Issues with the New Evernote Version on MAC

[splice 4]

Hi,

I've just updated Evernote for the second time, but I consistently end up switching to the legacy version. I'd like to use the new version, unfortunately, I'm facing several issues with this new version that are hindering my efficiency. I'm a MAC Ventura user with 32 GB of RAM. 

1. The new version of Evernote appears to be slower than the old one, and navigation isn't smooth. Moving from one list to another takes significantly more time, due to frequent displays of the saving message.

2. I frequently receive the error message "We were unable to sync your note" which switch the note to read-only mode. The only solution I've found is to manually copy notes. This is unacceptable since I never encountered this issue with the old version.

3. On MAC, when I click on the Evernote icon in the taskbar, I always get redirected to the Window homepage instead of showing the last open window. This experience is frustrating, as most other MAC applications show the last open window when you click on their icon. This is a serious problem when working on several documents simultaneously. 

4. Text selection works poorly. In Evernote, text needs to be selected very slowly, or else a portion of it is left unselected.

5. Bullets and enumerations don't work well. Drag/drop in general, I don't even dare try anymore, I start dragging bullet and leave the mouse, the animations continue on the screen with lines going up and down by themselves as if the operations had been buferized. Last time, one of my notes on the move remained hanging on the screen until I relaunched Evernote.

6. I kindly request the return of the "Sync" button. This button allows us to force synchronization and use the latest version of notes when working on multiple computers. For instance, at the office, I force synchronization, shut down my PC, and later continue on my MAC at home. The message "all notes have been synchronized" was supposed to solve this problem, but I did a test, and this message doesn't guarantee that I can switch off my PC. Even if the Internet connection is lost, this message is still displayed.

In my opinion, this new version seems to be designed primarily for note-keeping rather than efficient work tools as it used to be. I use Evernote for other features such as storing notes, searching, annotating, presenting, etc., but not being able to work properly annoys me a lot. Please propose an efficient version that works well before forcing us to migrate to the new version. 

Thank you in advance for your assistance.

[PinkElephant 8,838]

1) no issue. Only difference is on multiple note operations, where v10 is slower. Taking the app offline helps to speed these operations up.

2) no issue. Looks rather like a network issue. Check network speed, with special attention on ping and jitter. Latency is not good for cloud based services.

3) click on the icon, select the window you want from the little menu that shows. Mac standard ...

4) works for me ...

5) I don't understand the point. Is it about bullet points, enumerations, drag&drop ? Please elaborate, maybe with a short screen video.

6) Did you ever test RTE sync in action ? Then you would know, that you could not even move the mouse pointer over to a "button" before the syncing is already done. Do you have a sync button for iCloud ? If you want to reload a note, use cmd-R, or shift-cmd-R for a forced reload.

Conclusion: You take v10 as it is, or your time with EN is over once legacy is cut from the server.

[splice 4]

 

Thanks for your reply. I respectfully believe that your conclusion does not help Evernote. Evernote has historically been a valuable tool for many of us, and we hope that the company will consider user feedback and continue to improve the new version to meet the expectations of long-time users. Otherwise, there is a real possibility that a new competitor enter the market and potentially challenge Evernote's leadership position. Change is a part of progress, and to remain competitive, it's crucial for Evernote to listen to its users and adapt accordingly.

Let's focus on what matters most:

1) Lets you face the truth, this version is slower. If you use it for a few notes a day, it's fine, but if you use it intensively, you lose effectiveness. Offering a slower version of a well established product doesn't typically represent product evolution. I understand if this is a temporary step in the migration process.

2) Evernote should be robust enough to handle network connectivity issues by automatically re-syncing notes. Losing changes is simply unacceptable.

3) This is not standard behavior on MAC. In most applications, clicking on the icon in the taskbar return you to the last active window. I'm still convinced that Evernote will be able to quickly solve this problem,  because of that I no longer use Evernote on a daily basis and during my public presentations. 

4) If you try to select text quickly, you'll notice that a portion of it won't be selected. To ensure it works properly, you'll need to select the text slowly. 

5) I am talking about drag/drop of bullets.

6) You seem to be insinuating that all you have to do is edit some notes, wait a few seconds and switch off your PC because the synchronization is in real time. But I've tried it and it doesn't work. Evernote doesn't always detect connectivity issues accurately. I've experienced situations where my MAC didn't show the latest updates, and when I returned to my PC, I encountered an "unable to sync" message. Having a manual sync option could be valuable in such situations, allowing users to verify their internet connection and retry syncing when necessary.

Best regards,

[gazumped 12,075]

3 hours ago, splice said:

Thank you in advance for your assistance.

Hi.  You seem to be posting under the conviction that we are Evernote.  This is a (mainly) user 2 user forum,  so your feedback is best directed via the link in Settings on mobile,  or to Support.  While Evernote is happy to get feedback they tend to have projects and priorities of their own,  and it's unlikely that they'll make any changes to the UI with any speed.  If you need changes now,  then you need to find an app that will already deliver them.  If you willing to wait several months,  then maybe...

On the plus side Evernote have said that they're focussing on speed, reliability and connectivity,  so maybe you'll see some improvements sooner rather than later.

[Boot17 1,539]

As a primarily Evernote Desktop user of v10 on Mac for the last 2-3 years (on two Macs, one a 2019 MBP with 32GB RAM, the other a 2020 MBA with 16GB RAM) and as a user of Evernote back to around 2013-ish, here is my take on the 6 points:

• #1 - v10 is a little slower for sure, but not too slow that I ever notice it now (and slower on my MBA than MBP, but everything is slower on my MBA anyway)
• #2 - I don't ever get that message.
• #3 - I usually always just keep Evernote open, but when I do relaunch Evernote (using Spotlight) after a Cmd-Q, it always takes me to the last place I was at and reopens any new windowed notes at the place they last were.
• #4 - No issues here.
• #5 - Don't have that issue either.
• #6 - RTE is better (and different) than the manual sync button.

I don't say this to deny your experience OP, but to just rather contrast what you should hope to expect. It's definitely not supposed to work that bad (nor does it work that bad for everyone).

 

[splice 4]

 

I agree with you that real-time synchronization is a nice feature. Manual synchronization is a useful complement, but it doesn't replace the real-time sync. The issue is that sometimes Evernote real-time synchronization doesn't always reliably detect internet connection losses. This may not be a major issue when working on a single computer, but it becomes more critical when switching between devices. Having the option to manually force synchronization can provide peace of mind in such situations.

Comparatively, software like Dropbox handles real-time sync exceptionally well. When you make changes to a file on a Mac, you instantly see the Dropbox icon indicating the synchronization progress, which changes to green once the sync is complete. I've tested this with Evernote, and the message "All notes have been synced" appears at the bottom of the note. I edit the note, but the message remains the same. I shut down my PC, turn on my Mac, and the latest changes don't appear. In that situation, if I turn on again my PC, i will likely and randomly have the message "We were unable to sync your note".

Additionally, as you mentioned that RTE is better. Open Evernote simultaneously on two PCs, make a note edit on the first, and observe the time it takes for these changes to propagate to the second. For someone who values efficiency, it's time wasted waiting for changes to arrive. In the previous version, a simple click on the "Sync" button on both PCs allowed for efficient synchronization between devices.

In conclusion, I'll continue to use Evernote Legacy and periodically test the new version. If Evernote forces me to use this new version without addressing the issues, I'll patiently wait to find an alternative software. However, I'll remember that Evernote used to be my best productivity tool before this "evolutionary" version.

[splice 4]

Hi,

I have contacted Evernote support about real-time synchronization. This feature allows collaborative work on the same document, which is a nice improvement over the old version. However, there are occasional issues in detecting network connection losses. From my tests, this detection seems more reliable on Windows but slightly less so on Mac. I will await Evernote's response on this matter.

Regarding point 4 on text selection, I have recorded three videos:

Video 1: Please note three actions:
- Action 1: quickly selecting a line results in the initial part of the text not being selected.
- Action 2: while selecting a line, I move unintentionally the cursor slightly upward to the preceding line and immediately back down, yet the first line remains selected.
- Action 3: while selecting a line, I move unintentionally the cursor slightly downward to the following line, causing the portion of the text at the right to be selected. I understand the technical reason for this selection, but it's overly sensitive. It's difficult for the mouse to maintain a perfect straight line during selection.

Video 2: quick text selection. Works one out of three times, part of the text is not selected.

Video 3: multi-line selection. Only a portion of the text is selected. Happens frequently when selecting long notes.

Please note that I have exaggerated the speed of selection in this video for demonstrative purposes. In practice, I use the same selection speed in all editors. In Evernote, I am forced to redo the selection one out of three times. Even when I select text slowly, I still encounter issues; about one in every five attempts requires a redo. I'd like to highlight that I never experienced these issues in the older version, and I rely on Evernote as a tool for Quick and efficient work. 

evernote_note1.mkv evernote_note2.mkv evernote_note3.mkv

[gazumped 12,075]

Hi.  If you've already raised this with Support I won't even try to comment,  except for two things - Support is very busy and a couple of my recent tickets took 7-10 days to get a human response,  so please be patient;  and in my brief testing phase on RTE I had Evernote open on a tablet in front of my while editing on screen,  and changes I made appeared on the tablet within a fraction of a second.  Your mileage obviously differs.

[PinkElephant 8,838]

Can't confirm any overly sensitive behavior of text selection in the EN editor.

No matter if on an M-Mac or with Intel, it works just like it does in other editors.At least for me ... 

[splice 4]

38 minutes ago, PinkElephant said:

Can't confirm any overly sensitive behavior of text selection in the EN editor.

No matter if on an M-Mac or with Intel, it works just like it does in other editors.At least for me ... 

I use a MAC at the office and Windows at home, and the selection problem occurs on both computers. I've noticed that this problem occurs when selecting text in bullets and not in other cases.

[PinkElephant 8,838]

For me it works, if lists or not.

The difference with lists is that the lines are individual items, packed into a sort of container. When you hover the mouse over them, 4 dots appear in front of a line, indicating the whole line (container) can be moved by grabbing this handle.

Maybe it changes the selection somewhat - I can't make out a difference.

[Feitz 264]

On 10/26/2023 at 2:34 PM, splice said:

'm a MAC Ventura

Does Legacy work under Ventura?? I had to switch to V10 on my Ventura Mac mini, because windows were not drawn correctly. Would love to stay consistent with Legacy as long as possible.

[PinkElephant 8,838]

It fails on the Mac, more and more as new releases of MacOs roll out. I think it was Ventura when first the width of the note area was diminished. Later showing PDFs failed for a missing plugin, removed from MacOS 13.3 or 13.4, if I remember it correctly).

I don’t think it’s worth running an unpatched MacOS just to enable legacy. That’s one reason I dropped legacy completely.

[Feitz 264]

1 hour ago, PinkElephant said:

I don’t think it’s worth running an unpatched MacOS just to enable legacy. That’s one reason I dropped legacy completely.

Agreed, but my main computer is a 2015 Macbook pro that will not accept Ventura. As long as there are security patches I'm not concerned and unwilling to replace a perfectly fine machine and shell out 4800 € for an equally equipped current Macbook pro (although the screen is gorgeous).

Ventura  / V10 only runs on a Mac mini that I'm currently not using much.

[PinkElephant 8,838]

I doubt you can shell out 4.800 bucks for an equally equipped MacBook.

Comparable with your 2015 MBP is none of the current Mac’s - even the punniest MB Air M1 will be running circles around it.

[Feitz 264]

1 hour ago, PinkElephant said:

I doubt you can shell out 4.800 bucks for an equally equipped MacBook.

I need lots of space and a big screen, my 2015 MBP has 32 GB / 4 TB and that's  really expensive nowadays. Since I don't do video editing my old MBP is more than sufficient and why would I throw away something that just works?