Legacy is best, otherwise free plan locks you out of Evernote 10

[Tamagotchi 46]

I downgraded to the free plan. I have been testing Evernote 10 (browser) by clipping things to it. Nothing, critical though for my work. 

I was aware that there was a data upload limit on the free plan and this applies to the Evernote Clipper too.

Interestingly, when you hit the limit after two warnings (50 than 95%), Evernote is locked.

The problem is not that you cannot add new notes but rather you lose access to Evernote for the rest of the month. I find this rather surprising. 

It is another good reason to use Legacy as your notes, once downloaded, can be blocked. Unloading is still then impossible, but that is only temporary.

Long live Legacy, as they say (and ignore everything else Evernote has done in the last two years). 🙂

[gazumped 11,775]

Hi.  Not sure of your point,  but with respect if you create notes on the free plan there's a well-publicised limit on how much data you can save.  Whether that's by attaching files or clipping web pages,  you still need bandwidth for the upload.  If that exceeds 60MB in a month (which could be a couple of web pages with images...) you'll need to wait until the limit resets before you get access back.  That's nothing to do with Legacy - them's the rules for Basic in all its versions.

Legacy is the place to go if you're having any issues with Version 10 - some legacy features are still to be added back,  and some bugs remain to be fixed,  and if that gets in the way of your activities,  just use Legacy (in Mac and Windows desktop) to go back to the previous 'normal'.

I haven't 'updated' to v10 at all,  and I'm still working exactly as I have for the past few years.  Even the web version is still coming back for me as 5.33 because I have >50k notes.  From time to time I feel vaguely jealous of all the new functionality - and then I remember I have things to do and get on with it...

[Tamagotchi 46]

Thanks for your comment.

Because Legacy works locally, it works independently of the upload restrictions. The Legacy product is popular with many people because of its functionality. I would argue that although Evernote 10 is new, Legacy is the better option for people who only want to work locally, and cannot afford, or do want to pay, for a plan. Legacy is therefore not just the bridge between old and new products (until Evernote 10 catches up) but rather an alternate product for those that work on ONE PC only. The design is not modern but stable, but it makes Legacy an interesting option for now. 

The question of uncertain of its availability is quickly dismissed by the transient nature of all Evernote products. Evernote has a history making sudden product changes. Those that are unhappy with that would be best to find something else anyhow.

By the way of comparison, I find the feature set of Legacy superior. There may be new features of Evernote 10 that Legacy does not have, but I have no use for them. 🙂

[DTLow 5,738]

On 2/18/2021 at 4:00 PM, Tamagotchi said:

lose access to Evernote for the rest of the month

Can you add some detail as to how you "lose access" and "Evernote is locked"?   
Would this include Evernote/Web access?

On my Mac, I got the message "You've reached the Basic Upload limit"
I selected "Stop syncing notes" and proceeded with accessing my notes

[gazumped 11,775]

2 hours ago, Tamagotchi said:

an alternate product for those that work on ONE PC only

?? "Legacy" is the last public version of Evernote that was used by everyone pre-v10.  The actual labelled Legacy product is tweaked 1) not to require updating and 2) to work alongside the new version.  Since I decided to avoid version 10 until I knew whether or not it would affect my working process,  I remain on the old pre-legacy and pre-10 Windows and Android versions 6.25.1 and 8.13.  'Legacy' for Windows is v6.25.2

The old versions and legacy sync to the cloud in exactly the same way as the new,  and can be used on multiple devices.  I'm running Linux and Windows laptops, a phone and a tablet. (I'm a subscriber - Basic users now get access from 2 registered devices ONLY - including the web)

The only differences between Old/Legacy versions and v10 are:

1. Features currently missing in v10 are still present in Old/ Legacy
2. Old/ Legacy versions still have accessible and backupable* database storage
3. Users of the old versions need to disable 'check for updates' to avoid that happening
4. iOS users are locked into v10 because of Apple restrictions
5. Many Android users are currently locked OUT of upgrades because Evernote 10 requires Android 10 - it is possible to alter Play Store settings to avoid the update if you prefer.  Many Android 10 users seem not to have had the upgrade anyway - it is being released slowly through the Play Store,  maybe to avoid crashing Evernote's Support team.
6. It is possible to step back to the last public version - pre Legacy and pre v10 - of both Mac and Windows Desktop apps.  Links to the Evernote downloads are still available.  Just sync and backup your database. Export any local (unsynced) folders.  Uninstall your current Evernote version completely (the database is saved on Evernote's servers) and restart your device / reinstall Evernote and log in,  to allow the server to recreate your local files.  Large databases may take a while to download.
7. Android old versions are also available from third-party sources (Google restricts what's available through the 'official' store).  There's a risk involved in downloading from sources outside the Play Store,  but there have been no reports of issues -yet.  Again it's an 'uninstall your present version / install the 'old' one' but for mobiles the process is a little more involved.
8. One caveat:  If you're using the old versions,  you cannot use v10 on the same device.  Legacy runs alongside v10 so you can check on progress.

Sources for all versions are available in the Forums,  but if you need a reminder or more detailed instructions please post here.

Of course - by the time you read this 'older versions' may be academic.  v10 is (as we speak) up to 10.5 for mobiles and 10.8 for desktops,  and many users are now reporting generally good experiences.  There are some new features too.  You may not need to worry about downgrading.

But (as I've said a couple of times here already) I feel no urgent need to update to v10 now.  Old versions have been working well(ish) for me for the past few years.  If & when I'm forced to update (by the older versions no longer syncing at all) I'll reluctantly move over - and maybe even away from Evernote if it still doesn't have the features I need - and have been paying for over these past 12+ years.

If there's a killer new feature in v10,  maybe I'll consider it then,  too.  But I'm still waiting for some killer old features to come back.  Till then I'm happy back in the past.  YMMV.

😏

* new word...?

[CalS 5,292]

14 hours ago, gazumped said:

I remain on the old pre-legacy and pre-10 Windows ... version 6.25.1...

That would be the Legendary version.  

[Tamagotchi 46]

18 hours ago, DTLow said:

Would this include Evernote/Web access?

Yes, try to log in with a browser (Chromium), and you get a blank white screen. The app download of Evernote 10 in the tab never takes place. No error message appears in the browser, just a blank screen. It would be helpful to have on the splash screen to indicate that the limit has been reached and a prompt to change to the Premium offer, but it does not do this. I would not take Premium at this stage but if it is not offered, people are unlikely to think to buy it. The current set up simply disables E10 in a browser.

I found this interesting and a little surprising. As previously stated, I expect the notes to still be visible, that a block may be implemented disabling the web clipper and creation of new notes. This is not the case. More sensible would be at least a banner prompt to change to the Premium offer. From a marketing perspective, reward customer interest of any sort. 

[gazumped 11,775]

3 hours ago, Tamagotchi said:

Yes, try to log in with a browser (Chromium), and you get a blank white screen.

I can log in on Chrome (to the Legendary version 😉) without any problem. Have you tried any other browsers? The installed version?

This is a technical issue,  not company policy.

[ArjenC 124]

Tried to reproduce the issue, but was unsuccessful. 
Cannot add or edit anything inside the notes (titles can be adjusted), but can access the information...

It seems you face other issue in you setup.

screen inside Evernote web client:

 

After several messages about reaching my monthly limits. 

screen from Account Summary.

[Tamagotchi 46]

Thanks. I will investigate this further

[Tamagotchi 46]

Confirmed. Works in Chrome but not Edge - both Chromium. Strange but works. 

[tavor 668]

12 hours ago, ArjenC said:

Tried to reproduce the issue, but was unsuccessful. 
Cannot add or edit anything inside the notes (titles can be adjusted), but can access the information...

It seems you face other issue in you setup.

screen inside Evernote web client:

 

After several messages about reaching my monthly limits. 

screen from Account Summary.

So once you hit the 60mb limit, you cannot edit any of your notes until you upgrade or the next month starts? I don't recall this from v6, but given how many negative surprises there are in v10, I guess I shouldn't be shocked.

[Tamagotchi 46]

9 minutes ago, tavor said:

I guess I shouldn't be shocked

I agree. The free version is more restrictive than the old one. The Evernote 10 experience has been in many ways a retrograde one. 

[gazumped 11,775]

The free app is less free.  How to complain?

[PinkElephant 8,283]

7 hours ago, tavor said:

So once you hit the 60mb limit, you cannot edit any of your notes until you upgrade or the next month starts? I don't recall this from v6, but given how many negative surprises there are in v10, I guess I shouldn't be shocked.

Well, we all get older.

This „can‘t edit“ was always in place, because after an edit, the note will try to sync. Syncing means uploading, and this runs against the monthly limit. This happens in containers: If there is a fat note, and only a little thing is changed, the full note size is counted as upload. And if you have been Premium before, and downgraded, you can‘t edit notes larger than 25MB (Premium goes up to 200 per note).

All of this has nothing to do with v10. The recently changed limits (but again not because of v10) are that the web client now counts as a client, and the switching of devices was restricted. These changes apply to legacy users as well.

[Tamagotchi 46]

5 hours ago, gazumped said:

The free app is less free

If you are refering to value for money proposition, then you are correct. Anything divided by $0 gives you big numbers. 

On the other hand, if the comparison is in absolute terms - features, upload, in fact most things - the new free plan offers less than the old free plan. I think this is easily demonstrated. In this sense, it is a retrograde development. 

Again the savour is Legacy. It was always good. The recent 6.25.2.9198 and that from last October is so similar that nobody is going to notice. 

The advantage of the free plan is that you get to use Legacy 6.25.2.9198 on a single PC and it is fast, stable and familiar. There is nothing wrong with that. 

The fate of Evernote 10 is in the stars. Where it is going in the future is not something I would hope to guess.

[Tamagotchi 46]

3 minutes ago, PinkElephant said:

If there is a fat note, and only a little thing is changed, the full note size is counted as upload. And if you have been Premium before, and downgraded, you can‘t edit notes larger than 25MB (Premium goes up to 200 per note).

I suspected this. Thank you for the clarification.

 

[tavor 668]

6 hours ago, PinkElephant said:

Well, we all get older.

This „can‘t edit“ was always in place, because after an edit, the note will try to sync. Syncing means uploading, and this runs against the monthly limit. This happens in containers: If there is a fat note, and only a little thing is changed, the full note size is counted as upload. And if you have been Premium before, and downgraded, you can‘t edit notes larger than 25MB (Premium goes up to 200 per note).

All of this has nothing to do with v10. The recently changed limits (but again not because of v10) are that the web client now counts as a client, and the switching of devices was restricted. These changes apply to legacy users as well.

I think we are talking about two different things. I've hit the 60mb upload limit in the past, and that did not prevent me from editing notes. I read @ArjenC's post as saying that hitting the upload limit in v10 does lock you out from editing your notes.

[ArjenC 124]

21 minutes ago, tavor said:

I read @ArjenC's post as saying that hitting the upload limit in v10 does lock you out from editing your notes.

Correct, in v10:
I can
-open notes for reading
- move notes to notebooks
- create notebooks
- Add and remove text in titles
-Remove text from notes
-Replace text with text of same length. But only before save / sync is done.

I Cannot:

- And new text in notes

[CalS 5,292]

Only used Basic for a few days way back when so a question. 

Kind of a moot point, but I was under the impression that with old EN Basic you could continue to change/add notes after reaching the limit but they would not sync until  the renewal cycle.  Not true? 

If true then @ArjenC is describing a new behavior with V10.

[tavor 668]

5 minutes ago, CalS said:

Only used Basic for a few days way back when so a question. 

Kind of a moot point, but I was under the impression that with old EN Basic you could continue to change/add notes after reaching the limit but they would not sync until  the renewal cycle.  Not true? 

If true then @ArjenC is describing a new behavior with V10.

Yes, that is how I remember it the couple of times I hit the monthly upload limit on Basic - I could keep going about my business as usual, just couldn't sync (can't remember if it was couldn't sync at all or just not the new notes) until subsequent monthly cycle. I think I would have remembered being locked out of editing notes or creating new notes.

So yes, I do believe this is a new behavior with v10, which may not be all that surprising given the increasing emphasis on cloud storage and deemphasis on local storage. The times I hit the upload limit were before there was even an option to *not* store your data locally (so it's possible v6 has the same behavior as v10). If we can't get this figured out from people who remember, I might just go whack that 60mb upload limit in v6 and see what happens. 

[PinkElephant 8,283]

It never was only on new notes, it was on modified ones as well (at least on my Basic test account).

You may try with v6.25, just remember the upload limit is per user, not per client or per computer. 

[ArjenC 124]

12 hours ago, PinkElephant said:

It never was only on new notes, it was on modified ones as well (at least on my Basic test account).

You may try with v6.25, just remember the upload limit is per user, not per client or per computer. 

In pre-v10 version it was possible to create notes and edit them... only sync didn't work...This is how I remember it, although it was a long time ago.
This behaviour is the same in the current legacy version, see screen with a new note. Same when existing note is edited ... Text remains in Legacy, only it will not sync to cloud... 

When new month starts, I assume, this note will sync with cloud.
In Legacy it is also possible to work with local notebooks, so you can create note after note, only this doesn't sync

What can I say... it seems like a big huge work in progress (nicer wording for experimenting) with the Evernote product... Remodeling while store keeps open. 
Cannot advise anyone, but Legacy seems the most stable and feature rich (for normal day-2-day actions) version...

But has his onw limitations within the Evernote ecosystem.
Personally I was fed up with it. Always searching for making it work again, to discover that with new update the whole process repeats and I was searching for new way-of-working. Add the end I gave up, moved my workflow, still use evernote but as static database... then it works the best. 

Maybe, in a year or so, Evernote catches up and v11, 12 or 13 will work as it was intended to.. For now I work what works, and adept to the new situation. 

[Tamagotchi 46]

13 hours ago, ArjenC said:

Add the end I gave up, moved my workflow, still use evernote but as static database... then it works the best. 

Same here - a static database. It has no workflows attached to it any more. It is a curious case study. Will Evernote survive? In what form? They are not selling socks any more. Legacy still works better than anything and its features are over two years old. 🙂
PS This discussion started with Evernote 10 not working in a browser for me. It works again now (and no I am still in the locked out period - "Your monthly limit resets in 3 days"). I did not change anything on my set-up. (Regular updates of the OS was about it.) Evernote 10 comes and goes, it is in continual movement. 

[gazumped 11,775]

2 hours ago, Tamagotchi said:

Will Evernote survive? In what form?

Thanks for noticing that Evernote stopped selling novelty goods several years ago... Like any company they're doing what they think is best for them. I don't currently agree with their strategy,  but it was a gutsy move to throw out the old 12-year old coding and rewrite the product on a code base that will allow them to do much more in future.  If that doesn't move them forward, they'll no doubt restructure and try again - if in the meantime anyone decides to use another product,  that's up to the individual. Meantime we're up to the 8th iteration of the desktop apps and things are,  say some people, getting better.

Personally I don't care - I'm still using the previous public versions and haven't had any more hassles with Evernote than I'd normally expect in normal use.  Which is to say I'm using tech. Glitches are all part of the package...

[ArjenC 124]

@gazumped You're right... it is a corporate decisions, based on for example  opportunities, threats and risk (SWOT), and that's fine and is common sense.
Application is getting better, every release does something positive and also negative... also known in software development.

What isn't fine, IMHO, this product was released way too soon. The version was at most beta ready, not a full production version.
Even now bugs that corrupts notes, loss of data, isn't fixed... but we can customize some keyboard shortcuts.

This is for me the biggest red flag signal I've seen in years in software development.
Loss of data (how small or trivial one note can be) in cloud based solutions this is, again IMHO, deadly.
And when this was commonly know within Evernote, no warnings, no real action or communication was started towards the customers. Two times deadly.

This weren't corporated decisions, this is behaviour or corporated culture... this isn't fixable with a new software framework X,Y or Z. 
Again, I'm not saying this is good and this is bad. For me this loss of data and ignoring problems / customers are the real deal breakers. So I moved, will use the database as a static reference... and in due time I will delete account in its entirety (not even a downgrade to BASIC).

 

[Druid9 7]

Another shoulda, coulda, woulda. Can we move on?

[Tamagotchi 46]

On 2/24/2021 at 9:45 PM, Druid9 said:

Another shoulda, coulda, woulda. Can we move on?

Many have moved on and left Evernote. It was a good product and it was destroyed. Only the Evernote Legacy holds me there. A refuse to pay for this limited functional product. I have a decade of notes in it and is serves as an archive. I use other things now. If Evernote should go bust we know why. 

[ehrt74 240]

38 minutes ago, Tamagotchi said:

Many have moved on and left Evernote. It was a good product and it was destroyed. Only the Evernote Legacy holds me there. A refuse to pay for this limited functional product. I have a decade of notes in it and is serves as an archive. I use other things now. If Evernote should go bust we know why. 

for my use case (android + web client), evernote is better now than it has ever been before and it is improving rapidly.

[Tamagotchi 46]

14 hours ago, ehrt74 said:

better now than it has ever been before

I am a tagger and for tagging and tagging searches Legacy is the best - faster and more functionality. The EN10 has a ridiculous 50 note selection limits. If you compare the function of Legacy and EN10, I think you will find it much smaller. I have little doubt about this. EN10 may look pretty, but the beauty is more than skin deep. Functionality is more important. It is only two years of development. Perhaps, they just need a few years more. 🙂

[ehrt74 240]

6 hours ago, Tamagotchi said:

I am a tagger and for tagging and tagging searches Legacy is the best - faster and more functionality. The EN10 has a ridiculous 50 note selection limits. If you compare the function of Legacy and EN10, I think you will find it much smaller. I have little doubt about this. EN10 may look pretty, but the beauty is more than skin deep. Functionality is more important. It is only two years of development. Perhaps, they just need a few years more. 🙂

As a web and android user, tagging on V10 is much better than on the older versions. I have no idea what capabilities the desktop apps have, because I have never used them. 

Yep, v10 has got this far in just 2 years. I'm really interested to see where it will be a year from now.

[PinkElephant 8,283]

From what I see, probably the main advantages of the desktop clients over the web client currently are multi notes operations, and the local data base mainly for offline use. I am not sure about the export capabilities of web.

From all clients probably the web client has advanced the most with v10 - this is the argument why EN is counting it now as a „device“ in Basic.

[ehrt74 240]

27 minutes ago, PinkElephant said:

From what I see, probably the main advantages of the desktop clients over the web client currently are multi notes operations, and the local data base mainly for offline use. I am not sure about the export capabilities of web.

From all clients probably the web client has advanced the most with v10 - this is the argument why EN is counting it now as a „device“ in Basic.

yeah. batch operations on the web client would be great, as well as the ability to open many notes at once next to each other. 

Hopefully the native linux client will launch (again) soon  that will set me up well with evernote

[Druid9 7]

On 3/17/2021 at 6:18 PM, Tamagotchi said:

Many have moved on and left Evernote. It was a good product and it was destroyed. Only the Evernote Legacy holds me there. A refuse to pay for this limited functional product. I have a decade of notes in it and is serves as an archive. I use other things now. If Evernote should go bust we know why. 

My point is that EN coulda done this or shoulda done that helps no one, neither EN or its (remaining) users

[ArjenC 124]

6 hours ago, Druid9 said:

My point is that EN coulda done this or shoulda done that helps no one, neither EN or its (remaining) users

if EN reads this forum topics they can learn a thing or 2. So it is fine to give your feedback (pos of negative)... A customer who is willing to give his/her/neutral feedback to a company is a valued customer. If he/she/neutral left they don't give any feedback anymore.

-----
“A customer is the most important visitor on our premises. He is not dependent on us. We are dependent on him. He is not an interruption of our work. He is the purpose of it. He is not an outsider of our business. He is part of it. We are not doing him a favour by serving him. He is doing us a favour by giving us the opportunity to do so.” ~ MAHATMA GANDHI 

[Druid9 7]

3 hours ago, ArjenC said:

if EN reads this forum topics they can learn a thing or 2. So it is fine to give your feedback (pos of negative)... A customer who is willing to give his/her/neutral feedback to a company is a valued customer. If he/she/neutral left they don't give any feedback anymore.

-----
“A customer is the most important visitor on our premises. He is not dependent on us. We are dependent on him. He is not an interruption of our work. He is the purpose of it. He is not an outsider of our business. He is part of it. We are not doing him a favour by serving him. He is doing us a favour by giving us the opportunity to do so.” ~ MAHATMA GANDHI 

Feedback yes, but the repetitive, “they should have done so and so..” wears a little thin, when what’s done is done and can’t be undone. Pardon me for being a pragmatist, let’s move on.

[wahlink 3]

IMO, evernote has gone from a useful tool that was great for groups to one that is no longer useful for that purpose. As someone who has used EN for ~12yrs they keep making crazy changes that don't make a lot of sense. The desktop clients have become extremely unfriendly to use and everything has been moved with poor documentation (most of it is out of date) on where they went. Sharing, notebook backups, etc.... Then there is the matter of file attachments constantly disappearing in shared notes. Shared notes in particular used to be a great innovation that made my life easier. Sharing notes with students worked wonderfully well. Now students cannot even edit the notes if the files size is greater than 25MB. So as a premium user I have to limit my files sizes to 25MB if I want them to make edits. All the documentation states that the files size is limited by the creator which should mean 200MB (according to what they claim). According to online chat support their interpretation is now that if you share a note with someone, they become the creator which puts the cap to 25MB. Support could not offer documentation on this but that's what they insist. Lots of poor documentation and shady changes to their business policy. Not sure how they will survive like this for much longer with strong dissatisfaction with long time customers.