Search is vital to the key goals of Evernote

[Ryq G 27]

I'm quickly trying to catch up with things right now.  It seems to me that the focus will be on Evernote for the Web and not on the user's machine.  But my basic issue is the same.

Evernote's key reason for being is to help people stay organized with content.  It allows us to put all sorts of different content in custom-designed databases for retrieval when needed.

One of the chief tools to finding that content is the ability to search all our content easily.

Without good search tools we are dead in the water. Imagine the Library of Congress without a searchable database or the WWW without search engines.

It seems that Evernote 7.14 is not successful in using Spotlight.  So for those of us who depend on that, we must do 2 searches: Spotlight and  Evernote.  I don't believer the new 10.0 would be able to search online and on or own machines, either.  (Correct me if I'm wrong.)  I lose track of where I place things so often, I am petitioning the Pope to make Waldo a Saint.  It seems Evernote is abandoning a tool that is a requisite in its very existence.

Evernote has been helping me simplify my life.  Losing the ability to search all my content simply threatens continued progress.  We are all inundated with content, so I don't think this is just my need. I hope I've jumped to some conclusions or made some incorrect assumptions.  It feels like I've been in a wheelchair for years and finally found a simple crutch that lets me walk, but now that crutch is being taken away.

Without the ability of being able to search all one's content easily, Evernote will no longer be needed by most customers.

[gazumped 11,652]

1 minute ago, Ryq G said:

It seems to me that the focus will be on Evernote for the Web and not on the user's machine.

Hi.  It doesn't seem to me to make a difference where the 'focus' is as long as we have access via desktop, web and mobile clients - which is still the case.

3 minutes ago, Ryq G said:

One of the chief tools to finding that content is the ability to search all our content easily.

Which (AFAIK) is still possible via whichever app you happen to be using.

4 minutes ago, Ryq G said:

It seems Evernote is abandoning a tool that is a requisite in its very existence.

Spotlight is a Mac-only feature.  Evernote has been under pressure for ages to give everyone access to their data on any app in any OS - which means that some app-specific features can't be supported.  Windows/ Android users don't have an equivalent - we'll have to do two searches.  (Although if you're a haphazard saver,  you could keep links to your device-based items in Evernote too,  so an Evernote search will find everything.)

7 minutes ago, Ryq G said:

Losing the ability to search all my content simply threatens continued progress.

You still have the ability,  it's just in two searches now...

8 minutes ago, Ryq G said:

Without the ability of being able to search all one's content easily, Evernote will no longer be needed by most customers.

... by most Mac customers?  LIke I say no-one else had a comparable feature!

[DTLow 5,736]

11 minutes ago, Ryq G said:

we must do 2 searches: Spotlight and  Evernote.

I agree the Evernote search feature is important
I don't use Spotlight to search my Evernote data

I know Spotlight was announced as a feature,    
however it's Mac only, and it caused all sorts of problems - I disabled the Evernote directories from the indexing

[Ryq G 27]

On 11/19/2020 at 12:24 PM, gazumped said:

Hi.  It doesn't seem to me to make a difference where the 'focus' is as long as we have access via desktop, web and mobile clients - which is still the case.

I wasn't representing anyone but myself.  It does make a difference to me.  And I would think most would agree that searching once is better than twice.

Which (AFAIK) is still possible via whichever app you happen to be using.

Spotlight is a Mac-only feature.  Evernote has been under pressure for ages to give everyone access to their data on any app in any OS - which means that some app-specific features can't be supported.  Windows/ Android users don't have an equivalent - we'll have to do two searches.  (Although if you're a haphazard saver,  you could keep links to your device-based items in Evernote too,  so an Evernote search will find everything.)

I used to be able to do it.   What features would be missing to keep spotlight as the one search.

Using Evernote to search throughout might be an acceptable alternative.   I have not seen how to do that.

On 11/19/2020 at 12:24 PM, gazumped said:

You still have the ability,  it's just in two searches now...

... by most Mac customers?  LIke I say no-one else had a comparable feature!

I have not surveyed every Mac User, but I think it is reasonable to assume that searching one tije and finding all the information in one place is superior to doing it twice with two applications.  I didn't say all.  Some people prefer making their lives more difficult.

 

On 11/19/2020 at 12:24 PM, gazumped said:

Hi.  It doesn't seem to me to make a difference where the 'focus' is as long as we have access via desktop, web and mobile clients - which is still the case.

Which (AFAIK) is still possible via whichever app you happen to be using.

Spotlight is a Mac-only feature.  Evernote has been under pressure for ages to give everyone access to their data on any app in any OS - which means that some app-specific features can't be supported.  Windows/ Android users don't have an equivalent - we'll have to do two searches.  (Although if you're a haphazard saver,  you could keep links to your device-based items in Evernote too,  so an Evernote search will find everything.)

You still have the ability,  it's just in two searches now...

... by most Mac customers?  LIke I say no-one else had a comparable feature!

Doing twice as much work may be fine for you.  Don't minimize the impact on others. As far as not  having the feature.  Spotlight currently searches in all applications.  So they have all allowed Spotlight to work.  But even if that weren't the case,  the abioity to search once would be a competitive edge.  Wny would they stop supporting a co=mpetitive edge.

If you can tell me how Evernote can search itself and other places, it would be easier than doign double work...it may be a close 2nd choice.

I appreciate that you and I and others have different needs.  If you needed something I would encourage you to ask for that to be taken care of.  If I didn't need it, I wouldn't disagree with it being done for you.

[Ryq G 27]

On 11/19/2020 at 12:25 PM, DTLow said:

I agree the Evernote search feature is important
I don't use Spotlight to search my Evernote data

I know Spotlight was announced as a feature,    
however it's Mac only, and it caused all sorts of problems - I disabled the Evernote directories from the indexing

I can understand shutting down a feature if it doesn't run well or creates other problems.  I would hope they are trying to find a way for it to work.

Right now I have spotlight indexing my entire drive and I exclude video and music files.

[Nicholas Quixote 1]

This is the reason I stopped using a service called Diigo. I asked for them to start indexing,  as evernote did at the time,  and that suggestion stuck at the top 3 suggesions (of of several hundred) for a long time. They never did implement it,  and this was the key reason I switched back to Evernote. It is cumbersome to navigate and open an entire app in addition to searching your computer for information. And Ryq G is right, almost every app does it, so what gives with a notes app with discreet notes? Evernote is a good app, but giving short shrift to well liked features and the lack of clarity on roadmap is kind of unbelievable. It doesn't engender good will for long time users. It discourages it.

[PinkElephant 8,076]

We think all life is about finding, but in reality it is about searching:

• Windows PC is indexing stuff for Explorer and Cortana
• On my Mac there is spotlight and (using the same index, plus some) Alfred, plus an indexing in the Photos app
• On my NAS there is Universal search, plus a special indexing for Photos (not using the index from the Photos app on the Mac)
• some apps build their own index, most of them only usable from inside of the app

The only place where I search and find everything, independently from which device I am on, is Evernote. Sure, only for stuff I put into it. Yes, it would be nice to have sort of a general-super-devices-multi-purpose-personal-search-index, covering all of my digital heap of information. But I do not expect to live up to the day when this is implemented.

So I stick with the best alternative, which is actively organizing my stuff in EN, and let the little build in helpers elsewhere do their own indexing job.

[MsFIS 1]

Sorry, but losing Spotlight integration on my Mac would be a deal-breaker for me...

[Ryq G 27]

Are you saying it works for you? 

[MsFIS 1]

Just now, Ryq G said:

Are you saying it works for you? 

No, it doesn't (anymore)... When I wrote the previous post I was still hoping this might change in the foreseeable future...

[thegreatluke 8]

While I understand the need to focus on core features that are usable cross platform. Spotlight search on MacOS is one of the best features on the OS and it's actually how I find most every document on my computer. This would be a good feature to support, often I'll spotlight search something forgetting that Evernote isn't indexed and find what I was looking for in Apple notes or in a pdf I saved and never even open Evernote to get the information I need.

 

[Ryq G 27]

We all need to find things that we have on our computer.  In a world of chaos, one would have to search for Word Documents using one application, mail content using another, text documents with another method, then to search for postit notes, presentations, spreadsheets, texts, separate email from each platform, a new search for each individual folder or drive, file names with another application (but if you want to search by extension or date, there would be another application.)  Oh, one needs special hardware and new cables to do these searches and some require rebooting.

The ability for computers to become ubiquitous has been based upon standards.  Granted not everyone plays well with others.  There may be some of you who like the complexity.  But when a computer user wonders where the notes they took about something were in email or a text file or in Evernote....or maybe even discussed in a text file......or wondering who it was that he emailed about plumbing supplies a year ago, or where she can find a copy of a contract, users want to be able to search without remembering the location, format, and program one was using at that time.

For those of us who rely on Evernote, we also need to be able to search on our computers whether with Spotlight or Windows Explorer or Find in Unix, etc.

I'm certain Apple is not always the easiest to deal with, and may not want to play well with others, but conducting searches twice is not focused on the needs of the users.  There's a choice:  Either Spotlight can search Evernote or Evernote can search all files and locations and types.  It seems the first makes more sense.  The question is has Apple refused or ignored the need to search Evernote, or has Evernote prevented them from doing so? 

It doesn't really matter.  This is Apple's playing field.  One may not like the rules used there, but if you're going to play there, that's what they are.

If Apple is creating barriers for Evernote that they don't create for every other piece of software, let us know.  I'm sure enough people would express their opinions to Apple.  But if they are not, please do what you can to work together to make our lives easier.....that's why we have Evernote.

You have created an application that is customer-centric.  That is rare.  You respond to our needs.  Sometimes needs may differ.  I have seen your responsiveness.  This is something that impacts everyone that has a Mac and as search is something done so frequently can have the biggest effect on the total hours of additional work done by your users.

Knowing how I am, I've probably made many errors in the letter.  Even so, only Evernote can work to fix this.

Thanks.