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Evernote should open link in device browser, not inside the evernote note - privacy and usability


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I often paste Google doc links in Evernote, and other links (such as to a map or website) also.

The experience of trying to use these links inside of Evernote is TERRIBLE, especially on iPhone where there is not sufficient screen space to be able to (for example) navigate a map or a document. I've had several experiences with being lost and unable to use my Evernote links on the road due to this issue, also I'm not happy with the privacy violations that come with this app behaviour.

Also, this link strategy is delivering data to Evernote about my browsing, which is being recorded inside of Evernote, and that is an egregious privacy issue.

Please open my links in the default browser of my device, NOT inside of the Evernote note. If this is not possible, I still want to copy the link and put it in the browser myself -- NOT open it inside of Evernote.

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That's not my experience. I click on a URL in a note and my device web browser opens the link.

I'm not even sure that it is possible for Evernote to display web pages from a link.

If I share a web page with Evernote via the mobile browser then the passage is copied into the note but that's all part of the privacy policy signed up to eight from the beginning.

Google Docs are, I think, a unique issue because there is a connection between Google Drive and Evernote. But again that's part of the standard privacy policy and Ts&Cs.

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3 hours ago, deborah0302 said:

I'm not happy with the privacy violations that come with this app behaviour.

3 hours ago, deborah0302 said:

this link strategy is delivering data to Evernote about my browsing

Hi.  I'm not sure what's happening with your account,  but as @agsteele says - in my experience links stored in a note tend to open in the default web browser for that device,  unless they're links to another Evernote note in which case they should open within the app.  Evernote has no interest in your activity other than being able to verify that things are working correctly and to collect some statistics - like most other apps - on which features are most used. 

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On iOS, Evernote will open an external link in an in-app browser. It's a safari-light browser that pops up "in" the Evernote app instead of taking you to the default browser app. You can click the 'safari' icon in the bottom right hand corner of the in-app browser to then open the link in the default browser instead, but you've already loaded the page contents at that point.

In the screenshot below, you can see that I have a link to yahoo.com and if I click on that link then it will open up yahoo.com in this in-app browser. You can tell it's an in-app browser and not a browser app because when I go to switch apps, the Evernote icon is present at the top.

image.png.7ad03fcbf3230f8a139476a6ee6af039.png

If I'm reading this right, it looks like the app developer (in our case, Evernote) could access content that you enter and/or view on those external sites with the in-app browser. Here is a story I was just reading on it: https://threatpost.com/facebook-ios-tracks-anything/180395/ (see also https://9to5mac.com/2022/08/11/in-app-browsers/ for the same/similar story).

Since you are already saving the URL in Evernote though -- they already know that part of it -- and I would just always click the icon in the bottom-right-hand corner to open the URL in Safari and do my business there and not interact with the in-app browser.

Also, if I click on a google maps link, the in-app browser will still prompt me to open it in the Google Maps app.

But still - I also think the iOS Evernote app should open external URLs in the default browser instead of the in-app browser (or being given the option to do so).

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