Local Notebooks RIP!!!

[Comp 10]

I am a long term premium user and shocked that Evernote have taken away Local Notebooks. I am shocked because Evernote seems to think that I will be happy to put my tax returns, banks statements, and nearly 3000 other private notes on the cloud!

I have 2FA, but being a former software engineer myself, forgive me if I don't buy into Evernote's claim that my notes will be safe on the cloud.  

Question: What does Evernote think people like me are to do with our private notes? I still need them in Evernote because I want to be able to use the excellent tagging feature.

If the answer is put them on the cloud, then sadly my 10 year love affair with Evernote may be over 😒

---

Reference : Convert Local notebooks: https://help.evernote.com/hc/en-us/articles/209005107-Convert-local-notebooks

[DTLow 5,736]

22 minutes ago, Comp said:

I still need them in Evernote because I want to be able to use the excellent tagging feature. (private notes)

I have two processes for sensitive data

1. Encryption using the native encryption of file attachments (pdfs etc.) /
2. Move attachments to a local folder; replace with file links

[gazumped 11,664]

42 minutes ago, Comp said:

I want to be able to use the excellent tagging feature.

According to Mr Small,  only a small percentage of users actually tag their notes... (though I think he may be misinformed...)

[Comp 10]

DTLOW : If I move my files out of Evernote and use links to them then I won't be able to take advantage of Evernote search + tags. I solely rely on tags for my filing.

gazumped : Sadly, I think you are right. I have only 7 notebooks but hundreds of tags. I rely on Evernote tagging for everything. I love tags because I remember things by what I associated the thing with, and not the folder/hierarchy I put the thing in.

I don't know if Evernote staff are going to reply or not. I am already searching for an Evernote replacement as loss of Local Notebooks has simply destroyed my workflow and filing system; something that I have painstakingly set up over the past 10 years.

For me, Evernote has always been an excellent digital filing cabinet. The new Evernote is now like a filing cabinet that I have to share on the cloud and that is not going to work for me with my private stuff.

[s2sailor 2,193]

45 minutes ago, Comp said:

loss of Local Notebooks has simply destroyed my workflow and filing system; something that I have painstakingly set up over the past 10 years.

Same here.  I currently put all work related notes into local notebooks, about half my total.  I'm still working out what I will do when the legacy version will no longer run.  For the few personal document that I need secure, I use password protected pdfs, but this is impractical for all of the work content.

Evernote also mentioned that local notebook support was removed due to lack of use.  I've always held out hope they would implement encrypted notebooks, but if local notebooks were little used, I don't see them justifying encryption, unfortunately.  I suspect that local notebooks were also a support headache.

[Comp 10]

Call me a cynic, but I wonder if this decision has to do with Data Mining. These days it is almost impossible to know who is doing what with your data on the web, and more importantly who - including Evernote - is making money from it.

As we Brits says, "if ain't broke don't fix it". I can't imagine local notebooks gave Evernote many issues. I have happily used them for many years.

 

[DTLow 5,736]

1 hour ago, Comp said:

If I move my files out of Evernote and use links to them then I won't be able to take advantage of Evernote search + tags. I solely rely on tags for my filing.

My file attachments are moved out of Evernote; replaced with file links
The notes themselves remain in Evernote, with tags and also descriptive information

[s2sailor 2,193]

1 minute ago, Comp said:

As we Brits says, "if ain't broke don't fix it". I can't imagine local notebooks gave Evernote many issues. I have happily used them for many years.

In v10 they "fixed" many things that weren't broke.  The support issue that I was thinking of was concerning those that may have created local notebooks without understanding their responsibility in backing them up and then complaining to EN when they were lost.  v10 is also a database structure change.  Having everything server based likely simplifies code.

[Comp 10]

DTLow : that approach works for tags but it doesn't find text within the document. 

e.g. every now and then I need to search for someone I have paid money to. I just go to Evernote and search for:

tag:bank tag:statement "john smith"

Correct me if I am wrong, but I wouldn't be able to do this using your approach if my statement (PDF) is outside Evernote.

[DTLow 5,736]

26 minutes ago, s2sailor said:

v10 is also a database structure change

The local database is also optional, and only referenced when users are offline

edit: Local Notebooks were stored in the local database, along with the copy of the online data

[s2sailor 2,193]

Just now, DTLow said:

The local database is also optional, and only referenced when users are offline

Yes, unrelated to local notebooks as used in the legacy version.

[Comp 10]

For those who are intersted, I am moving my digital filing cabinet out of Evernote into Apple Mail connected to GMail because:

1. Emails that I am happy to be on the cloud can stay on GMail
2. Private emails get moved to a local mailbox on my Mac
3. I can use the GMail labels (= tags) to tag emails
4. GMail labels can be colour coded which is great
5. I can find things using the excellent GMail and/or Apple Mail search
    

[Comp 10]

By the way, I found an excellent replacement for the Evernote Web Clipper: the Safari browser.

Browse to a web page and click Command I (or use the Share Menu and then Email) and you will get a copy of the page (just like the EN Web Clipper) in the body of an email that you can then email (to your digital filing cabinet).

I wish I didn't have to switch away from Evernote, but at least I have found a reasonable workaround which others may find useful also.

[s2sailor 2,193]

6 minutes ago, DTLow said:

Local Notebooks were stored in the local database, along with the online data

Yes, but my point was, even though v10 has local storage, it is not used for local unsync'd notebooks as in legacy.

[s2sailor 2,193]

11 minutes ago, Comp said:

For those who are intersted, I am moving my digital filing cabinet out of Evernote into Apple Mail connected to GMail because:

What are your plans for notes and documents, or is your main Evernote usage for email?

[Comp 10]

2 minutes ago, s2sailor said:

What are your plans for notes and documents, or is your main Evernote usage for email?

Documents : store as attachments to email. If I need to update a document (Word, Excel) then edit and reply to the same email with the updated copy. A nice side effect of this is that I automatically get the old versions of the document in the the same email thread.

Notes : pretty much the same approach as Documents.

Additonal benefits from GMail:

• Snooze an email (= EN Reminder)
• Use the powerful GMail filters to automatically label my incoming work/stuff
• Email stuff to myself and have GMail automatically label them for me

A useful GMail feature that is great for filters and labels

The real value in being able to manipulate your email address is that it makes it really easy to filter on those variants. 

 

For example you could use john.smith+bank@gmail.com when you sign up for online banking and then set up a filter to automatically star, archive or label emails addressed to it.

  

You can also use this when you register for a service and think they might share your information. 

Further reading : https://gmail.googleblog.com/2008/03/2-hidden-ways-to-get-more-from-your.html

[Comp 10]

Good bye Evernote; hello Gmail / Apple Mail as my new digital filing cabinet.

Sad day 😕

 

[gazumped 11,664]

3 hours ago, Comp said:

I don't buy into Evernote's claim that my notes will be safe on the cloud. 

 

23 minutes ago, Comp said:

Good bye Evernote; hello Gmail / Apple Mail as my new digital filing cabinet.

Unless I missed something important aren't those two statements somewhat contradictory?  I think I'd trust Evernote over Apple and Gmail!  😏

[Comp 10]

23 minutes ago, gazumped said:

 

Unless I missed something important aren't those two statements somewhat contradictory?  I think I'd trust Evernote over Apple and Gmail!  😏

Not at all. 

I always move private emails, documents, ... over to my Mac i.e. off the Apple and Google Ecosystems.

Now, if Apple Mail and Finder, behind the scenes, share my private stuff with Apple then that's another story. Can you imagine what will happen to the Apple share price if that is the case!

Please see this Apple doc: https://support.apple.com/en-gb/guide/mail/mlhlp1021/mac#:~:text=In the Mail app on,them only on this computer.

 

[Comp 10]

15 minutes ago, Comp said:

Not at all. 

I always move private emails, documents, ... over to my Mac i.e. off the Apple and Google Ecosystems.

Now, if Apple Mail and Finder, behind the scenes, share my private stuff with Apple then that's another story. Can you imagine what will happen to the Apple share price if that is the case!

Please see this Apple doc: https://support.apple.com/en-gb/guide/mail/mlhlp1021/mac#:~:text=In the Mail app on,them only on this computer.

 

Small correction:

I used to move my private stuff into Evernote Local Notebooks.

Going forward, I will use the Apple Mail local Mailboxes, like I used to in the days when I was not an Evernote user.

 

[Kuba34567 0]

The write that you can import local notebooks here: https://help.evernote.com/hc/en-us/articles/209005107-Convert-local-notebooks

If you have local notebooks, you will automatically see the tool the first time you launch the new Evernote for Mac or the new Evernote for Windows, or you can find the tool any time by going to Tools > Check for Local Notebooks from the menu bar.

I do not even have this option in Tools menu.