Blad

Support

Stuck, found a fault, or missing something? Write to minepassord@gmail.com. We answer as soon as we can.

It helps if you say which Apple TV and tvOS version you have (Settings → General → About), where your files are stored, and what you saw on the screen. We answer in English or Norwegian.

Which files can Blad open?

If a file of one of these kinds is missing from your library, first update Blad in the App Store on your Apple TV: e-books and comics came with version 1.1, and CBR and CBT later than that. Files with copy protection (DRM) cannot be opened: an e-book that a store has locked shows up in the library, but Blad tells you it cannot be opened.

What Blad says when a file cannot be opened

Jumping far into a large CBR can take a moment the first time, because some RAR archives have to be read from the beginning.

Which sources does Blad support?

Blad reads magazines, e-books and comics from:

Blad looks through your sources for new issues by itself: when you return to the app, and while the library is on the screen, about every half hour for servers at home and every hour for OneDrive, Dropbox and pCloud. It never does so while you are reading, and not while Low Data Mode is on. Google Drive is the exception: Blad sees only the files you have picked there, so new files have to be picked. To check a source straight away, select it under Sources and choose Sync Now.

How do I add a source?

Open the Sources tab in Blad. The first time, it shows every kind of source as a tile. Later, choose Add Source in the list. Select the kind you want.

OneDrive

The TV shows a QR code and a short code. Scan the QR code with your phone, sign in with Microsoft and enter the code. If your work or school blocks this kind of sign-in, Blad tells you; use a personal account or ask your administrator.

With a work or school account, the source gets a row called Shared Libraries. It asks you to sign in with a code once more and to let Blad read the document libraries you have access to in SharePoint and Teams. After that, the folder list starts with My Files and SharePoint and Teams. If your organisation does not allow it without an administrator, Blad tells you, and your own files work as before. Files that others have shared with you one by one are not listed. We have not been able to test this with a real work account, so write to us if it does not behave as described.

Dropbox and pCloud

Scan the QR code on the TV with your phone and approve Blad on the service's own page. The TV carries on by itself a few seconds later. There is nothing to type. If your Dropbox account belongs to a team with a shared team space, the team’s folders are listed next to your own.

Google Drive

Sign in with Google using the code shown on the TV. The TV then shows a QR code that opens Google's file picker on your phone. Select the files you want to read, and they appear on the TV a few seconds later. Blad can only see the files you pick, so choose files rather than folders. To add more later, select the Google Drive source under Sources and choose Choose More Files.

Shared folder on your home network

Pick the computer or NAS from the list, or type its address, then enter the user name and password you use for file sharing there, and choose the shared folder.

Nextcloud, WebDAV and S3-compatible storage

Enter the address of the server and the user name and password (for S3: the endpoint, bucket and access keys). For Nextcloud, use an app password, which you create under Security in your Nextcloud settings.

Komga, Kavita, Calibre and Calibre-Web (OPDS Catalog)

Choose OPDS Catalog and enter the address of your server, for example 192.168.1.20:25600 or library.example.com. Blad looks where these servers keep their catalogue and tells you what it found. The same button then takes you on to choosing libraries and series.

Without https, Blad connects only to servers on your home network, and it does not accept self-signed certificates. Blad only reads from the catalogue: it downloads a title to the Apple TV when you open it, and it does not send your reading progress back to the server. Titles in a format Blad cannot open, such as MOBI, are left out, and Sources tells you how many there are. One source holds at most 1,000 titles; if your catalogue is larger, choose fewer libraries or series under Choose Folders and Files.

We built this from the servers’ own documentation and have tested it against our own test server only. If your server does not connect, write to us and say which server and version you use.

Choosing what Blad may read

After you connect, Blad shows the folders on the source. Click a folder to open it. Mark folders with the box on the right, or with Play/Pause, and mark single files with a click. The panel on the right always shows what you have marked, and the button there puts it to use. You can also use everything on the source.

To change this later, remove a source or sign in again, select the source under Sources. Its details and actions appear on the right.

How do I change the password for a source?

For a shared folder, Nextcloud, WebDAV, S3-compatible storage and OPDS catalogues: select the source under Sources and choose Edit Sign-In. The user name is filled in. Enter the new password, and Blad tries it against the server before anything is saved. The source keeps its folders, its covers, the files you have downloaded and your place in every title. If the server has rejected the old password, Sign In on the source opens the same screen.

OneDrive, Dropbox, Google Drive and pCloud have no password in Blad. If one of them asks you to sign in again, follow the message on the source.

How do I send files from my phone?

  1. Open the Sources tab on the Apple TV and select Upload. If you already have sources, select Apple TV Storage and then Upload from your phone or computer. The TV shows a QR code and an address.
  2. Make sure your phone or computer is on the same network as the Apple TV. Scan the QR code, or type the address into a browser.
  3. Choose the files: PDF, EPUB, CBZ or CBR. They go straight to the Apple TV and appear in your library.
  4. Leave the screen open on the TV until everything has been sent.

Upload takes magazines and documents in PDF, e-books in EPUB and comics in CBZ and CBR. Blad looks at what a file contains, not at its name, and turns away what it cannot read, with a message on the phone: copy-protected e-books, archives with a password, and archives with anything but pictures in them. The files never pass through the internet. They are kept in the app's cache on the Apple TV, which tvOS can clear when the device runs low on space, so keep your originals. Under Apple TV Storage you can see the uploaded files and delete them.

On iPad you do the same from Sources → Add Source → Upload from your phone or computer. There the files stay in the app until you delete them. If the files are already on your iPad or in iCloud Drive, it is easier to choose Add Files from Files.

How do I show only magazines, books or comics?

On Apple TV, the filter row at the top of Library has a chip called All Types as soon as your library holds more than one kind. Click it and choose Magazines, Books or Comics. Everything shows the whole library again. Blad remembers the choice on that Apple TV. If you send in a file of a kind the filter is hiding, Blad sets the filter back to All Types, so you can see what you just added.

How do I zoom in closer on Apple TV?

A click always takes you one step in, and Back one step out.

  1. From the spread, click once. The page fills the width of the TV (Page Width).
  2. Click again. Blad asks Show This Page as Text? with three choices: Zoom Closer, Show Text and Cancel. Show Text is selected, so press left and click to choose Zoom Closer. On a page with no text, such as a comic or a scan, there is no question: the click zooms straight in.
  3. Click again to go closer still, up to eight times the size of the whole spread. Blad draws the page again at each step, so it stays sharp.

When you are closer than Page Width, the arrows move you around the page, and past an edge you carry on onto the next page. The mini map shows where you are. Wide pages, such as slides and drawings, are shown one per screen instead of two side by side, and there the first click goes straight to the closer view.

Why can a page not be shown as text?

Text mode shows a page's text in one comfortable column: press Play/Pause on a page, or choose Show Text. It works on every tvOS version Blad runs on. What it needs is a page with real text in it:

Why does the screen saver wait while I read?

Reading means long stretches without touching the remote, so Blad on Apple TV keeps the screen awake while a magazine, a book or a comic is open: for 30 minutes after your last press or swipe. After that, the times you have set in tvOS Settings for the screen saver and sleep apply again, so an Apple TV left with a magazine open still goes to sleep. The setting is called Keep Screen Awake and is on to begin with. Turn it off with ▼ in the reader, or under Settings in Blad.

Is there Blad for iPad?

It is on its way: the iPad version has been sent to Apple and will be in the App Store once it is approved. Blad for iPad has the same library and the same sources, and one purchase covers both Apple TV and iPad. With iCloud sync on, your sources and your place follow you between them. Like the Apple TV version, it reads magazines in PDF, e-books in EPUB and comics in CBZ.

On iPad you swipe to turn the page, and pinch or double-tap to zoom. Turn the iPad on its side to see whole spreads. One tap on the page shows the tools, with the page strip and text mode. When you sign in to a cloud service, the sign-in opens in a window on top of the app, and it closes by itself when you are done.

What is the small map at the bottom left?

When you have zoomed in on a page, the mini map shows the whole page with a frame around what you can see. It steps aside by itself when you are at the bottom of the page, so it does not cover the last lines. If you do not want it, turn it off: on Apple TV with ▼ from a spread (or under Settings), and on iPad under Settings → Magazine Reader.

How do I use bookmarks and search in e-books?

On Apple TV, everything is on the remote:

Comics open in the same reader as magazines: left and right turn the page, a click zooms to the width of the page and then closer, and up shows all the pages.

On iPad (coming soon), tap the page once to bring up the tools.

At the bottom you see the time left in the chapter, worked out from your own reading speed, and the page number from the printed book when the book has one. The Apple TV shows the time left in the chapter at the bottom as well. Highlights and notes are made on iPad.

How do I restore my purchase?

In Blad, open Settings, select Full version and then Restore purchase. Make sure the Apple TV is signed in with the same Apple Account you bought Blad with. You do not pay again. If the purchase is not found, write to us and we will help.

Refunds are handled by Apple at reportaproblem.apple.com.

How do I withdraw Blad's access to my cloud storage?

First remove the source in Blad (Sources, select the source, remove it). That deletes the sign-in key and everything Blad has cached from it on the Apple TV. Then withdraw the access at the service itself:

More about what Blad stores, and where, is in the privacy policy.