This week, Adobe reviewed its latest release of the Adobe Digital Publishing Suite to partners and customers. Here are some of the new or updated items:
Filters
The Viewer Builder now contains options for enabling filters in the Adobe Content Viewer. Filters are accessible via a funnel icon in the upper right-hand corner of the HUD (heads-up display) and will allow a user to select one or more defined categories for viewing. The example Adobe shared filtered seasonal releases of a publication: Spring, Summer, Winter, and Fall. Filters will be configurable within the built-in store library and the custom library, and will be an available option for iPad, iPhone, and Android, at both Pro and Enterprise levels.
Custom Library APIs
Expanded custom library APIs that support iPhone, iPad, and Android will now be available, for Enterprise customers only. This feature was tested with a few sites in Version 21 and is now fully enabled in Version 22. Details for its use can be found at the DPS Developer Center.
Android Improvements—UI
With the expanding list and varied sizes of Android devices, especially in the 7-in. 1280 x 800 form factor, UI icons for the DPS HUD were just a bit too small. This release bumps up the size of the icons and UI to make them more usable.
Android Improvements—Strict Renditions
With the last update, we heard that there were some improvements planned to help deliver the appropriate rendition to Android devices of varying sizes. This version delivers on that, providing the option to target different sizes to different devices, or to stick with the current method of downloading and adapting one of the four device sizes to the closest available match.
Two-Finger Swipe
This is a great navigational enhancement, so when you update your app, be sure to let your readers know that this is available! For those articles within an issue or app that are flattened and scroll side-to-side rather than vertically as a stack, a two-finger swipe will allow a user to jump to the start of the next article. A simple adjustment that adds great value, this enhancement will be available for iPad and iPhone.
Other Navigational Enhancements
- Auto-rotation of full-screen videos
- Hotzone behavior improvements
- An option to automatically hide scrollbars when not actively scrolling
- An option to hide the title bar in viewer web slots
Social Sharing
You may remember that this feature launched in v19 for Facebook, with additional enhancements in v20. The latest release offers enhancements for the iPad and iPhone, for both Pro and Enterprise customers. Included is the ability to view shared content from any iOS device and the Web Viewer. Shared files now reference the overall issue file rather than a specific article or rendition. This addresses a previous limitation related to renditions that restricted sharing.
Web Viewer
The Web Viewer is obviously a key component in making social sharing successful, in addition to its intended function as a customer acquisition mechanism. In this release, the ability to view PDF folios is not yet supported. The good news is that scrollable frames now are. This release also brings more functionality around the ability to limit downloads that come from the Web Viewer. This means that a publisher can effectively manage how many downloads it allocates for soliciting new purchases via the Web Viewer experience in order to manage overall download costs.
Downloads
Pro and Enterprise customers should begin to see their download counters activated within the DPS dashboard. This activation should be complete across all sites shortly. In addition, Adobe will begin to enforce depleted downloads and expired contracts, shutting down accounts that are not replenished or renewed on a timely basis.
China Distribution
Distribution to the China market was reviewed in the last release update, and since then some pilot testing has been conducted with Condé Nast and Trend. So far, results are promising, and this ability is expected to be available to more sites by year’s end. Any sites looking to distribute to China must obtain a GAAP license from the Chinese government, which can take several months. Let us know if you have an interest in pursuing, this and we can work with Adobe to hammer out the details.
And Then…There’s v23
Here’s what’s expected, but not promised, in the next release. This list has been a work in progress over the last four releases, and the product team is excited about seeing these put in place!
Sections
The new sections feature will allow an issue to be broken down into sections in order to optimize downloading and viewing of a folio. This could be used for the news or business sections of a magazine or newspaper, for example. Any section download counts toward an issue download, but subsequent sections within an issue do not count, since it considers that issue to be already downloaded. The ability to utilize sections will be available to both Pro and Enterprise users.
Additional Viewer Options
- Enable hotzone to activate HUD
- Always display the HUD
- A prompt for opting out of analytics (tailored for German requirements)
- String customization via Viewer Builder for error messages or prompts (Wendy T—this one’s for you!)
- Auto-launch of newly downloaded folios to quickly view new issues
Overlay Improvements
- Add hyperlinks to named stacks (iPad and iPhone)
- Allow audio to play in the background while continuing to move on to other pages, and allow HUD to stop the music if desired (iPad only)
- Disable playable controls on inline video (iPad only)
Analytics Improvements
- Support for tracking of the reader device and OS
- Comparison of screen size and device demographics
- More detail on video consumption: duration, completion status, completion time
- URL navigation tracking—what’s been clicked on and opened in the browser
- Tracking of how many readers read and finish an article
Web Viewer Improvements
- PDF in Web Viewer, auto-convert to PNG to resolve current viewing issue
- Support for IE10 and Windows 8
- Woodwing toolbar is deeper than standard DPS, so folios created in that environment are shorter; this should be corrected in v23
- Support for direct entitlement in Web Viewer
Single Edition in Creative Cloud
- Support for a streamlined workflow and app creation in Creative Cloud
- General UI improvements to reduce potential errors
Multi-Res PDF folios
- One PDF folio will be able to target Retina and non-Retina displays
- Eliminate need to create renditions
- PDF rendering for slideshows and scrollable frames
- Retina and non-Retina asset support, including pan and zoom, image sequencing, and video buttons
Posted by: tfpadmin