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Why is iOS/iPad sync so bad when desktop app is so instantaneous?


aukirk

Idea

First, I am a stronger supporter of Evernote v10 and the direction the company is going in general.  However, it remains very frustrating that the iPad experience is so much worse than desktop.  It would be great to have a true iPad version, but even absent that... why can't sync work?

During my "Weekly Review" process every weekend, I move any Goodnotes files/notes from the week over to Evernote for archiving.  They hit my desktop app instantly, but even though I am using the iPad "share" feature on Goodnotes, they are inconsistent on how they sync over to the iPad Evernote app.  Often I want to add some comments to the Evernote note that is created with those PDF versions of the Goodnotes document, or set a reminder.  However, it is frustrating to have to switch over to the desktop to do that.

Generally the sync on iPad is inconsistent, and even when I go into the menu and manually force it to "sync", it sometimes does not show a new note that is appearing on the desktop version.

Is this an issue with iOS/iPadOS that impacts the ability to Evernote to maintain the sync as quick as it does on the desktop?

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Not my experience on the iPad - it works seamlessly.

Furthermore if you transfer your GoodNotes files to EN on the iPad, it MUST first import them into the local iPad database before being able to sync them to the server. The server gets them from the iPad, and distributes them to all other devices. There is no direct syncing between devices in EN.

To improve the situation, you can try a logout / login into your EN account on the iPad. This is often enough to overcome a local problem.

 

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I have had issues with iPad app sync. I use write a daily review using app on ipad and from few weeks app became very slow to syncing notes. To get worst all notes that I edit app make a new duplicated note.

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Probably the daily review it mainly text, and growing in size day by day.

To me it seems EN is sensitive to these large, text only, often edited notes.

Try to split it up in several notes, each one holding only a part of the content. Like splitting them up into monthly or even weekly bits. You can create a Table of Content (TOC) note that allows to quickly move to each section. For even more comfort you could add links into every note to allow to jump back and forth between them.

No, this is not as it should be, but it should help as a workaround.

To make EN work harder on the problem, you can raise a support ticket in addition.

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I submitted a ticket on this issue. In early December I stopped using my iPad with Evernote. After taking 5 or more minutes of notes, Evernote would sync, and revert my note to the version 5 minutes before. Yes, it deleted my new typing on the iPad rather than update in the cloud. I launched Apple Notes and quickly typed in what I remembered. I stopped using Evernote on iPad that day. For important meetings--we know many meetings are not important ( :P )--I take my MacBook Pro and run Evernote 7.14.

I do use my iPad for other meetings, but now I use Microsoft Word for notes. Ugh, but yes I do.

This gives me great Pencil input. I open two Word documents that sync to OneDrive, one for typing and one for Pencil. When the meeting ends, I share the notes with Evernote. I use [] in Word and turn those into check boxes in Evernote when I do my daily review. All it takes is adding a space after the ] and Evernote shows a check box. Bulleted lists transfer fine.

This is so smooth, effective, and reliable that I doubt I will ever run the iOS Evernote again--except to search for something*. I just have Evernote on the devices so I can share the Word notes and edit them later on Evernote desktop or laptop.

Once forced to version 10 on Mac, I might demote Evernote into a database and run Microsoft Word for capture on all devices. Then I can search for specific notes in Evernote. Not my favorite scenario, but it might keep me using Evernote should we be forced to version 10 and be disappointed in what it cannot do.

*Something other than web clips because those are too narrow to read on iOS Evernote. Ticket submitted for that issue too.

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Have you ever tried the syncing option in settings and the effect is has on the home screen ?

Probably not. Because at least for me it does never change anything - the client will sync as it always does. In Home a blue ray will move between the header picture and the content section whenever the EN client is syncing in the background.

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To follow up-- I got great support from Evernote staff. I tried to replicate the sync problem--but I had just accepted the newest iPad update to Evernote--and I could *not* replicate the problem. I made some test notes--just random stuff--and did not lose anything.

That said, trust is gone on my part. I use Evernote on iPad to read old notes, but never to take new notes. I'm sticking with MS Word and OneDrive for new notes.

I can open multiple Word instances on the iPad and use some for Apple Pencil notes, and some for typed notes.

 

Then I move those notes to Evernote on my desktop or laptop.

 

 

 

 

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I run EN on several iOS devices, and it does not fail me. It is slow on the iPad Air2, but this device is from 2014 and has only 1/10th of the transistor count of the newest devices. There a grain of patience is necessary to let EN respond before taking the next action.

On the newer ones it is snappy and reliable.

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If you have a problem with your syncing at work, there may be something on the work network blocking or interfering with syncing.

It depends on the network settings and capabilities what may happen there. It may go as far as blocking cloud services altogether , to avoid data leaving the company uncontrolled.

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