What is the new 'two device limit' (for syncing) about?

[mkraft77 7]

I've found myself effectively locked out of my account -- even after logging in – with no explanation of what the 'two device' maximum is all about. 

I'm informed that I'm using 3 devices and need to eliminate one from syncing.

My devices are described as:   Desktop / Mac / Web.

Apparently, one of these has to lose syncing unless I upgrade to a 'premium' account.

But how are the "Desktop' and 'Mac' two separate devices?  I'm using the Mac Desktop. That's one device, not two.

This 'surprise' notification about an apparent change that's been made by Evernote is the strangest way to find out about 'new changes' in an app I've ever encountered.

Especially with not having access to my account until I figure out what this new device limit is about in order to make 'the right choice.'

*** Advice will be greatly appreciated. ***

[Mike P 2,624]

2 minutes ago, mkraft77 said:

I've found myself effectively locked out of my account -- even after logging in – with no explanation of what the 'two device' maximum' is all about. 

I'm informed that I'm using 3 devices and need to eliminate one from syncing.

My devices are described as:   Desktop / Mac / Web.

Apparently, one of these has to lose syncing unless I upgrade to a 'premium' account.

But how are the "Desktop' and 'Mac' two separate devices?  I'm using the Mac Desktop. That's one device, not two.

This 'surprise' notification about an apparent change that's been made by Evernote is the strangest way to find out about 'new changes' in an app I've ever encountered.

Especially with not having access to my account until I figure out what this new device limit is about in order to make 'the right choice.'

*** Advice will be greatly appreciated. ***

If you look at your account details on the website it gives a list of exactly what devices are in use. Click on your user name at the top left of the screen and choose account information. V10 and legacy count as two devices which might explain it if you are using both.

[PinkElephant 8,072]

https://help.evernote.com/hc/en-us/articles/218558068-Understanding-the-device-limit

I would unsync devices in question. In the devices view in the account settings it shows when a device was used the last time. That may be a starting point - however I found the value for web to be unreliable. You have only a limited number of unsycs, so not too much try and error.

Check your access history as well - if somebody else was able to enter your account, this will register as a new device. If this is the case, there is a completely different problem to be solved.

[mkraft77 7]

 

26 minutes ago, Mike P said:

If you look at your account details on the website it gives a list of exactly what devices are in use. Click on your user name at the top left of the screen and choose account information. V10 and legacy count as two devices which might explain it if you are using both.

Thanks, yes I'd already done that (checked at EN's website). My Mac (i.e., a single device) definitely seems to be being seen as two separate devices according to the listing there.

How can I figure out which "Mac" device EN is actually syncing to? I assume it's the one marked 'Current,' since the other refers to a date 78 months ago, which is presumably when I first created my EN account. I don't know how two identifies for the same device ended up being created. This issue is new to me, never ran across it before.

I also wasn't able to check my EN version number -- that information wasn't available even when I was logged in to my desktop account, because the 'excess devices' error message blocked access to all features, including checking the version number. (Not a smart move, Evernote Team.) I may very well be in the other 'version' category (the older one).

[mkraft77 7]

34 minutes ago, PinkElephant said:

https://help.evernote.com/hc/en-us/articles/218558068-Understanding-the-device-limit

I would unsync devices in question. In the devices view in the account settings it shows when a device was used the last time. That may be a starting point - however I found the value for web to be unreliable. You have only a limited number of unsycs, so not too much try and error.

Check your access history as well - if somebody else was able to enter your account, this will register as a new device. If this is the case, there is a completely different problem to be solved.

Many thanks for that URL. Maybe I can figure out what's going on -- and what to do in response -- from that.

I guess I can get rid of the 'Mac' that's noted as being from 78 months ago. That would seem to be the obvious choice, especially since I see that 'unsyncing' doesn't lead to any loss of notes, which is what I thought might or would happen.

I agree that the 'web' "device" isn't particularly useful, but it does keep your account available in case you don't have your own hardware with you and need to access something in your account.

[Andy V 0]

Yes, because of the maximum 2 device limit, I'm going to stop using Evernote now, and switch to another product.  It feels like a bait-and-switch, because a few years ago, I believe, the max for a free account was 3 devices, and now it's down to 2 (if I'm not mistaken) -- a ploy by the company to try to monetize.  Nope, I'm leaving, copying all my notes to a different product.

[PinkElephant 8,072]

The device limit always was 2 (as long as I can remember). They excluded the web client from the count - this was changed when the new web client launched, because it is close to feature parity with the desktop clients.

And then some of your fellow Free users thought they get clever, and started swapping devices all the time. EN took notice and put a cap on device swapping.

That is basically the story behind the current set of rules.

In case you didn't notice EN is not a charity, and the devs and other staff indeed expect to get paid for the work they do. You live off the marketing budget while using the service for free. What a surprise - they make the Free account just inconvenient enough to make people think about subscribing. Or leaving - account closed, no more running cost, better than somebody who stays on forever without ever contributing.

[DTLow 5,736]

On 9/24/2021 at 7:33 AM, Andy V said:

Yes, because of the maximum 2 device limit

Confirmed; Evernote offers free use of their service/software on up to two devices   
If you need access on additional devices, you can upgrade to a paid account

>>a ploy by the company to try to monetize

Confirmed; Evernote is a business selling a service

>>I'm leaving, copying all my notes to a different product.

if you're not satisfied with the Evernote service/software, "leaving" is a smart move    
Evernote has always made it easy to export our data   
Good bye; Good luck with the "different product"