Kobo Promises to Fix eBook Download Issue
Kobo has officially commented today on the 4 plus year old issue of Kobo customers not being able to download their purchases.
According to Kobo CTO Trevor Hunter, a fix is in the works:
Kobo’s mandate of allowing people to read anytime, anywhere, on any platform remains unchanged. We are aware of the issue where a small percentage of books are not able to be backed up, and are working quickly to resolve it. We are currently working on other enhancements that will further embrace our open platform concept, which will give customers ever more options as it relates to reading and the backing up of ePub files.
Considering that this has been an issue for the entire 4 plus years I have been a Kobo customer, I am pleased to see that Kobo is finally addressing it.
Let’s hope they come up with a permanent solution, because over the past few months there have been an increasing number of complaints about this problem. And to make matters worse, Kobo CS has described this issue not as a problem but as a feature. According to second hand reports from several sources, the reason people cannot download the ebooks is that they are Epub3 format. (This issue existed long before Epub3, so that is probably nonsense.)
There has been no pattern to the ebooks that are afflicted, with both DRMed ebooks and even DRM-free titles from Tor Books blocked from being downloaded at Kobo but still readily downloadable at other ebookstores.
There have in fact been so many complaints that yesterday I was inspired to post a solution in the form of a calibre plugin which stripped the DRM from your Kobo purchases, converted them to standard Epub, and loaded them into your calibre library.
Isn’t it a shame that DRM made it necessary to jump throw hoops just so we could read the ebooks in the app we prefer?
image by clarle
Comments
JSWolf September 26, 2014 um 7:34 pm
There is one noticeable pattern that I have seen. Tor is now releasing their new ePub in ePub 3 and Kobo is seeing this and converting them to kepub. Just take a look at the books [i]Unlocked[/i] and [i]Lock In[/i]. Both by Tor and both ePub 3. They have been converted to kepub. I’ve also checked out some samples of two other recently published Tor eBooks and they too are kepub (no Adobe ePub DRM mentioned next to these sampmles).
DNSB September 27, 2014 um 1:07 am
Strictly speaking, since the Scalzi books were not DRMed, you did not need to strip the DRM. Originally obok would only show kepubs that were DRMed, the lastest version will show all kepubs and simply rename the non-DRMed files to a human readable name to make it easier to decide which ebooks you wanted to work with.
bangbango September 27, 2014 um 3:06 am
Yeah seems to me there is an ePub3 pattern but it is one pattern among others, as stated by JSWolf.
As far as I know—and it has been confirmed by others—, ePub3 depends on kepub as it triggers the ePub3 engine on Kobo devices. Let’s imagine that for some reason, they know the ePub 3 files they have to manage are problematic and don’t want to provide with the file because they can have problems—read on ePub2 engine on Kobo devices and bugs elsewhere. That would make extra customer service.
But that’s not I think the most important point as regards ePub3.
Did Adobe support ePub3 with DRM? My educated guess is that now that Content server is ePub3 compatible, it makes the fix a lot easier to Kobo.
What if they decided to manage ePub3 files as a "batch", no matter they had DRM or not? That would mean all ePub3 files would be converted to kepub and not available as ePub because people would not be able to read the DRMed files. A lot of extra customer service once again. Simply would have Kobo chosen to not treat DRM-free ePub3 files as an exception.
And there is more: how many publishers actually make kepub only files? I mean, they are providing Amazon with an ePub file, something which definitely compelled Big AZ to develop better support for ePub in its own tools.
My belief is that this DL problem popped up because of ePub3, even if it has already been here because of kepub only files.
Dear Author said you could DL ePub3 files but I’m still waiting for a confirmation. ATM, no one has been able to confirm the DL of an ePub3 file—AFAIK. Now, all files I know of to be ePub3 files can’t be downloaded as ePub, they are only available as kepub, which could be a coincidence but that makes a lot of files.
So I’m possibly wrong but I would not say this ePub3 stuff is nonsense, I’d rather call it an "additional layer of complexity", or ALoC.
JSWolf September 27, 2014 um 7:09 am
These ePub 3 are not problematic at all when used with ADE. They do not use any features specific to ePub 3 that would not work in an ePub 2 renderer.
As for the DRM, it’s a moot point as Tor has no DRM. But if you get any of these ePub 3 from Overdrive, you get them with standard Adept time limited DRM. ADE 2 can handle these ePub 3 (with or without DRM) no problem at all.
It doesn’t matter about the DRM. Kobo has taken over from Sony and a lot of people if they buy one of these kepub eBooks, they will have trouble doing anything with them. It is not that easy to go from kepub to getting the eBook on a Sony Reader and functional so it can properly be read.
Kaetrin September 27, 2014 um 9:08 am
You can download Tor books in ePub at other etailers (eg ebooks.com). Commenters here have said new Tor books are uploaded in epub3. The problem isn’t epub3, it’s what *Kobo* does with epub3. As far as I know, epub3 books can be downloaded from other sites without a problem.
Dave September 27, 2014 um 10:26 am
Kobo better keep their remaining customers happy after alienating all the users that now can’t use their desktop application. Another nail in the coffin.
JSWolf September 27, 2014 um 10:21 pm
Who cannot use Kobo Desktop?
Nate Hoffelder September 27, 2014 um 10:25 pm
WinXP users, I think.
JSWolf September 27, 2014 um 10:54 pm
The same people who cannot run Calibre 2.1 or later. They need to upgrade. Plain and simple.
Dave September 30, 2014 um 5:07 pm
Yes millions of people have the money readily at hand to upgrade to brand news PC’s. Real simple…not!!!
Michael W. Perry September 28, 2014 um 12:58 pm
Quote: "Considering that this has been an issue for the entire 4 plus years I have been a Kobo customer, I am pleased to see that Kobo is finally addressing it."
Yes, nothing seems to motivate corporate executives like bad press. They’ll put up with all sorts of failings but not that.
Ready to give up on Kobo September 29, 2014 um 8:40 pm
Starting in July I have not been able to download more and more books. The first time I reported it Kobo "help" said they credited my credit card – which was not true. It’s very frustrating because they keep asking me what books – surely they can see what books do not have a download option. The other frustrating aspect is not being able to communicate with anyone by text or phone. I wouldn’t be surprised if this situation doesn’t go down in history as one of the worst ways to treat good customers. -Ready to give up on Kobo
JSWolf September 30, 2014 um 8:53 am
If you live in North America you can try and contact Kobo with these methods:
Phone: 1-855-732-3662
E-Mail: [email protected]
leslie Morrell January 12, 2015 um 8:13 pm
Don’t bother calling the number, it tells you to do to the kobo help above
Kobo Resolves Download Issue – The Digital Reader October 28, 2014 um 11:10 pm
[…] of which, if you find that you still have ebooks with no download option there is a solution. You’ll first have to download the ebook with the Kobo for PC app, and then you can use a […]
ricky roark December 25, 2014 um 3:35 pm
I wanted to just say we turned our kobo on and it stated update needed when the update was installed it lost everything and locked the ereader up I payed a lot of money for this for my wife at Christmas and I have had no luck with fixing it and I am pissed and going to advise everybody I can not to buy one
bountydoon January 10, 2015 um 10:54 pm
I also will advise people not to buy KOBO.
Having bought one at Christmas I could have read 5 paperbacks in the time I have wasted trying to download books
Lucy February 18, 2015 um 9:51 am
can l obtain replacement parts i.e. navigation tab rubber covering, anywhere?
canuck May 25, 2015 um 9:54 pm
Yup … kobo has decided for whatever reason to continue to have us do updates that then wipe out everything in the libraries. We’ve now changed to regular tablets and manage to download anything we want when and where we want without any hassles. See ya Kobo .. and oh yeah, if you want a customer referral please let me know … I’d be happy to talk to prospective customers!!!
koboreader September 17, 2015 um 5:36 am
Well it looks like KOBO has reactivated the problem with downloading books to ADE. Now they simply just return you to the home page. This company really needs to get it’s act together. Either stop tinkering or give your clients the choice to reject the updates.