Evernote vs Nimbus Note - is it worth to switch to?

[Barabasz 134]

I wonder what are your afterthoughts on Nimbus Note. I found it a great solid candidate to replace Evernote. It is not perfect, but in my opinion it looks and feels much better than EN v10. There are at least another thread about it, but i'd like to summarize differences.

These are just some pros/cons I have noticed after two days of using Nimbus (there are a lot more of course). I am using Pro version of Nimbus.

Pros:

• beautiful simple interface (apart from snippets view, see below)
• much faster than Evernote (tested on macOS, ipadOS, iOS and Windows)
• great easy-to-use editor (i my opinion way better than the one from EN)
• nest folders (subfolders) for notes to any depth,
• you can set colours to folders and notes (good way to highlight important items)
• you can select any image from the note as a thumbnail preview
• instant internal linking (just type "@" and search/select from pop-up menu - amazing!)
• ability to provide internal link to any block within a note (what a great little thing!)
• code block with language-specific colour highlighting
• attachments for a note (not inside a note)
• no keyboard shortcuts problems on Windows  
• video and audio recording (on mobile devices)
• workspace level (great for switching between i.e. home and work, up to 5 workspaces in Pro)
• single attachment size up to 1GB
• lots of tiny features (like captions for images, note preview when hover over internal link, etc.)

Cons:

• EN has way better snippets view (see below)
• no annotations for images,
• no annotations for PDF files,
• no sketching / no pencil input support (I don't care about this issue since Notability is my app of choice for handwriting notes/sketches),
• flat (non-hierarchical) tags,
• no voice recording support on desktops (Windows/macOS) - edit: desktop EN doesn't have this feature either, my bad
• no built-in player for voice and video recordings (they exist as attachments - m4a and mov respectively)
• on mobile devices no instant search (and SERP is on another tab)
• maybe I'm wrong but I can't find geolocation info (according to product info there should be "Notes Geotagging")
• it seems to me that synchronisation is slower than in Evernote (but it might only be my case) 

Migration process:

• pretty decent import (much more reliable than the import tool for OneNote)
• missing thumbnail preview in snipets list (I had to manually select desired image in each note and set it as preview - which was pain in the...).

Snippets view compare:

Nimbus:

While migrating from Evernote you can try Nimbus Pro for free for one month (which is great since free version is limited to 2x50 = 100 notes).

Maybe there are users on this forum who are using Nimbus for some time and can share some thoughts with us? As for now I am very happy with Nimbus - but maybe there are some deal-breaking disadvantages that I simply can't see right now.

 

[gazumped 11,664]

14 minutes ago, Barabasz said:

edit: desktop EN doesn't have this feature either, my bad

Actually desktop EN (v6.25) does have an audio note option...

[Barabasz 134]

28 minutes ago, gazumped said:

Actually desktop EN (v6.25) does have an audio note option...

Yep but this is the legacy version. I'm comparing latest available versions of Evernote and Nimbus Note for each platform. 

If Evernote 6.x had evolved in a proper way I wouldn't been even thinking about other software. Unfortunately they abandoned old Evernote philosophy, turn great program into useless *****, and above all they have absolutely no respect for the users. Not at all. 

[WilliamL 654]

Personally I would run to the hills and live as a hermit before I would even consider poking nimbus with a stick! Their last privacy policy was dodgy as granting them royalty free access to all your data! They fixed this - the evidence they showed me - a link to the Evernote forums as proof! Their updates info on the apps show poor grasp of English (see the most recent one on iOS) and their app has ground to a halt for people who have added in a few hundred notes. On top of that they have staff active in these forums appearing to recruit users here which is a crass and inappropriate tactic. There is literally nothing that endears me to that company. 

[Barabasz 134]

@wbutchart I'm guessing these are those security concerns I've been reading about here and there (I wasn't aware about it). 

I just read Nimbus Web - Privacy Policy for General Use - I'm not a lawyer of any kind, but it looks quite decent (probably I'm missing something, or maybe they recently changed the policy). 

Is it still as bad as it was before? Is it significantly worse than Evernote policy?

[aashish108 11]

Nimbus is the closest but still feels rough. Here are my observations:

Pros

• The major thing Nimbus has going for it is it's first class support; they get back to you quick and even talk to the developers directly so they can work on stuff. It's also in development which seems really fast. I have no doubt Nimbus will be very far in a years time. 
• Great editor
• Nested folders
• Seems fast
• 5 workspaces
• Enex files mostly imported without issues

Cons

• Importer does not import 100% of enex in some cases. Its kinda minor but there has been some major instances. 
• Sometimes slow performance than even new Evernote in some cases (I am not sure why; perhaps while I was transferring to another workspace or uploading)
• Non-hierarchical tags means a long list of tags (on Evernote is all folded away in categories)
• New Evernote dark theme beats Nimbus's. 
• A lot of tools support Evernote import from enex files. Not with Nimbus which exports to html or pdf. So feels like more of a lock in? 
• Transferring notes to another workspace is buggy, slow in Nimbus. 
• Nimbus web clipper on chrome has a lot of bad reviews compared to Evernote. 
• You can't share a folder to a specific email. You can only make a folder totally public or make. It public and password protect it. I prefer Evernote's model of sharing. 

Notes

• Oh and Nimbus is on Amazon Web Services while Evernote is on Google Cloud for what it's worth! 
• Evernote has over 200 million users while Nimbus only has over a million. 
• Otherwise I'm still trying to play with Nimbus to see if it works out. 

 

With all this said, still not sure about Nimbus. As Evernote might get it sorted soon. 

I've kinda given up and will just stick to Evernote unless another disaster happens. 

I have had enough of notes!!! 

[Vidalia 23]

I think moving from one platform to another platform is not good long term strategy. Focus on your workflow and format of the notes rather than a proprietary application.

Try storing your notes in RTF, HTML or DOCX so that it is effectively open and you can search using native OS commands or using 3rd party tools.  

RTF and HTML are both plain texts (RTF even converts the images as series of ASCII characters) and DOCX is actually a zip file and all words are inside word\document.xml file. 

[WilliamL 654]

1 hour ago, Barabasz said:

@wbutchart I'm guessing these are those security concerns I've been reading about here and there (I wasn't aware about it). 

I just read Nimbus Web - Privacy Policy for General Use - I'm not a lawyer of any kind, but it looks quite decent (probably I'm missing something, or maybe they recently changed the policy). 

Is it still as bad as it was before? Is it significantly worse than Evernote policy?

Yeah they changed it when people here started to question them on it. That such a policy ever existed for a notes platform though is a red flag for me, no matter what they should be aware of their policies and how those impact users, privacy is a big thing for data. 
I have heard some conversations about security concerns, honestly I’m not sure if there is any merit to those, I go only on what I’ve personally observed or seen and none of that sadly tells me that nimbus is a company I should be trusting. 

[gazumped 11,664]

1 hour ago, Barabasz said:

If Evernote 6.x had evolved in a proper way I wouldn't been even thinking about other software.

Hmmn.  I have 52,000 notes in Evernote Legacy (actually I killed update and stayed with 6.25.1 - the last public version) and I'm staying firmly here until Evernote bring back the features that they've stressed several times are temporarily missing from the desktop apps.  I reckon by the new year the app might be back to usable,  and after that it should get a lot better...  but I see absolutely no point in crossing the bridge of choosing a new home for my stuff unless I absolutely have to.  If things don't improve,  or if the old apps get shut down,  then I'm gone - but you can bet that there will be more options in 3 months time than there are now,  and others will have jumped ship in all the available directions, so you'll have more feedback as to which option might be best.  Good luck,  whatever you choose...

[TheMagicWombat 68]

2 hours ago, Barabasz said:

Yep but this is the legacy version. I'm comparing latest available versions of Evernote and Nimbus Note for each platform. 

 

That is NOT fair! The current version of Evernote gets curb-stomped by a cardboard box next to your desk full of random papers!

[Tamagotchi 46]

Legacy is a unsupported software. Contact support and they will tell you to install Evernote 10. Some people still use Internet Explorer too. Unsupported software is dead software. There is no guarantee that Evernote will get there act together. Recent history would say not. There are alternatives. In the dynamic tech change is a permeant. A little adaption on our part is required to consider new ways of doing the same work if we are not to become tech dinosaurs. 

[gazumped 11,664]

2 hours ago, Tamagotchi said:

A little adaption on our part

Whilst I agree with you that it is necessary to be flexible to overcome temporary setbacks,  I would not envy anyone moving a sizeable note count to new and untried software while they learn how best to use it,  and adopt their working processes to new capabilities and controls.  I have no permanent tie to Evernote,  but while my 6.25.1 (the last general release) continues to work without issues I see no reason to borrow aggravation by rushing into a new app.  I'd rather continue using my present working systems,  using features I fully understand.

[Barabasz 134]

10 hours ago, Tamagotchi said:

In the dynamic tech change is a permeant.

Of course it is.

10 hours ago, Tamagotchi said:

A little adaption on our part is required to consider new ways of doing the same work

We are not dealing with "a little adaptation". We were brutally forced by Evernote to use new version that is full of critical bugs (thousands of people all around the world are simply unable to use it at all! and as you can rollback to legacy version on desktops, you can do noting on iOS and ipadOS). No proper UX/AI, no detailed testing, no QA. This is not evolution (or revolution) in software development. It is madness... 

 

[Tamagotchi 46]

14 hours ago, Barabasz said:

We were brutally forced by Evernote to use new version

Hi. 

I agree with your comments. Evernote has presented us with an ultimatum. It was a rude awakening for many. One would think after all those years of use that they would value us as a customer. The indifferent communication from Evernote would indicate otherwise. If they were clever they would have at least pretended to care. 

The second point is the technical deficiencies of this "beta" product. The good news is there are other ways to do the same thing we have done with Evernote in the past. It is inconvenient to have to leave what was a good thing but the discussion from this forum, from those who know software development better than I, suggest there is no way back. Evernote may get things working but not without some losses. I wish them all the best.

I need to continue my business as usual and I cannot do that on Evernote. Coming from Windows and Android perspective, I have found that Notion and OneNote serve my needs. Both have their strengths and work on any platform or device. I can buy the phone, tablet and PC that suits my needs, or continue using the existing ones, and are not locked into an ecosystem.

OneNote is native on the Windows PC with local data storage, synchronisation, OCR, annotations and easy sharing through Outlook.com. It has become my document management tool. Typing in a text as speed works well too as it is easily capable of keeping up with the pace. OneNote has a good editor so that I can tidy it up and make it look suitably professional as well, before sharing it in some way - except with social media and messaging. I do not draw things much as I more the spreadsheet and charts sort of guy but drawing is there for those who feel they wish to get creative. 

Notion has taken time to get my head around but is exceptional for task and project management. It is a database and not a project management software as such but allows great flexibility to tailor the functions around my workflows and thinking. Notion allows notes as pages and web compatible editing features including embed (iframes). It is designed for teamwork. Saved searches are supported by views. It always feels self-made like Excel, no matter how much formatting you put in. Excel never lets us quite hid the spreadsheet and Notion never lets us quite hide the database. I think that might be alienating for some. I like Notion because if I have an idea of how I want things I can usually find a way of quickly doing it without breaking anything or coding. 

For taggers, the big shift moving from Evernote to Notion or OneNote will be tag support. I was a tagger and had to rethink how things would be done.

• For OneNote that is a note taking approach with pages sorted into notebooks/sections/pages/subpages and OCR search.
• For Notion, I analysed the function of the tags as I used them and then created database fields that recreated that function. Through the imported tags for Evernote to fill those fields via ctrl-A mass selection of notes. Finding things is done with Notion powerful boolean expression. More technically they are filters that allow a complex selection and nest conditions: A AND (B OR (C AND D NOT empty)). There are limitations compared to a proper database selection. Adding another field to save intermediate results. An EXCLUDE check box is useful (toggle) as it allows in a preliminary search to exclude items - first through selection and then afterwards handling individual tailoring - before viewing, narrowing what remains through a filter. 

Notion for research

Web research, web clipping, and annotation of notes is good with Notion. One an 8th generation (2020) iPad it is faster than clipping with OneNote on PC. iPad ( 6, 7, 8 ) support the Apple Pencil (Generation 1) too. In the Gallery view, a preview of the notes is displayed along with note attributes. The notes can be sorted, read, edited highlight. After getting the thoughts in order useful material can be transferred back to OneNote for the business end of things. 

For students, some other app may be better as it lacks automatic capture and referencing of quotes which are part of any academic work. With a handful of sources, it may be manageable but with dozens, it will quickly become unworkable. 

 

[CalS 5,280]

17 hours ago, Barabasz said:

We were brutally forced by Evernote to use new version that is full of critical bugs

Well not quite forced just yet as even EN says if your use case got clobbered use legacy until things are added back.  I am as unhappy (or more) than the next user but can still get done what I need to get done on Windows with 6.25.1.  Not to say there is not a force point in the future depending upon how much feature doesn't get added back when 6.25.1 sunsets.  Time will tell. 

Not the smartest way to roll out software I've ever seen.  🙄  Meanwhile I will  keep an open mind as to what alternatives exist.   

[TheMagicWombat 68]

17 hours ago, Barabasz said:

Of course it is.

We are not dealing with "a little adaptation". We were brutally forced by Evernote to use new version that is full of critical bugs (thousands of people all around the world are simply unable to use it at all! and as you can rollback to legacy version on desktops, you can do noting on iOS and ipadOS). No proper UX/AI, no detailed testing, no QA. This is not evolution (or revolution) in software development. It is madness... 

 

Hey! Come on! Don't you like it when software companies eliminate features that were found in your software because they weren't found in other software???

Comin up next Evernote for the Raspberry Pi -- And the nerfing of all current versions to be 100% in sync with its ... features!

[DTLow 5,736]

3 hours ago, Tamagotchi said:

Evernote has presented us with an ultimatum.

I'm not clear about the ultimatum: Legacy or Version 10?

I choose the legacy product for my Mac.    
imho  The Version 10 product is not ready for general use

[WilliamL 654]

7 hours ago, DTLow said:

I'm not clear about the ultimatum: Legacy or Version 10?

I choose the legacy product for my Mac.    
imho  The Version 10 product is not ready for general use

Yeah things are getting a little hysterical now. We have gone from legitimate gripes about bugs and the constructive elements of that, to ramblings of oncoming doom. It’s getting a bit tiresome. 

[Jon/t 1,289]

23 minutes ago, wbutchart said:

Yeah things are getting a little hysterical now.

 

Yup... some of the language people are using is utterly ridiculous... so much drama and exaggeration.

I was hoping this forum would be a place where folks discuss how to use the tool better & discover new ways of doing things.

I've not been visiting the form quite so often recently.

[gazumped 11,664]

4 hours ago, wbutchart said:

It’s getting a bit tiresome.

Absolutely.  The fact is that Evernote made some (cough!  understatement!!) mistakes in how this went through,  but the old version is still alive and well and (pretty much) available to everyone... except for iOS users who need web or desktop access for a while. The team are working to fix this and are (I think) up to about 10.3 already. On the scale of pandemics, elections brexit (I'm in the UK) and tornados this is barely a flicker.  Get a grip people.  We all have better things to do.

In fact to quote Janis Ian... https://www.bettertimeswillcome.com/  😁

[DTLow 5,736]

23 minutes ago, gazumped said:

On the scale of pandemics, elections brexit (I'm in the UK) and tornados this is barely a flicker. 

I'm in Canada, close to the US border.      '🙁
Still using the Evernote Legacy product with no issues   
I'll look at the Version 10 product when the work is completed; currently it's a work-in-progress

[WilliamL 654]

1 minute ago, gazumped said:

Absolutely.  The fact is that Evernote made some (cough!  understatement!!) mistakes in how this went through,  but the old version is still alive and well and (pretty much) available to everyone... except for iOS users who need web or desktop access for a while. The team are working to fix this and are (I think) up to about 10.3 already. On the scale of pandemics, elections brexit (I'm in the UK) and tornados this is barely a flicker.  Get a grip people.  We all have better things to do.

In fact to quote Janis Ian... https://www.bettertimeswillcome.com/  😁

Yeah I’m uk too so experiencing those same political ‘joys’ lol. 
I feel a large part of this is manufactured and that frustrates me. It’s entirely legitimate that users are frustrated with 10, the lack of communication and the bugs that were present, and some still are. What frustrates me though is this stuff about legacy isn’t supported to its all doom! Legacy is stable, so what’s the issue! It’s working and has been for years really, so what’s with these hypothetical bugs that mean 6 breaks and 10 would be forced in some bizarre ‘ultimatum’. 6 is a perfectly adequate resolution to the issues people have with desktops, the grips about mobile are fairer as that can’t be rolled back. 
Personally, I’m on 10 on windows and it works great for me, but I’m not a power user in any way. You rightly point out too that we are on 10.3 so work is clearly going on at pace. If they can sort the syncing issue on iOS (they must ASAP cause still more are mentioning it) I’ll be happy with where we are at. 
I just don’t get this let’s create a hypothetical issue and then complain relentlessly about it thing, and it’s everywhere just now.

[gazumped 11,664]

16 minutes ago, wbutchart said:

I just don’t get this let’s create a hypothetical issue and then complain relentlessly about it thing

Purely a personal opinion,  but like everything these days I think it's driven by equal parts panic and special interests. 

Panic,  because people are busy being whatever they chose - butchers, bakers, candlestick makers - in hard times with lots of challenges.  It's just one more when the software you relied on stops doing what you thought it should, and you have to find out why,  and how to fix it.  Straw vs camel's back stuff.  Tends to get emotional.

Interests, because there are a lot of other new providers out there in what's supposed to be a potential billion-dollar market. (How's that going,  Evernote??) And Evernote - which was the market leader - has stumbled.  Some of our contributors here may have more of a stake in leading users to other homes than they're willing to admit - so whatever faults get mentioned,  get amplified into absolute catastrophes (or potential catastrophes) to get customers on the move. 

Again it's a cold, hard world out there - there are only so many customers and Evernote has the mother-lode.  For the moment...

[Jon/t 1,289]

16 minutes ago, wbutchart said:

I just don’t get this let’s create a hypothetical issue and then complain relentlessly about it thing, and it’s everywhere just now.

 

A lot of it is down to the noise on the Internet and social media... If I say "I'm not too keen on the new update. It's changed the way I do things" then no one pays attention, and it gets swallowed up in the noise.

If I say "Evernote CEO & Devs are useless muppets and the update had destroyed my life"... then I get attention which is all I really want... just someone to agree with me!

Social media speak is everywhere now... LISTEN TO ME NOW!! 

I ran a training session last year where someone actually said LOL instead of laughing at something funny 🤣

[CalS 5,280]

Agree there is far more drama than need be as compared to other calamities in the world today.  Still, don't let EN off the hook for really popping the pooch with V10,  It truly is disruptive to I would hazard a guess most power users based upon the multi-fold increase of  "what did you do to my workflow" posts the last month. 

For me the thing to watch is how close does V10 get to 6.25.1 before 6.25.1 sunsets.  That being said, personally I did not need the lack of professionalism from EN in this process.  It had to be a total misunderstanding of their power users or a misunderstanding of the effort required to move to the new development platform which caused them to release early without all function.  My opinion anyway.

[SmallBizWhiz2 0]

Glad to have found this thread as I'm feeling heavily discontent with EN.

I purchased Nimbus Notes via AppSumo and was going to ask for a refund because they do not 'import' notes in from local or cloud folders, which was a deal breaker. Come to find out, the new version of EN doesn't either -- and this was pretty well the breaking point for me to say adios to EN. I then realize that NN's user level access is essentially non-existent. And the truth of the matter is, EN's user level control is highly-lacking and not at all easy to use, especially when adding new users. 

So today, I started thinking about how it is that I actually use EN and the reality is, I use it as a document management system. It's where we store all of our dead docs.

I'm wondering if anyone has a DMS that they love -- something that automatically OCRs PDFs and images and that I can easily control user level access. I'm thinking the affordable and seemingly capable solution will look like dropbox or box. Google is a no go because it doesn't auto OCR.

With that solved, I'll likely move to either NN or Notion as a note taking, clipping, etc. app. 

I'd love anyone's guidance who has a similar use case.  

[Tamagotchi 46]

We are not comparing Evernote 10 to the black plague (ie the end of the world) but rather we are comparing Evernote 10 to other note taking apps. Evernote is not competitive to other possibilities available in the market currently. I think it unattractive for new users. Those that have a workflow built on on Evernote and a history working with it may put up with Legacy for now in the hope that Evernote 10 gets better, but at a price. 

We could also narrow the comparison to not taking apps free plans. With Evernotes symbolic upload limit of 60MB, the free plan is as good as useless.

Compare the Evernote paid plan $10 per month with other things available on the market and we see other note taking apps are cheaper and offer just at much, if not more, although it will not be exactly the same features. 

An unsupported product means the product may break unexpectantly as a result of the development of Evernote 10 (update) and the problem will not be fixed. Take the Apple OS example - Evernote software updated and no rollback, no warning given. Vulnerabilities and exploits is another issue. There is no chat/email support for unsupported software. Evernote 10 development could break Legacy synchronisation. If you have walked out to an island it is not wise to wait until the tide comes back in. There is a reason why people use and pay for supported software.

Finally, there is an opportunity cost here. Time spent fighting with Evernote could be use to learn something new. :-)

 

 

[gazumped 11,664]

12 hours ago, Tamagotchi said:

Evernote is not competitive to other possibilities available in the market currently.

Are we talking the stripped-down launch version,  or what Evernote will become shortly when its features are restored?

12 hours ago, Tamagotchi said:

I think it unattractive for new users.

Actually,  new users - who don't use complicated features that much - seem to find it quite attractive.  'Course I haven't done the in-depth survey that you clearly have...

12 hours ago, Tamagotchi said:

Those that have a workflow built on on Evernote and a history working with it may put up with Legacy for now in the hope that Evernote 10 gets better, but at a price.

? So if we simply continue to use the features that we know and love (and have been using for the past few years) in Legacy until Evernote gets its act together with v10, there's a price???

12 hours ago, Tamagotchi said:

With Evernotes symbolic upload limit of 60MB, the free plan is as good as useless.

Tell that to the hundreds of thousands of current Basic users that Evernote is trying to convert by restricting the otherwise generous terms of the free version.

12 hours ago, Tamagotchi said:

other note taking apps are cheaper and offer just at much, if not more, although it will not be exactly the same features. 

Funny how many Evernote users are desperately looking around for another solution - but not finding one then...

12 hours ago, Tamagotchi said:

An unsupported product means the product may break unexpectantly as a result of the development of Evernote 10 (update) and the problem will not be fixed.

Yup - the sky could fall too;  for anything less,  you have a bunch of experienced users in the forums who can probably come up with work-arounds.

12 hours ago, Tamagotchi said:

Evernote software updated and no rollback, no warning given.

Hmmn.  I blame both Apple and Evernote for this - but I agree it was extremely dumb.  And it has been said here before.  Several times.

12 hours ago, Tamagotchi said:

Finally, there is an opportunity cost here. Time spent fighting with Evernote could be use to learn something new. 🙂

Haven't noticed any fights going on.  Endless winges,  yes;  but no fights.  And Evernote are already doing their best to fix the issues that come up.

---------------------------------

So. how about we stick to reporting bugs,  flagging possible new note-taking options for dissatisfied users, and even helping others - rather than random trolling?

 

[s2sailor 2,193]

I think the panic and resulting drama has been created, in large part, by Evernote and their communication “style.”  The upgrade to v10 was a shock and disruption to many. Yes, we have the legacy version to use for now, except for iOS users who are stuck, but they have not responded to questions on how long legacy will still run.  I hope I’m wrong but it would not be out of character for the company to drop support suddenly and require an update to continue to use the service.  A well communicated transition plan may help allay fears.

[gazumped 11,664]

47 minutes ago, s2sailor said:

they have not responded to questions on how long legacy will still run.

From the brief interactions I've had with Support I'd say they haven't the foggiest idea themselves. If they managed to resolve all the outstanding comments and queries tomorrow I bet they would drop pre-10 versions within months. And if they did I'd be happy to move on because EN10 would by then be working. 

I don't see them having any clue as yet on how long it will take to fix things properly,  but they won't be making any rash statements like "we'll maintain your access for a year" because they might get things sorted in a month,  and then they want us all onto the new system so they can save the costs of maintaining the old one.

If they offered a "we'll keep legacy going until the new system is fit for purpose" comment,  there would be endless arguments about whether or not things were actually "fit".  So as ever - the most efficient option is just to say nothing and get on with fixing stuff.

Either we trust them and stay - and where's the risk in that? - Or we jump ship;  and there be dragons.  I just read a query about unauthorised access to an account in one of the competitors whose name is frequently mentioned as a possible option here. 

(Not going to say which - I don't know if that's a valid report and anyways - do your own due diligence!)

[s2sailor 2,193]

19 minutes ago, gazumped said:

I don't see them having any clue as yet on how long it will take to fix things properly,  but they won't be making any rash statements like "we'll maintain your access for a year" because they might get things sorted in a month,  and then they want us all onto the new system so they can save the costs of maintaining the old one.

I agree they don’t know how long it takes to work through their fix list, but they could say something like we will provide x months notice before dropping legacy support. Let’s be honest, they won’t sort this out in a month.  Numerous features are not returning. Providing some timeline would be helpful to users.

[gazumped 11,664]

1 hour ago, s2sailor said:

they won’t sort this out in a month

Totally agree - 'twas just a f'rinstance.  They probably have lots of other internal decisions to make at the moment,  though I agree - some feedback would be nice!!

[Peter Olins 66]

I think that generalized comparison between "note-taking" apps is inappropriate without first defining the kind of user. There is a big difference between simple note-taking + clips, versus complex searches and organization of a library of tens of thousands of notes and attachments.

[CalS 5,280]

On 11/14/2020 at 9:02 AM, s2sailor said:

Providing some timeline would be helpful to users.

A table by function/feature of returning, maybe, gone would make a world of difference even without dates.  Too much of a break from tradition to share any sort of a road map though I suppose.  Not sure how you get that though in the face of the we don't plan statement.  

[BReb 10]

Here's a legit gripe: I upgraded today to bc was prompted to with "It's time..." Normally I'm not quick to pick up new versions but did this time. Big mistake.

If they have known problems with this version, WHY are they still pushing it? Why not pause the rollout process? 

So many mistakes. Who runs this company? Does anyone have info on the ownership and management? SOmething has happened.

[gazumped 11,664]

On 11/21/2020 at 5:48 PM, BReb said:

Here's a legit gripe: I upgraded today to bc was prompted to with "It's time..." Normally I'm not quick to pick up new versions but did this time. Big mistake.

If they have known problems with this version, WHY are they still pushing it? Why not pause the rollout process? 

So many mistakes. Who runs this company? Does anyone have info on the ownership and management? SOmething has happened.

Welcome to automatic processes - I don't think anyone has taken a specific decision to continue pushing a faulty release,  it's just that any release gets promoted to all users.  Evernote seem to be working as hard as they can to get everything in line,  but this is a big step.  With almost as many users around the world as there are people in the US,  Evernote is like a very large oil tanker going full speed ahead.  It's going to take an awful lot to make it change direction...

Evernote is basically a separate corporate owned (I guess) by various venture capitalists.  There haven't been any recent changes that we're aware of...

[CalS 5,280]

3 hours ago, gazumped said:

it's just that any release gets promoted to all users. 

You'd hope there'd be a switch for that somewhere....

[vickie4044c 1]

On 11/11/2020 at 7:06 AM, Barabasz said:

I wonder what are your afterthoughts on Nimbus Note. I found it a great solid candidate to replace Evernote. It is not perfect, but in my opinion it looks and feels much better than EN v10. There are at least another thread about it, but i'd like to summarize differences.

These are just some pros/cons I have noticed after two days of using Nimbus (there are a lot more of course). I am using Pro version of Nimbus.

Pros:

• beautiful simple interface (apart from snippets view, see below)
• much faster than Evernote (tested on macOS, ipadOS, iOS and Windows)
• great easy-to-use editor (i my opinion way better than the one from EN)
• nest folders (subfolders) for notes to any depth,
• you can set colours to folders and notes (good way to highlight important items)
• you can select any image from the note as a thumbnail preview
• instant internal linking (just type "@" and search/select from pop-up menu - amazing!)
• ability to provide internal link to any block within a note (what a great little thing!)
• code block with language-specific colour highlighting
• attachments for a note (not inside a note)
• no keyboard shortcuts problems on Windows  
• video and audio recording (on mobile devices)
• workspace level (great for switching between i.e. home and work, up to 5 workspaces in Pro)
• single attachment size up to 1GB
• lots of tiny features (like captions for images, note preview when hover over internal link, etc.)

Cons:

• EN has way better snippets view (see below)
• no annotations for images,
• no annotations for PDF files,
• no sketching / no pencil input support (I don't care about this issue since Notability is my app of choice for handwriting notes/sketches),
• flat (non-hierarchical) tags,
• no voice recording support on desktops (Windows/macOS) - edit: desktop EN doesn't have this feature either, my bad
• no built-in player for voice and video recordings (they exist as attachments - m4a and mov respectively)
• on mobile devices no instant search (and SERP is on another tab)
• maybe I'm wrong but I can't find geolocation info (according to product info there should be "Notes Geotagging")
• it seems to me that synchronisation is slower than in Evernote (but it might only be my case) 

Migration process:

• pretty decent import (much more reliable than the import tool for OneNote)
• missing thumbnail preview in snipets list (I had to manually select desired image in each note and set it as preview - which was pain in the...).

Snippets view compare:

Nimbus:

While migrating from Evernote you can try Nimbus Pro for free for one month (which is great since free version is limited to 2x50 = 100 notes).

Maybe there are users on this forum who are using Nimbus for some time and can share some thoughts with us? As for now I am very happy with Nimbus - but maybe there are some deal-breaking disadvantages that I simply can't see right now.

 

 

4 hours ago, gazumped said:

Welcome to automatic processes - I don't think anyone has taken a specific decision to continue pushing a faulty release,  it's just that any release gets promoted to all users.  Evernote seem to be working as hard as they can to get everything in line,  but this is a big step.  With almost as many users around the world as there are people in the US,  Evernote is like a very large oil tanker going full speed ahead.  It's going to take an awful lot to make it change direction...

Evernote is basically a separate corporate owned (I guess) by various venture capitalists.  There haven't been any recent changes that we're aware of...

I'm moving, too.  I spent at least two full days trying to get this newer and improved version of Evernote to work for me, and now I'm fed up.  I used Evernote constantly and told people it was the best thing since sliced bread.  Unfortunately, that is no longer true, and I cannot recommend it to anyone else like I used to do.

 

[BReb 10]

On 11/23/2020 at 11:24 AM, gazumped said:

Welcome to automatic processes - I don't think anyone has taken a specific decision to continue pushing a faulty release,  it's just that any release gets promoted to all users.  Evernote seem to be working as hard as they can to get everything in line,  but this is a big step.  With almost as many users around the world as there are people in the US,  Evernote is like a very large oil tanker going full speed ahead.  It's going to take an awful lot to make it change direction...

Evernote is basically a separate corporate owned (I guess) by various venture capitalists.  There haven't been any recent changes that we're aware of...

I suspect they have decided to take the "cash cow" approach now, cutting quality and costs and milking this (yes) for the cash. 

I have been a premium member for years and trusted these folks to manage my info in a reliable way. BIG MISTAKE.

Finding a way out of EN as soon as it is practical. Will def steer people away from it. 

[gazumped 11,664]

I was getting irrationally frustrated that everyone was reacting so badly to Evernote's mistaken strategies here because I haven't been affected at all* - yet. 

Good news - I've got to the stage now that I don't care what anyone else intends, or says. 

Being aware of the occasional dangers of accepting updates as soon as they appear,  I checked the initial EN10 launch thread months back for reaction,  based on which I changed my preferences early on NOT to even notify me when updates were available in Windows or Android.  I kept the last public versions for all my devices,  and it's been business as usual on my patch here ever since. 

I'm not even making urgent plans to move my account,  beyond keeping a watching eye on the products that are available,  just in case.

If Evernote 10 gets sorted out in the next few months I'll probably still keep on my current track unless and until there's a definite date for legacy app support to be withdrawn (or I have some technical issue I can't solve).  Then I'll have to make a decision whether or not to move - but that's still months away,  and I have deadlines in the meantime. 

I work for people who don't take "my software ate my homework" excuses too well,  so I'm keeping calm and carrying on.

It's no big deal (except for iOS) for anyone to step back into this state,  so all the 'Evernote ruined my life' agony that's going around now is (in my not-very humble opinion) pretty much unwarranted.  Companies (present ones excepted) go out of business,  apps fail,  hard drives crash and hackers freeze hard data - and more than once I've done something mortally stupid on a 'Format C:\' level and lost everything.  The current situation is not anything like as bad as any of that.

There's still easy access to earlier versions of the app,  there's Legacy,  and -if you've used a computer for more than 10 minutes- you should have backups of your data. 

Evernote 10 might cost you an hour or two of annoyance,  but there is always an easy out: just step back to where you were a few weeks ago.

If you really want to transfer your data to another app,  learn how to use it properly and keep coming back here to armchair quarterback how Evernote 'should' have done the updates,  then you go ahead.  I'm going to have a very quiet Christmas** and probably catch up on some planning for the new year.

The nice thing is that with all these folks leaving Evernote my sync times and downloads are probably going to be lightning fast in '21,  while all those shiny new systems are going to be groaning and straining under hundreds and thousands of new users and probably increasingly s-l-o-w.

Happy Holidays!! 😊

* other than by having disagreements with lots of other users! Apologies if you were amongst those I grumped at.

**  that's like a December Thanksgiving in the UK. Spoiler alert: the Turkey gets it.

[CalS 5,280]

19 minutes ago, gazumped said:

I work for people who don't take "my software ate my homework" excuses too well,  so I'm keeping calm and carrying on.

🤣

[tomcal 18]

Update regarding Nimbus Note.  Since all software seems speedy at first, I decided to give Nimbus a real test.  I am in the process of importing all 22,000+ of my Evernote notes into it.  It has taken 5 days so far and I'm 5/8 finished (Evernote export split the .enex file into 8 parts).  However, with a little over 14,000 notes already in Nimbus, it is unusable!  Painfully slow.  Minutes between loading notes.  There may be an issue with my file or it may be due to some background indexing for all of the new notes, but it is absolutely not an option right now.  Evernote Legacy does everything I need and I'm tired of the "ooh, shiny" syndrome I always fall for.  Of course, if I need and can't get support for Legacy before V10 has feature parity, I'm in trouble.  But, for now, I'm staying with Legacy.  Now, of course, tomorrow, something new may come along...

[WilliamL 654]

13 minutes ago, tomcal said:

Update regarding Nimbus Note.  Since all software seems speedy at first, I decided to give Nimbus a real test.  I am in the process of importing all 22,000+ of my Evernote notes into it.  It has taken 5 days so far and I'm 5/8 finished (Evernote export split the .enex file into 8 parts).  However, with a little over 14,000 notes already in Nimbus, it is unusable!  Painfully slow.  Minutes between loading notes.  There may be an issue with my file or it may be due to some background indexing for all of the new notes, but it is absolutely not an option right now.  Evernote Legacy does everything I need and I'm tired of the "ooh, shiny" syndrome I always fall for.  Of course, if I need and can't get support for Legacy before V10 has feature parity, I'm in trouble.  But, for now, I'm staying with Legacy.  Now, of course, tomorrow, something new may come along...

I have 3 notes in my nimbus app on my iPad - each takes at least 2 seconds to load - even if it’s just been opened, and they are a few texts notes for testing only. So hearing sped and loading issues is no surprise at all sadly. 

[CalS 5,280]

12 minutes ago, tomcal said:

Update regarding Nimbus Note.  Since all software seems speedy at first, I decided to give Nimbus a real test.  I am in the process of importing all 22,000+ of my Evernote notes into it.  It has taken 5 days so far and I'm 5/8 finished (Evernote export split the .enex file into 8 parts).  However, with a little over 14,000 notes already in Nimbus, it is unusable!  Painfully slow.  Minutes between loading notes.  There may be an issue with my file or it may be due to some background indexing for all of the new notes, but it is absolutely not an option right now.  Evernote Legacy does everything I need and I'm tired of the "ooh, shiny" syndrome I always fall for.  Of course, if I need and can't get support for Legacy before V10 has feature parity, I'm in trouble.  But, for now, I'm staying with Legacy.  Now, of course, tomorrow, something new may come along...

Amen. 

[sunvalley 13]

I thought Nimbus was a potential alternative until I discovered they had removed E2E Encryption! In addition, they do not have any encryption functionality at the notebook or note text level. So I stopped my evaluation and testing until support provides a response or adds it to their roadmap. 

[tavor 668]

2 hours ago, sunvalley said:

I thought Nimbus was a potential alternative until I discovered they had removed E2E Encryption! In addition, they do not have any encryption functionality at the notebook or note text level. So I stopped my evaluation and testing until support provides a response or adds it to their roadmap. 

I haven't tried it out yet, but Joplin does have E2E encryption. https://joplinapp.org/e2ee/

To my mind, that's a good alternative to the EN Local Notebooks feature. If you trust the encryption, it's even better than Local Notebooks because it allows you to access the notes on any device, not just the device used to create the note. And it's something EN users have asked for for a long time, but never got any traction with management. Of course, if you plan on data mining user data, providing E2E to your users is a non-starter.

[bradypatterson 5]

After about 6 months using the garbage that is the new EN, I think I'm ditching for Nimbus. I'm still on Legacy as the updated version of EN is useless. And I mean that literally. Every time I try to use the app it crashes or is so slow that it can take several minutes to open a note. As a near decade Premium subscriber, I'm likely ditching out. I'm at the end of my rope for something that I pay for. This was a huge fail on EN part and I bought Nimbus as an alternative. Yes, has issues, but from my playing with if, far less than the garbage that is the new EN. 

[Powerfab 43]

I'm at the same juncture. 

I bought Nimbus on a whim several months back and toyed with it but didn't apply any serious time to it. Having waited for V10 to improve, I'm at a stage where documented issues are not getting resolved in a timely manner and the recent updates have been more about window dressing than resolving bugs. For example, it's unacceptable for a tag search or filter to provide a null return and this has been flagged in other posts since V10 was released. 

I'm in the process of importing all my 17,500 notes into Nimbus and then I'll give it a proper stress test. Doubtless it has issues too, some of which are documented here, but their agility and responsiveness in addressing problems and introducing useful new features is streets ahead of Evernote. 

I'll run duplicate notes across both applications for a period. I'm not yet ditching Evernote, but it is on its final warning. 

[bradypatterson 5]

56 minutes ago, Powerfab said:

I'm in the process of importing all my 17,500 notes into Nimbus

We're literally doing same thing with almost identical numbers. Hope it goes well for you. Importing has been glitchy for me. 

[Powerfab 43]

@bradypatterson

I'm in the process of exporting enex files by notebooks at present. Evernote is raising some errors advising a file cannot be exported, but it give no detail what file that might be.

I've a suspicion the issue might be around password protected files, or very large attachment's. Any ideas on how these rogues might be found?

[Paul Excabaa 2]

11 hours ago, Powerfab said:

I'm at the same juncture. 

I bought Nimbus on a whim several months back and toyed with it but didn't apply any serious time to it. Having waited for V10 to improve, I'm at a stage where documented issues are not getting resolved in a timely manner and the recent updates have been more about window dressing than resolving bugs. For example, it's unacceptable for a tag search or filter to provide a null return and this has been flagged in other posts since V10 was released. 

I'm in the process of importing all my 17,500 notes into Nimbus and then I'll give it a proper stress test. Doubtless it has issues too, some of which are documented here, but their agility and responsiveness in addressing problems and introducing useful new features is streets ahead of Evernote. 

I'll run duplicate notes across both applications for a period. I'm not yet ditching Evernote, but it is on its final warning. 

Hi Powerfab, do let us know how it goes.  What i gather from this thread is that Nimbus is slow when there are a lot of notes.  
Saw Tomcal's comment on Nimbus above in this thread about Nimbus being slow after his notes are imported.
Thanks in advance.

 

[gazumped 11,664]

Hi folks - not defending here (I'm still using Legacy...) but you might be interested in Steve Dotto's take on all this...  including where to switch if you're leaving. 

(NB the video will only be up for a few days after I post this...)

 

[smallbizwhiz 0]

On 11/11/2020 at 11:39 AM, Vidalia said:

Try storing your notes in RTF, HTML or DOCX so that it is effectively open and you can search using native OS commands or using 3rd party tools.  

Can you add clarity to this? What's your approach, specifically, and tools you like to use?

TIA

[Powerfab 43]

@gazumped Watched Steve last night and took part in the live webinar chat. 

I agree with Steve's take on a lot of things and the overall management decisions and approach that has been taken by Evernote is understood, I even agree that it makes a lot of sense. Where I have issues is that they're providing upgrades, desktop front ends etc, but rectification of bugs and restoring previous functionality is just not forthcoming. 

Steve didn't ignore the issues, several times he mentioned lack of functionality and how it messed with workflows for "power" users. I did take exception to him quoting that only he 2% of users utilise tags, I remain unconvinced by this and would love Ian Small to provide supporting data to this effect. 

It was perhaps notable that on the mop up Q&A at the end, Steve was asked several functionality questions and didn't know the answer. Of course I'm not expecting him to know everything about the product, none of us do (well excepting a select few on here), but it did highlight clearly that Evernote users are a diverse bunch and what works for Steve does not reflect that others have a different use case and its not working for us. 

I am loath to leave Evernote, realistically I never will because at the very least I'll retain it as a historical database, but I'm getting tired of checking the forums each day and seeing that the same issues remain and that the promised restoration of functionality keeps stretching before us. 

If (and its a big "if") Nimbus works with a larger database I may move across, but it raises enough concerns in itself regarding its background, security and longevity. 
Nimbus is agile at the moment because its young and fresh, (Evernote was there once), but I don't want to be having this same conversation in a Nimbus forum in 10yrs time. 

We'll see how it pans out. I just want a stable 100yr Elephant that keeps doing what I want. I know Legacy does that now, but it won't be around forever.

[Kolmir 162]

11 hours ago, gazumped said:

Hi folks - not defending here (I'm still using Legacy...) but you might be interested in Steve Dotto's take on all this...  including where to switch if you're leaving. 

(NB the video will only be up for a few days after I post this...)

It may be good to know why someone who invested a lot in a tool want to convince himself and others that they should stick with it....

 

[bradypatterson 5]

@Kolmir, I definitely feel that sunk cost after 11 years as an Evernote user but the past 6 months is definitely taking me towards other options. Nimbus and Notion, etc come with their issues but since I can't even use the new EN as it just hangs endlessly, changing is turning into my only viable option, especially as my yearly renewal for EN comes up soon. I'll hang in till the last minute because thankfully at least Legacy still works. 

 

[zolee 13]

I am on NB for 2 years now. App is just way better in my opinion, like heaven and earth. BUT!!

But, I am trying to find a way how to move back to Evernote (will look into OneNote, Notion seems to complicated). NB is just so bug ridden and interferes with simple not taking that I can't take it anymore.

They also seem to not care about bugs at all. Just shooting out new features that often come with the bugs that I cant ask myself do they have some process of debugging at all.

 

Did anyone left NB and succesfully moved their notes out back to EN?

Btw., your notes are stuck in NB! Even their export doesnt export everyting.

 

Did I mention that it is slow? Like, slooooooooow!! Feels like I'm running old dial up and 486DX2

 

So 

1. Its full of bugs

Wouldn't been bad if support cares about bugs. But there are bugs since day one that they promised to fix, nothing.

2. Slow.

Promised to be faster. Its not. This in itself wouldnt be a deal breaker though but is a major complaint to me.

 

This things together make me look for options.

[gazumped 11,664]

47 minutes ago, zolee said:

Did anyone left NB and succesfully moved their notes out back to EN?

Hi.  You don't mention how many notes are involved here,  but I assume it's too many to consider a manual transition...  in which case I'd say you have three options.

1. Leave the bulk of your notes where they are and operate a 'just in time' policy of moving notes across only when you need to actively use them.  Add all new notes to your new Evernote database.  Means searching in two locations,  but avoids spending hours trying to migrate in one operation.
2. Generate some kind of 'table of contents' note (if you can) in NB and move that to Evernote. Means you can now -mostly- search in one place for routine issues.
3. Output as many NB notes as possible to HTML or document files and use an Import Folder to add them to Evernote.  You'll likely lose links and tags and folder information,  but can probably rebuild that over time using Evernote's search feature.

It's very possible other options do exist - watch this space for suggestions!  Good luck.  

[Vidalia 23]

EN is blocked in most corporate network. NN is still accessible under most cases because due to its low popularity (compared to EN) it escaped most sys admins' radar for now.

This issue has forced to look alternatives of EN. Of course, NN can be blocked one day then I'll be searching for another alternative.

 

[Powerfab 43]

29 minutes ago, Vidalia said:

EN is blocked in most corporate network. NN is still accessible under most cases because due to its low popularity (compared to EN) it escaped most sys admins' radar for now.

This issue has forced to look alternatives of EN. Of course, NN can be blocked one day then I'll be searching for another alternative.

 

Exactly the same scenario for me. My corporate IT are blocking EN, but unware of NN at present. That said, I know that someday, and likely very soon they'll twig and NN will be blocked as well. Their locking down of the systems becomes more stringent by the day. For this reason I'm reluctant to invest too much time and information into NN. 

I'm resigned to the fact that I'm going to have to work within the IT silo and simply maintain my own personal system with no work access. What I use and how it will work I'm still actively pondering. 

[zolee 13]

On 9/24/2022 at 11:57 AM, gazumped said:

Hi.  You don't mention how many notes are involved here,  but I assume it's too many to consider a manual transition...  in which case I'd say you have three options.

1. Leave the bulk of your notes where they are and operate a 'just in time' policy of moving notes across only when you need to actively use them.  Add all new notes to your new Evernote database.  Means searching in two locations,  but avoids spending hours trying to migrate in one operation.
2. Generate some kind of 'table of contents' note (if you can) in NB and move that to Evernote. Means you can now -mostly- search in one place for routine issues.
3. Output as many NB notes as possible to HTML or document files and use an Import Folder to add them to Evernote.  You'll likely lose links and tags and folder information,  but can probably rebuild that over time using Evernote's search feature.

It's very possible other options do exist - watch this space for suggestions!  Good luck.  

Maybe 2000 new notes, plus the notes that I previously had in EN. So, it's not too much but definitively not something I want to do manualy one by one.

Your suggestions sound good. Thank you! Especialy #2 sounds interesting. I can maybe I can make table of contents with public links to most important notes and just use them from EN per need bases while gradualyy I move them to EN.

[TheMagicWombat 68]

1 hour ago, Powerfab said:

Exactly the same scenario for me. My corporate IT are blocking EN, but unware of NN at present. That said, I know that someday, and likely very soon they'll twig and NN will be blocked as well. Their locking down of the systems becomes more stringent by the day. For this reason I'm reluctant to invest too much time and information into NN. 

I'm resigned to the fact that I'm going to have to work within the IT silo and simply maintain my own personal system with no work access. What I use and how it will work I'm still actively pondering. 

Wow, I didn't know corporate America was locking out Evernote. When I got the alert for your post, I did a Google search, and it appears to be a common problem. Companies are making it impossible to even install EN on a work PC.

Does anyone know if it is because of:

1. The massive overhead of modifying records one by one?
2. Security concerns over the EN software itself?
3. Security concerns over the fact that users will be parking corporate data on a remote, unapproved, server?

I can see any of these being the reason, and I've seen speculation as to which it is--does anyone know with a high degree of reliability?

[CalS 5,280]

Drop 1 and make 2 any/most not approved software.

[DTLow 5,736]

40 minutes ago, TheMagicWombat said:

2. Security concerns over the EN software itself?
3. Security concerns over the fact that users will be parking corporate data on a remote, unapproved, server?

Also security concerns that you're giving Evernote access to the data    
so it can run the server side stuff; OCR, indexing, ...

[gazumped 11,664]

Yeah - I think corporate everywhere  is waking up to the idea that employees sharing their commercial information outside the company network is probably a really bad idea.  The staff tend to have different views though - a while ago I worked on a Secret Squirrel (UK) government operation and was.. surprised.. to find my assignments being delivered by Dropbox.  The managers of the project were super-careful about security,  but lower down,  the actual workers were just concerned with getting things done.  The only way to ensure confidentiality is to block external connections...

[agsteele 2,946]

Unless the admins are giving Evernote at a DNS level of might be possible to use the web browser access.

[TheMagicWombat 68]

On 9/25/2022 at 1:16 PM, agsteele said:

Unless the admins are giving Evernote at a DNS level of might be possible to use the web browser access.

I am not sure bypassing your employer's security and exposing corporate secrets to Chinese and Russian hackers is the most prudent course of action. If it is for your own personal database, sure. But anything work related could get you terminated. 

 

[agsteele 2,946]

I was assuming that the issue was accessing personal data when at work.

[gazumped 11,664]

20 minutes ago, agsteele said:

I was assuming that the issue was accessing personal data when at work.

I think the problem is that the information going out might not just be personal...  some managements tend to be a little sensitive on the subject.