(Archived) Evernote OSX 3.3.0 Feedback

[GrumpyMonkey 4,319]

I don't know how long we have until the next beta / update, but I thought it would be nice to have a thread that pulls together our feedback on the app.

(1) Synchronization error

- The app is attempting to sync with shared notebooks that do not exist, and it is unable to sync a text file that I dragged into my account. The error occurs every time I try to sync. I had problems with searches and other things a couple of weeks ago, deleted all of the Evernote information from my computer, downloaded the app again, and re-synced everything, but the problem remains. I'll post a link to a shared note with a screen shot as soon as I can.

(2) Shared notebooks

- In general, I like how the improvements are coming along, but I would like to see an easier way to delete them. It is rather difficult to get rid of them, especially if they have not been synced yet. There are several dialog boxes to click through. The preferences are pretty time-consuming as well, especially if you have a few dozen shared notebooks.

[JMichaelTX 4,117]

Great idea, GM.

[GrumpyMonkey 4,319]

Thanks JM. I am sure you have some things to add

Great idea, GM.

[JMichaelTX 4,117]

Here's a major bug:

BUG: EN Mac 3.3.0 inTitle Search Fails

[GrumpyMonkey 4,319]

(3) Shared notebooks cannot be deleted (sorry fo the length of this post)

- This may be related to #1 (phantom notebooks), and is an elaboration of #2 (difficulty in deleting notebooks). In an attempt to get rid of these shared notebooks, I turned off the sync (throwing the error mentioned in #1) and deleted them. However, turning on the sync caused the app to try and download the shared notebooks anyways. So, it looks like I have to download the notebooks in order to stop downloading them... I also tried deleting the notebooks from my Windows machine (a slow process like I mentioned in #2), but the Mac app is apparently not recognizing that they are gone. I would like to delete the notebooks from the Web (presumably, a more direct connection to my account), but this is (as far as I can tell) impossible. So, I am caught in a vicious cycle of sorts, and my inability to use the app in the meantime (I have to turn off sync if I want to do anything, because of beachballs and lag when typing) means that I cannot do much with Evernote right now (several days).

- As mentioned elsewhere, I am also unable to use Evernote on iOS. Both my iPhone and iPad are frozen downloading headers. This has been reported and the Evernote staff are on the case, but I noticed my phantom notebooks in the activity logs there, so I am wondering if all of this may be connected. If so, then I may have also trapped myself in a liminal realm outside the purview of any one PM. Time to contact customer support?

- My suggestion for the OSX team would be for an easier way to shut down the sync on these notebooks (they are all set to manual, but every time I press the sync to sync my notes, I have to sync all of theirs as well). And, ideally, if I delete the notebooks, they ought to be deleted. Admittedly, most people probably do not even have shared notebooks, much less dozens of them with thousands of notes, so I am a corner case now (aren't I always?), but I suspect business accounts will have many notebooks in the future, so this is something worth looking into. As a concrete example of what can happen, back when we first got the Activity Center, someone stopped sharing their notebook of 50 (?) notes and that beachballed my account (reported). What if someone in a business decided to stop sharing 100 or a 1000 notes in a notebook for some reason? It would bring everyone in the office to a standstill. Just a thought.

[EDIT:] As a side note, my 5-hour Mac battery is at 13% after just 2 hours. I've got to sync, but the extended and constant wireless + computer activity is deadly. All ye mighty tech-giants who stumble across this post, feel my tech-pain and tremble in despair! LOL. Time to go find an outlet somewhere... Support Ticket # 16051-145474

[GrumpyMonkey 4,319]

(4) Sync errors with one note

- I am happy to say that the phantom notebooks are no longer appearing in my error list and I appear to have finally finished my initial sync! This is very good news. Now, it is only a single note causing me trouble -- a text file that I dragged into Evernote. My Windows machine syncs fine (no errors), but OSX tells me that "the content is invalid." I will remove the note for now, but I wonder what could be in a plain text file that would bother OSX but not Windows.

- My iPhone app is working again (no more crashes or freezing with the downloading of headers). The iPad app remains unusable (frozen at 8% with downloading of headers). Is it possible that a problem with the syncing of a notebook that is shared with me could affect the behavior of the iOS apps? It seems that way, so this would be one more reason to give us more control over the syncing/deleting. Apparently, this invalid note is not a problem for the iPhone, at least. It is restricted to OSX for the moment.

[EDIT:] Reinstalling the iPad app got it working again. However, in order to get sync working properly, I had to export and delete the "invalid" note.

[GrumpyMonkey 4,319]

(5) Search inconsistencies

I have two accounts, and I have shared a notebook from one in the other. Below are my search results for the following two Japanese and English terms. Shouldn't the results for "府内" and "japan" be exactly the same on every platform? And, within OSX, no matter whether I am searching it in my tab or the shared one, shouldn't it also be the same?

As a Regular Notebook

OSX: "府内" 268 | "japan" 703

Web: "府内" 71 | "japan" 701

As a Shared Notebook

OSX: "府内" 334 | "japan" 701

Web: "府内" 71 | "japan" 701

(6) Account switching

- Sometimes it seems to freeze up during syncing while trying to switch accounts. Resubmitting the request usually fixes the problem.

(7) Double spacing

- Sometimes my notes become double spaced, especially if I have copy/pasted something from the Web (like forum posts). There is no way to fix it short of starting a new note and running everything through a text editor. Neither FormatMatch nor Simplify Formatting in Evernote help. Simplifying the formatting only works on some of the content.

[Jackolicious 808]

Thanks gents.

[GrumpyMonkey 4,319]

Thanks gents.

No problem. Here is another one to mull over during the weekend

(8) Evernote Helper not working properly in full-screen outside of Evernote

- In Safari and Chrome I cannot get screenshots of the entire screen or portions of the screen to work. If the browsers are in regular mode, it works fine.

[GrumpyMonkey 4,319]

(9) Evernote beachballs and freezes when cut/paste large chunks of text

- When you cut/paste a large chunk of text (several thousand lines) the program beachballs, freezes, and you have to force it to quit. It is reproducible with different lengthy notes.

[EDIT:] Actually, this beachballing happens with any change to the entire text (command + a) including centering, left-justification, and so forth. These are not even my longest notes

[GrumpyMonkey 4,319]

(10) Bug with sign-in menu and notebooks

- The last few days I get the sign-in menu and then my account loads up, with the sign-in menu in the background. I close it, and everything works fine, but why is it happening?

- Today was a new addition to the pattern. The left pane would not display my notebooks, and everything in the pane seemed to be shifted upwards, so I guess my notebooks were hidden somewhere under the menu. Full screen didn't fix the problem. I forced it to quit and restarted. The sign-in screen did not appear this time, and the notebooks came back.

[Jackolicious 808]

If you see #10 again, mind sending me logs? Thanks!