Notes that are merely viewed marked as updated/edited

[Dave-in-Decatur 4,006]

I'm starting a new thread on this well-worn topic because I am seeing it happen in a new context. In the Windows desktop app, simply opening and viewing an older note I haven't looked at in a long time is causing the note to be marked as edited or updated. This is reflected in the note information, and in the positioning of the note at the top of a note list sorted by most recently updated. This behavior only began today, I'm sure of that. 

I suspect very strongly that when I view these older notes, they are being updated to the new sync structure, and that is causing them to be marked as changed. It shouldn't; I don't remember it doing so last May when the new structure was introduced, and it certainly hasn't been happening since then. It doesn't seem to happen with every such note, but it's possible that the notes with which it doesn't happen have been viewed and updated to the new structure, but not marked as edited, sometime since May. I wonder if anyone else is experiencing this.

[Kayla Gao 17]

I encountered this problem 2 months ago. Now it happens occasionally. It only happens when retrieving notes from online articles.

[Dave-in-Decatur 4,006]

15 hours ago, Maggie85531 said:

I encountered this problem 2 months ago. Now it happens occasionally. It only happens when retrieving notes from online articles.

So you're saying that the notes that get marked as edited merely by viewing them are only ones created by Web Clipper, or at least created from Websites. Unfortunately, there doesn't seem to be any rhyme or reason for me, other than possibly older notes being converted to the new structure.

[PinkElephant 8,772]

Maybe it’s the conversion to the new data structure. At least on my Mac it’s NOT holding a web clip that causes it.

[eric99 1,077]

19 hours ago, Dave-in-Decatur said:

So you're saying that the notes that get marked as edited merely by viewing them are only ones created by Web Clipper, or at least created from Websites. Unfortunately, there doesn't seem to be any rhyme or reason for me, other than possibly older notes being converted to the new structure.

I've also seen this in recent months with notes that had already been converted to the new format

[eric99 1,077]

Release note 10.72.2 says:  Fixes a problem where some notes would incorrectly show as recently updated even after being viewed.

@Federico Simionato     this is NOT solved: I've seen it twice by quickly stepping through the note list  a few times 😞

[B. Clay Miles 29]

I keep seeing references to 10.72.2 as being the 'fix' release for this issue, yet I'm on 10.71.2 on windows, and I can hit 'check for update' until I'm blue in the face and there's no update. Looking at release notes, 10.71.2 is four revs behind. So, add another bug to the piles that already exist: The 'check for update' functionality is broken.

[s2sailor 2,426]

18 minutes ago, B. Clay Miles said:

I keep seeing references to 10.72.2 as being the 'fix' release for this issue, yet I'm on 10.71.2 on windows, and I can hit 'check for update' until I'm blue in the face and there's no update. Looking at release notes, 10.71.2 is four revs behind. So, add another bug to the piles that already exist: The 'check for update' functionality is broken.

Updates are rolled out to everyone over time.  If you would like it sooner, download it from the Evernote website.

[B. Clay Miles 29]

2 hours ago, s2sailor said:

Updates are rolled out to everyone over time.  If you would like it sooner, download it from the Evernote website.

Four revs behind is pretty far beyond the typical curve of a public release rollout. And the 'check for update' should work - regardless.

[s2sailor 2,426]

4 minutes ago, B. Clay Miles said:

And the 'check for update' should work - regardless.

It does.  That is how they manage the rollout.  The work around is to go to the website and download it directly.

[B. Clay Miles 29]

14 minutes ago, s2sailor said:

It does.  That is how they manage the rollout.  The work around is to go to the website and download it directly.

As I wrote in my original comment, I did click the 'check for update' option in Evernote. I shut down and restarted Evernote, then hit check for update. Same lack of update. Rebooted. Same lack of update. So, it is demonstrably broken. Perhaps it was broken only in 10.71.2 and they made no mention of a fix for it. Curiously enough, if you go to the release notes page, and click on same for 10.71.3 and 10.71.4 - they are missing.

[PinkElephant 8,772]

Leave everything as it is (I think you were advised to do so).

Go to the download page on the website, download the installer. Install - you get the latest whatsoever release that is available.

If you installed trough one of the stores, you first need to uninstall that version, and make a fresh install from the website. You can't install the website download over a Store installation.

[s2sailor 2,426]

1 hour ago, B. Clay Miles said:

As I wrote in my original comment, I did click the 'check for update' option in Evernote. I shut down and restarted Evernote, then hit check for update. Same lack of update. Rebooted. Same lack of update.

I understand what you are saying.  What I have noticed in the past that, even when a new version is available on the website, hitting the in app check for update will not always show a new version to be available.  Sometimes it might, sometimes it doesn’t.  This isn’t new behavior.  I understand that you think it should, and maybe so, but since I’ve seen it act like this for quite a while, I think this is how they slow the rollout of new versions. They slowly release the in-app availability.  Also, sometimes they find a problem with a version and remove it from availability. That may explain the missing ones.

[B. Clay Miles 29]

5 hours ago, s2sailor said:

I understand what you are saying.  What I have noticed in the past that, even when a new version is available on the website, hitting the in app check for update will not always show a new version to be available.  Sometimes it might, sometimes it doesn’t.  This isn’t new behavior.  I understand that you think it should, and maybe so, but since I’ve seen it act like this for quite a while, I think this is how they slow the rollout of new versions. They slowly release the in-app availability.  Also, sometimes they find a problem with a version and remove it from availability. That may explain the missing ones.

 

Fair enough I guess. They should have a popup that advises that if you select "check for update" the behavior might not be what it says it's doing."Update xx.xx.x is in production, but your install isn't ready for it. Please check again next {{day|week|month}}".

Rolling releases of production code is...not a good sign, it reflects a lack of confidence in the code they push out.

[PinkElephant 8,772]

Oh, you mean a popup on start like „Use with caution. This release may not be the latest version“ ?

I am pretty sure a lot of software you are using does staged updates. It’s pretty much industry standard, to balance server load for example. You probably just didn’t notice.

[B. Clay Miles 29]

On 1/18/2024 at 9:31 PM, PinkElephant said:

Oh, you mean a popup on start like „Use with caution. This release may not be the latest version“ ?

No, I mean that when you click "Check for update...", instead of the untrue "You're up to date! Evernote 10.71.2 is the newest version available.", it should state "Evernote 10.71.2 is the most recent version available for you. 10.72.2 is the newest version, but being released gradually to all customers".

They take the space to display the release notes, they have the space to be clear about their use of rolling releases.

Quote

I am pretty sure a lot of software you are using does staged updates. It’s pretty much industry standard, to balance server load for example. You probably just didn’t notice.

No, it is not an industry standard by any stretch of the imagination, not how evernote is doing it at least. I worked in the industry for decades, only recently going into semi-retirement. You say you're "pretty sure" about it. Please, provide a few examples. It is definitely not common to include a "Check for update" option within the software that misrepresents the current release version to customers. More common is that the software auto-checks on an interval thats unrelated to the date of actually release, but within a reasonable timeframe, for example, if the application starts each time you reboot, it checks on a daily or weekly basis automatically for releases. Otherwise, when you manually start the application it checks for new release.

If software updates are causing excessive load on the vendor's servers, they need to find better network and server administrators.

Rolling releases are typically for experimental features, and with notice.

[Dave-in-Decatur 4,006]

@B. Clay Miles, it might be useful to report your perspective and suggestion to feedback@evernote.com; they'd be much more likely to see it there.

[eric99 1,077]

The update time issue on the Windows client appears to be resolved since version 10.73.4, EXCEPT when decrypting an encrypted note just for reading, the update time is still adjusted unexpectedly.

[s2sailor 2,426]

On Mac using 10.73.3 this is still not 100% fixed.  I hadn't seen this problem in a while but today I looked at a note with a PDF that hasn't been touched in years and the date updated to today.  I cannot actively recreate this.  It seems to occur intermittently.

[Dave Green 261]

I suspect it relates to whether the page has gone through the RTE transformation or not.

[eric99 1,077]

How difficult can it be, the update time should only be set  when the user changes the note, not when the system touches the note for internal reasons...

A second (internal) update time may be needed for internal purposes such as history, incremental backup (in the future)  etc

[s2sailor 2,426]

1 hour ago, Dave Green said:

I suspect it relates to whether the page has gone through the RTE transformation or not.

I wondered that too but I was unable to recreate the issue on another older note with a PDF.  It still could be related but it is inconsistent.