What's new in CLZ Books?
No new features here, but an important improvement to an existing one: the CLZ Cloud syncing. Our mobile developers Pim and Bernard have implemented three changes that will make the down-syncing of new items from the CLZ Cloud to your app a LOT faster!
- The syncing now down-syncs the *data* first, while queuing the *image* downloads. This will make the data sync super fast.
- Downloading the images is much quicker too, especially on fast connections, as it downloads multiple images at the same time.
- As soon as the data download has completed, you can close the Sync screen and start using the app. The image downloads will continue at the bottom of the main screen, prioritising images that are “in view”.
The improvement in speed will be most noticeable when re-downloading your complete CLZ Cloud database, e.g.
- After installing the app on a new device
- After removing and re-installing the app
- After Clearing the Database
However, even during normal use, e.g. when syncing between devices, or between the app and the CLZ Web software, you will find the down-syncing to be much faster than before.
Fixed for Android
- Setting to enable Subject downloads wasn’t working correctly
Fixed:
- Sorting on “Last Read” (still) didn’t work correctly (and wasn’t displayed correctly)
Fixed:
- Details panel: Data in the “Read” field wasn’t always displayed correctly
- Sorting on “Last Read” didn’t work correctly (and wasn’t displayed correctly)
Fixed:
- iPad: Edit Book: add/edit Read Event: the “Reading Status” dropdown wasn’t working
- iPad: Edit Book: the tabs didn’t display correctly
Today, another huge update for your CLZ Books mobile app, version 10.6. The update brings several new features and data fields that have been requested by our customers through the years:
- Track your Reading History, with multiple read sessions, each having Start and End Dates, Reading Status, Reading Progress and Reader fields.
- New dimension fields: Spine Thickness and Weight, delivered automatically from Core!
- Next to Book Condition, a new field for the Dust Cover Condition
- Place of Publication, plus Original Place of Publication
This is it, THE main feature release for 2026. A huge step forward in the customizability of the software. And I am not talking about tweaking the look and feel here, like layout, colors, fonts, etc… No… this time we are giving you the ability to actually customize the database itself!
Yep, today is the launch of the “Custom Fields” feature (previously known as “User Defined Fields”).
The Custom Fields feature will let you create your own data fields, to catalog any information for which the software does not have a built-in field. You can create text fields, number fields, date fields, Yes/No toggles, pick list fields and much more.
All fields you create can be edited on a special Custom Fields tab of the Edit screen and their data will nicely appear in a special section in the book details panel in the main screen. And of course, you will be able to use the fields like any built-in fields, use them as columns, sort on them, use pick list fields as folders, add the fields to printed list, exports, etc..
Are you ready for the next step in customizing your CLZ Web software?
Coming up next Monday:
Create your own Custom Fields!
The Custom Fields feature will let you create your own database fields, to catalog any information for which the software does not have a built-in field.
Fill in your custom fields on the special tab of the Edit screen and their data will nicely appear in a special section in the details panel in the main screen. And of course, you will be able to use the fields like any built-in fields, use them as columns, sort on them, use pick list fields as folders, add the fields to printed list, exports, etc..
Fixed:
- Crash: When a book couldn’t be located/selected on start-up or after editing the app could crash
- iPad: books sometimes wouldn’t be scrolled to after picking it from a search in your own collection
- Collection bar at the bottom could disappear on closing the sync screen
- Collection bar didn’t appear immediately when adding a new collection for the first time
This is going to be THE main feature for 2026: Custom Fields!
The Custom Fields feature will let you create your own data fields, to catalog any information for which the software does not have a built-in field.
All fields you create will appear on a special Custom Fields tab of the Edit screen. And of course, you will be able to use the fields like any built-in fields, use them as columns, sort on them, use custom pick list fields as folders, add the fields to printed list, exports, etc..
And once the Custom Fields feature has been released for both the Web software and mobile apps, you will be able to sync them back and forth too!
Manage your Custom Fields
Use the Custom Fields screen to manage your custom fields, that is, add new ones, remove them, rename them, etc…
Adding a new Custom Field:
Choose from a wide range of field types. Create simple text fields, number fields, currency fields, yes/no toggles, big text areas (like Notes), even pick list fields and multi-value pick list fields.
- Text
Single line text field (for max. 250 characters) - Textarea
Big text field (for lots more characters) - Toggle
Toggle between Yes and No - Number
Whole numbers only - Decimal
Whole number with 2 decimals - Currency
Monetary value as a whole number or with 2 decimals - Percentage
Percentage as a whole number or with 2 decimals - Weight
Weight as a whole number or with 2 decimals - Size
Dimensions as a whole number or with 2 decimals - Pick List
Pick a single value from dropdown with manageable list - Multi-Value Pick List
Checkbox multiple values from a manageable list - Fixed Button Bar
Choose one from max. 4 options - Fixed List
Choose one from a pre-defined fixed list of max. 20 options - Date
Date controller for full or partial date - Time
In hours and minutes
Fill in your Custom Fields using the special tab in the Edit screen
ETA ?
The Custom Fields feature is in the final phase for the CLZ Web web-based software. We will release it for Web first, then later on bring the same feature to the CLZ mobile apps, allowing full syncing of Custom Fields between the Web and mobile!
ETA for Web: Feb 2026. Then for mobile a few months later?
Again, this is going to be THE killer feature for 2026!
Fixed for iOS:
- The scroll position in the list could be wrong after searching in own collection and tapping a result from the suggestions
- Images view: Pinch to zoom in images view was broken
- Edit screen: tapping “next” or “previous” on the Links tab would crash the app
Fixed for Android:
- Scrolling lists / tapping buttons / selecting items in a list / removing items could suddenly stop working
- Covers stayed zoomed in if you navigated out of an item and into another
- Edit screen: Taking a picture for your cover could sometimes remove all other information from that item
- Selecting: Tapping “Select All” in didn’t show items being selected in images view
In April 2025, we introduced one of the biggest new features ever: the automatic downloading of book values. The feature had been requested by many users for years, so the introduction of this feature was a huge success: Most users loved the new values!
However, a small group of users absolutely hated the new feature. They found the values annoying, not necessary, too “commercial”, irrelevant, etc…
We did not see that coming…. our fault. Maybe with our years of experience as software developers, we could have expected this. Guess we were too excited about the feature ourselves 🙂
Looking back, we should have made the entire feature optional from the start.
Of course, making it optional is still possible and that is exactly what we did for this update today. If you don’t want automatic values for your books, you can now disable downloading them via the new “Download Values” checkbox in the Settings screen (menu top left, then click Settings)
When you disable this setting, no book values will be downloaded anymore for any future books you add. On top of that it will also remove all automatic values you already have (any “My Values” you have will remain).
A small update for the CLZ Books app, with two changes requested by users:
New: Disable the downloading of book values
In April 2025, in version 10.2, we introduced one of the biggest new features ever: the automatic downloading of book values. The feature has been requested by many users for years, so the introduction of this feature was a huge success: MOST users loved the new values!
However, a small group of users absolutely HATED the new feature. They found the values annoying, not necessary, too “commercial”, etc…
We did not see that coming…. our fault. Maybe with our years of experience as software developers, we could have expected this. Guess we were too excited about the feature ourselves 🙂
Looking back, we should have made the entire feature OPTIONAL from the start.
Of course, making it optional is still possible and that is exactly what we did for this update today. If you don’t want automatic values for your books, you can now disable downloading them via the new “Download Values” toggle in the Settings screen.
When you disable this setting, no book values will be downloaded anymore for any future books you add. On top of that it will also remove all automatic values you already have (any “My Values” you have will remain).
New: Search your database by ISBN13 or ISBN10
For all books in your database, the app normally stores the ISBN in ISBN13 notation, even for older books that original had an ISBN in ISBN10 format. However, this caused problems when searching your database using the ISBN10 notation, it would not find the book.
In today’s update, we fixed that, by including both the ISBN13 AND the ISBN10 notation in the app’s internal search index.
Searching your app by ISBN13 or ISBN10 will now find the book, no matter if you have ISBN10 or ISBN13 filled in for it.
Fixed:
- iPad only: Tap area for certain pick list fields in the Edit Book screen wasn’t correct
How to update your app to the new version:
- On your device, open the App Store app.
- Search for “CLZ” and select the CLZ Books app.
- Tap “Update” to update the app.
v10.5 Android: Smoother navigation / Disable book values / Search by ISBN10
A small update for the CLZ Books app, with two changes requested by our users and one optimization that we came up with ourselves:
Smoother navigation between folders, book list and book details
This one is for the Android users!
Our Android developer Pim was working on the app’s main screen and he saw some opportunities for improvement. Mainly to reduce slowness and stuttery behaviour when navigating back and forth between the folder list, the book list and book details page.
So instead of starting on the next new feature, we gave him a few days to refactor the code and improve existing functionality.
The result of Pim’s work is live now, in version 10.5.1 of the CLZ Books app.
We have been testing the new update quite a bit and we think it feels a lot snappier and smoother, especially noticeable on larger collections.
We hope you will notice the improvements too and that it will make you enjoy the app even more!
New: Disable the downloading of book values
In April 2025, in version 10.2, we introduced one of the biggest new features ever: the automatic downloading of book values. The feature has been requested by many users for years, so the introduction of this feature was a huge success: MOST users loved the new values!
However, a small group of users absolutely HATED the new feature. They found the values annoying, not necessary, too “commercial”, etc…
We did not see that coming…. our fault. Maybe with our years of experience as software developers, we could have expected this. Guess we were too excited about the feature ourselves 🙂
Looking back, we should have made the entire feature OPTIONAL from the start.
Of course, making it optional is still possible and that is exactly what we did for this update today. If you don’t want automatic values for your books, you can now disable downloading them via the new “Download Values” toggle in the Settings screen.
When you disable this setting, no book values will be downloaded anymore for any future books you add. On top of that it will also remove all automatic values you already have (any “My Values” you have will remain).
New: Search your database by ISBN13 or ISBN10
For all books in your database, the app normally stores the ISBN in ISBN13 notation, even for older books that original had an ISBN in ISBN10 format. However, this caused problems when searching your database using the ISBN10 notation, it would not find the book.
In today’s update, we fixed that, by including both the ISBN13 AND the ISBN10 notation in the app’s internal search index.
Searching your app by ISBN13 or ISBN10 will now find the book, no matter if you have ISBN10 or ISBN13 filled in for it.
Fixed:
- A couple of navigation issues
How to update your app to the new version:
- On your device, open the Play Store app.
- Search for “CLZ” and select the CLZ Books app.
- Tap “Update” to update the app.
As announced in our monthly newsletter, here it is, a huge update for your CLZ Books Web software. The updates brings several new features and data fields that have been requested by our customers through the years:
- Track your Reading History, with multiple read sessions, each having Start and End Dates, Reading Status, Reading Progress and Reader fields.
- New dimension fields: Spine Thickness and Weight, delivered automatically from Core!
- Next to Book Condition, a new field for the Dust Cover Condition
- Place of Publication, plus Original Place of Publication
Fixed:
- When selecting books in Card View the cards didn’t appear to be selected (with a blue color)
Fixed:
- Unrecognized ISBN screen didn’t add the book to your collection when scanned in 1-by-1 mode
Fixed:
- Add Books: when using the ‘Type ISBN’ tab, the preview pop-up could show under the ISBN keyboard
Adding books by scanning/reading ISBN barcodes is one of the most popular features of the CLZ Books app. Just scan ISBNs, bleep, bleep, bleep, and the scanned books are added to a “queue”. Then use the Add button at the bottom to add all queued books to your database in one go. Quick and efficient.
However, we always like to keep improving the app, or at least give users multiple options. So today we have added a new “One-by-One” mode to the Add by ISBN screen, that is, without a queue.
Fixed:
- Details: The data at the bottom could be hidden behind the navigation buttons
- Edit screen: For some fields the keyboard would appear over them
You may have already read about this when we introduced the eBay links in the CLZ Books Web software, but… today we are introducing the same feature in the CLZ Books mobile app:
the app now includes automatically generated eBay search links, that let you find eBay listings for that particular book.
These eBay links can be useful to:
- easily find available copies to buy on eBay (e.g. for your wish list items)
- quickly get a feel for one book’s value, by finding its’ Completed/Sold listings on eBay.
( of course, to get values for all your books in one go, use Update Values from the menu)
Fixed:
- Adding a book without ISBN would cause it to get unlinked during syncing (which in turn could make it lose the cover)
Five updates for all five CLZ Web flavors today, in which we introduce a new super useful database management tool, called “Transfer Field Data”.
In short, this tool lets you copy or move field values from one field to another, in batch, for your entire database, or for a selection of items.
Fixed:
- Adding books with unrecognized ISBNs sometimes failed to store the filled in author, title, publisher, and/or year info
- Statistics showed rounded up/down values for Sold/Paid totals