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Roots... Back to the basics...


brettmansdorf

Idea

I've been here (and paying) for longer than most - and although I continue to be here (paying) it's really only a function of no easy way out.  Very frustrated by the marketing directives that have changed the core competencies of the original software.

I like EN for the basics - scan to PDF (PERIOD - the business card ***** is the most frustrating - how bout you guys give me SIMPLE instead of this error ridden marketing driven junk)...   Archive (two level hierarchy) and search (visual and text).  Email it in or load onto a folder and import - END.  SIMPLE and WORKS..

You cannot compete with Goodnotes (and seemingly don't see value in buying them and dumping the penultimate that I've tried at least a dozen times - and every time end back with Goodnotes - it never crashes, never loses anything - is organized and functional).  It's SIMPLE and WORKS.

Chat - for what - if I'm going to have an in-house chat - it's gonna be on MY servers (or at least in my control - DUH)...  No offense - but you cannot even compete with MS teams - so why are you bothering???

Sharing - with whom exactly - someone you can blast to use your software - are you kidding me.  I once shared with myself (different email on a machine that didn't have EN) and you guys blasted me with marketing - I'll NEVER do that again.

Don't know (nor care) about the other "FEATURES" aka marketing fluff.  In the late 2000s you were a searchable database - two tier hierarchy  - visually driven - good UI - and FAST search.  Revolutionary.  If I had to describe you today - it's more like in the midst of civil strife - with no idea what you really want to be and ABSOLUTLY no idea what your core competency is.

HOW BOUT SIMPLE - back to your roots.  I'm even willing to pay double or triple what I pay now - but for GOD's sake let me turn off all the $&*T you have added in that has absolutely NOTHING to do with your core competency.  When I log in - let me see MY DEFAULT SCREEN - you know - what I saw for the first 10 or so years and not some social networked infused artistic and WORTHLESS landing page - just SIMPLE and WORKS...  Eliminate the baggage - you used to be FAST - you are not anymore - why - just guessing but all the ***** you have piled onto the core competency eats away at any speed you once had...

I don't remember the last time I asked someone to charge me MORE for less - but for me it would make your software more usable and stable - and that would be worth more...

As it stands - if anyone covered the core competency and figured a way to export / import easily (I don't have time) - I'd have been gone.  At one point I had four business accounts and one personal - all but one is gone - why - because it failed the SIMPLE and WORKS test.  Loyalty was something that was earned when you PROTECTED that which got you here.  You didn't value it - so I'm certainly not feeling any guilt towards the lack of enthusiasm that you might actually care - let alone fix this.

Feature request - LET ME - the CUSTOMER - turn off all the stuff I think is WASTING MY TIME - ALL OF IT, and if you can let me eliminate the God forsaken business card scanner (do you really have cards - do you have a VCR too, how bout a pager?) and default to a PDF ALWAYS - you know - SIMPLE and WORKS.

Wanna know why APPLE is #1 - my 74 y/o mother cannot operate a TV remote - but she does magic on her iPHONE - why - SIMPLE and WORKS - for all the fluff why apple is so so so successful - the reality is you turn it on and it just WORKS (and it doesn't just work this year - its works for a decade).  Perhaps you might see other paths are more profitable or more sensible - to which I wish you good luck, someone will be on you six at some point and blow by if you forget what got you here.

I know the brass thinks they are smarter than me - and perhaps its true - but until you can prove it to me - all this JUNK you have forced on us over the years will continue to be viewed as a marketing driven cash grab.  You want more money - OK - stabilize and make the software USER FRIENDLY again (you know - SIMPLE and WORKS), not workarounds and ideas that if I dump every other software my life at Evernote will be so much better.  You are a tiny cog in a big machine.  What's next - you going to bring out an email client and a word processor - better yet, what about a trend setting replacement for PDF - yeah - great.  

I don't care what you do - I would just like to return to the basics and NOTHING more.  At some point, you will force this last account to leave (if I had the time to move and convert, I would have left years ago - that STUPID landing page - but with 19 devices I don't have time to set defaults - I need access to the basics and NOTHING more - SIMPLE and WORKS).

And to all those who would disagree with me - if you didn't have an EN account prior to 2010 - keep it to yourself - you don't realize what this software was and what a revolution it was, and likely don't even understand the request.

With new ownership come the opportunity they might actually value a veteran user of some 16-18 years now (paying).  Or they will force me to leave at some point.  

Anyone know someone you can pay to convert to OneNote or notes (mac) - I've something like 35K in notes - it's a giant filing cabinet for me - and the basic functionality of the software has become so clouded - the value is in question - as I search for a string - and it provides nothing - but I go through manually and I find it (in the exact text I searched for)...   With all the ***** they have piled onto this - the one thing I cannot forego is reliability.  Certainly, hope the Italians see the issues - but at that level how the cow actually eats the cabbage rarely has impacts...  Finger crossed (but still searching for alternative solutions).

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Hi.  I couldn't be bothered to read all that in detail,  but I have been around longer than most (and pre 2010),  and don't think I've had half the hassles you claiming to suffer. 

Bad news - the Forum is mostly other users (including me) so your cry from the heart is pretty much wasted.  Try a feedback link from any of the apps,  or contact Support to tell 'em direct.

The CEO of Bending Spoons is by all accounts a fan of Evernote features,  and they're into AI and all sorts of bells and whistles so I wouldn't hold out too much hope of simplification.  Maybe if you can explain (preferably briefly) what you're looking for in a note-taking app,  we can suggest some work-arounds or some alternatives... 

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Don’t know what all this storytelling means, and why with all the forum options available it was posted in the iOS requests forum.

It has little to do with any iOS specifics. Beside this the current iOS client is by far the best we ever had - even when some features could be added to make it even better.

Anybody on iOS who wants just a plain, simple note taking app (which is what the thread owner declares he is looking for) should take a look at Apple Notes. It’s provided for free with every Apple device, and it has amazing abilities, many of them borrowed from the OS level (like the neural engine based text recognition).

Who picks EN instead usually has reasons for it - or simply didn’t do his homework before deciding.

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Appreciate the heads up that it's unmonitored (gazumped).  iOS is my main concern for search though - when on-site and writing a check - I need access to information stored in my Evernote - and quickly.  Current iOS is almost unusable and not nearly as reliable as the client 10 years ago.  My first two accounts date to mid 2008.  This specific account still here is 12/9/2008.  It has a LOT of stuff in it.

My average note (file) is at least >20mb and is encompassed with mixture of combined file types from PDF to image to document to spreadsheet.  EN used to fly through them pre 2015, but now its not even worth opening EN on the iPad - it doesn't find everything - and churns on and on.  Mac still work 90% - the windows machine does about 1/2 the time - phones NEVER work and I have three - all pros...

In the olden days (pre - baggage) I could search for PENN and it would QUICKLY pull anything with the string and all the image files of PENN STATION off the image.  Does not work on iPad Pro anymore, forget about the phone, and takes its time on windows.  This used to be how I showed off the product when someone asked about it - these days I'm embarrassed to even attempt (snails pace).

In the olden days I could search HO 05 30 05 11 and MA or Massachusetts and get details related to the specific endorsement in that state - which is often linked to court cases I have stored inside the file - rendering an fairly quick answer to what I need (and money to a displaced family).  I used to be able to search court cases for Florida when there for hurricanes - it crawls now.  In December I searched Ueberschaer (as in a court case that pushed upstream) as a reference point to allow for monies to be forwarded - it found NOTHING on the iPad Pro next to my seat mounted.  Tried it on the iPad mini - it too found nothing.  Booted up the Mac and it found it.  Yep, that only added 10 minutes - and when you are working your 70th day in a row from dawn to well past midnight - it's an irritation.  Perhaps a function of the size of my database - but never had a problem until they started all this chat, scheduling, and sharing and such.

I choose EN because of the 'any file' search on any device - and it was exceptional.

Perhaps the future of EN and AI might see this improved - and I'm not worried about the cost - I just hate seeing a company that was so solid - now trying to become all things to all people.  As I said before - I'm almost all Apple products - because they NEVER forget their core competency - before piling on stuff.

If search isn't rock solid in iOS - everything else is just fluff.  Searching a string on the Mac vs the IPP should NEVER have nay difference in the results - ever!

When I joined they pushed stuff like remember everything...   Now, it may have it in there - but finding it (remembering it) has become a challenge.  I already have a source of information that doesn't search so well with only brief moments of recollection - it's called my brain.  

I would love to move off the platform because I think they prioritize sizzle over the actual steak (like most profit driven companies) - and sooner or later that will blow up in their face (you have both been here long enough to remember a few speed bumps) -  but how do you move near a TB of information - not too many choices - especially if you have a real job - so I turned here in hopes some Demi-god level poster might have a ray of sunshine suggesting they will all least shore up the search function - always landing with EXACTLY the same results a the desktop and SPEED IT UP.  

 

 

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For me iOS works, speedy and reliable. It even runs on an old iPad Air 2, from 2014, with iOS 15.7. On this aged hardware a little patience is needed. On all newer iOS devices no issues.

If it doesn't perform for you, instead of posting a lengthy historical review, information about your setup would be helpful.

In general if you encounter a problem with a client, log out, uninstall, restart the device, reinstall and log in again. Then wait for the initial download to go undisturbed.

 

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It sounds as if you're waiting for a slow network connection if searches are lagging - does your device have enough storage to keep your notes locally?  If you save them to offline storage it can take some time,  but if these are mainly look-up notes it may be worth the effort.

Set up offline notes and notebooks on mobile devices – Evernote Help & Learning

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