undo feature for iOS

[hellofral 1]

(I'm not sure if this has been voiced out before - I havent done any backreading as I am still new in the forums)

I noticed something lacking in Evernote (mobile) that I think was really important in writing. As a mobile Evernote user, I religiously rely on Evernote as my go-to notebook.

Writing can be a breeze but sometimes editing can be really hard when you do not want to save your recent changes.

I would love to see that the future updates would include UNDO CHANGES, SAVE & CONTINUE options. You can definitely undo in a web/desktop environment but you can't get much of a leeway with the mobile version.

I do love Evernote(!) and I hope for better versions - featuring these two. Thanks!

[goulougoumuche 0]

I cannot believe that there are no other way then shaking to undo on the iPhone... I desabled this option having my text deleted after accidently "shaking" my phone while writing, so this is not an option for me. And even so, it's not really a "Redo" option if you can just go back on the moment of the error.

The history should be accessible from the iPhone too. Paying 50 bucks for this option (and many more, ok, but anyway) and being forced to go to switch to my laptop is a pain in the ... I don't always carry my laptop with me, and use my iphone to do more than just read my notes, so it's really unconfortable...

It might seem like a small detail, but it is the very reason that makes me look for an alternative to Evernote.

Too bad.

[GrumpyMonkey 4,320]

Hi. At least one member of the Evernote staff has voiced his support for "save and continue," and pur Android brethren have it, so things are looking up

[scraggo 0]

This is definitely needed

[Phil Dean 150]

I am reminding the team on a regular basis, no guarantee that we will do this, but I am flying the flag for you all.

[AndyDent 114]

Here's a workflow I posted on Quora, in a thread about this problem, if you need more ammunition to remind them why this was a bad design decision:

if you make a mistake when editing a note and want to avoid loss but can't cancel the note - jump immediately into Safari and fire up the web client so you can make a copy of the affected note. That way you won't lose the content.

I'm often editing notes on an iPad but have my iPhone with me so will do the same thing with a different client - fire up Evernote on the iPhone and duplicate the note there before I press the Done button on the damaged note.

As a really last resort, you can recover old notes on a desktop computer with backups, going through the hoops of restoring an old entire database just to copy one note out

[GrumpyMonkey 4,320]

Who do we have to bombard with emails to get this done Phil? Don't worry, I'll do it in an enjoyablly Evernotey way, with shared notes full of rick-roll links

[Filemon 8]

Sorry, GrumpyMonkey, but I don't think Save and Continue is enough. A Cancel button is needed too. When editing a note, there's always the possibility of a bad move.

In order to avoid data loss or such predicament as going through the workflow AndyDent described, I deleted the Evernote App on my Iphone and am now using Notes... which is ironic, since there's no Undo option in Notes either. But at least my coeur de notes is safe... on the EN server (and my computer).

Hellofral wrote: "I religiously rely on Evernote as my go-to notebook". I did too. But for the time being, I've lost faith

Hi. At least one member of the Evernote staff has voiced his support for "save and continue," and pur Android brethren have it, so things are looking up

[GrumpyMonkey 4,320]

Sorry, GrumpyMonkey, but I don't think Save and Continue is enough. A Cancel button is needed too. When editing a note, there's always the possibility of a bad move.

In order to avoid data loss or such predicament as going through the workflow AndyDent described, I deleted the Evernote App on my Iphone and am now using Notes... which is ironic, since there's no Undo option in Notes either. But at least my coeur de notes is safe... on the EN server (and my computer).

Hellofral wrote: "I religiously rely on Evernote as my go-to notebook". I did too. But for the time being, I've lost faith

Hi. At least one member of the Evernote staff has voiced his support for "save and continue," and pur Android brethren have it, so things are looking up

It's still a solid app I trust, but not yet for critical things, because it lacks save and continue, and as you said, no way to undo or cancel. I primarily use an external keyboard with the phone, so cmd-z gets me undo, but i still think we need all of these in the app.

[scraggo 0]

In my short time using evernote - this has been my workflow to avoid data loss:

only use the iphone or web version as "read only". If I want to edit or add-to a note - I simply create a new note and append it to the note I wanted to add it to later, while using the desktop version (which has undo). the thought of losing information is frightening to me - but if I lose a quick todo note while using the iphone app or web version...it's not as big of a deal.

[rickahontas 0]

Hello! After just losing some important information for the nth time on my iPhone due to no undo/cancel button, I'm getting a bit peeved.

Please, put a cancel, or an undo button/action for the iPhone (and any other device). It's far too easy to make mistakes, especially if you're trying to format on the iPhone.

Thanks, otherwise a great product and I'm satisfied with my Premium subscription.

Cheers,

Rick

[E-NoteForum 107]

There used to be a cancel button on the iPhone, but it was pulled for some reason that hasn't been articulated.

It still exists in the iPad app, making it doubly confusing why it was cut and/or hasn't been reenabled; Evernote is a universal app, after all. The functionality clearly exists, and used to exist in the iPhone app.

There've been extensive requests and discussions about the cancel button among users here on the forum, but as yet the devs haven't given their perspective or commented on whether or not the cancel button will make a return.

Thanks for posting, though, as it adds another voice to the choir.

[PackersFan 1]

undo is a MUST HAVE FEATURE for the mobile apps. Pleas, please please include this in an update as soon as possible. It's very easy to make mistakes on mobile keyboards by inadvertently tapping the wrong part of the screen, resulting in data loss. This drastically reduces the functionality of the app, because it makes the user worry about its reliablity. No one want's to trust an unreliable word processing app. The point of the app is to make jotting notes and having them available on multiple platforms convenient, but loosing your content because you accidnetally deleted it is not convenient.

[Martin K 3]

Has this still not been addressed? I've used Evernote for years, on Mac and Android. Last week I got an iPhone and last night found myself at a talk where I was taking extensive notes using the iPhone app. It was going great. I was amazed that I could actually keep up with the speaker and was quietly praising the Apple/Evernote smoothness when I accidentally pasted over the entire note. Boom: an hour's notes all gone. I later found I might have been able to use the shake-to-undo iPhone feature but that's small comfort. I'm really going to have to think about using something with a manual save button so I can keep this from happening again.

[jak692 1]

ARE YOU KIDDING ME!? I just lost tons annotated images in my notes that I have been taking for months simply because I hit the plain text button on the iPhone app by accident. How is it that there are threads here that trace back to over a year ago and this issue has not been addressed? The fact that this is even possible for such an established application is unbelievable. I'm hanging in for another month to see if anything happens and I then I'm done. 

[Metrodon 2,188]

If you are a Premium user then you can use Note History to recover your note.

 

You could also try contacting support.

 

Or you could just be done.

[E-NoteForum 107]

Don't bother waiting a month. Undo isn't coming back.

They got rid of it 8 months ago and have been completely silent on bringing it back since then. It's not going to happen. I mean, who would want an undo option in a software program? It's not like any other apps have that.

The Evernote engineers certainly see no use for it; they figure that if they never make any mistakes, why would their users? So if you're done with Evernote, just bail now.

[BasieBand 42]

It is needed.

[altego 0]

 

Sorry, GrumpyMonkey, but I don't think Save and Continue is enough. A Cancel button is needed too. When editing a note, there's always the possibility of a bad move.

In order to avoid data loss or such predicament as going through the workflow AndyDent described, I deleted the Evernote App on my Iphone and am now using Notes... which is ironic, since there's no Undo option in Notes either. But at least my coeur de notes is safe... on the EN server (and my computer).

Hellofral wrote: "I religiously rely on Evernote as my go-to notebook". I did too. But for the time being, I've lost faith

 

Hi. At least one member of the Evernote staff has voiced his support for "save and continue," and pur Android brethren have it, so things are looking up

 

It's still a solid app I trust, but not yet for critical things, because it lacks save and continue, and as you said, no way to undo or cancel. I primarily use an external keyboard with the phone, so cmd-z gets me undo, but i still think we need all of these in the app.

 

 

I am reminding the team on a regular basis, no guarantee that we will do this, but I am flying the flag for you all.

 

Guys, are there any positive news?

 

Look how many people suffer from accidental data loss %((

 

Will there be a solution?

[mathiepe 44]

It is not the solution you're all looking for, but it may help some people to raise the awareness of the 'shake to undo' option on iPhone, like Martin mentioned earlier in this topic. After you made a mistake or accidentally deleted content, shake your iPhone within the note and you can undo your very last action. May already reduce a lot of data loss and problems...

[altego 0]

Gosh, if I see that yesterday.... Hope this will help to others

If you still didn't close the note 

Shake your iPhone to undo last action

(you can undo several actions one by one, just shake it again)

[alehman 2]

1) Is there no button on IOS for undo still? I've seen several posts about an undo key on the numeric keyboard or some undo/redo buttons on the right of the ribbon above the on-screen keyboard, but I have been able to locate neither.

2) why has such a fundamental editing feature remained absent from Evernote for so long? There's room on the ribbon above the keyboard for instance. It could be a feature to toggle on or off if you're worried any users would feel these buttons are a waste of space.

BUT, and I don't think I'm alone on this, if you want me to spend more time generating content in Evernote, I need an easy way to undo an editing action without interrupt my flow by stopping to shake my phone and deal with a dialogue box.

PLEASE address this...

[BurgersNFries 2,407]

1) Is there no button on IOS for undo still? I've seen several posts about an undo key on the numeric keyboard or some undo/redo buttons on the right of the ribbon above the on-screen keyboard, but I have been able to locate neither.

2) why has such a fundamental editing feature remained absent from Evernote for so long? There's room on the ribbon above the keyboard for instance. It could be a feature to toggle on or off if you're worried any users would feel these buttons are a waste of space.

BUT, and I don't think I'm alone on this, if you want me to spend more time generating content in Evernote, I need an easy way to undo an editing action without interrupt my flow by stopping to shake my phone and deal with a dialogue box.

PLEASE address this...

Please read post #20 (the one that is right before your post.)

 

Gosh, if I see that yesterday.... Hope this will help to others

If you still didn't close the note

Shake your iPhone to undo last action

(you can undo several actions one by one, just shake it again)

[Greg Vaughn 1]

Reviving this issue. Evernote Mobile really needs a way to Undo. I have a repeated problem with press to Select, then grab the handles to enlarge the selection, and all of a sudden the selected text disappears. 

[rallen444 3]

I searched and didn't see this feature request.

last night on the tube I selected some text and was nudged ... all the selected text was deleted

I know I can go to the laptop app and recover - provided I pay for Premium - however surely an undo button would make sense.

I hardly ever use my laptop so an in-app function would help

[gazumped 12,222]

Hi.  There are no 'undo' functions in any version of Evernote - they all rely on the underlying 'undo' feature of the device they're running on - which in the case of the iPhone is (I believe) a good shake at the time the error happens.  Failing that,  stop the device connecting so you can save the old version of the note on another device,  or - as you already know - you can recover with Note History.

[CalS 5,311]

7 hours ago, rallen444 said:

I searched and didn't see this feature request.

last night on the tube I selected some text and was nudged ... all the selected text was deleted

I know I can go to the laptop app and recover - provided I pay for Premium - however surely an undo button would make sense.

I hardly ever use my laptop so an in-app function would help

You can "shake" your IOS device to undo.

[ObviousBob 140]

2 hours ago, csihilling said:

You can "shake" your IOS device to undo.

Which is true, but awkward. Evernote on the iPad has an undo button, so why not have it on the iPhone too? Like essentially every other editor on the iPhone. 

[gazumped 12,222]

50 minutes ago, Bob in NV said:

Which is true, but awkward. Evernote on the iPad has an undo button, so why not have it on the iPhone too? Like essentially every other editor on the iPhone. 

Don't think Evernote has the button - isn't that on the iPad keyboard?  -Presumably on the basis that it's difficult to 'shake' an iPad.  Actually I think I saw someone else post that the iPhone in Landscape view also has the same key...

[NorCalBusa 0]

Like many, I inadvertently deleted text within a note- lost forever.   Many ways to do it- in my case I bumped into someone I knew, started chatting (with the phone in my hand) and best I can tell must have hit something with each consonant I uttered as we spoke.  Or maybe it was aliens.  

Be really cool to have a classic Undo button (you all know how that works already).  Hit it a few times (or in my case, a few hundred- ugh)- it would have saved the day.  Can't help but think this was simply overlooked, be cool to see it appear.  Thx.

[CalS 5,311]

3 minutes ago, NorCalBusa said:

Like many, I inadvertently deleted text within a note- lost forever.   Many ways to do it- in my case I bumped into someone I knew, started chatting (with the phone in my hand) and best I can tell must have hit something with each consonant I uttered as we spoke.  Or maybe it was aliens.  

Be really cool to have a classic Undo button (you all know how that works already).  Hit it a few times (or in my case, a few hundred- ugh)- it would have saved the day.  Can't help but think this was simply overlooked, be cool to see it appear.  Thx.

Standard undo on the iPhone is to shake the device, but you have to do it right after the oops.  Have you tried that?

[NorCalBusa 0]

Thanks, I didn't right away.  (Edit- I did try that about a half hour later- didn't do anything).

Some might like that, but I prefer to have a command button- there's plenty of real estate across the top of the screen.

[DTLow 5,749]

4 minutes ago, NorCalBusa said:

Some might like that, but I prefer to have a command button- there's plenty of real estate across the top of the screen.

The IOS keyboard used to include this on the numeric keyboard.
This would also be my preference.

[Guest Seth]

Yes.  PLEASE add a back/undo button to the iPhone.  

[Guest Jalan]

I've been having nothing but trouble with the latest version.  I have to copy everything TWICE, and I can't add to a note without first having a failure.  It just won't let me do anything the first time and wow is that frustrating. 

[Michael 'MC' Carter 1]

I simply *cannot* believe there is no Undo feature in Evernote iOS?! I had a very important note that I was editing on my iPhone and an accidental 'pocket edit' (I must have touched/swiped the screen accidentally) has deleted all the important info in the note. Surely a simple Undo Edit feature could (and should) be added. I had no idea about the "shake to undo" feature, and it's too late now. (Though I sure feel like shaking my phone now—or more specifically, the Evernote app! :) )

[DTLow 5,749]

10 minutes ago, Michael 'MC' Carter said:

I simply *cannot* believe there is no Undo feature in Evernote iOS?

In addition to the undo feature supported by the OS, Evernote retains deleted notes for restoration from the trash.

Version restoration is also supported via Evernote's Note History backup.

[jontte 1]

I have countless times accidentally erased valuable information that I have no way of recovering, only because the iPhone backspace suddenly accelerates to a lightning speed and wipes out lines of text.  I use Evernote to keep track of tasks etc.  All I would ask is being able to undo accidental erase, so just one level of undo would do it for me.  Shaking the phone has never worked, doesn't undo anything.

[MatS14 19]

so you are using it on a phone, I was going to say, just press ctrl+z, but I saw something about you shaking a phone, so I don't know about a phone.

[DTLow 5,749]

12 hours ago, jontte said:

Shaking the phone has never worked, doesn't undo anything.

Shake to undo is the IOS standard

You may have it turned off; check Settings > General Accessibility > Shake

[jontte 1]

I have ‘shake to undo’ on but it’s never successful.  It just ends up erasing even more text.  Good idea in theory but does it actually work for anyone?

[MatS14 19]

You can get a keyboard for the phone, and just press CTRL + Z

[DTLow 5,749]

32 minutes ago, MatS14 said:

You can get a keyboard for the phone, and just press CTRL + Z

Command + Z works for me
except when I'm not carrying a keyboard to use with my phone  😮

[MatS14 19]

Does your phone have Command ?

[DTLow 5,749]

1 hour ago, MatS14 said:

Does your phone have Command ?

Evernote uses the standard IOS on screen keyboard

No command key, no CTRL key, no key combinations

[PinkElephant 9,010]

YES - but ...

If you use an additional keyboard, be it bluetooth or via smart connectors (like my Logitech), you get ctrl, cmd and alt/option as with the big ones. It looks funny when you connect a keyboard 5 times the size to a tiny iPhone and start typing away, but it works.

Further, at least on iPad you have at the low bottom of the screen a soft-menu, which contains at the left edge an undo arrow. This „saved my life“ more than once. 

When attached, shaking the whole assembly is no good idea 🤬And I am not sure whether it still works when you first have to connect the keyboard after realizing you‘ve accidentally lost the question to which „42“ is the answer.

[Jo W 0]

It's SO easy to unintentionally delete info. Important info. Vital info. We NEED to be able to undo a mistake. 

[Jill M 0]

Is there really no way of recovering deleted content from a note?  The entire note content was selected, unknown to me, and with 1 swipe it was gone. I tried to recover it form another device before it synced and was too late.

Is Evernote planning to create an UNDO / Back Arrow? Is it really that hard?

Thanks!

[gazumped 12,222]

22 hours ago, Jill M said:

Is Evernote planning to create an UNDO / Back Arrow? Is it really that hard?

Hi.  See above: deleted notes = trash folder.  Plus see personal backups,  other devices and (if a subscriber,  and the deletion is only partial) Note History.  iOS also already has an undo function.

[gazumped 12,222]

On 5/13/2019 at 9:45 PM, Jo W said:

It's SO easy to unintentionally delete info. Important info. Vital info. We NEED to be able to undo a mistake. 

 

[PinkElephant 9,010]

If you use the keyboard, the undelete button is above the keys, the symbol at the very left. If you use a real keyboard, there will only show a small menu bar at the bottom of the page, where the undo is found as well. Beside it is the redo-option.

A further option in iOS is to activate the „shake to undo“ option in the settings of iOS. Somewhere in settings, general, .... Mine is in German, so I am not sure how this spells in Englisch. Looks weird to hold your iPad firmly with a furious look in the eyes and rattle it, but it will open a little window asking whether you want to undo the last action. 

For me this is enough undo in iOS in practical life. Sequential undo some steps backwards might be nice, but is IMHO not essential. 

[DTLow 5,749]

On 5/13/2019 at 1:45 PM, Jo W said:

It's SO easy to unintentionally delete info. Important info. Vital info. We NEED to be able to undo a mistake. 

As per @PinkElephant     Undo/Redo/Paste buttons are at the top left corner of the keyboard

I also make use of the Note History feature, and I have personal backups.

[Sdwarcher 0]

On 5/18/2017 at 2:10 AM, goulougoumuche said:

I cannot believe that there are no other way then shaking to undo on the iPhone... I desabled this option having my text deleted after accidently "shaking" my phone while writing, so this is not an option for me. And even so, it's not really a "Redo" option if you can just go back on the moment of the error.

The history should be accessible from the iPhone too. Paying 50 bucks for this option (and many more, ok, but anyway) and being forced to go to switch to my laptop is a pain in the ... I don't always carry my laptop with me, and use my iphone to do more than just read my notes, so it's really unconfortable...

It might seem like a small detail, but it is the very reason that makes me look for an alternative to Evernote.

Too bad.

Unfortunately, yes, this does make me think I should be using another app. Every other writing program has an Undo button. I just lost an hour's worth of work because it pasted some text I copied over other text. There are obviously enough people here complaining for this to be a big deal, but EverNote doesn't seem to be listening. So what is everyone's alternative app?

[gazumped 12,222]

On 11/3/2019 at 2:10 PM, Sdwarcher said:

There are obviously enough people here complaining for this to be a big deal

There is exactly 1 (one) vote for this feature in this thread so far.  That's not exactly an indication of widespread discontent...  There are requests with 300 and 400 votes that are still unfulfilled,  so I wouldn't hold your breath for this one.  

[ObviousBob 140]

10 minutes ago, gazumped said:

There is exactly 1 (one) vote for this feature in this thread so far.  That's not exactly an indication of widespread discontent...  There are requests with 300 and 400 votes that are still unfulfilled,  so I wouldn't hold your breath for this one.  

I wonder how much votes in this forum matter to development. There are other sources - Twitter, Evernote Support - of user input that might influence the developers more. At any rate, with the new core editor that is being talked about, which is supposed to work and be the same everywhere, I would expect there to be an Undo button - it would be pretty difficult to shake my iMac to undo..

And if we are counting votes, I too really dislike shaking my phone as the only way to undo something..

[gazumped 12,222]

1 hour ago, ObviousBob said:

I wonder how much votes in this forum matter to development.

Ironically (I think) the voting forums were set up by Evernote at the request of users,  so both the company and the individuals advocating a specific change could see how much support an idea got.  Some of those 300/400 vote features that I mentioned still haven't happened,  but then you run up against another issue:  Evernote don't (usually) comment on whether or when they'll make any given feature available.  (That 'usually' is in there to allow for the time a few years ago when I said "Evernote would never do that" and Evernote then immediately posted confirmation that yup,  they were gonna...   Go figure.)

I'm sure that Evernote do take notice of the votes and comments,  but yes,  you're right;  being sneaky hobbitses they also have lots of other channels through which they get feedback,  and it's the net effect of all of them that counts.

And if you dislike shaking your phone vote at the top left of the page - +1 in a post doesn't cut it...

[ObviousBob 140]

23 minutes ago, gazumped said:

24 minutes ago, gazumped said:

And if you dislike shaking your phone vote at the top left of the page - +1 in a post doesn't cut it...

I already had..

 

[gazumped 12,222]

7 minutes ago, ObviousBob said:

I already had..

Oops.  Sorry - didn't realise you were the 'one'...

[PinkElephant 9,010]

Seems most people are like me - when my iPad does not behave, a good shake will settle things, and help to boil down 🤬🤯 🤪🥴😃 emotions.

[vanawesome 0]

Presently once something is deleted using Evernote in iPhone, it’s quite hard to get it back! 
Accidental deletions frequently occur.

I know we can SHAKE the device to make the undo button pop up. But this is very undignified in meetings or on public transport. Can we please have a little undo button instead which we can elegantly tap? 

[PinkElephant 9,010]

+1

Tell the bystanders you try to get rid of the ghooooul of Steve Jobs living in your i-device 🙃

[DTLow 5,749]

7 hours ago, vanawesome said:

I know we can SHAKE the device to make the undo button pop up

I never liked using the shake action

IOS 13 added gestures   
Swipe three fingers to the left   
Tap three fingers twice

Evernote uses the default Apple onscreen keyboard   
For iPad users, Apple added undo/redo buttons

 

[PinkElephant 9,010]

... not on the iPhone.

[vanawesome 0]

5 hours ago, DTLow said:

I never liked using the shake action

IOS 13 added gestures   
Swipe three fingers to the left   
Tap three fingers twice

Evernote uses the default Apple onscreen keyboard   
For iPad users, Apple added undo/redo buttons

Wow!! Thanks!! The 3 finger double tap works for me on my iPhone!! 

[sacredlilac 1]

I use Evernote a lot on my iPhone. When I've accidentally deleted something, I would really like to have an 'undo' button to get it back. Right now, the only 'undo' I have is to vigorously shake my phone, which is very unsuitable when I'm sitting with a small child trying to get them to sleep and need to shake my phone.

[DTLow 5,749]

1 hour ago, sacredlilac said:

When I've accidentally deleted something, I would really like to have an 'undo' button to get it back.

I've merged your post with similar posts   
To indicate your support, use the vote button at the top left corner of the discussion

[Jordan George 0]

It would be great if there were an undo button. I don't see one.

[gazumped 12,222]

3 hours ago, Jordan George said:

It would be great if there were an undo button. I don't see one.

Hi.  Hope you voted at the top left of the page.  'Undo' (I'd imagine its already been said somewhere...) is whatever the host OS says it should be.  In iOS I understand,  it's "shake hard".  In Windows,  it's Ctrl+Z.

[PinkElephant 9,010]

... or with iOS 13 simply a double 3 Finger Tap, or a 3 Finger swipe to the left like described above.