Hey guys, I am noticing that the book updates are only in ePub format and not in pdf which is what I use. Is this just an oversight or did something happen? I use kindle across my PC and Mac and obviously ePub is not supported so this would be a real show stopper for meā¦
Thanks in advance.
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Folks who buy books individually now have two ways they can read our books: using the ePub file format (viewable on Mac with iBooks or many other ePub readers), or via our websiteās online book reader (example book here). We think the book reading experience between ePub and our online book reader is pretty nice and solves most of the use cases.
I encourage you to give our new online book reader a try with your book. Iāve been using it myself to read a bunch of the books and itās now my preferred way to read our books - you might like it!
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Ok thanks, yeah not a fan of the online readers, ( just personal preference ) and standardized on MOBI years ago to make sure I could access all my books from my Windows and Macs. Iāll see if there is some way to convert them since it is a showstopper for me.
Thanks for getting back to me.
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I have to agree with pavelar. PDF has always been my choice of format, to the point that I wonāt purchase technical content that isnāt available in PDF. Apart from being PDF being true multi-platform, Preview is very mature and feature rich while Appleās ePub reader is focused on reading novels rather than technical books and papers. I only use MacOS Books for managing my library.
The online book reader here is probably the slickest online reader Iāve seen, but I donāt like being beholden to a site for content Iāve purchased outright. I find browser readers are less pleasant under some conditions such as skimming books or browser crashes, searching, site uniqueness, etc. They are also incompatible with things like globals searches of my computer or library for specific content. Unfortunately itās akin to need to check multiple streaming services when you want to watch a specific movie - everything becomes itās own walled garden. Hence they are conducive to situations where someone doesnāt have an extensive library from a variety of places.
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I donāt get it. Is it a problem for you to make PDF version as it used to be for years? What kind of technical / business problem is that?
I donāt like to use your (or any other) online reader. Reading in Apple Books is almost convenient, but only for regular text.
I have all āprofessional booksā in iOS/Swift category here. Youāve decided to make all-in-one subscription, so I guess any sale events will be focused on the subscriptions only. No books on sale anymore. We all need to live from something, thatās fine. So right now I know I will need to spend $74 for each additional book (23% VAT in Poland) and yeahā¦ I can eventually live with that. But despite that, why donāt you ask people about their preferences? Some of us love your brand new online reader, some donāt.
So, please rethink your decision about PDF format, unless there is some very important business reason behind that decision, then wellā¦ another thing I will need to get used toā¦
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If you still havenāt solved your problem, use calibre app. Itās easy to convert ePub to MOBI or pdf there. calibre - Download calibre
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I agree, PDF is my preferred offline reading experience. Especially while commuting.
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I have to agree that it is hard to understand why you would stop providing the books in the most versatile and portable format. I consider it a significant downgrading of the value of Ray Wenderlich products.
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Very bad decision in my opinion. I despise, loathe, and canāt stand the ePub format. I want books that are formatted to look JUST LIKE print books. Tablet and computer screens are much larger than they used to be, and the reason for reflowable content is outdated and inane. Very sad customer here.
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This is a step back for me as well. Is there any concrete reason why PDF is no longer supported?
The ePub format is a no-go for me due to itās limitations and the webpage solution requires an internet connection. Iāll will have to sadly reconsider were I buy books in the future.
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For travel, this is the best option.
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Iām also a fan of the PDF version. I tend to keep PDF files on my DropBox so that they are accessible on every device and from everywhere.
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I donāt understand the āencouragementā to try the new online book reader. Is this one of those management speaks way of talking where you really are saying you wonāt produce it in PDF ever again?
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If you find a good source for books please post it. Maybe thereās a new Ray Wenderlich out there. I recommend Books Ā· objc.io . They support PDF, ePub, and Kindle.
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Actually I just now use https://pragprog.com/ , they produce good programming books in all three formats so everyone is covered.
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Ray,
I find it ironic that what āyour people thinkā seems to veto what paying customers WANT. 
When I click the āDownload Materialsā link I find BOTH ePub and PDF book formats.
Thanks for keeping PDF and giving customers the freedom to choose.
Cheers
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The only available downloadable e-book format for āApple Augmented Reality by Tutorialsā is epub. I donāt care much for either online reading or ePub format. I like to heavily comment my ebooks (e.g. even pasting in figures). Only the pdf format offers this. Not offering the pdf format like in the past is a decrease in the quality of the customer experience. I have tried to convert the epub version to a pdf using a couple of tools (e.g. using Calibre). It failed twice. I am not in an happy place.
Regards
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I just noticed that only OLDER book versions are bundled with the PDF but they have stopped supporting PDF for newer material. 
I will NEVER buy a book from this site UNLESS it comes in PDF.
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I also prefer the PDF format. Please support again the PDF format!.
I also did not buy books anymore without PDF format.
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I generally prefer ePub, but there are times PDF would be handy (For instance MarginNote has some additional features with PDFs over ePub, thankfully it does work with both formats).