DTTG PDF 'stability' in use

DEVONthink To Go
1

I see from a previous thread on bookmarking that this is not possible to bookmark a PDF DTTG. This is problematic if, like me, you want to use DTTG (on iPad) as your primary environment for reading and notetaking on PDF texts – books, academic articles, etc. This query is not a whinge, but has two aspects: first, a feature request, and second, to ask whether there are good workarounds, or indeed features, that I have missed.

To be clear, by ‘stability’, I do not mean crashing, but rather the displayed page moving elsewhere in the document for no good reason. The experience is the opposite of robust and dependable.

Use experience:
I have long used GoodReader (GR) for reading on iPad, which is very ‘stable’ – you can rely on it to display the same page as last viewed, when swapping between apps, changing orientation, quitting the app, etc. Rock solid. GR also allows for adding bookmarks. This is really useful for PDFs that are scans – it allows you to create a document structure to help navigate. It also has robust navigation back and forth to previously viewed pages. Clearly, having bought into DT as the centre of my workflow, I would like DTTG to offer the same stability.

DTTG however is not ‘stable’ in this sense. The current page moves, often advancing by ten pages. The only way I can manage this is by highlighting some text when I stop reading, and finding it again when I resume reading. But of course that is not always possible.

So, first, is this ‘stability’ of use issue on the radar for feature improvement? And, second, have I missed anything that would help within the current set of features?

Thanks in advance for any help on this.

2

In my experience, those unwanted scrolls come from unnoticed touches in the tiny page representation popover in the bottom or the left side scroll areas. Disable “Show quick navigation” in PDF options to a better experience.

You can have internal application links. Select a text and scroll the context menu and you can get a link. What I don’t know is if those work outside of the application.

And I do the same in relation to reading point, but not because DTTG lose it, but because I use to read in Windows/Android and need a “universal stop reading position”.

3

DTTG however is not ‘stable’ in this sense. The current page moves, often advancing by ten pages.

@rfog’s assessment is valid. There is no inherent instability in PDFs and navigation you’re describing would be incredibly unusual if it happened spontaneously. If this is consitently reproducible, please provide a screencast or step to reproduce it.

Also, there is no standard for PDF bookmarks, including not in GoodReader. Apps implement their own method, if they choose, but that doesn’t make them accessible across applications.

4

Thank you both for taking the time to comment – the responsiveness of this community is so great!

@rfog I don’t think the jumping issue is from touching the page representation popover – I’m familiar with that problem (which is also annoying); but I have disabled as suggested and will see whether the behaviour changes.

Thank you for the internal application link suggestion, which definitely helps with links back and forth from chapter headings to table of contents, etc. For the record, I found this does work outside of DT/DTTG – on GoodReader and Preview at least. So that’s good.

@BLUEFROG For my use, the bookmarks issue wouldn’t need to work outside DT/DTTG. The ideal would be to be able somehow to add items into the document outline of an existing pdf. Is that sort of thing possible outside of DT?

I will look more closely at the jumping behaviour. I suspect it’s to do with display settings and changing orientation. I have had display set to ‘Continuous’; if I then rotate the screen from portrait to landscape, after a few repeats the zoom reduces to a minimum, after which the page number advances by two pages with each move from portrait to landscape to portrait. This doesn’t happen when ‘Continuous’ is off. Could something similar be happening when DTTG is in the background?

I will dig some more, and will either report back, or if the display settings doesn’t resolve then do a screen recording if I can replicate.

5

You’re welcome!

Could something similar be happening when DTTG is in the background?

If it did, that would be a serious bug, unless… if you are syncing with a Mac – syncing reading positions – and working with the document in both DEVONthink and DEVONthink To Go, then the pages would change upon syncing.

The ideal would be to be able somehow to add items into the document outline of an existing pdf. Is that sort of thing possible outside of DT?

No, you can’t add or modify a PDF’s outline or table of contents.

6

I am syncing reading positions with a Mac, but I am reading on one or the other. I’m sure this isn’t a result of having gone to a different page on one platform and then finding the page shifted on the other.

I will try to replicate – will likely be a few days.

7

I remember the rotation issue, happened some versions ago but I think it was resolved. I will test when at home. Do you have the latest DTTG version?

Edit to add:
@BLUEFROG The rotation issue is here!! It happens in my iPhone, set to Continuous, scroll vertical, single page, and both fit width and automatic, go to middle of a PDF in portrait, then landscape, then portrait and the PDF has gone to first page.

8

Thanks! I will reopen the issue on this.

1 Like
9

Good to know, thank you.

1 Like
10

I have also noticed issues when leaving and returning to the DTTP app:

  1. sometimes the reading position jumps two pages forward.

  2. Occasionally, when returning to DTTG, the app forgets which PDF was open, resulting in no open document and the group/database being deselected.

These issues occur sporadically, a few times per week. I am using the latest official version of iOS and DTTG, and I frequently switch between landscape and portrait modes.

1 Like