Dear Evernote, I want to pay! Do you have a plan on which your app doesn't crash 10x a day?

[Lolinda 17]

Android tells me that I should put Evernote to deep sleep because it crashes all the time:

Evernote tells me that by paying 150 bucks I will remember and accomplish everything:

Question to everybody who reads this: please give me advice, what should I do???

[PinkElephant 8,838]

Your decision. My devices are running smoothly (Mac & iOS).

[gazumped 12,075]

There's a new Android app update which is supposed to fix things - 10.58?

[mackid1993 1,291]

I would suggest clearing the app cache on Android as well.

[Lolinda 17]

Hi everybody, thank you so much for all your comments! I will respond to each

[Lolinda 17]

On 11/9/2023 at 12:43 AM, mackid1993 said:

I would suggest clearing the app cache on Android as well.

I tried and the crashes still come 😞

[Lolinda 17]

On 11/9/2023 at 12:42 AM, gazumped said:

There's a new Android app update which is supposed to fix things - 10.58?

I am on 10.58.1 and the crashes still come.

Note, that it was promised already since many months that a new version will fix the crashes many users experience. In spite of all promises this never materialized. I did notice however a small temporary improvement with one of the last versions arriving: after a specific version installed, the crashes went away for a week or so. I was totally amazed and I thought it is time to pay for Evernote again, just to support good development, even though they did not fix all the other painful and many times reported bugs. But then the crashes came back as ever before....

you know, I do not need any features from any paid versions. Evernote would be perfect as it is on the free plan. I just supported Evernote with my payments over many years hoping to encourage good software development. I worked myself as a developer before I went into management, and good software development just deserves good money. And even the most expensive plants are so little little little little little money for the utility the basic plan already delivers. But after so many years of selfless support for Evernote, seeing all the time how the software gets more and more and more buggy I am tired of supporting them. okay, I admit I would click on a back link two times per month, maybe. But I do it out of principle to not pay anymore: they just invest into newer and newer features and forget about the users who would like to have a reliable tool....

[gazumped 12,075]

25 minutes ago, Lolinda said:

I am on 10.58.1 and the crashes still come.

The only tech we know here (the Forums are mostly other users) is to uninstall the app,  power the device off and on again and then reinstall.  That makes sure minor corruptions didn't creep in on the last update,  and clears any temporary storage it might be using.  It may be worth trying...

I was on 10.57,  am updating to 10.58 today - I had set my database to download for offline access since I had sufficient storage;  but that seems to set up some sort of conflict and keeps my version crashing too.  I have another older device running Legacy which doesn't crash - but also doesn't sync that well.  I can understand your frustration.  I mainly work on desktop so can get around the mobiles issue. 

Your choices are basically:

1. Be Patient - if you can...
2. Contact Support - but there are rather long waits at the moment...
3. Use another app - but then you have the learning curve and the possibility it's not as useful as Evernote.

I do recommend 1 & 2 - as a former developer you'll know that 95% of the issue when fixing bugs is finding out where they are;  the other 5% is fixing them without causing more problems!  Maybe your activity logs will be the ones that help Evernote finally fix this...

Edit:

 

[Lolinda 17]

Hey @gazumped your words are so nice, warm hearted and trying always always to be helpful to everyone. I really like it ❣️ unfortunately I already sent logs over all the months to Evernote... and I have switched to a new device (Samsung fold 5 Android 13) 2 weeks ago, and in that process I didn't transfer anything from the old device but completely deleted and installed Evernote on the new device. in spite of this, I did have some hope in clearing the cash, because even if I already knew that it is not a permanent solution, I would already be happy if it would save me from some bugs for a full day or two: but it did not help, not even temporarily....

There is just nothing left to try what I can think about... 

And whenever I look at the ratings on the Play store and I see that newer ratings tend to be worse than the average rating, then I know that things are going downhill for the majority.... I'm worried for Evernote.... 😞

[Bill Myers 469]

6 hours ago, Lolinda said:

There is just nothing left to try what I can think about... 

I have no advice to offer because I'm an iPhone user. But if you've tried Evernote support as well as the suggestions in these forums, it's possible that for you Evernote has become more trouble than it's worth. In which case, no reasonable person could blame you for bailing. But...

6 hours ago, Lolinda said:

And whenever I look at the ratings on the Play store and I see that newer ratings tend to be worse than the average rating, then I know that things are going downhill for the majority.... I'm worried for Evernote.... 😞

I'd be careful about trying to predict Evernote's future based on Google Play reviews. Years ago, Evernote heavily promoted a newly redesigned version of its iOS app which was CRAZY buggy. I lost multiple notes to it. And that was just the tip of the iceberg. Evernote's Apple App Store rating went down the toilet. After a while (way too long of a while IMHO) Evernote fixed the bugs and their Apple Store rating bounced back to something close to 5 stars.

I'm not saying Evernote is or isn't in trouble. I'm just saying their current Google Play rating alone probably doesn't tell the tale.

[mackid1993 1,291]

Maybe try making a secondary free account to see if the app crashes with that. If it doesn't there could perhaps be a corrupted note in your account that is causing the app to crash. If that is the case I would then say contact support.

[Feitz 264]

On 11/10/2023 at 2:02 PM, Lolinda said:

There is just nothing left to try what I can think about... 

Go back to 'Legacy' for the time being. I've tried V10 on Android several times over the past three years and always found it to be not usable. Last time I tried V10 was about 3 months ago.

So I reverted to 'Legacy' - again - and it has been running smoothly without any glitches for the 10 months. Fast, no crashes, loads instantly, no wasted screen space, sync-button, no half-baked beta features that don't work properly.  'Legacy' on Android doesn't even show an upgrade warning, it just works.

You have to be offline when you install it and disable automatic updates in Google play btw. Once disabled you can go online again.

[gazumped 12,075]

2 hours ago, Feitz said:

Go back to 'Legacy' for the time being.

It's a very short-term solution...

[Feitz 264]

9 hours ago, gazumped said:

It's a very short-term solution...

Yes, of course, but if the long-term solution is  constantly crashing and thus not viable  what else can you do? Some people have to rely on their notes being available instantly.

Every update introduces new problems or in some cases reintroduces already solved issues. The forum documents these issues well...

[PinkElephant 8,838]

If somebody insists on using Android, and has a bad experience with the client: Switch.

The Android client runs smoothly for many, and gives problems for some. I have not read any convincing theory why this is the case during 3 years here. The only explanation is that the hodgepodge of makes, skins and preinstalled software may be part of the problem, as the inability or unwillingness to update the OS.

The iOS client is in general stable since EN 10.6 was released. Most glitches has been worked out. And for many users this seems to be the case on Android as well.

For all others: See above.

[Lolinda 17]

On 11/10/2023 at 8:40 PM, mackid1993 said:

Maybe try making a secondary free account to see if the app crashes with that. If it doesn't there could perhaps be a corrupted note in your account that is causing the app to crash. If that is the case I would then say contact support.

This was a smart comment! But meanwhile I got a first evidence where the problem with the numerous crashes comes from: 

EVERNOTE HAS THIS EXTREME CRASHING ISSUE ON SAMSUNG FOLD DEVICES !!

Using the same Evernote account, I was until recently on a Samsung fold 3, then switched to the new Samsung fold 5 and I had an imbearable amount of crashes per day. Now I have switched to a Samsung S23 phone + Samsung S9 tablet. using the exact same Evernote login, I didn't have a single crash whatsoever. I hope it stays like that but judging from 2 days of experience, the crashes are 100% gone. I did already have such a miracle once for a few days on a fold device, after a new EN version installed and then everything reverted back to "crashing normal". So maybe I will have to delete this post. But for the moment: not a single crash.

A further line of evidence is, that on the play store, the average rating given by Samsung fold users are much worse than the average rating given by all users.

If it will prove really true that these extreme amount of crashes are specific to the Samsung fold devices, then actually Evernote does not want to earn money: Of course, ordinary Samsung phones and tablets are bought by more people, but the Samsung fold devices are bought by people who do not spare money on technology (fold 5 list price here in Switzerland 1900 CHF, which converts to a largely similar amount in USD)  and certainly can afford to pay for Evernote.

Celebrating these few bug free days, I decided to honor Bending Spoon's efforts by paying them a simple personal license (without using any such features)

update: 

I am using now Evernote since a week on Samsung devices, a phone and a tablet, but not a folding device and I had in total three crashes. I use the same Evernote account. While using the Samsung fold 3 and more recently the Samsung fold 5, I had on many days 10 crashes, rarely even 20. Often it was virtually impossible to navigate to a certain note which was horribly embarrassing when it happened while talking to someone and the other person waiting for me to come up with some information and I cannot say anything because Evernote just refuses to take me there because it crashes on the way all the time....

-> Evernote is simply not fit for Samsung fold devices.

[gazumped 12,075]

8 minutes ago, Lolinda said:

I decided to honor Bending Spoon's efforts by paying them a simple personal license

I'm glad you have a better experience now.  I'm sure Evernote is trying / will try to find out why their apps do not play well with Samsung,  but they're still in their first several months of managing the whole network.  I'd bet it's one of many issues they're trying to sort out.

[Lolinda 17]

I have to revert to a Samsung fold 5 .... and the horror with the many crashes is awaiting me....:-(

regretting of having paid any penny to Evernote

[PinkElephant 8,838]

Your contact is support, or you can send feedback.

Without excusing anything that doesn’t work: It’s a known fact that these foldable phones are not well supported by many apps. The form factor (that comes in different flavors and makes) has in total maybe 1% of market share.

Many devs can’t justify the investment to adapt their apps. It’s always a risk to buy an exotic device, and expect anything to work.

Written on my iPhone 15, where the camera function of the EN app doesn’t support the changed camera features, for a lack of switching to the new camera SDK. Close up pictures are blurry, Tele lens not supported.

[Lolinda 17]

actually, it is not the form factor of the folding devices. it is the following, which I have already sent to the hotline, together with the supporting evidence I have, but they were not (yet?) able to put this information to good usage:

Folding phones are special in a regard different from their folding action. they need to accomplish an impossible feat of having a totally oversized screen (for a phone) and comply at the same time with the following requirements:

1. users acccept only a bit more weight in a foldable phone than in an ordinary phone, so there is not much weight allowance for the battery

2. users still require the phone to survive a full day of usage, recharging only in the evening

So how to do the impossible? 🙂

Samsung tweaks Android to the extreme. They have a super aggressive algorithm in place to shoot down absolutely everything all the time (except Samsung apps and services, of course! 😮). I know this not only because it is written all over the internet but also, because by shutting off as much of their "optimization" as I can, I could dramatically reduce all sort of errors in Evernote.

 

I already sent the details on how and what I do to the hotline and reported in detail what evernote bugs I could reduce doing so. but they didn't care.

You very correctly raise the important question: can we expect Evernote to care about device specialties? I dare to say yes! for reasons:

1. people who buy foldable devices that retail for e.g. 1800 bucks will not have a problem to buy an Evernote subscription for a tiny tiny fraction of the amount of the device price. To the contrary, only a few percent of owners of mainstream phones pay for what they receive from Evernote.

2. if Evernote would care how to develop an app that is stable in spite of extreme "optimization" strategies by the OS from whatever manufacturer, they would improve Evernote for everybody, because similar "optimization" schemes are in place on absolutely every phone whatsoever, just less aggressive and just causing not that many crashes and other bugs.

[bmcl26 579]

@Lolinda, I have great sympathy for you. I presently have a four-year-old Samsung A70, and as you may agree, being that age, it is not exactly lightning fast, although it does the job fine, with no real problems on EN.  I am at the stage of looking for a replacement and will certainly be avoiding Samsung's "Fold" Technology.

[Lolinda 17]

many months later: The problem is still not resolved. The bug still comes, sometimes many times per day. if I completely de-install Evernote and reinstall it, which I just did last week, the next day I had 1 crash the day after 3 crashes, and then I have on many days many many crashes: 

 

[Lolinda 17]

this constant crashing is very disturbing on Samsung Fold devices, I had it numerous times on Samsung Fold 3 and Samsung Fold 5. Using the same account on a different Samsung device, an ordinary phone, not folding, I had a very few crashes a week, which is perfectly okay for me. The crashes are not related to the folding action: if I don't fold at all, the crashes still come. I have sent detailed instructions for reproducing the bug to the hotline, meanwhile several times over the months, but nothing is done. I also asked the hotline, if they possess a Samsung fold device at all in the entire enterprise Bending Spoons, but they cared a wet s*** to respond. if they don't possess this type of device, they will never be able to reproduce. 

[agsteele 3,061]

This is a significant issue which appears to affect all folding devices. The hardware adjustments needed in Android appear to conflict with the Evernote app.

I fear that there will be no improvement until there is a standardised implementation for folding hardware.

[Lolinda 17]

On 4/17/2024 at 2:16 PM, agsteele said:

This is a significant issue which appears to affect all folding devices. 

Thanks. Your line sounds as if you would use a folding device too and you experienced the problem - I am curious: which one? Or, have you found other threads where other users report the same issue? it would be very helpful to know more about these and link them here on this thread so we know more about where the bug happens.

Actually, more likely than not, it may be simple for Evernote to solve this bug without any need to care about specialties related to folding. Doing so, they would generally improve things for all users on all phones because crashes do sometimes happen on other phones too. just kindly have a look here. Essentially: it may be as simple as Evernote having modifiable technical weaknesses which cause that the app does not survive Android's battery optimization; and battery optimization on Samsung's folding devices is known and is necessary to be extremely aggressive, but it's there in milder versions on all phones (and all phones have Evernote crashing sometimes)