Taskbar actions

[Hads 20]

Prior to the latest release, 10.2.4, I felt I was able to click the Evernote icon in the taskbar and it would open Evernote.  Now when I click it, it opens the Scratch Pad window.  I then have to move my mouse up to the top to open Evernote.  Or I have to right click the icon in the taskbar and select Open Evernote.

99% of my day I spend clicking the Evernote icon to open Evernote, but now I have to do 2 clicks to open Evernote.  Was this done by design?  I didn't see any options to change the launching of evernote when clicking the icon.

 

[agsteele 2,950]

This is a new feature. The scratchpad is liked by some and not by others.  For me, the scratchpad would be better as a right click and the standard left click should open the program as it has always done.

As it it is right click the icon and scroll to open Evernote then click.

 

[Hads 20]

I like the scratchpad, but I agree that it should be a right-click and not the main left click for Evernote.  As someone who brings up Evernote about 20 times a day, this is a huge step backwards in productivity.  

I home Evernote fixes this and puts it back the way it was.

[CSHaines 4]

I totally agree that opening Evernote should be the primary action when clicking the icon. The icon in the notification area (tray) made EN snap open quickly and was very much appreciated, but now it is three steps: click, mouse over, click again, every time.

I tried pinning EN to the taskbar but there there is a long delay in opening unless it is already open and carefully minimized, which is impractical since EN needs to be immediately accessible and it is already running anyway. Before the helper/scratchpad was added, you could bring up EN from the tray quickly in one click, if you made the icon always visible. 

A snappy response used to be an asset to the branding of EN and the perception of it being well designed and efficient, so there are very good reasons to remove barriers to opening EN. Having 'features" forced upon users sends an opposite message, plus it seems like a distraction for EN developers, a very bad signal. Trying to integrate a screen capture is also a distraction as there are lots of options top allow this without EN trying to get in the mix.

It also seems strange that the keyboard shortcut (CTRL-N) to a new note only works when EN is open and the focus. Otherwise it reverts to the Windows meaning. But we know they can do shortcuts that are accessible throughout Windows because the helper shortcut (CTRL-ALT-H) works from just about anywhere.

This is odd because quickly opening a new note quickly *IS* the feature!! 

Please:

1. make clicking on icon in tray open EN (quickly) --> you had this in v10 before the helper, and
2. have opening a new note as a right click option (and assign it to a more universal keyboard shortcut). --> you have proven this is possible with helper shortcut, and
3. focus development energy on opening new notes faster. --> That is the core expectation, biggest bang for the buck, and strongest signal to users about being focused on continuous development. Currently it is acceptably fast, though it a bit faster would be ideal.

Many users are on the fence, hoping EN finally can build upon v10 to improved functionality, but the clock is ticking and this does not increase confidence.

[Yngvar 4]

I click the Evernote icon in the taskbar to open Evernote to select one of the 10+ latest notes I use daily. I perform this operation perhaps 100 times a day. Until this update where I have to right-click the taskbar icon, then select the Open Evernote menu item. This is a big thing for me. One of the reasons for using Evernote is the easy and efficient use. 
Please go back to previous behavior, or at the very least, make that a setting in preferences that one can choose default behavior when clicking the taskbar icon.

(It works fine in version 10.1.7 installed on my other machine, but I guess it's only for some more hours until version 10.3.7 is installed there as well)

[Grumpyhonky 1]

I'm chiming in because this is bugging me as well. I just upgraded to version 10 (for some reason, my previous Windows version of Evernote couldn't find any updates using the Check for Updates menu item....grrrrrrr), and I am honestly stunned that there are no user preference options in the the latest version (other than Tools --> Preferences --> Save Data at Logout). How about giving users the option to determine the app's behavior when we left-click on the Evernote icon in the Windows taskbar? Allow us to choose if we want a left-click to open the scratchpad vs. having the entire app open after left-clicking?

I have been an Evernote user since 2008, and this left-click = open-entire-app functionality has become second nature to me over the past 12 years. I know that opening the app now only requires an additional left-click, or a right-click then a left-click in the taskbar, but I am genuinely shocked that a software upgrade would remove nearly all options for the user to customize the application. Removing preferences is a violation of basic UX methodology, and I am honestly speechless.

Okay, I'm done venting. But I do hope that Evernote restores user options to the desktop app in an upcoming release.  

[SWB_Indy 7]

I vote for having it be a customizable user preference.  I personally want to be able to just click (i.e. left-click) the System Tray icon to be able to launch Evernote, but I definitely see the functionality of having the 'Quick Note' be the default.  For Evernote developers to change this major functionality, you can bet many, many folks asked for it.

People are confusing "System Tray" and "Taskbar".  Technically, they are considered two different areas even though the System Tray lives on the Taskbar.  If you see your Taskbar horizontally at the bottom of your screen, the System Tray is located all the way to the right (I have my Taskbar vertically on the right of my display so my System Tray is at the bottom of my Taskbar). The name of this thread unfortunately is "Taskbar Actions" which is technically wrong.  What is being discussed, I believe, is the action when one clicks on the Evernote icon in the System Tray, not the Taskbar. 

PRO-TIP: If you pin Evernote to your Taskbar, then it does indeed open by just clicking on it (i.e. left-click). To pin it, all you have to do is click the Windows button and scroll down to Evernote in the Apps list and drag the Evernote icon onto the Taskbar (not into the System Tray). Voila!  It's an optional workaround for the folks who want to just click an icon to start Evernote.  At best, you can have the best of both worlds.  At worst, it's a viable work-around until (and if) the Evernote developers give us the option to configure the System Tray's icon behavior. 

[Richard021 1]

My solution of click the evernote system tray icon to open evernote (instead of a quick note):

Make a shortcut of evernote and pin it to task bar.

[Benoro 0]

Scratch the scratchpad.

[Silicoid 2]

I agree. Most of the time I need to lookup something in Evernote, not note something down. Make it open up evernote again or at least make it configurable.

[Hads 20]

I'm following up on this, as it has been a year since I first posted this request.  Every time a new release comes out, I'm hoping that it is incorporated in the new release.  It's driving me crazy that I have to right-click, as I mentioned, I'm in and out of Evernote many times during the day.

Is there any way to know if this is being looked at by the developers or if it will be included in future releases?

[PinkElephant 8,115]

I am not sure since I use EN on Windows scarcely. But for me one click on the EN icon  in the taskbar opens the app, not the helper.

Maybe you have somehow created a link to the helper, and this continues to be used behind the app symbol.

Have you yet tried to delete the app symbol from the taskbar and create a new one ?

Does it do the same when starting from the Start menu ?

[agsteele 2,950]

1 hour ago, Hads said:

Is there any way to know if this is being looked at by the developers or if it will be included in future releases?

No, and I imagine it is what it is. There doesn't seem to be much energy around the left/right click options amongst users. My workflow has settled into right-click the tray icon and off I go. An easier option would be to dock an Evernote shortcut into the taskbar which will appear at the left hand side and you can left click that in the conventional manner.

As with many of the changes in v10 an adjustment to workflow is required but it quickly becomes normal.

[Hads 20]

Yeah, @agsteele, I did try to put it on the left side of the taskbar, but it is slower because it seems to be launching the program every time.  When it's in the right taskbar,  it is pretty quick in loading EN.  Yes, I have adjusted to the workflow, but I'm not happy and not sure if most EN Windows users use the Quick notes feature.  I used to love the one click access, but now there is 2 clicks.  Oh well.

[PinkElephant 8,115]

It does not make a difference in launching speed.

The taskpad symbol does not start the EN app, it just opens that tiny EN helper to make a quick note.

To get quick launch time the best way is to keep EN up and running, and just close the front window through the X. This keeps the background processes alive. You pay a price for that, because these background processes include a session of a Chrome(ium) browser, nickname monsteresourceshog. It depends on how your PC is equipped if you want to have EN „always on“.

If quitted, the app does a quick sync with the server every time it is started. This probably causes the delay you mention. The taskpad helper does not need to sync - thus it opens much faster.