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Hi, if anyone can help me understand this, I'd really appreciate it.

Premium gets you "offline syncing". I don't get this. How can you sync if you're not connected. By its very nature that wording is completely wrong.

Given that NO APP can sync when it's offline... if I write a note in Evernote when I'm offline and it syncs to the server when I get a signal again, where is the benefit of offline syncing as a paid feature? Am I missing something?

When they say that the free version has no "offline sync" what exactly do they mean?

Thanks!!

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Offline access means that you can designate notebooks in your Evernote account that should be cached on the device (subject to device memory constraints) that they are available when you are offline. Obviously, no syncing can occur then; you can only use what's cached on the device. A premium account lets you designate notebooks as "offline"; for free accounts, you cannot (the client may cache recent notes anyways, I think -- but it's nothing you can depend on, though).

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Hi, if anyone can help me understand this, I'd really appreciate it.

Premium gets you "offline syncing". I don't get this. How can you sync if you're not connected. By its very nature that wording is completely wrong.

Given that NO APP can sync when it's offline... if I write a note in Evernote when I'm offline and it syncs to the server when I get a signal again, where is the benefit of offline syncing as a paid feature? Am I missing something?

When they say that the free version has no "offline sync" what exactly do they mean?

Thanks!!

Hi. Welcome to the forums!

I think this page is succinct, but explains the Premium features well.

http://evernote.com/premium/

I agree that the term "offline sync" is confusing. As far as I know, the Android client is the only one that uses it. I am not sure if it is still worded that way in the menu, but I will check later on my Android device. Hopefully, they will unify terminology across clients. Thanks for pointing this out.

[EDIT]: I looked in the options on Android and I see that it still uses the term "offline sync". I'll suggest in the forums that they modify the terminology.

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Hi, if anyone can help me understand this, I'd really appreciate it.

Premium gets you "offline syncing". I don't get this. How can you sync if you're not connected. By its very nature that wording is completely wrong.

Given that NO APP can sync when it's offline... if I write a note in Evernote when I'm offline and it syncs to the server when I get a signal again, where is the benefit of offline syncing as a paid feature? Am I missing something?

When they say that the free version has no "offline sync" what exactly do they mean?

Thanks!!

I have one notebook called Talk and Tour. It contains photos and a map that I follow, and want to show others when we are on a walking tour of a historic building, this building is very old and has no wifi within miles. Once I am in the building I just turn on the iPad and open "Talk and Tour" walla, all of my pictures, notes, and a map to follow are at my finger tips, works great.

If I need to make a correction or addition, back at my computer with wifi, I make the additions in Evernote and the correct notebook, and again, walla, the information is synced to my iPad ready for the next time I am at the NO wifi area.

Regards,

David in Wichita

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Ok, so this isn't really a "feature". It's just basic syncing that any note app can do when you press the sync button on the app. The only difference is that when you pay, the app downloads everything from those folders right away. Which, in essence is the same as "sync on open" which, again, isn't really a special feature, it's a sync function being sold as a "premium" feature.

Therefore, again, it's wrong and quite disingenuous to say that you can't have offline notebooks without paying. That implies that if you try to open the free version when you are in airplane mode or are in a place without a signal, that the app simply won't show you anything, which isn't true. Am I wrong?

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Ok, so this isn't really a "feature". It's just basic syncing that any note app can do when you press the sync button on the app. The only difference is that when you pay, the app downloads everything from those folders right away. Which, in essence is the same as "sync on open" which, again, isn't really a special feature, it's a sync function being sold as a "premium" feature.

Therefore, again, it's wrong and quite disingenuous to say that you can't have offline notebooks without paying. That implies that if you try to open the free version when you are in airplane mode or are in a place without a signal, that the app simply won't show you anything, which isn't true. Am I wrong?

Hi. I don't know if you saw the page in the link I posted, but I think it explains the system well. In short, it does not store data on your mobile device. If you want your notes available when you are offline, you need to purchase a premium membership (monthly or yearly). It is not a feature, per se, but the way that the Evernote system is designed.

To address your specific quesitons, you can open the app just fine in airplane mode, but you will only be able to see notes remaining in your cache (this is unpredictable) and "favorited" notes (a star icon that appears on the iPhone). I suppose, if you favorited all of your notes (the star on the iPhone) you could manage to have everything available. But, this won't work on the iPad or on Android.

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Ok, so this isn't really a "feature". It's just basic syncing that any note app can do when you press the sync button on the app. The only difference is that when you pay, the app downloads everything from those folders right away. Which, in essence is the same as "sync on open" which, again, isn't really a special feature, it's a sync function being sold as a "premium" feature.

Therefore, again, it's wrong and quite disingenuous to say that you can't have offline notebooks without paying. That implies that if you try to open the free version when you are in airplane mode or are in a place without a signal, that the app simply won't show you anything, which isn't true. Am I wrong?

As has been pointed out, there is no such thing as offline syncing. The app normally tries to sync on opening (or when you press the sync button) regardless if you have a free account or not & regardless if you have an internet connection or not. Of course, if you have no internet connection, the sync will fail, regardless if your account is free or premium.

You apparently are referring to offline notebooks. I think Jefito & GM have explained offline notebooks pretty clearly as well as the difference between offline notebooks for a premium account vs opening cached notes for a free account. And yes, offline notebooks are a "feature" that requires one to pay for a premium account.

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Ok, so to be clear, this app in its free form isn't meant to be used for writing notes when you don't have a data connection of some kind. And the cache of notes you see in the app in the free version shouldn't be expected to be available indefinitely. If the cache clears on its own, you'd be left without your notes with the free version. Is that right?

So the purpose of the sync function evades me then.

Sorry that I'm not getting this. I don't understand what it is that's NOT available to free users.

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Ok, so to be clear, this app in its free form isn't meant to be used for writing notes when you don't have a data connection of some kind. And the cache of notes you see in the app in the free version shouldn't be expected to be available indefinitely. If the cache clears on its own, you'd be left without your notes with the free version. Is that right?

So the purpose of the sync function evades me then.

Sorry that I'm not getting this. I don't understand what it is that's NOT available to free users.

Although there are MANY features available to free users, there are a couple of handfuls of features NOT available to free users. However, for the sake of this thread, it appears you are only concerned with OFFLINE notebooks. I don't know why you keep focusing on the sync. Sync works the exact same way for free & premium accounts with the exception of:

Hi. I don't know if you saw the page in the link I posted, but I think it explains the system well. In short, it does not store data on your mobile device. If you want your notes available when you are offline, you need to purchase a premium membership (monthly or yearly). It is not a feature, per se, but the way that the Evernote system is designed.

To address your specific quesitons, you can open the app just fine in airplane mode, but you will only be able to see notes remaining in your cache (this is unpredictable) and "favorited" notes (a star icon that appears on the iPhone). I suppose, if you favorited all of your notes (the star on the iPhone) you could manage to have everything available. But, this won't work on the iPad or on Android.

(Did you read GM's link?)

To reiterate:

As has been pointed out, there is no such thing as offline syncing. The app normally tries to sync on opening (or when you press the sync button) regardless if you have a free account or not & regardless if you have an internet connection or not. Of course, if you have no internet connection, the sync will fail, regardless if your account is free or premium.

I honestly don't know how to make it any clearer. Perhaps Jeff or GM will be better able to explain. I think you should focus away from the word 'sync' (b/c basically, sync'ing functions the same regardless if your account is free or premium & regardless if you have an internet connection or not - no internet connection - no sync) & instead focus on the way a premium vs free account differs when you don't have internet access.

Also, I would suggest you play with the app as it really doesn't sound like you've done that extensively. This includes comparing the way the app functions when you do & when you don't have an internet connection.

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One more shot...

When you sync a mobile device, only the header information is sync'd to your mobile device. When you pull up a note, the details of that note are downloaded from the EN servers. If you do not have an internet connection, that means you will not be able to pull the details of that note.

UNLESS... you are using an iPhone and previously called up that note, while you had an internet connection & favorited it (which stores the note information locally on your mobile device.) OR...OCCASIONALLY, if the details of that note exist in the mobile device's cache. Favorites exist only on iPhone. Not iPad/Android/etc.

OFFLINE NOTEBOOKS are available to premium users. When a premium user syncs their mobile device & have specified offline notebooks, not only the note header info is downloaded but the note details as well. This way, those notes can be accessed when the user does not have an internet connection.

That's the best I can do...

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Ok, so to be clear, this app in its free form isn't meant to be used for writing notes when you don't have a data connection of some kind. And the cache of notes you see in the app in the free version shouldn't be expected to be available indefinitely. If the cache clears on its own, you'd be left without your notes with the free version. Is that right?

So the purpose of the sync function evades me then.

Sorry that I'm not getting this. I don't understand what it is that's NOT available to free users.

Hi. I think BNF covered everything really well. I also think the Evernote link I posted is helpful. How about this:

(1) You make a note on your phone.

(2) Your phone sends information to the Evernote servers (syncs).

(3) When you get home and turn on your computer, your desktop connects with the Evernote servers and finds any changes (syncs).

(4) And, of course, if you make or edit a note on your desktop, it will be sent up to the servers just as your phone did in steps one and two.

The difference between mobile and desktop? Your desktop saves a copy of everything on its drive (Windows or Apple). This is important, because it means your data is yours, and it is not just stored on Evernote's servers. By default, your mobile device does not save all your data. Unless, of course, you have no connection, in which case it will wait until it regains connection, when it will sync and send the notes on to the servers (steps 1 and 2), clearing the cache in the process.

In general (with the exception of favorites on the iPhone -- see my post above), if you want to view and edit existing notes while not connected to the Internet with a mobile device, you need to be a Premium member AND designate notebooks to be offline (on the Android platform, this is called "offline sync" -- I assume you are using an Android phone, because I believe this is the only place where the terminology is used).

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"I assume you are using an Android phone, because I believe this is the only place where the terminology is used"

- This is why I was confused when BNF said "there is no such thing as offline syncing" because there absolutely is.

"if you want to view and edit existing notes while not connected to the Internet with a mobile device, you need to be a Premium member AND designate notebooks to be offline"

- I'll try to be more clear. On my app, that isn't true. I can open, read, and edit ALL my notes that I've synced no matter what. This is another reason why I'm confused about what Premium offers.

It's fine, let's just drop it. People are clearly getting irritated and I'm obviously just not going to get an answer for the two things I just mentioned. Plus, this is the last post I can make today because of the restrictions on the forum.

Thank you all.

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(on the Android platform, this is called "offline sync" -- I assume you are using an Android phone, because I believe this is the only place where the terminology is used).

Ah.... ;)

I would have to agree that is a misnomer/misleading...

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"I assume you are using an Android phone, because I believe this is the only place where the terminology is used"

- This is why I was confused when BNF said "there is no such thing as offline syncing" because there absolutely is.

"if you want to view and edit existing notes while not connected to the Internet with a mobile device, you need to be a Premium member AND designate notebooks to be offline"

- I'll try to be more clear. On my app, that isn't true. I can open, read, and edit ALL my notes that I've synced no matter what. This is another reason why I'm confused about what Premium offers.

It's fine, let's just drop it. People are clearly getting irritated and I'm obviously just not going to get an answer for the two things I just mentioned. Plus, this is the last post I can make today because of the restrictions on the forum.

Thank you all.

Sorry we couldn't explain it better. On Android, if you put it in airplane mode and try to open a note that isn't in your cache (say, a note from yesterday), you'll probably see the header (mentioned earlier by BNF), but not the content. You should not be able to see the content unless you upgrade and put it into a notebook you have designated as offline.

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And of course the risk is that the OS can clear the cache at any time and your notes won't be available....

The OP and I have talked through this by PM. I think the issue is that he is being told by Evernote and us that he cannot see his notes offline, and if he wants to, he needs to upgrade and put the notes in an offline notebook (actually, the Android terminology is more confusing than that, but the OP gets it). The problem is that the OP continues to see all of his notes, offline or not, so he understandably doesn't see the point in upgrading. Actually, I think the OP is looking for a free app available offline, and is wondering why Evernote is working when it says that it won't.

Anyhow, does anyone know how this works on Android? I'm using Android, I'm a Premium member, and most notes I have that are not in the offline notebook are inaccessible to me :)

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GM, you probably have too many notes, that's all. :)

At a guess, the Evernote client on Android will cache notes (headers and bodies) regardless of whether they're in an offline notebook or a normal notebook, if you've viewed them recently (probably more likely the fewer notes that you have). There's no guarantee that they won't be removed from the cache at any time, but if there's no pressure on the memory system, then there's no need to remove them either.

So just because you have notes in a normal notebook cached doesn't mean that they will be automatically removed when you go offline. If the cache memory isn't needed for something else, why flush it?

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Thanks Jefito. So, I think you are saying that my external brain is too large to have all the stuff I want cached :) If I have a small account, I can cache everything, and don't have to worry about upgrading. However, one never knows when a cache will be cleared, especially in low memory situations, so it isn't something you can necessarily rely upon.

Does that sound right?

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Thanks Jefito. So, I think you are saying that my external brain is too large to have all the stuff I want cached :) If I have a small account, I can cache everything, and don't have to worry about upgrading. However, one never knows when a cache will be cleared, especially in low memory situations, so it isn't something you can necessarily rely upon.

Does that sound right?

That's the way Dave Engberg explained it a while ago - similar to the way a cache works with your browser. Since I don't know about the inner workings of iOS, I don't know if that's restricted to EN's cache. IOW, If your EN notes are all cached b/c you only have five, and you take too many photos or videos & start running low on storage for them, I suspect EN's cache may well be cleared, even when you're not using EN. IOW part 2, I don't know that EN's cache is sacred/restricted to EN. But I kind of think it's not - so if your iOS needs more space & EN isn't running, iOS may elect to clear the notes for the EN cache. So the next time you go into EN, no cached notes, unless they were "favorited". (Hope that makes sense.)

But in another thread, it appears people are having problems with OFFLINE NOTEBOOKS being cleared out if/when they run low on space. So if that's true, (and I don't know that it is) then even favoriting a note won't do anything for you, if you start running low on space.

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Yeah, something like that, at least it seems so, having only used the Android client a small amount compared to the windows client, and not knowing any actual tech details about the Android application memory usage policies. If someone who really knows corrects me on this, I wouldn't be offended. :)

I do vaguely remember someone reporting that offline notebooks were not always available as they should be, but can't recall the details, or whether it was on Android or iOS, or how it was resolved. I'll try to search for that later on.

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I think you might be meaning my recent problems with storage space - my offline notebook holds most of my notes (seemed sensible at the time) but recently filled the available storage space on my external SD card and Evernote was unable to save or sync notes, therefore pretty much stopped working altogether. My workaround was to sacrifice a 300MB data file I no longer used (much), which I thought would leave me good for a few more hundred notes - but that only brought me a day or two.

I had to un-offline the notebook, which freed up 7GB or so of space when the cache sorted itself out. Now I find I can't use the search or open notes when offline, even if I previously used the note on wifi earlier. It's undoubtedly better to have an offline notebook for full access to data, but there does seem to be a lower limit on total notes if you do so - depending on the size of your storage.

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I think you might be meaning my recent problems with storage space - my offline notebook holds most of my notes (seemed sensible at the time) but recently filled the available storage space on my external SD card and Evernote was unable to save or sync notes, therefore pretty much stopped working altogether. My workaround was to sacrifice a 300MB data file I no longer used (much), which I thought would leave me good for a few more hundred notes - but that only brought me a day or two.

I had to un-offline the notebook, which freed up 7GB or so of space when the cache sorted itself out. Now I find I can't use the search or open notes when offline, even if I previously used the note on wifi earlier. It's undoubtedly better to have an offline notebook for full access to data, but there does seem to be a lower limit on total notes if you do so - depending on the size of your storage.

That was really helpful. Thanks. I will have to experiment more.

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If, in the course of your experiments, you find out how to get an Android to treat the external SD card in the same way as internal storage, please let me know. I was inaccurate in my comment above in that it was the internal storage that filled up; I have 14GB of free space on the external card which I can't seem to get either the Android (ICS) or Evernote to talk to! :unsure:

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If, in the course of your experiments, you find out how to get an Android to treat the external SD card in the same way as internal storage, please let me know. I was inaccurate in my comment above in that it was the internal storage that filled up; I have 14GB of free space on the external card which I can't seem to get either the Android (ICS) or Evernote to talk to! :unsure:

I was planning to experiment on my Nexus 7, which doesn't have an SD card. I was going to fill it up and see what happens. I have an Android phone as well, so when I get around to experimenting there, I'll let you know. I have to admit, it may take me a while! My main stuff tends to be done on the iPad and iPhone.

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I believe this is at least somewhat related to this thread:

I've been using Evernote for about a year and I used to be able to view all of my notes offline on my tablet, create new ones and edit. Now when I try to view notes some are visible but many of my newer notes say I cannot view them offline. I don't always have a connection, so does anyone know why this change occurred or how to fix it? I'm not using premium and I use Android phone and tablet.

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If you are offline, then you will probably not be able to (but apparently, in some situations can) view notes that are in normal (that is, not designated as "offline") notebooks. If you are not a premium Evernote user, then you cannot designate notebooks as offline. This jibes with what we've been talking about -- there is nothing to fix; it's how Evernote is designed to work. If you want to ensure (again, apparently within certain limits) that you can view notes while you are offline, you can only do so by being a premium user, and designating notebooks as offline.

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But in another thread, it appears people are having problems with OFFLINE NOTEBOOKS being cleared out if/when they run low on space. So if that's true, (and I don't know that it is) then even favoriting a note won't do anything for you, if you start running low on space.

The thread I was referring to is this one. And since I've never encountered this myself, eventhough at one point, my iPhone space was pretty much used up, and since no one from EN has commented in that thread, I can't even say for sure that this is what is actually happening... But I figured I'd throw it into the mix. :P

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If you are offline, then you will probably not be able to (but apparently, in some situations can) view notes that are in normal (that is, not designated as "offline") notebooks. If you are not a premium Evernote user, then you cannot designate notebooks as offline. This jibes with what we've been talking about -- there is nothing to fix; it's how Evernote is designed to work. If you want to ensure (again, apparently within certain limits) that you can view notes while you are offline, you can only do so by being a premium user, and designating notebooks as offline.

And before this devolves into the "offline notebooks should be free" thing, here's Dave Engberg's (CTO of Evernote) stance on the subject:

http://discussion.ev...ong/#entry65258

I will reiterate from that post (emphasis mine):

Adding full offline synchronization to low-powered mobile phones takes many months of engineering to build and tune, so we've put that into the "pay" bucket instead of other options (e.g. charge everyone for the Android client).

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The thread I was referring to is this one..

Well double-darn my socks, yet another thread I missed - although I do tend to skip over the iOS stuff owing to a complete lack of expertise which could otherwise lead to my publicly stuffing my socked foot into my mouth more often than I already do. Thanks BnF for the link. Looks like there are some limitations on all mobile offline access - how serious depending on the size of your database and your local memory. And whether you're looking to access your notes for meetings and such.

P'raps the dev chappies in both OS camps could have a bit more of a look at this given the general move towards mobile use*.

* Almost-pun intended..

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  • 5 months later...

The thing is, Every App today does this *****.

1) yes its free and usable,

2) offline sync is a "lure" because you cannot sync and review it when wi-fi is switched off anywayz.

3) So what is the point of Evernote being an App, when it is internet based?

[MODERATED]

Please keep politics out of it.

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The thing is, Every App today does this *****.

1) yes its free and usable,

2) offline sync is a "lure" because you cannot sync and review it when wi-fi is switched off anywayz.

3) So what is the point of Evernote being an App, when it is internet based?

Amerika is going to Hell. <_<

In spite of your initial post sounding very trollish, I'll reply...

First, there's no such thing as "offline sync".

Second, yes, if you have a premium account, you can sync all/some of your notebooks for offline access.

Third, access to notes on mobile devices via a premium account & offline notebooks has already been discussed at great length. Please use the search function if you're truly interested in more information, which I rather doubt.

Oh, and no, not "every app today" does what evernote does.

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Another thing-

1) i've just messed with it, figured a way around it.

2) the only way to review it without PREMIUM and while offline is....

3) sync with wifi, Edit the Evernote on your device anyway, (like maybe put a "WORD" inside the note) then delete the "WORD" and save it again.

Now turn your wi-fi off, and reveiw the note!

Stupid huh?

Basically , after you sync, Edit the Note on your device- just so your device saves what you've done on the Computer or whatever your syncing together. then Save.

[MODERATED]

Please do not use offensive language on the forums.

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The thing is, Every App today does this *****.

1) yes its free and usable,

2) offline sync is a "lure" because you cannot sync and review it when wi-fi is switched off anywayz.

3) So what is the point of Evernote being an App, when it is internet based?

Amerika is going to Hell. <_<

In spite of your initial post sounding very trollish, I'll reply...

First, there's no such thing as "offline sync".

Second, yes, if you have a premium account, you can sync all/some of your notebooks for offline access.

Third, access to notes on mobile devices via a premium account & offline notebooks has already been discussed at great length. Please use the search function if you're truly interested in more information, which I rather doubt.

Oh, and no, not "every app today" does what evernote does.

lolz, Esau, why dont you go eat some "burger n fries", because these people actually need some useful advice. and burgerz is not itt honey bun!.

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The thing is, Every App today does this *****.

1) yes its free and usable,

2) offline sync is a "lure" because you cannot sync and review it when wi-fi is switched off anywayz.

3) So what is the point of Evernote being an App, when it is internet based?

Amerika is going to Hell. <_<

In spite of your initial post sounding very trollish, I'll reply...

First, there's no such thing as "offline sync".

Second, yes, if you have a premium account, you can sync all/some of your notebooks for offline access.

Third, access to notes on mobile devices via a premium account & offline notebooks has already been discussed at great length. Please use the search function if you're truly interested in more information, which I rather doubt.

Oh, and no, not "every app today" does what evernote does.

lolz, Esau, why dont you go eat some "burger n fries", because these people actually need some useful advice. and burgerz is not itt honey bun!.

Hi. If you have something substantive to say, then please feel free to contribute to the thread, but otherwise it is starting to sound like trolling. In addition, as I have mentioned in your previous posts, please do not get into politics or use offensive language. Yes, I can see that these are colloquial expressions, and I think I understand the spirit in which your comments were made, but as this is a public forum, we'd like to keep the conversation civil.

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Another thing-

1) i've just messed with it, figured a way around it.

2) the only way to review it without PREMIUM and while offline is....

3) sync with wifi, Edit the Evernote on your device anyway, (like maybe put a "WORD" inside the note) then delete the "WORD" and save it again.

Now turn your wi-fi off, and reveiw the note!

Stupid huh?

Basically , after you sync, Edit the Note on your device- just so your device saves what you've done on the Computer or whatever your syncing together. then Save.

[MODERATED]

Please do not use offensive language on the forums.

This is not recommended, you are only saving to the cache which the app or the OS can clear out at any time.

To depend on this would be erm.....stupid.

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Another thing-

1) i've just messed with it, figured a way around it.

2) the only way to review it without PREMIUM and while offline is....

3) sync with wifi, Edit the Evernote on your device anyway, (like maybe put a "WORD" inside the note) then delete the "WORD" and save it again.

Now turn your wi-fi off, and reveiw the note!

Stupid huh?

Basically , after you sync, Edit the Note on your device- just so your device saves what you've done on the Computer or whatever your syncing together. then Save.

[MODERATED]

Please do not use offensive language on the forums.

This is not recommended, you are only saving to the cache which the app or the OS can clear out at any time.

To depend on this would be erm.....stupid.

Yup. As the saying goes, "It works until it doesn't."

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  • 1 month later...

I think this is a good place for me to ask my question. I dont like the idea of having topay $45 forever to get my notes. But I think on this thread you are saying that even if I am not premium:

 

  • I have access to ALL my notes on a windows or MAC pc, even those created on iPad of phone, forever.
  • I have access to ALL my notes on my phone (created on the phone, ipad and desktop as its obviously almost always connected)
  • I have access to ALL my notes on my ipad when its connected (?)

A few years ago, I was concerned that I could not get my notes on iPad without a premium account. Now, with a larger phone, and tethering, I can get the notes reasonably well on the phone, and be connected almost anytime (an airplane is really the only place that would be an issue) so that this is no longer a barrier to using non-premium Evernote.

 

I could solve some of the problem by only taking notes on the iPad as well - therefore they would be available on the iPad, though this would make me take all my notes with a limited keyboard.

 

I use OneNote - you pay $20 once and you have it for life..But the Android client is lacking and the iPad client usable.

 

There isnt a OneNote notebook upload tool, is there?

 

Steve

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I think this is a good place for me to ask my question. I dont like the idea of having topay $45 forever to get my notes. But I think on this thread you are saying that even if I am not premium:

 

  • I have access to ALL my notes on a windows or MAC pc, even those created on iPad of phone, forever.
  • I have access to ALL my notes on my phone (created on the phone, ipad and desktop as its obviously almost always connected)
  • I have access to ALL my notes on my ipad when its connected (?)

A few years ago, I was concerned that I could not get my notes on iPad without a premium account. Now, with a larger phone, and tethering, I can get the notes reasonably well on the phone, and be connected almost anytime (an airplane is really the only place that would be an issue) so that this is no longer a barrier to using non-premium Evernote.

 

I could solve some of the problem by only taking notes on the iPad as well - therefore they would be available on the iPad, though this would make me take all my notes with a limited keyboard.

 

I use OneNote - you pay $20 once and you have it for life..But the Android client is lacking and the iPad client usable.

 

There isnt a OneNote notebook upload tool, is there?

 

Steve

 

Hi - if your concerns are about access to your notes,  then you will have gathered from comments so far that whatever you can input to Evernote will always be available to you.  If you have access via your own desktop,  you'll have a local copy of the database;  and the smart money around here also says - back up that database yourself on a regular basis,  just in case.  Premium membership gets you higher limits and better priority with OCR scans and support requests,  and offline access (subject to storage space) on mobile clients - but it's not absolutely necessary for basic note taking.

 

If you decide to leave Evernote,  there's various export options for notes so you should be able to secure everything you saved.

 

If you want to import from Onenote,  you'd have to look at its export options - if you can get your notes out as single files,  have a look for more on Evernotes 'Import Folders' - if you drag and drop your ex-Onenote files into an import folder,  they'll be set up as notes with the filename as the title.

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When I moved over from OneNote, I seem to recall it was a straightforward case of importing the saved OneNote database. Everything turned up as a separate Note in the same way I had created it.

 

The only problem which in the end did not cause me any headache was Evernote would import hand written Notes which came in as uneditable. In fact if there was any form of drawing on a OneNote Note, it became uneditable, but it is still searchable. As I have no need to change old Notes, but most certainly do need to search them, this was not a problem for me. Importing several years of Notes became a fairly straightforward task.

 

Best regards

 

Chris

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  • 1 year later...

I realise this is an old topic, but I just wanted to contribute with some additional info based on my experience:

The OP (tinpanalley) was completely right to ask what is it that Premium offers in terms of off-line access to notes that cannot be achieved with Free account.

A couple of notes:
- Like other users, for me too all my notes are available off-line without a Premium account. If this changes and I notice notes (e.g. older notes) not accessible, I will post an update here.
- Referring to the way notes are stored on a mobile device (with a Free account) as 'Cache' is a bit misleading. (In fact try clearing Evernote's cache in Android, while off-line, and see how when you start your app (still off-line) the notes are still available).
- Operating systems (Android, iOS) don't automatically delete an app's 'Cache' when storage space gets low. (They might kill an app when running memory (RAM) gets low, but this has nothing to do with the topic)
- Whatever way the notes are saved by on mobile with a Free account, a Premium account cannot solve small storage space or other hardware limitations.

My guesses:
In situations where a user has a Free Evernote account, and when there are notes available off-line:

- EITHER the availability of these notes is somehow not guaranteed (as many here have suggested). In this case this limitation wouldn't be related to hardware/low memory issues, but just an artificial limitation to force people to get Premium.
- OR all notes are available off-line always (my experience so far), in which case the 'Off-line notes' feature is just a marketing gimmick to make Premium more appealing.

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In situations where a user has a Free Evernote account, and when there are notes available off-line:

- EITHER the availability of these notes is somehow not guaranteed (as many here have suggested). In this case this limitation wouldn't be related to hardware/low memory issues, but just an artificial limitation to force people to get Premium.

- OR all notes are available off-line always (my experience so far), in which case the 'Off-line notes' feature is just a marketing gimmick to make Premium more appealing.

In free accounts, notes may be saved in the cache for some period of time. They are not guaranteed to be there, however. That's not a suggestion; it's an actual fact. The cache is kept small, as I understand it not to free up RAM but to keep from using up storage space (usually at a premium on mobile devices). If you elect to subscribe to Premium, you have to explicitly desiignate notebooks for offline storage. Offline storage is not automatic. Given the size of many Evernote databases, it would be impossible to attempt to keep the whole thing on most mobile devices.

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  • Level 5*

Meg is correct. It would be of interest to try to get further info on Evernote's cache policies for the various mobile devices, but they are indeed caches. It's not only a storage thing, but probably also a sync time thing. Some folks have 10's of thousands of notes in their account, not to mention access to shared notebooks.

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I realise this is an old topic, but I just wanted to contribute with some additional info based on my experience:

The OP (tinpanalley) was completely right to ask what is it that Premium offers in terms of off-line access to notes that cannot be achieved with Free account.

A couple of notes:

- Like other users, for me too all my notes are available off-line without a Premium account. If this changes and I notice notes (e.g. older notes) not accessible, I will post an update here.

- Referring to the way notes are stored on a mobile device (with a Free account) as 'Cache' is a bit misleading. (In fact try clearing Evernote's cache in Android, while off-line, and see how when you start your app (still off-line) the notes are still available).

- Operating systems (Android, iOS) don't automatically delete an app's 'Cache' when storage space gets low. (They might kill an app when running memory (RAM) gets low, but this has nothing to do with the topic)

- Whatever way the notes are saved by on mobile with a Free account, a Premium account cannot solve small storage space or other hardware limitations.

My guesses:

In situations where a user has a Free Evernote account, and when there are notes available off-line:

- EITHER the availability of these notes is somehow not guaranteed (as many here have suggested). In this case this limitation wouldn't be related to hardware/low memory issues, but just an artificial limitation to force people to get Premium.

- OR all notes are available off-line always (my experience so far), in which case the 'Off-line notes' feature is just a marketing gimmick to make Premium more appealing.

As much as you seem to want to think it's an urban legend or gimmick, it is not.

https://discussion.evernote.com/topic/39907-used-to-have-offline-access-to-notes-without-premium/

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  • 7 months later...

Hello all, I am suffering an "offline" problem where it is not offline at all. Maybe someone has some ideas for me???

 

Basically, I am unable to initiate a share to other EN users. Nothing uploads from either of my 2 computer EN UIs when it comes to sharing a notebook. The WorkChat box initiates when I attempt to share a notebook with others, but it never goes out to them. Adding a new message in that Workchat likewise doesn't transmit. I tested by logging into my EN account through the web interface, and this works.

 

Other EN users can initiate a share to me, and it comes in no problem (Workchat & email notifications). I can update/edit their shared notebook, and the sync process goes back and forth without issue. The activity drop down even recognizes and lists updates as necessary. My initiated shares are not listed or recognized at all in the activity log.

 

When I dig deeper, other ways to initiate a share through the notebook settings, a popup window comes up telling me there is no internet connection. However, I can edit a note across either of my two computer UIs or iOS app, and the changes sync instantly. It is not firewall as I have not been able to initiate shares over the past couple months I've used EN on different networks and now, the other EN user I test with, is on the same home network with the same free version of EN I have installed on my computers. All are up to date.

 

This problem will be the decider if I purchase the premium version or not. Windows 7 Home Premium on my two computers, iOS 8 on my iPhone. Other users I test with are Windows OS based.

 

Any help on what may be causing EN in my account only to be "offline" would be appreciated.

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  • Level 5*

Hello all, I am suffering an "offline" problem where it is not offline at all. Maybe someone has some ideas for me???

 

Basically, I am unable to initiate a share to other EN users. Nothing uploads from either of my 2 computer EN UIs when it comes to sharing a notebook. The WorkChat box initiates when I attempt to share a notebook with others, but it never goes out to them. Adding a new message in that Workchat likewise doesn't transmit. I tested by logging into my EN account through the web interface, and this works.

 

Other EN users can initiate a share to me, and it comes in no problem (Workchat & email notifications). I can update/edit their shared notebook, and the sync process goes back and forth without issue. The activity drop down even recognizes and lists updates as necessary. My initiated shares are not listed or recognized at all in the activity log.

 

When I dig deeper, other ways to initiate a share through the notebook settings, a popup window comes up telling me there is no internet connection. However, I can edit a note across either of my two computer UIs or iOS app, and the changes sync instantly. It is not firewall as I have not been able to initiate shares over the past couple months I've used EN on different networks and now, the other EN user I test with, is on the same home network with the same free version of EN I have installed on my computers. All are up to date.

 

This problem will be the decider if I purchase the premium version or not. Windows 7 Home Premium on my two computers, iOS 8 on my iPhone. Other users I test with are Windows OS based.

 

Any help on what may be causing EN in my account only to be "offline" would be appreciated.

 

So can your various devices all sync notes normally?  Is it just Work Chat that refuses to work?

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That is correct Gazumped, multiple devices sync no problem. Reinstalled EN today, restarted computer, still does not work. Tried sending to an entirely different user than before, nothing.

 

I've not heard back from a "bug report" ticket I sent over the weekend. I've upgraded to Premium, so I will be online with EN tomorrow.

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  • Level 5*

I also suggested in another thread - try sending the share invite to yourself as well as others,  and forward that invitation from your own email address - see if that gets through at least...

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