Duplicate notes

[shekala 56]

I notified tech support about constant duplicate notes being created and their response was disturbing. I am curious if other users deem this to be as problematic and cumbersome as I do, especially since I don't recall this happening in older versions, and certainly shouldn't be happening in an application wherein syncing is a key feature:

Here is their response:

Regarding the duplicate note warnings, at the moment, Evernote does not support real-time editing. When a note is edited in two different devices before a sync has taken place, two copies of this same note might be in conflict. When this happens, the note duplicates. You can then view both versions of the note and the conflicting version from the server, then manually apply any changes that couldn't be merged automatically. Once you're satisfied that the original version has all of the changes, delete the duplicated version.
 
Moving forward, to help us to isolate this issue, when editing a note, make sure you are online, the note is not open in any other device. This way, if your account is syncing properly, you should have its latest versions. Also, when you're done editing the note, sync and then close the note so it's ready to be synced to all your devices.

 

[agsteele 2,950]

This issue as described has always been the case with Evernote. You should not edit the same note on two or more devices simultaneously.

However there are regular reports of duplication which cannot be absolutely linked to having the note open on two devices at the same time. So your issue MAY not be as simple as the support explanation.

I would try to ensure that you aren't editing as described and then confirm whether the duplication issue has gone away. If not reopen the ticket with more data.

[xkexk8 0]

My Android Phone and Windows Desktop are frequently out of sync.  Evernote android used to have a manual sync option.  This option was removed some time ago.  I can manually sync my desktop version, but later in the day I'll modify a note on my android app and it does not sync with cloud/my desktop.  Is there a work around to address this issue, or am I going to have to move to a different app?  This seems like Evernote I broken on this issue.

[agsteele 2,950]

In Android V10 go to Settings and then Sync.

[xkexk8 0]

Wowsers!   Not particularly convenient, but it works.

Thanks!

[Phi87 9]

I am having this problem with the ChromeOS version. Whenever I edit a note on the chromeOS version (which was recently upgraded), I get a duplicate note. I am not editing on two devices or two sessions on the same laptop. Anyone else?

[anfang 35]

7 hours ago, Phi87 said:

I am having this problem with the ChromeOS version. Whenever I edit a note on the chromeOS version (which was recently upgraded), I get a duplicate note. I am not editing on two devices or two sessions on the same laptop. Anyone else?

Do you mean that you worked on the note, saved it, then reopened the note in the same session, and got a duplicate conflict while working on it? Was it the Web Client, and did you close and reopen the Client?

I have encountered it a few months ago, especially when network requests are weak & when I opened/closed the session quickly. Since then I've tried to be a little more careful around notes and synced before re-edit (and maybe there was a bugfix, who knows 🤷‍♀️), so I hadn't encountered the problem of late.

[Schneckerl 11]

Having the exact same issue as op, started about a week ago, while working on Android tablet. No other device syncing at the same time. Suddenly I've got several duplicates of the note I've been working on. Extremely annoying. 

[agsteele 2,950]

Have you reopened the ticket? We can empathize but not do much to help...

[Phi87 9]

I was on a Chromebook and using the local app. It looks to me that while I'm editing the note, a save occurs and when I continue to edit the note, the not duplicates. 

 

AGSTEELE -- how do I open a ticket?

 

[agsteele 2,950]

Tickets available at

https://help.evernote.com/hc/en-us/requests/new

[Phi87 9]

Thanks agsteele -- I opened a ticket.

 

[Okonomiyaki 9]

I have been editing a single note on just one device, I still get duplicate note errors. I opened a ticket and I heard they are working on it, but my patience with this app has run out. Unless they fix it by the end of the year, I'm out. I have just 100 notes. Moving to a different platform won't take long for me. The fact that I'm paying for having just 100 notes in the cloud which are mostly text documents weighing in at probably less than a 100mb total is just stupid. I don't understand how Evernote is advertised as cross platform if you can't even edit a note on just one device without problems let alone syncing across different devices. No other note taking app behaves this way. I only pay for it for the cross platform feature, which DOESN'T WORK. I don't care if Evernote is old, and this is an old structural "feature". I'm sick of excuses, rules, explanations and work arounds. I've tried them all, I've heard them all and it still doesn't work. FIX IT!

[Boot17 1,452]

2 hours ago, Okonomiyaki said:

I don't understand how Evernote is advertised as cross platform if you can't even edit a note on just one device without problems let alone syncing across different devices.

I use Evernote on two different Macs, two different Windows devices, on iPad and iPhone. On one of my Macs and one Window machine I have three of the same notes open at the same time and will make changes to the same note on both machines while it remains open (note: not at the exact same time though -- I have to wait a few seconds for it to sync.)

No sync problems for me.

I was just thinking earlier today how awesome Evernote is. So nice to be able to pivot in my seat from my Mac to my Windows machine and have the exact same Evernote experience (and again, no sync problems for me).

Hope the work being done to be able to edit the same note at the same time on different machines is a huge improvement for others not having the same experience as me. (And I'm sure it will make my experience even better.)

[eric99 980]

5 hours ago, Okonomiyaki said:

I have been editing a single note on just one device, I still get duplicate note errors.

what device is it?

[aronbarcelona 2]

Honestly I think this is THE major issue with Evernote.

Apple Notes obviously handles sync issues of exactly the same kind simply by collating two notes, adding text where it seems logical in the one note.

It's literally incomprehensible to me that a note-taking software whose main selling point is that it works across devices, in practice, doesn't work across devices!

Needs to be fixed, ASAP! 

[Dave-in-Decatur 3,960]

@Okonomiyaki, double-posting on the same issue is discouraged: https://discussion.evernote.com/profile/912350-okonomiyaki/.

[adnan256257 1]

So if i am away from my PC, adding notes through the mobile will cause duplicate and possible loss of data when i accidentally consolidate to the wrong version.This is a real UX issue as we don't always has physical access to all devices to close notes before opening them elsewhere.

Possible features to solve this issue:

1. When a note is open on device A, and device B opens the same note, show a message that this note is open elsewhere and give an option to close it remotely. or,

2. Close notes after X minutes of inactivity. Maybe go to home page or something. This can be a toggle in options. or,

3. Implement real sync

Please Evernote implement one of these options!!

[Dave-in-Decatur 3,960]

Or take a sec to make sure a note has finished syncing before you shut down a device.

[eric99 980]

8 hours ago, Dave-in-Decatur said:

Or take a sec to make sure a note has finished syncing before you shut down a device.

just leaving the editor sometimes takes 5 minutes on android 😒

[Dave-in-Decatur 3,960]

😲 I've just upgraded to v. 10 on Android (with a new phone) and haven't seen this yet. But I know there are reports of serious issues, so I'm crossing my fingers.

[eric99 980]

11 hours ago, Dave-in-Decatur said:

😲 I've just upgraded to v. 10 on Android (with a new phone) and haven't seen this yet. But I know there are reports of serious issues, so I'm crossing my fingers.

As I already mentioned, after a logout/login the android client performance is acceptable but performance degrades dramatically over de following weeks.

Thanks for testing the V10 android client on your new phone. What type is it? 

how long does it take to exit the editor and close a simple text note?

How long does it take to take a picture and close the note?

[Dave-in-Decatur 3,960]

11 hours ago, eric99 said:

As I already mentioned, after a logout/login the android client performance is acceptable but performance degrades dramatically over de following weeks.

Thanks for testing the V10 android client on your new phone. What type is it? 

how long does it take to exit the editor and close a simple text note?

How long does it take to take a picture and close the note?

Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra (I'm a stylus fan). Exiting the editor is instantaneous. A couple times I have seen an edited note retain the green needs-sync label in the Notes list, even though checking on another device shows it has synced. Forcing a sync removes the label, but it's disconcerting. Taking a pic was again essentially instantaneous for getting the pic in the note, exiting, and syncing. I'm pleased with the performance so far (almost entirely at home with a good WiFi setup). But I'm remaining alert.

[eric99 980]

16 hours ago, Dave-in-Decatur said:

Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra (I'm a stylus fan). Exiting the editor is instantaneous. A couple times I have seen an edited note retain the green needs-sync label in the Notes list, even though checking on another device shows it has synced. Forcing a sync removes the label, but it's disconcerting. Taking a pic was again essentially instantaneous for getting the pic in the note, exiting, and syncing. I'm pleased with the performance so far (almost entirely at home with a good WiFi setup). But I'm remaining alert.

Thanks for testing 🙂  I forgot to mention that my tests were also with a stable WiFi setup (200 Mb)

Please keep us informed how performance evolves next weeks...

[Dave-in-Decatur 3,960]

On 1/29/2023 at 9:59 AM, eric99 said:

Thanks for testing 🙂  I forgot to mention that my tests were also with a stable WiFi setup (200 Mb)

Please keep us informed how performance evolves next weeks...

Updating: So far (less than 2 weeks) I haven't encountered problems with duplication or sync. I have been using it mostly at home on a steady WiFi connection. Nor have I had problems with the camera--last night I updated a note with 6 or 7 pages from a book, and I found that the Auto setting worked well and the ability to crop before saving was very welcome. I don't discount the issues others have reported. As noted previously, I have a couple of times had notes take a minute to sync, sometimes seeming to require manual intervention, sometimes just having the green "Sync me" tag retained after sync had happened. I also had the auto-rotate issue that's been reported on other threads; restarting the phone fixed it, and it hasn't returned. The only other problem is that a couple of times when I return to Evernote after awhile it goes to a previously viewed note instead of Home--possibly I still had that note in view when I last used it?