If you think it's bad that `break-*` isn't supported in Firefox or Chrome, wait till you see what your ebook looks like in Kindle, or worse, ADE-based readers, of which there are still many in use!
Kindle, the reading device with by far the largest market share, is basically the IE6 of ereaders - too big to ignore, and at the same time dragging down the entire ebook ecosystem with its crappy renderer. Amazon has shown little interest in improving it for over a decade now, while simultaneously fragmenting its own ecosystem with a variety of different proprietary formats that support different CSS and features.
ADE, while less common in new devices, is still very common in much older devices - B&N's eink Nooks were based on ADE at least as late as a few years ago. (Perhaps they still are?) ADE is closer to IE5 in terms of CSS support!
At Standard Ebooks we're often hamstrung in our attempts to make beautiful ebooks by these big players refusing to improve their renderers. We're forced to dumb down our CSS and use outdated techniques (like occasionally having to use tables for layout!) because ebook renderers are so bad.
iBooks is the top tier renderer, because as far as I can tell it's basically a wrapper for an up-to-date Webkit; next is Kobo - also Webkit-based - along with other Webkit-based indie apps. The rest of the big players are far, far, far distant.
The most frustrating thing is that in some areas ADE (also known as RMSDK) still has some of the best typography amongst ebook rendering engines.
Kerning? Yes. Ligatures? Of course. (Adjustable) hyphenation? Absolutely. Line breaking that's more complex than the first-fit that web browsers use? Well, yes, I think they may have borrowed it from InDesign.
And then it's let down by it's awful CSS support. No `font-variant: small-caps` for you. And your CSS had better be valid, or it will be completely ignored - that includes `!important` by the way.
Adobe essentially abandoned the RMSDK renderer, which is a real shame, because with better CSS support, it would still kick-ass.
As an aside on Kobo ereaders, they use RMSDK to open standard EPUB ebooks. Only their "Kobo EPUB" format is rendered using a webkit based engine.
I don't rate Kobo's renderer very highly. When the user turns on justifying body text, the device ends up justifying everything, including headings, and it just looks awkward.
Neat, I didn't realize Kobo was WebKit-based, but given they offer a full browser (experimentally) on their readers, that makes sense. They also support some 'nice' ePub 3 features: fixed layouts so that comic books and manga work properly; right-to-left pagination for Japanese books, and vertical layout (also for Japanese books). Though, I feel like their page numbering gets mixed up with vertical layout (sometimes opening and reopening the book changes the # of pages, and I lose my spot...)
I wrote a book a while back that for every feature has a "chapter" using the native rendering and a second version of the chapter with an improved CSS applied.
You can't, at least on Amazon. Amazon is the largest ebook market; no pdf's allowed.
You could use Gumroad or sell from your own site, but these are not attractive alternatives.
True, but if you're reading a book with equations in it, it is probably a textbook and textbooks are suited to large page, not pocketbook pages. You'd want a full size ereader anyway.
Leave the pocketbook size ereaders for the pocketbooks.
Kindle, the reading device with by far the largest market share, is basically the IE6 of ereaders - too big to ignore, and at the same time dragging down the entire ebook ecosystem with its crappy renderer. Amazon has shown little interest in improving it for over a decade now, while simultaneously fragmenting its own ecosystem with a variety of different proprietary formats that support different CSS and features.
ADE, while less common in new devices, is still very common in much older devices - B&N's eink Nooks were based on ADE at least as late as a few years ago. (Perhaps they still are?) ADE is closer to IE5 in terms of CSS support!
At Standard Ebooks we're often hamstrung in our attempts to make beautiful ebooks by these big players refusing to improve their renderers. We're forced to dumb down our CSS and use outdated techniques (like occasionally having to use tables for layout!) because ebook renderers are so bad.
iBooks is the top tier renderer, because as far as I can tell it's basically a wrapper for an up-to-date Webkit; next is Kobo - also Webkit-based - along with other Webkit-based indie apps. The rest of the big players are far, far, far distant.