backgrounds.
• Fixed black-on-black buttons.
• Fixed chapter counts being hidden beside long chapter titles.
• Improved dark-mode contrast for grey text.
• Fixed issues with Android/BOOX hangs.
• Fixed the selected font’s checkmark disappearing when tapping it again.

Sync and compatibility

• Added KOsync-compatible reading-progress sync, with automatic and manual syncing, position-conflict choices, and Kobo Wi-Fi integration. Sync transfers reading positions, not books or annotations.
  (see Looking for testers to test KOReader sync before beta 5 releases #64)
• Added a Show/Hide button to password entry and fixed account editors closing during typing.
• Added Tolino progress saving and protected-book handoff for firmware 5 and 6. Broader device compatibility remains under testing.

Reading and typography

• Added optional single-tap footnotes and links, with separate choices for footnotes only or all links.
  (see Setting to make footnotes (and links) tappable by default #53)
• Added vertical page spacing options to expand line spacing or center nearly full pages, including an option to adjust only widow/orphan gaps.
  (see Add vertical justification #56, Add increased line spacing during widow/orphan protection? #52)
• Reorganized Styling settings and added rendered sample previews for typography options.
• Renamed “Smart Styling” to “Reduce publisher spacing” and added an explanation of its effects.
• Added Publisher Fonts as a default option for new books.
• Added draggable text selection for dictionary lookups, which is useful for phrases.
• Added separate dictionary font and size settings.
• Made reading-progress percentages consistent throughout the interface.

Other changes

• Added annotation exports in Markdown and HTML.
• Added a shared keyboard with a three-row alphabet layout.
• Added new sleep-screen settings and support for showing the sleep screen from Kobo’s home screen when you used Kobalt to open your last book.
• Added hardware-button pagination for lists.
• Improved the reader’s exit button.
• Reduced interface text rendering, font initialization, styling and book-closing work, along with unnecessary background updates, annotation-preview layout and page-scrubber work.