This Is Great Software!

Apple has been listening to feedback and dramatically improving iBooks Author. It is a delight to use this software, as it’s been a challenge to find a decent ePub editor. For a while, this software wasn’t the right solution. But now with the new ePub template, it’s great.

With this software, I can create books for iPhone, iPad and Mac. The advantage of using this, instead of building an app, is that it’s easier. It’s also nicer for customers. Only one purchase is needed. They don’t need to buy one app for OS X and another for iOS.

I’m busy working on “A Book About Hype”. If you’re not aware of this application, it’s a great companion for iBooks Author. Interactive widgets, built with HTML5, can be placed inside of the book. It’s like living in the future. Books can become more engaging and interactive. It’s a great way to teach complex ideas. Videos can be added too.

The software feels more stable too. I’ve been using the app pretty heavily, but I don’t remember the last time it crashed. And with automatic saving, I can just restart my computer and pickup pretty much right where I left off.

Hype, Pixelmator, iDraw and iBooks. These are reasons to own a Mac. It’s publishing in the modern age, but it’s fairly inexpensive – and iBooks is a free download. My six year old Mac Mini is still rocking! So if you’ve been thinking about publishing that book that has been stuck in your head all those years, Apple has created a massive opportunity with iTunes and iBooks.

There is room for improvement though. The software should work with iCloud – work on the iPad (like Pages) or work online. Even just quick backups would be an improvement. Also, the grammar check is excessive. Interface and parameter are computer terms. iBooks Author doesn’t need to highlight them with dotted green lines. I don’t like the floating Inspector window or the Paragraph pane. I feel like the application should just be one window, not a combination of three types of windows. Also, it should support responsive HTML widgets. Hype has the ability to create flexable and responsive layouts. Unfortunately, they don’t display properly in iBooks. So, I’ve been using fixed width widgets that run on the page. I’m not sure why Apple can scale a widget when it’s on a page, but not when its in fullscreen mode.

I still think It’s a 5-star app though. For years, I was stuck trying to publish The Interactive Stencyl Textbook. But with iBooks Author, the pages flowed like water. I prefer ePub over iBooks Author templates (.ibooks files) though. I find that ePub is less restrictive and has better compatibility.

Photics about iBooks Author