Use Dropbox as a cloud bookshelf for Stanza

Posted by: nizejpodpisany

Date: July 26, 2010

By now Stanza is the most robust e-reading application for iOS. It’s packed with features other apps, like Kindle or iBooks are missing. However it has one big disadvantage: no cloud-based bookshelf.

The application is associated to a device not an account. There is no way to sync books and bookmarks like in Kindle. It’s fine when you have one device. Things get complicated to those iPhone or iPod Touch users who are buying iPads. They realize that to read books they collected in Stanza, they need to download them again.

There are a few ways to transfer books to Stanza. I’d like to add to the list a simple solution, which gives at least part of cloud bookshelf functionality. It’s Dropbox (AppStore link), an application available for both iPhone and iPad. Sure, no sync is possible, but at least you can manage you book library from a single place.

This is possible with a recent update of Dropbox. You are able to export documents to other apps, even those ones which can’t be opened by Dropbox itself – like ePub. Please note in the screenshots below, that ePub files can be opened only by Stanza, and pdf files – by Stanza and iBooks.

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Tags: books, cellphone, cloud, Dropbox, e-books, features, iPad, iPhone, list, mobile reading, recommended, Stanza, tip

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Tweets that mention Use Dropbox as a cloud bookshelf for Stanza | Password Incorrect -- Topsy.com says:

27.07.2010 at 12:21

[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Piotr Kowalczyk, Piotr Kowalczyk. Piotr Kowalczyk said: Helpful tip for Stanza users » Use Dropbox as a cloud bookshelf for Stanza http://ow.ly/2gOlU #iPhone #iPad #ebooks [...]
iBooks: how to add books without connecting to iTunes | Password Incorrect says:

28.07.2010 at 09:12

[...] you can open it and look for the document previously uploaded from a computer. In the recent update Dropbox added a possibility to open documents in third-party applications. Opening pdf documents from [...]
Great Locations to Discover Excellent Bargains on Used Books | Pregnancy Info Center says:

28.07.2010 at 12:01

[...] Use Dropbox as a cloud bookshelf for Stanza | Password Incorrect [...]
iBooks: how to add books without connecting to iTunes | The Digital Reader says:

28.07.2010 at 16:54

[...] you can open it and look for the pdf previously uploaded from a computer. In a latest update Dropbox added a possibility to open documents in third-party applications. Opening pdf documents from [...]
Aplikacje książkowe na iOS: Kindle, iBooks, Stanza – porównanie funkcji | Password Incorrect says:

29.07.2010 at 11:49

[...] AppStore link :: Podstawowym mankamentem jest brak wirtualnej półki. Nie ma co się dziwić. Aby korzystać z aplikacji użytkownik nie musi się nigdzie logować, tak więc książki pobrane na Stanzę w iPhonie pozostają tylko na tym urządzeniu. Jeśli ktoś kupi iPhone’a 4, będzie musiał wprowadzić je od nowa. Sposobem na przeniesienie biblioteki w chmurę, a co za tym idzie dostęp do niej z kilku urządzeń, jest Dropbox. [...]