Well thought out app hindered by serious performance flaws

An extremely frustrating app to review, because it has features that could make it the industry standard comic reader, except it fails on some fundamental levels.

First, the Great: this app allows you to automatically sort your collections into folders or longboxes. Have a complete run of Action Comics? In other apps, you would have to individually select 800+ files and then move them. Here, it has a preference that will do this on import. Such a no-brainer feature, yet most other apps dont do this. It also has other advanced sorting features I havent explored, but look promising. If your digital collection is large, this app has built in features to organize quickly. And, if you add comics on a regular basis, it will automatically sort those books into existing folders on import.

Also, cover view shows covers at an adequate size (other apps will show them at such a small resolution that makes the feature useless). And in list view, it wont automatically return you to the top of the list every time (like Comic Viewer).

I was pretty much ready to make this my default cbr app - until I actually used it. The biggest issue is that it fails on something so fundamental, like turning pages. Most comic reader apps turn effortlessly with a touch of your thumb. This one seems to require a concentrated effort that is difficult and obnoxious. Its not like swiping a page on a tablet or phone; it seems like you have to press down and swipe hard, otherwise the page just bounces around stupidly in the frame. It seems like a minor criticism, but when you move through pages and books quickly, it becomes tedious and unusable. To the dev team: guys, youve got a potential industry standard app here: please look at how pages turn on electronic devices! It has a page animation option, but I cant really tell how it works because it doesnt seem to function smoothly as page turn animation in apps do. I think the team may be aware there is a problem, because another option allows you to tap on either side of the page to turn the page in that direction: fine, if youre holding your tablet robotically with both hands, but not really practical.

Another issue is that performance in general seems poor: the app struggles when scrolling though the cover view, it is jittery and clumsy, where other apps do this effortlessly. And the more covers it displays and longer it has to scroll, the more sluggish it becomes. Plus, issues that other users have mentioned in previous reviews with blurring, etc.

I will keep my eyes on this one, because one of two things are going to happen: they will improve performance to the level of other comic reader apps and this one will become king, or other apps will get on the ball and appropriate the forward thinking features of this app and leave it in the dust. Two stars - for now. But if they get this one working solid, it will be the one to beat.

flambit about Comic Zeal Comic Book Reader, v9.0.2