(Archived) What is wrong with Evernote?

[Guest mrossk]

I am an Evernote user since the middle of 2010 and have spent much time to migrate all my information to this product in the last years. But now I see that this was a big mistake.

• Many bugs will never be fixed even they are described in detail by the community. They seem to be forgotten for Evernote but they still exist, even after years! And no, I make no further example because there are enough of them in the forums.
• The product is getting even more bugs over the time. Every update has NEW problems.
• There is not one single version that really works without bugs
• On android you have to re-install and sync the database nearly after every update to keep it running (over the time I have had enough phones and tablets to see that this are really problems of Evernote and not of the hardware)
• Shared notes are making advertising even for paying users
• Now I see that shared notes are even showing a big advertising-popup to create an evernote-account every time my customers open it. What the f*ck. Sorry, but this is the next thing that I really can't believe because it destroys my workflow a step further.
• The UI downgrade on Windows Desktop makes it still difficult to read and use. And no, stepping back to version 4 is not a solution, it would only be a further workaround.

What makes me so angry: In 2010 I tested Evernote over a time of 6 months and had been sure that the product keeps serious because Evernote has promised this by the slogan "100 year company" so I have spent much time to migrate all things to Evernote in the last years. Now I see that I have to do all the work again to migrate away from Evernote.

 

---------------------

 

You can compare Evernote like this example with a car:

 

Evernote: Hey, our car has now air conditioning.

Customers: Wow

 

6 weeks later: Evernote: Hey, our car has now comfortable leather seats

Customers: Wow

 

6 weeks later: Evernote: Hey, our car has now automatic drive

Customers: Wow

 

6 weeks later: Evernote: Hey, our car has now a motor that is 20% stronger

Customers: Wow

 

... and so on

 

2 years later: Customer asks: When does your car get wheels so we can start driving with it????

 

---------------------

 

 

Sorry to say all this but the development of this product is really frustrating because I have relied on it.

 

Marcel.

[jbenson2 2,149]

Marcel, the large history accumulation is an interesting find. I'd like to hear some insight from Evernote on this issue.

 

Grumpy, these solutions might work for customers with a more profound technical knowledge of data security, but with 60+ million users, the problem has to be addressed with simpler solutions. Regardless of the actual problem, the typical current solution seems to be a full uninstall and re-install.

 

Prior to doing a time-consuming full rebuild that might or might not solve the problem, I'd like to see an Evernote-approved diagnostic tool that would search the database for the old code and formatting issues you mentioned - something that could run in the background or at night while the user is sleeping. Plus a built-in compression feature would be a nice addition.

 

Or a tool that identifies notes with the largest history.

[Gangun 29]

 

I primary mean the bugs. The design decisions are not so important for me but an unhappy addition.

 

The popups started 2011? I think the popups must have been added in the last few weeks. I have never seen them before. Maybe we are talking about different things. I mean this ones that appear now every time when you open a shared note in the browser:

http://www.evernote.com/shard/s31/sh/f5a08427-551d-4b3a-be2c-6ed4f661547d/f30794f50b1fd58e587fbabea1187a4c

 

Now I have to explain every person that it is not necessary to make an evernote-account only to see the note but he/she has to click on the link "Überspringen". It is annoying to give this explanation to everyone only to show a single note.

 

 

At least it's shown in your language: I'm italian and it appears in English.

 

Maybe the Business version has not the popup; who knows?

 

Edited 28/12/2013:  my bad; my browser was set with "English" as preferred language; changing the default language, the popup pops-up in Italian. 

[ScottLougheed 1,316]

I wonder if anyone has ever done an analysis to determine if these problems are platform specific. In other words, do Mac users generally have fewer issues then Windows users?

I am sure that Evernote, as would any good company, has diagnostic and support data that could give this information.

I really doubt that there is any platform that chronically experiences more issues than another. Certainly the types of issues plaguing a Mac will be different from those plaguing windows, and different from those on android.

There may be periods where one platform is more problematic than another, for example such as right after a major version bump, but that is relatively normal.

[rextilleon 10]

I wonder if anyone has ever done an analysis to determine if these problems are platform specific.  In other words, do Mac users generally have fewer issues then Windows users? 

[amer 19]

Sorry to say all this but the development of this product is really frustrating because I have relied on it.

 

Marcel.

 

 

 

Yes, it seems that Evernote is loosing and/or changing its focus. Bugs reported in the forums do not get fixed for months. Just start typing in the search box and pick an offered tag suggestion for example. Another example is a still completely useless client on Windows RT. 

 

I love Evernote, but when a major function (i.e. search) on one client does not work properly and another client (i.e. Windows RT) does not work at all I can hardly perceive it as a premium product worth paying for, hence I have cancelled my premium account.

[GrumpyMonkey 4,320]

@GrumpyMonkey

 

I have just finished a long fight during the last weeks because of the evernote-problems that have cost me about 30 hours all together and many nerves. And this is your comment to this? Really?? This makes me completely angry! 

 

You could not know how much work I have had because of  this so I can understand your comment a little.

 

Sorry to have angered you. I did not mean to minimize your personal anguish, but rather to contextualize things by pointing out that most formatting issues are minor ones most users will either not encounter or not notice them if they do. It's important to try and put things in perspective.

Small glitches, as Scott said, can cause big problems. I have been hit by a few myself, and if you read my posts in the forums you'll find plenty of my personal anguish stories as well. I try not to extrapolate from my anecdotes and characterize my experiences as problems with the entire service.

Evernote isn't perfect, but the app is improving, and most importantly, it has great potential. The more specific we can make our criticims and the more detail we give about our workflows the better able the developers will be to improve the experience.

Thanks for posting your experiences.

[ScottLougheed 1,316]

@GrumpyMonkey

 

I have just finished a long fight during the last weeks because of the evernote-problems that have cost me about 30 hours all together and many nerves. And this is your comment to this? Really?? This makes me completely angry! 

 

The formatting was NOT visibly wrong! and also the bullet lists were NOT visibly wrong. After entering the notes on android the notes were often completely destroyed. One endless big line of thousands of words without spaces between them (I have a forum entry for this reproducable bug and evernote told me that they are looking into this). This has caused me data loss several times a few hours until the last correct version in the history. So don't say that it was only a small glitch! I have not decided to make the huge work and migrate away my whole database to another system because of a "stray bit of formatting" as you say. You can believe me this.

 

You could not know how much work I have had because of  this so I can understand your comment a little.

 

Marcel.

It's amazing how big of an impact a small glitch can make eh?

[Guest mrossk]

@GrumpyMonkey

 

I have just finished a long fight during the last weeks because of the evernote-problems that have cost me about 30 hours all together and many nerves. And this is your comment to this? Really?? This makes me completely angry! 

 

The formatting was NOT visibly wrong! and also the bullet lists were NOT visibly wrong. After entering the notes on android the notes were often completely destroyed. One endless big line of thousands of words without spaces between them (I have a forum entry for this reproducable bug and evernote told me that they are looking into this). This has caused me data loss several times a few hours until the last correct version in the history. So don't say that it was only a small glitch! I have not decided to make the huge work and migrate away my whole database to another system because of a "stray bit of formatting" as you say. You can believe me this.

 

You could not know how much work I have had because of  this so I can understand your comment a little.

 

Marcel.

[GrumpyMonkey 4,320]

 

I don't understand. The history has nothing at all to do with the display of your notes. You can edit your notes a billion times and it won't make a difference as far as the history is concerned.

 

Maybe I don't understand the history option. It is something I have never needed or even used.

If I edit my note a billion times, I don't want a billion copies of history.

It seems to be overkill, in my opinion. Perhaps the 5 or 10 most recent copies max.

 

 

In the meantime, I am doing something I think requires very little technical skill: plain text

 

You're kind of special. I doubt the typical user will resort to this technique.

If all my information was only text, I would not use Evernote.

 

 

1. I'm not sure how much history you end up having, because I've emptied out my account so many times over the years (long story that you already know). I'd say the more the better, though, and it is something other companies offer, so Evernote ought to keep it around. Personally, as I have fallen too often into the 8 hour gap between histories, I prefer to rely on Time Machine or some other backup of my own like that. I have had to use the history feature in the past, and it can be quite handy.

 

2. I am atypical, it is true. And, as you may know, I have been mirroring my notes in plain text apps for a while. Actually, you don't need to be restricted to just text anymore, so it is a viable option, even if it is (admittedly) more of a hassle than Evernote, and is missing stuff that some people couldn't do without, like multiple notebooks. It probably isn't for everyone, but it is a note-taking method that I am quite pleased to have.

http://www.christopher-mayo.com/?p=839

[jbenson2 2,149]

I don't understand. The history has nothing at all to do with the display of your notes. You can edit your notes a billion times and it won't make a difference as far as the history is concerned.

 

Maybe I don't understand the history option. It is something I have never needed or even used.

If I edit my note a billion times, I don't want a billion copies of history.

It seems to be overkill, in my opinion. Perhaps the 5 or 10 most recent copies max.

 

 

In the meantime, I am doing something I think requires very little technical skill: plain text

 

You're kind of special. I doubt the typical user will resort to this technique.

If all my information was only text, I would not use Evernote.

[GrumpyMonkey 4,320]

I just started using Evernote in November of 2013, so my perspective is that of a person who hasn't been part of the history of this product. I should also say that I am from the Apple world.  I can honestly say that its been a great experience so far. I have not experienced the problems that many mention in this thread. I do find the iOsx version that I use on my Iphone to be totally useless.  I have replaced it with the third party application Clever, which the people at Evernote should take a look at because it is miles ahead of Evernote for iOsx.  The only other issue I have with Evernote is the  inability to share stacks, but I mentioned that in an earlier thread and understand the other point of view.

 

I think that writing a program for so many platforms is very difficult.  As I said, as an Apple user, I find Evernote to be excellent and have had no crashes, lost data etc.  Everything has synched well between all my devices and this application has made my work life so much easier.  I do hope it continues this way, and I really hope that all those who are having issues, stick with it and that the company hears and acts on their issues.

 

Good to hear! It should be noted that (in my experience, at least) we are talking about fairly minor issues here. A stray bit of formatting there, a bullet list that doesn't look quite like you want, etc. It doesn't mean they shouldn't be fixed or addressed, but I'd also say it isn't anything to lose sleep over. And, if you use plain text, you are pretty much immune from issues (use spaces instead of tabs to be absolutely free from issues). 

 

The popup thing mentioned above is not a bug, but a feature, so there we just have a disagreement with the developers. Again, a minor thing.

[rextilleon 10]

I just started using Evernote in November of 2013, so my perspective is that of a person who hasn't been part of the history of this product. I should also say that I am from the Apple world.  I can honestly say that its been a great experience so far. I have not experienced the problems that many mention in this thread. I do find the iOsx version that I use on my Iphone to be totally useless.  I have replaced it with the third party application Clever, which the people at Evernote should take a look at because it is miles ahead of Evernote for iOsx.  The only other issue I have with Evernote is the  inability to share stacks, but I mentioned that in an earlier thread and understand the other point of view.

 

I think that writing a program for so many platforms is very difficult.  As I said, as an Apple user, I find Evernote to be excellent and have had no crashes, lost data etc.  Everything has synched well between all my devices and this application has made my work life so much easier.  I do hope it continues this way, and I really hope that all those who are having issues, stick with it and that the company hears and acts on their issues.

[Guest mrossk]

... the typical current solution seems to be a full uninstall and re-install.

 

Unfortunately a re-install does not solve the problems. I have had many problems on android and re-installed and re-synced Evernote on android 2 times in the last 2 weeks and restartet my Galaxy S4 and Nexus 7 (both not rooted) several times to be sure to have a clean system because of this bugs. But it has not helped. Now I hope that this is not necessary any more.

 

Marcel.

[GrumpyMonkey 4,320]

Marcel, the large history accumulation is an interesting find. I'd like to hear some insight from Evernote on this issue.

 

Grumpy, these solutions might work for customers with a more profound technical knowledge of data security, but with 60+ million users, the problem has to be addressed with simpler solutions. Regardless of the actual problem, the typical current solution seems to be a full uninstall and re-install.

 

Prior to doing a time-consuming full rebuild that might or might not solve the problem, I'd like to see an Evernote-approved diagnostic tool that would search the database for the old code and formatting issues you mentioned - something that could run in the background or at night while the user is sleeping. Plus a built-in compression feature would be a nice addition.

 

Or a tool that identifies notes with the largest history.

 

I don't understand. The history has nothing at all to do with the display of your notes. You can edit your notes a billion times and it won't make a difference as far as the history is concerned. The history is a snapshot of your notes taken every few hours after a change is made, and that is kept on Evernote's servers. A tool to identify large histories would only tell you which note has a lot of history. It wouldn't actually tell you anything more than that. I am guessing the note created date would be more useful, because that could tell you which notes potentially contain older versions of code. Better yet would be a way by Evernote to tell us that!

 

For example, I used to go through my notes and edit everything made in September 2011, because that was the time when Evernote on iOS (only?) introduced the double line for every carriage return. It mangled a lot of my notes. What would have happened to these double lines if I hadn't gone in to delete them? I guess they'd still be in there. Would I want Evernote to "clean up" the notes for me? No. I don't want Evernote to mess with anything in my notes, and I am still annoyed by the iOS "feature" that appends note conflicts inside a note instead of creating a conflict notebook, a process that (to my eyes, at least) corrupts my notes. On a note by note basis, if we could choose to have it "cleaned up," I might be more interested.

 

Furthermore, I don't see how an uninstall / reinstall would affect the formatting of the notes. Presumably, they are all kept on the servers as well (separate from the history, of course) and contain the exact same code as what you see on your desktop. You'd just be re-downloading the same notes, right? Unless an Evernote representative can confirm that your notes are "cleaned up" when doing a fresh install, I wouldn't recommend this.

 

Now, if we are talking about "cleaning up" old code (a kind of never-ending problem for developers in any system), I agree that it is too much to ask end users to figure this out for themselves. However, in the context of this thread, the export and copy/paste solution may be a little better than the copy/paste through Google Keep solution suggested above. I haven't tested it myself, but it makes sense to me.

 

Are we in total disagreement? No. Ideally, as I have suggested before, I'd really like to see some robust diagnostic tools. We should be able to check the integrity of our notes, especially when we have tens of thousands and a problem in one or two is unlikely to be discovered without diagnostic tools. I think it would be beneficial to have some way of cleaning up the code on a note, perhaps by pressing a button to do it in the "advanced diagnostic tools" interface. I'd also like to know statistics like how many notes I generate a month, how many notes have attachments, the average note lengths, etc., etc. In my opinion, because Evernote is interested in storing our memories, it is in everyone's best interest to give us tools to better manage those memories.

 

In the meantime, I am doing something I think requires very little technical skill: plain text

[GrumpyMonkey 4,320]

 

After starting to migrate my notes to Google Drive I made a strange discovery:

 

I copied the notes from Evernote and pasted them to Google Drive. I wondered a little how good the formattings was kept even in complex bulleted lists. This was not so the last time when I have copied something between the two products.

 

While doing this I realized that some of my notes must have a history of more than 2500 (!) different versions:

2,5 years * 365 days * 3 versions per day (I edit some notes continuously around the clock so they really produce 3 different versions a day)

 

Only for testing I copied the content of some notes back from Google Drive to Evernote in NEW notes without any history and now with a repaired(?) structure and to my big surprise many bugs are gone in Windows and on android!!

 

Now I am not sure whether the huge history has been the source of all the problems or some growing cluttering in the formatting. Since the problems has been grown more and more in the last months it could have to do something with the big amount of histories or the internal formatting is somehow cluttering more and more while intense use.

 

I hope that this will fix many of the problems that had grown up the last months and maybe other users with growing problems are also able to fix their documents with this procedure to get Evernote much more stable.

 

Marcel.

 

 

 

That's a lot of history! But, I doubt the history has any bearing on this particular issue. Instead, you probably have a lot of old code and formatting issues grandfathered into your notes. 

 

Personally, I've always subscribed to the simple is best formulation, and I write everything in plain text using markup (even though Evernote doesn't support it). This means that I can export as plain text, import again, or just reformat as plain text within Evernote to strip out anything that might have creeped into the note. It isn't for everyone.

 

Your solution seems pretty smart for people using formatting. I suspect, though, that you could probably export as .html and then copy/paste that back into a note and achieve the same results. 

[Guest mrossk]

After starting to migrate my notes to Google Drive I made a strange discovery:

 

I copied the notes from Evernote and pasted them to Google Drive. I wondered a little how good the formattings was kept even in complex bulleted lists. This was not so the last time when I have copied something between the two products.

 

While doing this I realized that some of my notes must have a history of more than 2500 (!) different versions:

2,5 years * 365 days * 3 versions per day (I edit some notes continuously around the clock so they really produce 3 different versions a day)

 

Only for testing I copied the content of some notes back from Google Drive to Evernote in NEW notes without any history and now with a repaired(?) structure and to my big surprise many bugs are gone in Windows and on android!!

 

Now I am not sure whether the huge history has been the source of all the problems or some growing cluttering in the formatting. Since the problems has been grown more and more in the last months it could have to do something with the big amount of histories or the internal formatting is somehow cluttering more and more while intense use.

 

I hope that this will fix many of the problems that had grown up the last months and maybe other users with growing problems are also able to fix their documents with this procedure to get Evernote much more stable.

 

Marcel.

[jbenson2 2,149]

They will keep releasing quickly, they will continue to release buggy software and they will continue to try market through innovation. This is how they've been successful and I see little here that will change their mind.

 

If you have a complaint about Evernote and it's not just I don't like it - well list it out but unfocused moaning doesn't really help the developers who read the forums or the users who may try and help you with workarounds.

 

Thanks. I appreciate fellow users like yourself who tackle these bugs quickly. I agree Evernote should step up to the plate with a more thorough quality control process and listen more closely to the feedback from beta users.

 

My work-around solution is to read the forum posts and hold off on upgrades for at least 2 months while the dust settles.

[GrumpyMonkey 4,320]

 

I think the OP has a mix of dislikes and bugs mentioned in their post. I agree about the shared notebooks, and I complained about that behavior when the popup started appearing (2011?),

 

I primary mean the bugs. The design decisions are not so important for me but an unhappy addition.

 

The popups started 2011? I think the popups must have been added in the last few weeks. I have never seen them before. Maybe we are talking about different things. I mean this ones that appear now every time when you open a shared note in the browser:

http://www.evernote.com/shard/s31/sh/f5a08427-551d-4b3a-be2c-6ed4f661547d/f30794f50b1fd58e587fbabea1187a4c

 

Now I have to explain every person that it is not necessary to make an evernote-account only to see the note but he/she has to click on the link "Überspringen". It is annoying to give this explanation to everyone only to show a single note.

 

 

Ugh. Someone clued me into how to see this. It appears that if you erase your cookies (and don't show up as having visited or logged into Evernote) then you are hit with this popup. This is very unfortunate, especially when using this in a professional context, or with non-tech savvy users. You just want to share something, and instead, people get spammed

[GrumpyMonkey 4,320]

I think the OP has a mix of dislikes and bugs mentioned in their post. I agree about the shared notebooks, and I complained about that behavior when the popup started appearing (2011?),

 

I primary mean the bugs. The design decisions are not so important for me but an unhappy addition.

 

The popups started 2011? I think the popups must have been added in the last few weeks. I have never seen them before. Maybe we are talking about different things. I mean this ones that appear now every time when you open a shared note in the browser:

http://www.evernote.com/shard/s31/sh/f5a08427-551d-4b3a-be2c-6ed4f661547d/f30794f50b1fd58e587fbabea1187a4c

 

Now I have to explain every person that it is not necessary to make an evernote-account only to see the note but he/she has to click on the link "Überspringen". It is annoying to give this explanation to everyone only to show a single note.

I thought you were talking about the popup for shared notebooks. I think it may have appeared in 2011. It is annoying, confusing, and a real problem for sharing with people who (understandably) are pressed for time and have no interest in signing up for anything. I loathe popups, and it is a pity that i have to foist them onto people every time I share a notebook.

But sharing a note? No problem. I just looked at your shared note and there was no popup.

[Guest mrossk]

I think the OP has a mix of dislikes and bugs mentioned in their post. I agree about the shared notebooks, and I complained about that behavior when the popup started appearing (2011?),

 

I primary mean the bugs. The design decisions are not so important for me but an unhappy addition.

 

The popups started 2011? I think the popups must have been added in the last few weeks. I have never seen them before. Maybe we are talking about different things. I mean this ones that appear now every time when you open a shared note in the browser:

http://www.evernote.com/shard/s31/sh/f5a08427-551d-4b3a-be2c-6ed4f661547d/f30794f50b1fd58e587fbabea1187a4c

 

Now I have to explain every person that it is not necessary to make an evernote-account only to see the note but he/she has to click on the link "Überspringen". It is annoying to give this explanation to everyone only to show a single note.

[Metrodon 2,188]

I think there is a mixture of things at work here.

 

I don't think the QA process is as exhaustive as it could be. I understand that with many millions of users using the app in countless numbers of ways it is impossible to test certain things. However, it often seems to me that beta version of the app make it through to private and public releases with really obvious bugs in them. Subsequent releases rarely detail specific areas that have been fixed to allow what is a very willing community to help test. Instead it's a bit of a black hole.

 

So, QA could I think be better.

 

The other major contributor is the wah wah wah wah wah wah moaning of people who don't like change. Evernote is going to change, it's going to change a lot and it's going to change fast. It has to because of the way the people are that run the company, because of the market space it's in and because of the way the app market is growing. Simply put, if you don't like the pace of change then stay on the version you are comfortable on or find another app.

 

They will keep releasing quickly, they will continue to release buggy software and they will continue to try market through innovation. This is how they've been successful and I see little here that will change their mind.

 

If you have a complaint about Evernote and it's not just I don't like it - well list it out but unfocused moaning doesn't really help the developers who read the forums or the users who may try and help you with workarounds.

 

As it happens, I quite like the speedy innovation. My use cases are simple and rarely broken by upgrades and so being selfish, Evernote works for me. Now, if they lost my data and I couldn't recover it myself from a backup then everything would change and I'd be looking for another app as there are somethings I can't tolerate.

[GrumpyMonkey 4,320]

 

 

Really? I guess it doesn't look so obvious to me.

GM,

REALLY!

I could make a very nice big list based ONLY on your posts! LOL

 

 

Do it! Let's get it down in one place. We have lost your Mac/Windows link, so we need something to replace it

[JMichaelTX 4,118]

 

Really? I guess it doesn't look so obvious to me.

GM,

REALLY!

I could make a very nice big list based ONLY on your posts! LOL

[GrumpyMonkey 4,320]

 

Here comes my "rose-coloured glasses" thing again - I sympathise with the frustrations;  everyone who uses a computer gets used to applying sticky tape and string solutions in the process of getting stuff done - and with Evernote expectations are high,  and the frustrations many.  But Windows has been around for much longer than Evernote and MS still haven't nailed that...  and they're not operating on so many different platforms.

 

I tend to regard glitches and retro-upgrades as being part of the ecosystem of using tech for a living. 

 

Gaz, you need to take off your glasses and wake up and smell the spoiled roses! 

 

It hasn't always been this way, and it need NOT to be this way.

 

Several years ago Evernote used to release new versions, even Beta versions, that had very few, if any NEW bugs.

Even the Beta versions rarely had bugs, and if they did it was a bug in the new feature being released.

And I NEVER saw any posts about lost data.

I ALWAYS upgraded to the new versions (including Beta) as soon a they were released.

But NOT anymore.

 

Then, about 18 months ago, something changed inside of Evernote.

The emphasis changed to releasing new versions ASAP so that Evernote could get more/continued publicity.

But with these quick updates came NEW bugs, and sometimes lots of them, sometimes very serious bugs causing loss of data.

Sometimes these NEW bugs were so basic and obvious, it appeared that Evernote had not tested the new version at all.

 

It is VERY obvious to many of us that Evernote is NOT performing proper testing and QC PRIOR to release of new versions.

 

 

Really? I guess it doesn't look so obvious to me. One of my first posts on this forum back in 2011 was about data loss on the iPad and Mac. It was an unfortunate event, and it is something that they have (of course) been working over the years to try and minimize. The fact that it still happens on occasion is not a good thing, and I can understand why you would criticize them for it, but I don't see the perceived lack of testing as the obvious problem. To be honest, I am not sure what the problem(s) have been, and my guess would be that they vary according to a number of factors including the ever-changing operating system environments. It can't be easy to keep up with things, and I know other apps that have also lost my data, so Evernote is certainly not alone.

 

I think the OP has a mix of dislikes and bugs mentioned in their post. I agree about the shared notebooks, and I complained about that behavior when the popup started appearing (2011?), but what can you do? Evernote made the decision. We live with it and get our work done, even if we disagree. And, just because we disagree doesn't make Evernote "wrong." Disagreement and tough choices are part of the process, and I think the developers do their best to balance the needs of the app (as they perceive it) with our needs (as we perceive them). 

 

Anyhow, I don't mean to ramble, but I think we need to be specific about what the bugs are, separate these from decisions we don't like, and also recognize that stuff changes over time. My data loss in 2011 was not (as far as I can tell) at all related to a data loss incident I reported on the forums in 2013. The effort to deal with bugs will probably not end for a very long time -- that's par for the course in the world of app development, isn't it?

[JMichaelTX 4,118]

Here comes my "rose-coloured glasses" thing again - I sympathise with the frustrations;  everyone who uses a computer gets used to applying sticky tape and string solutions in the process of getting stuff done - and with Evernote expectations are high,  and the frustrations many.  But Windows has been around for much longer than Evernote and MS still haven't nailed that...  and they're not operating on so many different platforms.

 

I tend to regard glitches and retro-upgrades as being part of the ecosystem of using tech for a living. 

 

Gaz, you need to take off your glasses and wake up and smell the spoiled roses! 

 

It hasn't always been this way, and it need NOT to be this way.

 

Several years ago Evernote used to release new versions, even Beta versions, that had very few, if any NEW bugs.

Even the Beta versions rarely had bugs, and if they did it was a bug in the new feature being released.

And I NEVER saw any posts about lost data.

I ALWAYS upgraded to the new versions (including Beta) as soon a they were released.

But NOT anymore.

 

Then, about 18 months ago, something changed inside of Evernote.

The emphasis changed to releasing new versions ASAP so that Evernote could get more/continued publicity.

But with these quick updates came NEW bugs, and sometimes lots of them, sometimes very serious bugs causing loss of data.

Sometimes these NEW bugs were so basic and obvious, it appeared that Evernote had not tested the new version at all.

 

It is VERY obvious to many of us that Evernote is NOT performing proper testing and QC PRIOR to release of new versions.

[BurgersNFries 2,407]

 

I am an Evernote user since the middle of 2010 and have spent much time to migrate all my information to this product in the last years. But now I see that this was a big mistake.

• Many bugs will never be fixed even they are described in detail by the community. They seem to be forgotten for Evernote but they still exist, even after years! And no, I make no further example because there are enough of them in the forums.
• The product is getting even more bugs over the time. Every update has NEW problems.
• There is not one single version that really works without bugs
• On android you have to re-install and sync the database nearly after every update to keep it running (over the time I have had enough phones and tablets to see that this are really problems of Evernote and not of the hardware)
• Shared notes are making advertising even for paying users
• Now I see that shared notes are even showing a big advertising-popup to create an evernote-account every time my customers open it. What the f*ck. Sorry, but this is next thing that I really can't believe because it destroys my workflow a step further.
• The UI downgrade on Windows Desktop makes it still difficult to read and use. And no, stepping back to version 4 is not a solution, it would only be a further workaround.

What makes me so angry: In 2010 I tested Evernote over a time of 6 months and had been sure that the product keeps serious because Evernote has promised this by the slogan "100 year company" so I have spent much time to migrate all things to Evernote in the last years. Now I see that I have to do all the work again to migrate away from Evernote.

 

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You can compare Evernote like this example with a car:

 

Evernote: Hey, our car has now air conditioning.

Customers: Wow

 

6 weeks later: Evernote: Hey, our car has now comfortable leather seats

Customers: Wow

 

6 weeks later: Evernote: Hey, our car has now automatic drive

Customers: Wow

 

6 weeks later: Evernote: Hey, our car has now a motor that is 20% stronger

Customers: Wow

 

... and so on

 

2 years later: Customer asks: When does your car get wheels so we can start driving with it????

 

---------------------

 

 

Sorry to say all this but the development of this product is really frustrating because I have relied on it.

 

Marcel.

 

 

 

This is silly.  I know you want an app with NO BUGS.  IME, probably no such thing exists.  There will always be bugs.  That's probably good b/c that means the software is evoloving. 

 

You don't post the bugs that have never been fixed...that's like going to court with no evidence.  What you may call a bug may not really be a bug.  It may simply be something *you* think is a bug but is really just behaviour that you don't like.  Not citing bugs that have "existed for years" is just blowing smoke & not helpful.. 

 

 You (and others) may dislike the Ver 5 Windows desktop.  But guess what?  There really are those of us who either like it or don't mind it.  Just because you & ~15-20 others don't like it doesn't mean it sucks.  It just means you don't like it.  BFD.  Happens every freakin' time any software gets a major overhaul.  There are always those who don't like it.  Oddly enough, some who balked at V4 are now balking at V5 claiming V4 was superb. 

 

Personally, I think your car example is not pertinent.  Evernote still works pretty darned well for me. 

[gazumped 12,078]

Here comes my "rose-coloured glasses" thing again - I sympathise with the frustrations;  everyone who uses a computer gets used to applying sticky tape and string solutions in the process of getting stuff done - and with Evernote expectations are high,  and the frustrations many.  But Windows has been around for much longer than Evernote and MS still haven't nailed that...  and they're not operating on so many different platforms.

 

I tend to regard glitches and retro-upgrades as being part of the ecosystem of using tech for a living.  If stuff doesn't work I'll find a work-around.  If it still doesn't work I'll find an alternative.  Evernote at least doesn't make it hard to get your  information out if you need to change,  and they are (usually) sympathetic and reactive to specific issues when they're reported.  Some fixes,  I know,  take a while to sneak out into the wild - others are still in the pipeline because the tech doesn't exist yet,  or its currently owned by someone else with different priorities.  If that's an issue,  then you should really look around and check out the current competition.