Fixed Layout ePub Interactivity not working in Google Play Books

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    • #85122

      Hi All, I am very new to this. I have created a sample of a book with some interactivity – quiz questions in CC 2015. When I use the Publish Online option everything works. When I export to EPUB (Fixed Layout) and then view on my ipad it also works. The problem is that when I view it on my Samsung phone in Google Play books it doesn’t. The book opens and is easy to navigate but everytime I tap the answer for one of the quiz questions it just moves to the next page. Is there something I can do to fix this. Will there be similar issues on other devices? Thanks for any help you can give.

    • #85123
      Ken Jones
      Member

      Hi Jennifer

      The Fixed Layout EPUB3 standard *allows* some really cool features to be included in a valid EPUB3.
      However… not all device and reader makers can/will support them.

      It is obviously not an ideal situation and the https://epubtest.org attempts the unenviable task of keeping track of who supports what to make sense of all the different support but in the fast paced world of digital publishing it can be found to be dated and patchy…

      In short though:

      Apple iBooks and Readium are the one ones with best support for most features.
      Adobe Digital Editions and Kobo are usually quite good too and worth a look.
      Google Play supports the ‘simple’ stuff quite well, such as displaying pages but can’t handle much animation or any audio, video or read-aloud media overlays.
      And if you are looking for any Amazon support for this kind of stuff – forget it!

      Hope that helps…
      Ken

      Ken Jones
      Director
      Circular Software Limited
      circularsoftware.com
      CircularFLO – make read-aloud EPUBs from $99

    • #85124

      Hi Ken Thank you for your informative and very fast response. I thought I had read somewhere that EPUB3 would work on all devices – but now I understand that is not quite the case. I am at a loss now to now how to progress with this project which was to create an interactive (eg quizzes, videos, scrolling pictures) ebook that could be used on most devices.

    • #85125
      Ken Jones
      Member

      Hi Jennifer

      Yes, I feel your pain. Unfortunately it’s not that easy :(

      My prediction is that the web will be the final resting place for interactive ebook readers…

      My company’s software CircularFLO http://www.circularflo.com will allow you to publish an interactive fixed layout EPUBs to the web e.g. https://bit.ly/1Qm6HZv

      At the moment this does require your readers to be online though… Let me know if that approach is suitable.

      Thanks
      Ken

    • #85228

      Thanks Ken – it looks very interesting but I am not a MAC user.

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