Experience with Bookends versus ReadCube Papers
Posted: Sun Mar 28, 2021 9:33 am
I had a moment to compare working in Bookends to working in ReadCube Papers. The friction for me to do certain things in Bookends became glaring. Here are some examples:
* Try sorting a list in the main panel to bring to the top only those files that have attachments or not. → NOT POSSIBLE
* Try selecting a set of references in the main panel and exporting them as a .bib file using a context menu. → NOT POSSIBLE (you have to select files that you want, mark them, and the use a menu option to export the hit list).
* Try shifting the columns in the panel to re-organize them (e.g. as possible in Numbers) —> NOT POSSIBLE.
* Try figuring out whether the paperclip icon in Bookends means there is a valid attachment or there once was an attachment (but it is not here and you will have to go find it manually … (in a second window somewhere else)).
The power of having exhaustive preference settings, editable templates, and AppleScript support is now running aground of the difficulty to do routine tasks within the UI/UX. The one possible remaining advantage for me to continue to use Bookends versus Papers is the ability to split my extensive database into individual libraries to work on my iPad. But even this is washed out with the sync speeds that Papers was able to sustain.
I might hope from this report that thoughts can be given to finding effective ways to improve the UI/UX in Bookends in order to reduce friction.
* Try sorting a list in the main panel to bring to the top only those files that have attachments or not. → NOT POSSIBLE
* Try selecting a set of references in the main panel and exporting them as a .bib file using a context menu. → NOT POSSIBLE (you have to select files that you want, mark them, and the use a menu option to export the hit list).
* Try shifting the columns in the panel to re-organize them (e.g. as possible in Numbers) —> NOT POSSIBLE.
* Try figuring out whether the paperclip icon in Bookends means there is a valid attachment or there once was an attachment (but it is not here and you will have to go find it manually … (in a second window somewhere else)).
The power of having exhaustive preference settings, editable templates, and AppleScript support is now running aground of the difficulty to do routine tasks within the UI/UX. The one possible remaining advantage for me to continue to use Bookends versus Papers is the ability to split my extensive database into individual libraries to work on my iPad. But even this is washed out with the sync speeds that Papers was able to sustain.
I might hope from this report that thoughts can be given to finding effective ways to improve the UI/UX in Bookends in order to reduce friction.