Hiding Format Bar

[LoquiturX 3]

I now have a format bar on Evernote on my Android phone. Don't know if it is new or if I enabled it somehow but it is taking up way too much territory on my screen. I researched how to hide it and found a reference to clicking View in the Evernote menu bar which would permit customization of the tool bars but I can't find an option for "view" anywhere - either on my Android phone or my Windows professional 7 laptop. Can anyone give me some more direction on how to find this or otherwise get the format bar off my screen?          Thanks!!                 Susan

[gazumped 11,652]

Hi.  If you have both the top and bottom menu bars,  you can toggle the bottom bar with the green 'A'.  The top bar is (AFAICS) a fixture.

[LoquiturX 3]

Super Guru - that would have been sooooo awesome but I don't have an A  in the toolbar. The only letters in the toolbar are B, I and U and then its formatting diagrams. I changed back to an older version thinking that might help but its still there. Thank you so much for considering this for me. 

[jefito 5,589]

2 hours ago, LoquiturX said:

Super Guru - that would have been sooooo awesome but I don't have an A  in the toolbar. The only letters in the toolbar are B, I and U and then its formatting diagrams. I changed back to an older version thinking that might help but its still there. Thank you so much for considering this for me. 

The formatting toolbars that appear may depend on the version of Android that you're using. I'm using Android 6.01, and see what gazumped sees. The top toolbar gives you "Done", "Undo", "Redo" "Toggle formatting toolbar", "Attach" and "Take photo" commands'. The lower toolbar (which is what I think you're seeing) is formatting options (which it toggle-able via the top menu 'A' button).

Windows options are different. You can toggle the note editing toolbar off if you want: Tools / Options / Note / Note Editing Options / "Always show note editing toolbar"

[LoquiturX 3]

Jefito - this is extremely helpful. I went looking for the Evernote tools menu on my Windows 7 Professional computer and couldn't find it. So rather than unnecessarily bother you about it, I did a Google search and found I needed to have the desktop client version of Evernote and that it couldn't be accessed from the web client. So I downloaded it, found the tools menu, unchecked all the note editing options and you won't believe what happened - the A showed up and I was able to toggle the toolbar off on my computer!!!  Now I'm hoping I can sync this version to my phone to get rid of the toolbar so I can see my text while I type my notes. I deleted the number row of  my keyboard to have more reading area but and I  still can only read about 1/2 a line of text while I type. Without the toolbar I can see 3  lines of text plus have my number row on the keyboard.  My phone is Android 5.0.1 and I've been using Evernote with it since I got it a couple of years ago. This toolbar situation is new having just showed up for the first time 2 days ago.   Thank you so much!!    Susan

[Darren024 1]

My Android phone recently updated to version 8 of the Evernote app. Unfortunately, there appears to be no way to hide the text formatting bar, like you could easily do in previous versions of the app.

Am I missing an option somewhere? It seems like a pretty obvious thing to want to do, so I am surprised the ability to hide the formatting bar would be removed on an updated version of the app.

Thanks to anyone who can offer a solution.

[Dave-in-Decatur 3,938]

Along the top row of the Evernote app screen there is a capital "A". Tap that to toggle the formatting bar on/off. Note that it will remain in its last-used state the next time you edit a note, so if (like me) you don't want it on when you start editing, you need to turn it off when you save the current note.

[Darren024 1]

Not in the updated version of the app that installed on my phone. That capital A button was in version 7, not version 8, hence my post.

   

[Darren024 1]

This seems to be a recent change in version 8 of the Android app:

    

[gazumped 11,652]

...And see

 

[Darren024 1]

3 hours ago, gazumped said:

...And see

 

Unfortunately, there was no solution found in that thread. 

Before you added your message above, I did add some images of the problem to that thread you refer to, just in case it helps to resolve the issue. I am not sure people understand that the interface has changed between versions. What do you think?

[Darren024 1]

On 7/3/2018 at 6:34 AM, LoquiturX said:

Jefito - this is extremely helpful. I went looking for the Evernote tools menu on my Windows 7 Professional computer and couldn't find it. So rather than unnecessarily bother you about it, I did a Google search and found I needed to have the desktop client version of Evernote and that it couldn't be accessed from the web client. So I downloaded it, found the tools menu, unchecked all the note editing options and you won't believe what happened - the A showed up and I was able to toggle the toolbar off on my computer!!!  Now I'm hoping I can sync this version to my phone to get rid of the toolbar so I can see my text while I type my notes. I deleted the number row of  my keyboard to have more reading area but and I  still can only read about 1/2 a line of text while I type. Without the toolbar I can see 3  lines of text plus have my number row on the keyboard.  My phone is Android 5.0.1 and I've been using Evernote with it since I got it a couple of years ago. This toolbar situation is new having just showed up for the first time 2 days ago.   Thank you so much!!    Susan

Susan - did you ever find a solution for your Android version of the app? I see you installed the Windows app and got the "A" button to show up there, but any luck doing the same with your Android device?

I see others above are already endorsing a recommended solution to the problem you encountered on your Android device, but no solution was ever offered. FWIW, I am on Android 7.0 and I have the same problem (see my post above).

[LoquiturX 3]

17 minutes ago, Darren024 said:

Susan - did you ever find a solution for your Android version of the app? I see you installed the Windows app and got the "A" button to show up there, but any luck doing the same with your Android device?

I see others above are already endorsing a recommended solution to the problem you encountered on your Android device, but no solution was ever offered. FWIW, I am on Android 7.0 and I have the same problem (see my post above).

I have not found a solution on my Android cell phone and it is driving me crazy.  Thanks for posting the images of the differences - Version 7 with the A and  Version 8 without it. It  appears exactly the same on mine. I was thinking maybe it was because I have an older phone running Android 5.0.1 but you are having the problem with Android 7 so that takes care of that. I would have dumped Evernote by now over this problem except I don't want to lose the notes I already have. I wonder if there is any way we can back up to Version 7?

[gazumped 11,652]

Hmmn.  Don't know when my phone updated,  but until recently I had the 'A' version on my phone,  but the green '+' version on my tablet,  and I thought it was either as @jefito suggested in that thread,  a matter of which Android version you had,  or maybe a difference in screen size - phones vs tablets.  Now however both my devices have the green '+' version regardless,  so I guess it's more a question of when the updates get through.

There's a bit of a debate going on in the Evernote for Android Beta thread on Google plus about this too...  https://plus.google.com/116493378691714533378/posts/3use87vdBVD

I'm not badly off - my phone has a big screen (Samsung Note 4) and the tablet is.. well,  a tablet;  so the real-estate isn't critical.  I can't recommend it,  and haven't tried this myself but older versions of Evernote for Android appear to be available from these two sites and possibly others...

https://evernote.en.uptodown.com/android/old

https://www.androidapksfree.com/apk/evernote-android-apk-latest-version-download/

(I know nothing for or against these two sites,  but downloading and installing apps from outside the Play Store is not recommended...)

I'll ask the Admins here to merge this thread with the other forum discussion so we don't have two side-by-side conversations going...

 

[gazumped 11,652]

See

 

[Dave-in-Decatur 3,938]

Very, very peculiar. Below are 2 screenshots showing what I see, one with the toolbar toggled on and one with it off.. I wonder whether it also matters what maker/model of device one is using. I've got Evernote app v. 8.1 on Android 8.0.0 on a Samsung Galaxy Note8. I just checked Google Play, and this is the latest version of the app that is available to me (in Atlanta, Georgia USA). Perhaps the "new and improved"  version hasn't reached here yet.

               

[Darren024 1]

Well, that really is strange! I am using the same version of the app as you, but my text formatting bar looks totally different. And of course, I have no button to toggle it on or off. I am using Android 7.0, so perhaps you only get the button in the even-numbered versions of Android, not the odd-numbered versions?  ha ha.

And Dave, I just saw your post in the other thread where a user recently updated their app who has NO text formatting bar and no button to turn it on! Weird indeed.

 

[Dave-in-Decatur 3,938]

Hmm, may be time to call 911. @Shane D., can you enlighten us on these differing experiences? What's the latest Android app supposed to look like? Does the Android OS version matter? Or the device manufacturer?

[akeope 0]

I sent many messages to the Developers/Customer Support about the properties of new version for Android.
The main reason was that I could not edit my note - Not the new one either old notes.
I took quite long time when I noticed that the "Editing Toolbar" is not visible on the page. It should be there when I click "Pencil" in order to edit my note: add images f.ex.
Now it is not possible.
Have anyone else the same problem?
Here You can see how the page should look like:

https://help.evernote.com/hc/en-us/articles/219925607

[Shane D. 1,818]

Hey all,

I wanted to reach out to provide some clarification on why you may be seeing different toolbar options in Evernote for Android. Currently, we’re conducting a product test that provides two different versions of the toolbar within the app. The purpose of this test is to use customer feedback to help inform some of our design decisions for future iterations of the app.

This may be why some of you are seeing some differences between your devices and why the A toggle icon is removed in some instances and not on others. Our development team is always looking for ways to improve upon the experience and the feedback you’ve provided in this post goes a long way.

Our apologies for any inconvenience or confusion this may have caused!

[LindaLaga 9]

Thanks @Shane D. , highly appreciated that (finally!) there is an explanation for this troublesome "innovation" of removing the 'A'. In the Android EN beta forum on gplus, the discussion goes on and on since the 29th of June what this disappearance of the A is and not even the involved EN employees were able to tell us what you told now: it is a usability test. @Shane D. , I would like to kindly ask for your help: for me the disappearance of the A means that EN became very difficult to use because the formatting bar wastes scarce space. I am suffering the lost space since about a month! Do you see any chance to get me off this cumbersome experiment please? I want to be able to use EN normally again!

Here I describe you the catastrophy I experience. I posted this on gplus (but got no answer):

+May Allen I am still hoping every day for a solution to the probs discussed on this thread. It is pressing: I have all my digital life in EN. I fully trusted you. But since your decision to have the formatting bar always there on tablets, the editor is difficult to use on a 7" device. I almost can't scroll or mark text in that tiny space. I use EN for hours every single day on my 7" phone; and for that intense usage, the lost efficiency is a no-go. Is there any hope to get this resolved, please?

[LindaLaga 9]

PS: I highly appreciate that you do usability experiments! But for anyone with eyes on their head, 5 minutes suffice to find out that depriving us of space to see, scroll or mark text is a no-go on certain device sizes. Inspite of this, please do more usability experiments with users! But do them for a short time only and provide an option to get out and give feedback immediately. I worked as a project manager in internet usability and I happily give you more ideas as to where EN would badly need usability tests ... I wonder since years that so many needed usability tests are not yet done...

[Dave-in-Decatur 3,938]

On 7/20/2018 at 1:43 PM, Shane D. said:

Hey all,

I wanted to reach out to provide some clarification on why you may be seeing different toolbar options in Evernote for Android. Currently, we’re conducting a product test that provides two different versions of the toolbar within the app. The purpose of this test is to use customer feedback to help inform some of our design decisions for future iterations of the app.

This may be why some of you are seeing some differences between your devices and why the A toggle icon is removed in some instances and not on others. Our development team is always looking for ways to improve upon the experience and the feedback you’ve provided in this post goes a long way.

Our apologies for any inconvenience or confusion this may have caused!

Thank you very much, @Shane D.! This does seem to bring some order and rationality to the situation.

I do have one question: is this test being done on a beta version, with volunteer beta testers? Or did some people updating the app to the current release randomly encounter this alternate experience? I know this isn't medical research, but given the importance that Evernote has for so many people's work, it does seem that there ought to be some sort of "informed consent" in place. Unless, you know, Evernote actually finds it helpful to get feedback like [warning: euphemistic crudities follow] "Venerable incontinence! What the coitus is that?"

[LoquiturX 3]

Wow - something happened last night and I got my old Evernote banner back!  All it has across the top is the check mark,  the A, the paper clip, the camera and 3 dots - just the way I like it for my simple use of the program.  Thank you somebody!! I use it with a 4.5" cell phone and every little bit of space matters alot. 

[LindaLaga 9]

@Shane D. I am so so glad that I have the "A" back! Normal usability and productivity again! But EN could be even better with the following improvement. Would you consider implementing it? It is that the "A" is not available where it matters the most: when marking text. When marking text, the header shows the buttons "cut", "copy" etc. Would it be possible to add here the "A"? At least on tablets, there is really plentiful empty space for adding the "A"  and it would be very efficient in case one does not want to cut or copy but wants to make text bold face or italics. Thank you in advance for improving EN usability!

 

[gazumped 11,652]

The latest update seems to have brought the "A" back into my life too...  thanks guys! 

[Shane D. 1,818]

Hi All,

As many of you have noticed, the 'A' button is back, and should continue to be there for the foreseeable future. 

This choice was made based off of your feedback, and we want to thank you for providing it!

Also, our apologies about any confusion!

Please continue to share any other feedback you have regarding the editing bar for Evernote for Android.

However, if you have new/different ideas or feedback, please search and comment on a thread that already exists or create a new thread.

This way, we can get a better idea on the number of requests we're receiving.

Thank you!

[LindaLaga 9]

On Sun Jul 29 2018 at 3:51 PM, LindaLaga said:

 the "A" is not available where it matters the most: when marking text. When marking text, the header shows the buttons "cut", "copy" etc. Would it be possible to add here the "A"? At least on tablets, there is really plentiful empty space for adding the "A"  and it would be very efficient in case one does not want to cut or copy but wants to make text bold face or italics. Thank you in advance for improving EN usability!

 

On Tue Jul 31 2018 at 9:54 PM, Shane D. said:

Please continue to share any other feedback you have regarding the editing bar for Evernote for Android.

Thank you for your interest in our feedback. Your interest is particularly precious to me as I have posted the above feedback (show the "A" when text is marked) already several times on the EN Android beta forum. Each time, the users liked it and each time EN employees ignored it. So, reacting to your appreciated words of interest: it is unfortunately the case that Evernote does not listen.