Evernote 10 is a NIGHTMARE—and they're raising the price from $70/year to $105/year.

[soundsgoodtome 155]

I've happily paid for Evernote Personal for many years. I was running Evernote 7 for Mac because many features that I use daily are either broken or missing in later versions. But since my new MacBook Pro runs Ventura, I had no choice but to update to Evernote 10, because Evernote 7 is broken in macOS Ventura.

To my utter dismay, I'm now forced to use this crippled version of Evernote. I've been discussing a number of these broken/missing features with Evernote support, and I've been given a cornucopia of excuses and patronizing comments (e.g.,. "we value all user input," etc.).

Now, adding profound insult to cruel injury, Apple just informed me that my $69.99 annual Evernote subscription will automatically renew at a WHOPPING $104.99. 😳🤬 For an application that has been ruined.

In what ways has it been ruined? Here's what I've discovered (so far):

1 • Menu commands (e.g., the commands for sorting options) have been removed, preventing us from using keyboard shortcuts for those features. Instead, sorting can now ONLY be done by clicking on icons. Why remove menu commands? (I used these many times a day.)

 

2 • Transparency in images is now ignored. (I used this daily.)

 

3 • The sidebar is cluttered with items that we cannot remove if unneeded (e.g., Tasks, Shared With Me, etc.) taking away valuable space for viewing our notebooks.

 

4 • The Search field has been moved to the sidebar—which now takes up additional, unnecessary space in the sidebar. The search field was previously located in the upper-right corner (where many apps' search fields are located). Moving it to the sidebar leaves less room for us to view our actual notebooks! Does ergonomics never get considered anymore? It's as if Evernote's new coders are children who have no clue about application design.

 

5 • Certain, standard font characters that I use DAILY are now inexplicably replaced by emoji. After inquiring about this, I was told it's a "feature" called "automatic emoji conversion." What the actual hell. Who would implement something like this without giving us a way to DISABLE it? Evernote has just "decided" that users no longer need standard characters that have existed for decades, so they're now just replacing them with emoji—without the user's consent.

 

6 • Horizontal dividers (lines) appear to have been removed. Evernote 7 had two ways of creating these lines: (a) By typing a few hyphens, then hitting return; or (b) There was a dedicated button in the toolbar for adding a horizontal divider. BOTH have been removed in Evernote 10. (I've used these dividers several times a day for years.)

 

[EDIT: I've been informed that horizontal dividers are still available, though NOT via the method that Evernote support kept telling me (typing three hyphens, then "enter"). I now see that a divider can be entered by clicking the "divider" button under the blue "+" icon. A divider can also be entered by typing ⇧⌘H.]

 

7 • They've omitted the search field from within the Help menu—a feature that has been standard across *all* Mac applications for at least 10 years. They've literally made it more difficult for us to locate menu commands. How is this helpful to anyone?

 

8 • The ability to choose fonts has been removed, and we're now stuck with default fonts over which we have NO control. Another "brilliant" idea: "Let's take away fonts from the users. No one will notice."

 

9 • The standard, Apple color picker for text has been removed. For years, I've used specific color-coding in my notes on a daily basis. But no more. Now we're stuck with a handful of colors that Evernote has decided are the only colors we need. "Let's take away the standard, Apple color picker that's existed for decades. No one will notice."

 

These are features I have relied upon—and have gladly paid for—for many years. But it seems Evernote's new coders have no clue about the history of the application, nor the history of conventions of Mac applications. if they don't need it, they figure no one else does, either.

 

Evernote, we've put up with unfixed bugs for many, many years. The basic functionality continued, and we made the best of it. But this is a bridge too far. You cannot GUT the application of its features—and then have the cojones to ask us to PAY MORE.

 

There's only so much we can take. Unless these issues are addressed—and fast—it appears this spells the end of my relationship with Evernote, an application that I have used and loved for many years. This is just too much.

 

I will not pay MORE for an app that you have RUINED. Sure, I'm just one user. But I suspect I'm not the only one who feels this way.

 

This. Will. Not. Work.

 

 

Edited May 19, 2023 by soundsgoodtome
Update added for item #6.

[gazumped 11,652]

4 minutes ago, soundsgoodtome said:

There's only so much we can take. Unless these issues are addressed—and fast—it appears this spells the end of my relationship with Evernote, an application that I have used and loved for many years. This is just too much.

You seem to have been an edge case on the subscription increase graph and I sympathise.  But this is a new product,  under a new ownership - apparently - with a new determination to improve on past performance.  If you can't afford to continue to see whether they deliver on their intentions,  then it's perfectly understanable that you would either close or downgrade your current subscription and move elsewhere.  Good luck for the future!

[soundsgoodtome 155]

11 minutes ago, gazumped said:

…apparently - with a new determination to improve on past performance.

And they start by removing features that Evernote has had for years? Removing features is their way of "improving upon past performance"? Then, before implementing any vastly noticeable improvements, they increase the price from $70/year to $105/year?

And you believe these are good business practices?

[gazumped 11,652]

2 minutes ago, soundsgoodtome said:

And you believe these are good business practices?

I must confess I didn't read most of your previous rant,  but the new features are different in some areas because (at user request) the previous Evernote team moved several different versions of the software -which had different features- into one application,  which averaged out what was available.  Since the inititial 10.00 we've since had nearly 60 iterations in 24 months that have added back usability,  and I'm sure we'll have more.  You can either be a user and (politely) request that Evernote add back anything that you miss,  or you can take offence at their insolence in trying to please their customer base and move somewhere else.  Your choice.

[Boot17 1,441]

12 hours ago, soundsgoodtome said:

6 • Horizontal dividers (lines) appear to have been removed. Evernote 7 had two ways of creating these lines: (a) By typing a few hyphens, then hitting return; or (b) There was a dedicated button in the toolbar for adding a horizontal divider. BOTH have been removed in Evernote 10. (I've used these dividers several times a day for years.)

Did you see the replies to the post that you already made about this one? Neither have been removed (albeit the toolbar one was moved to under the blue plus toolbar button).

 

[jomadado 0]

Sure, the price has massively increased, however, you can now embed YouTube videos inside of a note. That alone is justification for the price doubling.
Sarcasm is another great feature. 

Another thing... perhaps introduce a bunch of new features PLUS bring back the features that users keep requesting and fix the web clipper and how clipped is viewed inside notes... maybe then introduce the price increase. 

[gazumped 11,652]

3 minutes ago, jomadado said:

Sarcasm is another great feature. 

I think that was irony,  actually - but I'm in the UK; what do we know.  I do know that the decision has been made and the new prices applied,  so there won't be a do-over.  The deal on the table is - pay the increased subs and see the improvements as they come in,  or don't,  and move on.  If all users did the "add <insert feature here> and I'll subscribe",  the devs would have unpaid work for a decade to try to catch up.

[soundsgoodtome 155]

6 hours ago, Boot17 said:

Did you see the replies to the post that you already made about this one? Neither have been removed (albeit the toolbar one was moved to under the blue plus toolbar button).

Thank you. No, I hadn't seen the reply. (For some reason, the forum is no longer notifying me of replies, even though I'm following these topics.)

I'm glad to see that the divider feature still exists—although it's odd that the Evernote-support person who's been corresponding with me about that very issue (a) has repeatedly given me incorrect information about the method for creating dividers, (b) never once mentioned that the button was moved under the blue "+" button, and (c) also failed to mention that dividers can be inserted by typing ⇧⌘H (which I discovered just a few minutes ago).

Thanks again for bringing this to my attention. 😊 

[Bdewit 1]

I've given up. The new 10.58.5 is awful. I've canceled my subscription and will be migrating my notes to another app. I've used Evernote for 14 years and it gets worse with every upgrade. Now it's unusable. I can't print exactly what's on the page I've just created - it won't space my paragraphs. I can't create a standard format. I can't find the font I want to use. I can't remove images from notes. I can't go back to the Legacy version I was using. I can't use my old shortcuts. I've grown to really hate this app and I won't be paying another $30 for it on top of that. And from what it looks like in these forums, it's a big fat disaster for others too. I loved it for so long, but I'm dumping the green elephant.

[PinkElephant 8,077]

If you are looking for a page oriented, layout program you are looking at the wrong product. Most note apps don’t support it, so no good proposal from my side.

Good luck in finding what you are looking for.

[Jonathan Penner 0]

On 7/20/2023 at 10:04 PM, Bdewit said:

I've given up. The new 10.58.5 is awful. I've canceled my subscription and will be migrating my notes to another app. I've used Evernote for 14 years and it gets worse with every upgrade. Now it's unusable. I can't print exactly what's on the page I've just created - it won't space my paragraphs. I can't create a standard format. I can't find the font I want to use. I can't remove images from notes. I can't go back to the Legacy version I was using. I can't use my old shortcuts. I've grown to really hate this app and I won't be paying another $30 for it on top of that. And from what it looks like in these forums, it's a big fat disaster for others too. I loved it for so long, but I'm dumping the green elephant.

Wow, I am SO DISAPPOINTED!!!! I have used Evernote for so long. However with the changes in fonts alone, never mind so many other changes that I don't find helpful, I think I may need to start looking for an alternative. This is so sad as I have loved using Evernote for so many years.

 

[gazumped 11,652]

11 hours ago, Jonathan Penner said:

Wow, I am SO DISAPPOINTED!!!! I have used Evernote for so long. However with the changes in fonts alone, never mind so many other changes that I don't find helpful, I think I may need to start looking for an alternative. This is so sad as I have loved using Evernote for so many years.

 

New versions for Mac, Windows and iOS have fixed any recent issues.  Updates can be downloaded and installed manually if necessary.

[PinkElephant 8,077]

Anything to tell ?

You just repeat yourself, so sad.