Evernote's developer has intentionally *crippled* v10 to deter users from leaving Evernote.

[soundsgoodtome 155]

A few weeks ago, I posted a list of 20+ features that are broken or missing from Evernote 10, leading to my decision to leave Evernote after 15 years. (That list has since grown to over 25 features.) That, coupled with Evernote's decision to raise the price of Evernote Premium from $70/year to $105/year—despite NEVER fixing bugs—was the last straw for me. And with my renewal due on July 18, I set out to migrate to Apple Notes.

It was my goal to export each notebook as a tome and then to import those notebooks into Apple Notes. So, I opened Evernote 10, went to my first notebook, hit ⌘A, and what did I discover? This:

This baffled me, because in previous versions of Evernote, I had regularly archived notebooks containing hundreds of notes with one command. So, I opened Evernote 7, and sure enough—you can still export as many notes as you want in one command—even 6,200+ notes (which is what I have). But in Evernote 10, this feature has been CRIPPLED. Since there is clearly no technical reason to limit selecting (and exporting) of notes to 50 at a time, there can be only one explanation:

The Evernote team has DELIBERATELY crippled v10 to deter users from leaving Evernote.

This is the behavior of the company in whom you've placed your trust—and it's frankly despicable.

At the very same time that they've REMOVED and BROKEN feature after feature—while IGNORING our pleas to fix bugs for years and years—they've now deliberately hamstrung the app to discourage us from exporting our notes and going elsewhere.

Classy, huh?

Now, you're probably thinking: Since Evernote 7 still allows unlimited export, why didn't I simply use Evernote 7? Well, Evernote 7 has a bug (surprise!) that omits the date created and date modified metadata when exporting notes. As such, if you don't need that metadata, it's easiest to export from Evernote 7. But I reply upon that metadata. So, I had no choice but to export more than 6,200 notes from Evernote 10—50 notes at a time.

If this post isn't deleted by moderators, you now have an opportunity to decide if this is the kind of cynical company that you want to trust with your data and support with your dollars.

I've now fully migrated to Apple Notes, and I'm happy. It's actually a far more robust application than meets the eye. That's Apple: Complexity disguised as simplicity. I've reorganized my notes, cleaned up my tags, cleared out the cobwebs, deleted outdated notes, and I'm thrilled to have my notes in better shape than ever. For free.

No more pleading with Evernote to fix bugs that never, ever get fixed—year after year after year. I'm finally done with everything Evernote.

Cheers.

[PinkElephant 8,209]

Some facts: You can export any number of notes from v10 in one go, given they are in the same notebook.

This is the only way you can maintain the note-notebook information, by using the resulting ENEX file as "notebook" to hold the notes. The ENEX file format has no field to keep the information to which notebook the note was assigned.

The ENEX file never had this information - a proper export strategy with legacy was exactly the same as it is now, export by notebook. You could technically export all notes on a heap, but thats was exactly what you got, all notes on a heap.

Any import of ENEX files will create new notes (technically they have a new UID, the unique identifier that keeps a note separate from another). It would create havoc in the database if an import would use the same UID as the original note, from which the import was created. New UID means the note is technically new, and has the creation date of the import of the ENEX file. There is nothing malicious about it, it is simply the way this data structure was designed.

That's the technical side, and this information has been available for everybody all of the time.

About the personal side: We don't like (ex-)users here who spread unfounded or even wrong information, and we don't need (ex-)user here who have left for good, and now use forum posts with large print and a foul odor all around them. We don't want conspiration theorists who only prove their lack of understanding, building their bricks of conspiracy on a foundation of ignorance.

Clear enough ? I wouldn't talk like that if I was an employee - luckily I am another user, and I call false false and malicious malicious, when I see it.

[Dave-in-Decatur 3,980]

I've been on these forums for awhile, but I've never before encountered a post so loud, so full of misinformation, and so determined to present opinion as fact. But I'm sure you'll insist on being responded to politely and respectfully. So a few polite responses:

1. A fact: for many months now, Evernote 10 has been able to select 100 notes at a time. If you're stopping at 50, that's on you.
2. A fact: bugs are being addressed more quickly in v. 10 than they were in v. 6. Maybe not the bugs you want, but not zero either.
3. A fact: Evernote 10 can do things that Legacy can't.
4. An opinion: Evernote 10 works better for me and is more enjoyable than v. 6 was. There are a couple of things I miss from v. 6, a wider choice of fonts and colors for instance, but it's worth that particular sacrifice to have notes appear with the same fonts, colors, etc., on all devices.
5. A question: Speaking of devices, does Apple Notes have an Android app? If not, I couldn't use it, probably most of us here could not use it. But if you never need to access your notes outside the Apple-verse, then it sounds like it's what you need. Maybe it's all you ever needed.

 

[soundsgoodtome 155]

"So full of misinformation?" Really? OK. Let's see...

4 hours ago, Dave-in-Decatur said:

A fact: for many months now, Evernote 10 has been able to select 100 notes at a time. If you're stopping at 50, that's on you.

NOT a fact. You're flat-out wrong. I just verified both the version (by running "Check for updates") and the export limitation (by performing a selection). The latest version of Evernote for Mac is version 10.59.5—and in THAT version, the export limitation is 50 notes—as shown in my original screenshot. Where do you think I got that screenshot?

Furthermore, even if the new limit were 100, my assessment stands: There's NO technical reason to limit export at all—except to deter users from leaving Evernote.

So, you have disproven nothing.

4 hours ago, Dave-in-Decatur said:

A fact: bugs are being addressed more quickly in v. 10 than they were in v. 6. Maybe not the bugs you want, but not zero either.

I never said "zero"! So, you're putting words in my mouth. I said there are about 25 features that I use regularly that are either MISSING or BROKEN. That, my friend, is a fact! I documented most of them at the following link (but found another 5 or 6 later):

After submitting that post, I did discover that one or two of those features were located elsewhere. (Some forum members were also helpful.) Still, over the last several months, not one update has addressed the other bugs or missing features. (Unless they've been addressed within the last 2-3 weeks, since I stopped using Evernote.) And over the last 10 years, users have begged Evernote to fix numerous bugs—bugs that have NEVER been fixed TO THIS DAY.

Yet, I was expected to go from $70/year to $105/year for an app with 25 missing or broken features. 

I refuse.

4 hours ago, Dave-in-Decatur said:

A fact: Evernote 10 can do things that Legacy can't.

Maybe so, but again—there are 25 features that I used on a regular basis that were included in v7, but were REMOVED or BROKEN in v10. "Doing things that Legacy can't" doesn't help me if it doesn't do the things it did previously that I need it to do. If you can't comprehend this simple truism, I cannot assist you with cognition.

4 hours ago, Dave-in-Decatur said:

An opinion: Evernote 10 works better for me and is more enjoyable than v. 6 was. There are a couple of things I miss from v. 6, a wider choice of fonts and colors for instance, but it's worth that particular sacrifice to have notes appear with the same fonts, colors, etc., on all devices.

Good for you!

Evernote 10 does NOT work better for me. See my post, linked above—and remember there are 5 or 6 more missing/broken features that I discovered after I posted that.

Until three months ago, I was happily using Evernote 7 in macOS Monterey. But as soon as I got a new MacBook running Ventura, I was forced to "upgrade" to Evernote 10, because Evernote 7 is buggy in Ventura. That is when I discovered feature after feature after feature that either no longer worked or was removed from Evernote 10. But since I was running Ventura, I had no choice. I was "stuck" with a stripped-down application.

We clearly have different workflows, because for me, Evernote 10 is a disaster. But I'm glad it's meeting your needs! I'm going to assume that you understand that we don't all have identical needs.

4 hours ago, Dave-in-Decatur said:

A question: Speaking of devices, does Apple Notes have an Android app? If not, I couldn't use it, probably most of us here could not use it. But if you never need to access your notes outside the Apple-verse, then it sounds like it's what you need. Maybe it's all you ever needed.

Your choice of brand of computer or phone is 100% irrelevant and disproves NOTHING in my post. I didn't say that Apple Notes was the solution for everyone! I said Evernote has been crippled. My post was about MY experience and the fact that the Evernote team has artificially limited the number of notes that can be selected and exported—something that's new in v10, because in v7 and before, we could export any number of notes.

That is a fact.

Your need to use Android phones has absolutely nothing to do with what I've stated here. You may not like my post (or its tone), but you haven't disproven anything I wrote.

Best of luck!

[Boot17 1,473]

I don't think this post is going to influence Evernote in any way. If anything, they are glad to see a toxic user leave. But it does stir up the discussion forum hornet nest for sure, which is probably the main intent of the post anyway. (Edit -- perhaps not the main intent. The main intent was probably to vent, but of course that kind of toxic venting here will lead to what follows.)

[Dave-in-Decatur 3,980]

1 hour ago, soundsgoodtome said:

"So full of misinformation?" Really? OK. Let's see...

2 hours ago, Dave-in-Decatur said:

A fact: for many months now, Evernote 10 has been able to select 100 notes at a time. If you're stopping at 50, that's on you.

NOT a fact. You're flat-out wrong. I just verified both the version (by running "Check for updates") and the export limitation (by performing a selection). The latest version of Evernote for Mac is version 10.59.5—and in THAT version, the export limitation is 50 notes—as shown in my original screenshot. Where do you think I got that screenshot?

Furthermore, even if the new limit were 100, my assessment stands: There's NO technical reason to limit export at all—except to deter users from leaving Evernote.

I have no idea what goes on in the Mac version, but my screenshot is below. This is in the Web client on a Windows machine, which I think (but I could be wrong) should  also be available on Macs. As for your technical assessment of software you have not programmed, I pass that by; but if your conspiracy theory were true, why did they raise the limit from 50 to 100 notes?

1 hour ago, soundsgoodtome said:

2 hours ago, Dave-in-Decatur said:

A fact: bugs are being addressed more quickly in v. 10 than they were in v. 6. Maybe not the bugs you want, but not zero either.

I never said "zero"! So, you're putting words in my mouth.

4 hours ago, soundsgoodtome said:

Evernote's decision to raise the price of Evernote Premium from $70/year to $105/year—despite NEVER fixing bugs

4 hours ago, soundsgoodtome said:

At the very same time that they've REMOVED and BROKEN feature after feature—while IGNORING our pleas to fix bugs for years and years

But perhaps you mean they haven't fixed all of the bugs that bother you the most. That's still not the same as "NEVER fixing bugs."

1 hour ago, soundsgoodtome said:

After submitting that post, I did discover that one or two of those features were located elsewhere. (Some forum members were also helpful.) Still, over the last several months, not one update has addressed the other bugs or missing features.

Much (not all) of your list, like other such lists that have been posted here, has to do with the redesign of the interface, stuff put one place rather than another or replaced with icons. All that was done on purpose, and is not going to be considered a bug or a lost feature by Evernote's designers. I'll quote two from the end of your list, though they may not be representative.

Quote

19 • For years, the shortcut for simplifying text formatting in Evernote has been ⇧⌘F. But now, that shortcut does something else. And instead, we now have to click the "More" button, then scroll all the way down to "Simplify formatting." This takes 5x as long as a keyboard shortcut. 

20 • The keyboard shortcut ⌘F for searching within a note has been removed. Because who needs a quick search feature?

From the Evernote Help & Learning article on Mac keyboard shortcuts:

• Simplify Formatting

  ⇧ Space

• Search Notes

  ⌥ ⌘ F

Interfaces change. None of us was born into Evernote v. 6 for Mac. We had to learn the old Evernote interface(s), and change our workflows in the process, and we've had to learn the new one. I cry mightily, MEH! If Apple has not done an interface redesign for any app in the last 5 or 10 years (and I truly have no idea), I'll be highly impressed with them. Evernote did a complete remake in order to have a consistent appearance and experience over all platforms. Opinions vary about whether that was a good idea, but most seem to think it was; and at any rate, it's the reality. Again, if you're only using Apple devices, this may not be significant for you, but it is for many others, which was the one and only point of my mentioning that I need it to work on Android. Not having identical needs was exactly my point. If Evernote made its program work better for me (and others) and worse for you (and others), that's hardly proof that they're ignoring their users and crippling the software to keep people from leaving.

5 hours ago, soundsgoodtome said:

At the very same time that they've REMOVED and BROKEN feature after feature—while IGNORING our pleas to fix bugs for years and years—they've now deliberately hamstrung the app to discourage us from exporting our notes and going elsewhere.

2 hours ago, soundsgoodtome said:

I didn't say that Apple Notes was the solution for everyone! I said Evernote has been crippled. My post was about MY experience and the fact that the Evernote team has artificially limited the number of notes that can be selected and exported—something that's new in v10, because in v7 and before, we could export any number of notes.

That. Is. A. Fact.

First you said "us," now you say it's just you. I responded to the first. In response to the second, Evernote has changed but it has been "crippled" only in some users' experience -- as you now acknowledge! -- and certainly it has not been crippled on purpose to keep you chained to it.

If Evernote were the despicable, cynical entity you fantasize them to be, they might well have blocked your post. But they didn't. They might very well have sued you for libel, since you baselessly accuse them of intentionally crippling the software to make it hard to leave. But they're not.

And past this I do not care. Despite appearances to the contrary, I really don't have time for this. To return to my original observation, I have seen dozens of self-important, over-the-top declarations that Evernote has been irretrievably mangled and the aggrieved user is departing for something that works better. I have never once seen a plausible rationalization for why these folks think anyone here -- all just fellow users, mind you, not Evernote's owners who might be heartbroken at your departure -- gives a hog's hangnail what software they use. If you want to tell Evernote off, here's their number: https://help.evernote.com/hc/en-us/requests/new. Most of us come here to report problems we're having or offer suggestions to others who are having problems. We do not care to judge, on a scale of 1 to 10, whether Evernote is evil or our fellow users just hate change.

[Dave-in-Decatur 3,980]

2 hours ago, soundsgoodtome said:

Until three months ago, I was happily using Evernote 7 in macOS Monterey. But as soon as I got a new MacBook running Ventura, I was forced to "upgrade" to Evernote 10, because Evernote 7 is buggy in Ventura. That is when I discovered feature after feature after feature that either no longer worked or was removed from Evernote 10. But since I was running Ventura, I had no choice. I was "stuck" with a stripped-down application.

Thinking about this again, I realized that I should extend something of an olive branch here. Your transition from v. 7 to v. 10 was abrupt and involuntary. My experience was quite different. I avoided v. 10 for a year or more, at a time when it really was feature-poor and struggling, and I stuck with the Windows program v. 6. As v. 10 got better, I started using the Web version of it, and gradually got used to what it could do and how it worked. I found that there were increasing numbers of things I preferred to do in v. 10, and at some particular point it felt right to just install the Windows app and start using it, since I was well accustomed to it in the Web client (because it had been revamped to be a consistent experience across platforms). I've mostly found it to meet my particular needs, and I'm not looking back.

So my gradual and well-considered introduction and then transfer to v. 10 can't really be compared with the unpleasant experience of having the rug pulled out from under you due to an OS upgrade. This I concede, and I can understand your aggravation. What I can't accept is yelling, interpreting interface changes as crippling, and making the completely unsupportable accusation that the 50-note selection limit (which many people have found very irritating) was an intentional ploy to make it hard to leave. IAC, I do hope that Apple Notes is proving to be all that you need it to be.

[gazumped 11,728]

While I haven't even tried to follow the argument above point by point,  it seems to boil down to:  some folks find Evernote to be moderately acceptable,  others violently not.  If you're OK(ish) with how things have been going -at least for the present- it makes sense to hunker down and see what happens in the next few months.  If you're not,  it makes sense to run for the hills.  No harm,  no foul in either case.

Evernote may (!) have its faults,  but plotting to retain custom by disabling any part of its operation is not one of them,  and there are and always have been various ways to extract notes and notebooks in ENEX, HTML and PDF format from all versions,  not to mention various other note-taking apps offering ways to import data from the app.

If you're dissatified with any feature it makes sense to contact Support and/ or the Forums here to (hopefully politely) ask for help.  That puts Evernote on notice that something is wrong,  gives them chance to look into issues and analyse a real-world example,  and sometimes even finds a resolution.  The Forums consists mainly of other users giving their time to (usually) help or comment constructively.

In this case the OP has left the building,  so who's right and who's wrong seems academic.  I already have enough drama in my (real) life that I don't need to be reading it here,  so may I suggest that we all cool it down a bit and only comment further if there's something contructive to say?