Does Anyone Know the Secret Formula to Download iPadOS Offline Notebooks?

[martyscholes 23]

I know this has been an issue before but it is still a problem with a new M1 iPad Pro. I am now in day five of using the new tablet and Evernote still has not downloaded offline notebooks. This is running iPadOS 14.6 and Evernote 10.11. Attached is an example of the download status for a few notebooks showing that downloads have a long way to go.

The responses in the past to offline download problems include:

• You do not have enough storage
  • Incorrect: see second attachment of the current state of iPad storage; there is plenty of free space
• Leave the iPad on all night with Evernote in the foreground
  • I have a limitation whereby I can only leave the screen on for up to five minutes; see the third attachment for my screen locking options.
• You don’t need offline notebooks
  • Maybe, but that is an option and it seems to be not working

 Has anyone figured out how to get the offline downloads to complete?

Many thanks, Marty

[buckethead 218]

Without the app open in the foreground I’m not sure it’ll download offline notebooks. This is an iOS limitation, not Evernote. If I were you I’d try downloading a single notebook at a time. I have had no problem getting my notebooks downloaded on iOS recently. 

[PinkElephant 8,068]

The app must be active - once it is in the background, iOS cuts the download activity after a few minutes.

I do it like this, best in the evening when I know I don’t need the iPad for the night:

1. Go to iOS settings, display & brightness, set autolockscreen to never.
2. Make EN the active app. Maybe open the notebook offline settings as shown
3. Put the iPad to a charger. In the control center dim the screen to minimum (not necessary)
4. Let it run …

It took one night on my iPad Pro 10.5 to download appr. 7.000 notes  / 21 GB using 5GHz WiFi and a Gigabit Internet connection.

On a prior download on a 25 Mbit link it took 3 nights, interrupted during the days.

[martyscholes 23]

Thanks for the suggestions. I struggle with the answer that this is an iOS limitation and not an EN limitation, since somehow Outlook seems to work in the background as do Notes and Reminders. Even when in the foreground, the EN app downloads at a glacial rate. I am currently seeing a 0.5 mbps download rate on a 1200 mbps connection.

I cannot set my auto lock time to never, but I can have the tablet open in front of me while working on the Mac. Maybe I can just let it grind away when I am not using it today and it will hopefully catch up.

[PinkElephant 8,068]

Mail programs are one of the few exceptions iOS makes. They are usually updated in the background. Apple Mail does it, so they most allow it for competitors as well.

Note taking apps are not an exception, because usually you have them active to use them.

Only very few offer an offline download. Either they work from the cloud, or local. In case of EN offline notebooks is a feature for subscribers only.

It definitely is an iOS restriction.

[Stacey Harmon 1,099]

@martyscholesI communicated with tech support just last week about this. Here is their response, and it did work for me (its very similar to what @PinkElephantprovided you earlier, but the first tip about doing 1 notebook at a time is different, and worked for me at the time...I still have to repeat this process to keep things current so it is definitely not working well on the whole).

I don't know what to do about you not having an auto-lock "never" option...that sounds like a device or security issue with your iOS device vs an Evernote thing. But, maybe this will help as it did for me:

"I understand that you are unable to finish downloading your notebooks offline.

To confirm, how many notebooks have you tried downloading offline?

Please know that this is a known issue that we are aware of.

As a work around, kindly follow these steps:

• Select one notebook at a time in Evernote Settings > Notebooks > Offline notebooks
• Open iOS Settings > Display and Brightness > Auto-Lock > press Never
• Plug the iPhone or iPad to a power source
• Leave your phone plugged with Evernote open for a few hours
• Repeat with more notebooks"

[PinkElephant 8,068]

@Stacey Thanks for posting, Stacey.

The autolockscreen switch is in iOS settings, display & brightness. It allows settings in steps, from pretty short to never. There is no difference between iPhone and iPad, just the intervals are shorter on the phone. It is there, for sure. Maybe the name in English is slightly different, I am on a German iOS setting.

Initially in fact it only worked when selecting notebook after notebook - which is no fun when doing it over night. But then it chocked when more than 2 or 3 were selected.

Since EN iOS 10.6 this issue was solved, no problem to switch „all notebooks“ if this is the goal. The other issue solved with 10.6 is that the updating of new content works. No

A last thing: When you log out of the app, you loose all offline content, and need to download again. Keep this in mind when support asks you „to log out to fix XYZ“. It may fix it, but you pay the price of another download.

[Stacey Harmon 1,099]

1 minute ago, PinkElephant said:

@Stacey Thanks for posting, Stacey.

Since EN iOS 10.6 this issue was solved, no problem to switch „all notebooks“ if this is the goal. The other issue solved with 10.6 is that the updating of new content works.

This is not my experience. I'm on 10.11 and have the issue with both my iPad and iPhone. It is definitely not solved for me! But, as posted, the workaround provided via tech support provides a (clunky) resolution.

[martyscholes 23]

2 hours ago, Stacey said:

• Open iOS Settings > Display and Brightness > Auto-Lock > press Never

When I joined my current company and installed Outlook, the Never option was removed from auto lock settings. I think this is some security thing, since my iPad now insists that I change the PIN regularly too. I am unclear how to get around this limitation.

[buckethead 218]

3 minutes ago, martyscholes said:

. I am unclear how to get around this limitation.

You can’t from my understanding. You most likely had to install a profile that allows your work to dictate security settings on your device. 

[PinkElephant 8,068]

OK, this device is under management by your IT. Then it may be they disabled the „Never“ option to make sure all devices lock. It seems they „know“ their users …

Then your only normal option is that you decide which notebooks are really important, select them and download while you use EN, or keep it alive in the foreground.

Or you get your IT to temporarily allow „never“ on your device.

After you made it avoid logging out of EN. Once you log out, it starts all over again.

All this is iOS that prevents background jobs to run longer than a few minutes. This and the restrictions placed by your IT - nothing of it is „made by EN“.

[martyscholes 23]

I have learned a little more. First, any app can disable the screen lock with the following configuration item. It seems that this is the method used by video players, maps, and stopwatches to keep the screen lit.

UIApplication.shared.isIdleTimerDisabled = true

Second, by using Guided Access, the iPad can be locked to running a single app with an override for screen timeout. I am currently running Evernote in the foreground using this approach.

In my opinion, if EN needs screen auto lock to be disabled, the EN app should provide that capability.

[s2sailor 2,181]

10 minutes ago, martyscholes said:

In my opinion, if EN needs screen auto lock to be disabled, the EN app should provide that capability.

Or at least it should be documented somewhere that this may be required for initial download.

[PinkElephant 8,068]

As an app developer that does NOT want to have his app removed from the AppStore I would totally comply with Apple rules in this case.

Maybe some remember that Apple had big trouble a while ago about sudden shutdown of iPhones when their batteries were a bit aged. There was a class action, they drew fire because of alleged planned obsolescence and in the end made a quite cheap battery replacement offer to users.

The restriction on background activities were implemented after all this. I am sure anybody who works around it would draw focussed  attention from the AppStore watchdogs.

It is not the question whether this thing can technically be disabled. EN can’t do it without putting their iOS app in danger.

About documentation: Support describes what has to be done. The description in the help pages is not very helpful, EN needs to revise it.

[martyscholes 23]

4 minutes ago, PinkElephant said:

As an app developer that does NOT want to have his app removed from the AppStore I would totally comply with Apple rules in this case.

Agreed. The rules specifically allow for keeping the app in the foreground. When sync is complete, the EN app could set this back to false. This should be false by default, only enabled when the user requests offline download.

https://developer.apple.com/documentation/uikit/uiapplication/1623070-isidletimerdisabled

Quote

About documentation: Support describes what has to be done. The description in the help pages is not very helpful, EN needs to revise it.

Support describes what has to be done but that solution assumes the presence of certain capabilities that might be absent.

[PinkElephant 8,068]

If EN would set the app to active without me knowing what the intention behind it is, the battery would be dead after 1/5th of the full download. Only by keeping the iPad on the charger it goes through.

Plus when something keeps EN in the foreground, the use of the iPad would be massively constrained.

Better tell the users what to do.

[martyscholes 23]

We are clearly not communicating well. EN does tell users what to do, but those instructions depend on certain iOS security features not being used. When those iOS security features are used (as in my case), the EN instructions do not work. iOS has a feature to accommodate this situation. I suggested that the EN app take advantage of those features.

Nowhere do I suggest that this happen without user acknowledgement or that anyone should be surprised.

[PinkElephant 8,068]

iOS does AFAIK allow this option for extended background activity only for specific apps, that need this type of action.

Apple got pretty much burned a while ago by this „sudden shutdown“ problem that was based in an ill communicated battery protection. Since then they have done a lot to make sure users will make it through the day with a charge.

If in my case 20GB would be downloaded in the background, the battery would be dead before the download would be done. When I download I need to put the iOS device to a charger to make sure it does not die. All this speaks against a background download.

Your case is specific because from what you told you are on a managed device where iOS options were turned off by your Admins. You can’t expect an app to install provisions to work around restrictions applied to a device.

You will see this differently (I assume …), so instead of discussing it here you better go and convince support.