Urgent help for the community of Android Evernote Users - How to downgrade

[GabPai 18]

Dear people at Evernote,

I guess you have read the comments on the Google Play App. An immense amount of the community of Android Evernote users is deeply frustrated with the recent Android upgrade. I won't start listing all the negative points which have been ruined concerning the usability we relied upon on the previous version (you can have a look at the list yourself). 

Can you please help us all and just go back to the previous version? We would be thankful if you just admit the mistake and do this, it would be a noble thing to do for all of these loyal customers. 

Or at least provide a way for people who would like to go back to the previous version to do this?

Thanks very much and kind regards.

[Wolfgang W 13]

I second this request 

[ryhol 32]

How could this new version have been released without being ready?

v8.x was so much more responsive, had more features, and simply worked. 

v10.x is a slow mess. 

I'll give Evernote another two weeks. Then it is Joplin or OneNote for me. 

[kbhasi 15]

Evernote provides previous versions of the Windows and Mac OS clients as "Evernote Legacy". Why can't they do the same for Android, as a separate APK download?!?!?!

I've experienced so many bugs with Evernote 10 on both Windows and Mac OS. I'm trying to hang on for dear life in the hopes that they'll fix all of these issues, otherwise, if they don't fix them by the end of this year, I'm going to look into switching to OneNote, then stop paying for Evernote Premium and start paying for Microsoft 365. I've been a loyal user since 2013, but Evernote 10 being rushed out for all of their currently supported platforms with all of those bugs is a major pain for me.

I'm primarily using the old Evernote Legacy on Windows, the new version on desktop Linux because that's what I'm stuck with there but I've mostly been using Windows as of late, and so the only place where I've been stuck with Evernote 10 is on my Xperia running Android 11. My Yoga Tab is stuck on Android 6 (because Lenovo is absolutely awful when it comes to Android support, as they only support their Android products for 2 releases instead of 3, 4, or 5) so it still has the old client, and my Likebook is currently stuck on Android 6 because they changed a lot of internal stuff with their Android 8.1 update and so there isn't a direct upgrade path there. I've disabled Play Store automatic updates for Evernote on the tablets, but the update on the phone came by surprise.

Edited March 2, 2021 by kbhasi

[matej1990 185]

 

[Evernote_User_No_2020 9]

I have two premium accounts and I downgraded using the apkmirror:  https://www.apkmirror.com/apk/evernote-corporation/evernote/evernote-8-13-3-release/ and it worked well.  I am now restored to full functionality.

Evernote better fix this for the mass of users who may not be able to do this manually. 

(sideloading apks is risky and users need to weigh the risk reward themselves.  APK mirror is generallly considered "safe" but use at your own risk.  For me, EV is mission critical and I needed to downgrade to be back in production and the reward outweighed the risk.  YMMV.)

[Coffee First Thing 112]

Tip: If you get a new Android phone and want to continue using Evernote 8, be sure to turn off auto update right away. Auto update for apps is on by default. 

I got a new phone today, happily transferred my apps and settings to my new phone, and about an hour later Evernote automatically updated to version 10. 

[GabPai 18]

4 hours ago, Evernote_User_No_2020 said:

I have two premium accounts and I downgraded using the apkmirror:  https://www.apkmirror.com/apk/evernote-corporation/evernote/evernote-8-13-3-release/ and it worked well.  I am now restored to full functionality.

Evernote better fix this for the mass of users who may not be able to do this manually. 

(sideloading apks is risky and users need to weigh the risk reward themselves.  APK mirror is generallly considered "safe" but use at your own risk.  For me, EV is mission critical and I needed to downgrade to be back in production and the reward outweighed the risk.  YMMV.)

Hi and thanks for the reply! That seems useful.

What kind of risks are involved in this kind of download? 

 

[Wolfgang W 13]

7 hours ago, Evernote_User_No_2020 said:

I have two premium accounts and I downgraded using the apkmirror:  https://www.apkmirror.com/apk/evernote-corporation/evernote/evernote-8-13-3-release/ and it worked well.  I am now restored to full functionality.

Evernote better fix this for the mass of users who may not be able to do this manually. 

(sideloading apks is risky and users need to weigh the risk reward themselves.  APK mirror is generallly considered "safe" but use at your own risk.  For me, EV is mission critical and I needed to downgrade to be back in production and the reward outweighed the risk.  YMMV.)

This is a great tip. By old version is  b a c k ! ! !

In my case, I had to combine it with turning it off the automatic software update, as described by Coffee First Thing.

Otherwise the new version overwrites the older one.

 

 

[eg1 0]

Just ditched the update and went back to version 8.

Get back to me when I can search inside my encrypted notes (once I've opened them, of course)

[blredd 0]

Have been an Evernote user since 2009.  Latest update on Android does not allow me to share/save from URL's.   Will not auto-select or allow me to select a "Notebook" -required to save the note/clip.

I've been able to to this 19,000+ times previously (see upper left of screenshot).  Obviously not something that I don't understand.  

Can I roll back to previous version?  This bug makes the Android app totally unusable.

[Evernote_User_No_2020 9]

yuup -- follow the instructions up top to install the 8.x version.

i suggest uninstalling the current version, side loading the apk from the link, and then turning off "auto update" in the Play Store.

Evernote better fix this...

[mrsguywire 2]

I am so happy to have found this thread!  Off to try the apk option.  Wish me luck.  I have a Google Pixel 3a

[pjbassing 2]

Tried the side-load as recommended.  It worked.  I'm now happily running v 8.13.3 just like in the old days.

[bill77 10]

It's always a good rule to backup your own apps when things are running smoothly while never allow auto-updates. I've had some Play Store apps sneak by updates despite my settings, oddly enough.

 The more you rely on an app, the more valuable your backups become, so it's best to be ready when a developer "pulls an Evernote" and you're stuck with a crippled app (pretty sure Evernote was the inspiration for my developing this valuable habit was back in 2010 or 2011, after learning the hard way  

[GabPai 18]

Just curious...anyone had any bad experience with the apkmirror download? I've been stoically waiting for Evernote to sort out things, but in vain... things are not getting better (at all).

Thus for now the only way seems to be to try the downgrade. Thanks for any comment.

 

P.s.: At least while Notion has no offline option and Joplin has no widgets and some reduced functionality.

[Coffee First Thing 112]

6 minutes ago, GabPai said:

Just curious...anyone had any bad experience with the apkmirror download? I've been stoically waiting for Evernote to sort out things, but in vain... things are not getting better (at all).

Thus for now the only way seems to be to try the downgrade. Thanks for any comment.

 

P.s.: At least while Notion has no offline option and Joplin has no widgets and some reduced functionality.

I've used apkmirror to download Evernote legacy for Android several times without any problems.

 

[Alxa 479]

I've used it a lot because of Evernote...sadly. No problems with apkmirror. Since the apps are signed and this is checked by the os they are not tempered.

[pjbassing 2]

I downloaded v8.13.3 from apkmirror several months ago, installed it, and it has worked without problems -- just as it did when it was the latest release, before somebody decided to sabotage the app.  One could almost believe that the current dev. team is on MS's payroll, to ensure the inevitablilty of OneNote.

[GabPai 18]

Just curious if anyone had a similar problem... I downloaded and installed, but now it doesn't allow me to sign in. It either enters a frozen loop or says "you cannot sign at the moment. This is likely caused by a bad connection to the internet"... any ideas?

[Alxa 479]

11 minutes ago, GabPai said:

Just curious if anyone had a similar problem... I downloaded and installed, but now it doesn't allow me to sign in. It either enters a frozen loop or says "you cannot sign at the moment. This is likely caused by a bad connection to the internet"... any ideas?

I had this too once. Please try to simply restart the device after installation. If this does not help. Deinstall, restart, install, restart, sign-in...

[GabPai 18]

21 minutes ago, Alxa said:

I had this too once. Please try to simply restart the device after installation. If this does not help. Deinstall, restart, install, restart, sign-in...

Thanks for the tip!! Unfortunately it seems it's not solving it for me. I'll keep trying.

[Coffee First Thing 112]

8 minutes ago, GabPai said:

Thanks for the tip!! Unfortunately it seems it's not solving it for me. I'll keep trying.

I had that problem too. I did a reinstall, which didn't work. The following day it was okay.

[NanetteK 14]

I contacted Evernote (https://help.evernote.com/hc/nl/requests/new).

At first they tell you you can't downgrade (and shouldn't need to because their new version is só great 😉).

After letting them know I had done so in the past (using the older apk), they wrote me back saying:

"Can you please provide your IP address and User Agent info so our Team can take a further look into this. Use these steps below to gather your IP address and user agent.

Get your IP address using Google

1.    Search "what is my IP" on Google or click here: What is my IP?

2.    Copy the IP address shown in the box above the search results.

3.    Paste it in the reply to this email.

Get your user agent using Google

1.    Search “what is my user agent” on Google or click here: What is my user agent?

2.    Copy the user agent information shown in the box above the search results.

3.    Paste it in the reply to this email."

 

I did and they responded:

"Thanks for your patience while we investigated this login issue. We are working on a fix now and you should be able to login within 48 hours.

Please let me know if you're still unable to login after 48 hours has passed."

 

And within 24hrs I could login again!

[BTC10 0]

On 3/1/2021 at 11:03 AM, GabPai said:

Dear people at Evernote,

I guess you have read the comments on the Google Play App. An immense amount of the community of Android Evernote users is deeply frustrated with the recent Android upgrade. I won't start listing all the negative points which have been ruined concerning the usability we relied upon on the previous version (you can have a look at the list yourself). 

Can you please help us all and just go back to the previous version? We would be thankful if you just admit the mistake and do this, it would be a noble thing to do for all of these loyal customers. 

Or at least provide a way for people who would like to go back to the previous version to do this?

Thanks very much and kind regards.

Frustrated is beyond decent language... Thanks nevernote. That my desrcition of my use. Enjoyed it for well aroimd w012, 13 not really sure... Thanks 4 nothing. Google hasnt helped much either