open links inside app, clip page feature gone?

[boba1l0s2k9 0]

I commonly email links to Evernote.  Several weeks ago when I viewed the notes in the Evernote app for iOS I could select these links and it would open up the page in a browser window that appeared inside the Evernote app.  Once the page had loaded I could select the book icon and there was an big button along the bottom row along with Print and whatnot to clip the page.  I used this feature many times, and now it is gone.  Now if I select links from inside the Evernote app it simply opens them in regular Safari (not within Evernote) and there is no option to clip the page.  Was this feature removed intentionally?  Is it coming back?

 

Just to be very clear, I'm not talking about a bookmarklet, I'm talking about what appeared to be a native button in the same area as Add to Reading, Print, etc that was visible only when following links from inside the Evernote app on iOS.  I don't know exactly when it last worked (I have automatic updates turned on), though it was several weeks ago, at most a couple months.

 

Thanks!

 

boba1l0s2k9

[boba1l0s2k9 0]

Hmm.  Based on the lack of response I assume that means I was the only person who knew about this feature or used this feature.   That might also suggest Evernote chose to remove it because maintaining rarely used features is a burden.

 

It really was useful though...

[Guest]

I noticed this was gone too when i started opening links and it would open them in safari. Shame this was removed

[ScottLougheed 1,316]

I believe it was removed in a recent release. I can only speculate as to why it was removed, but I wonder if it has something to do with having to rate the application as 17+ in the App Store because it contains an unrestricted browser (this is an App Store policy thing). It causes some grief for institutions that manage their users' devices and have age restrictions.

https://discussion.evernote.com/topic/61253-17-evernote-ipad-app-rating-educational-issues/

https://discussion.evernote.com/topic/59030-why-is-evernote-age-restricted-ugh/

In the meantime, this problem with clipping in iOS likely be reduced or eliminated with the release of iOS 8 and extensions this fall. If Evernote taps into that, things will be much nicer on iOS!

[boba1l0s2k9 0]

The 17+ ratings issue is an interesting theory.  Looking at some Apple's developer info the only relevant guidance I found is one bullet about what qualifies as 17+: "Unrestricted web access, such as with an embedded browser".

 

I speculate (no proof) that you could avoid 17+ classification by making web access restricted.  One idea would be to add the possibility of protecting the embedded browser feature with a password, so an adult could effectively disable it when needed.  A better idea might be to make web access dependent on the existing Safari restrictions like this: if Safari is restricted, then disallow embedded web, else allow it.  Or maybe even more broadly: if *any* restrictions are enabled, disallow the embedded browser, just to be super-safe.   An idea along these lines seems like it may be enough to satisfy the censors.

 

Further searching led me to the App Store Review Guidelines -- see in particular "24.3 Apps in the Kids Category must get parental permission or use a parental gate before allowing the user to link out of the app or engage in commerce".

 

So indeed it does appear merely making the embedded browser functionality gated by parental controls is sufficient to avoid the 17+ classification.

 

As a free user of Evernote I'm not in a position to open a support case with Evernote support...  Anyone willing to ping them for clarification on if/when this feature is coming back (or at least make this a feature request)?

[ScottLougheed 1,316]

Free users can open support tickets (though you are at the bottom of what seems, these days, to be a very long queue), so you can ask for yourself.

 

That being said, Evernote staff do read these posts so it is possible someone will chime in. The same "theory" was brought up in beta testing but staff did not acknowledge, so I wouldn't be surprised if we don't see anything here. 

 

While all of those workarounds are possible for Evernote to implement, I would speculate they are likely directing their energy and resources to an iOS 8 optimized extension which, if possible, would obviate the need for an internal browser and facilitate clipping from within Safari on iOS (NOTE: I am not a developer and so I am not sure of the extent to which an extension of this precise nature can be built). 

[boba1l0s2k9 0]

It doesn't appear free users get support responses (or the queue is unbelievably long?).  As per your advice (thanks Scott) I opened a ticket on 2014-07-20 to ask if this feature would be coming back, and on 2014-08-09 I followed up to ask "So, any thoughts?  Have a great weekend!".  It's now been a month and I haven't heard anything so it seems reasonable to assume free users don't get support responses (or at least not for low priority things?).  I can't complain -- I'm getting far more than I'm paying for.  If anyone who has a paid membership also liked this feature I encourage you to open a support case and ask about it and post the reply to this thread.  In any case, I hope all readers have a great week!

[boba1l0s2k9 0]

Today, August 26th my case was closed:

"Thank you for contacting Evernote customer support. We are unable to personally answer your inquiry. I'm closing this request today and encourage you to find the answer to your inquiry via a search on the Evernote Support page or with our active user community in the Evernote forums."

[Wordsgood 526]

Yes, as stated in other forum threads, EN has ceased to provide Tech Support for free accounts. To the best of my knowledge, aside from a post in answer to one of the existing threads complaining about the lack of response to tickets from free users, there was no official EN notice about this change. GBarry did make a post in one of those threads a few weeks ago confirming that they were in the process of ceasing that kind of support but did not name an actual date of the complete withdrawal of CS support.

Nevertheless, given recent forum activity, I think we can safely assume that *all* tech support for free accounts has been terminated. Users still have access to the EN Knowledge Base and this forum, and I have noticed some recent improvements to the former.

Today, August 26th my case was closed:

"Thank you for contacting Evernote customer support. We are unable to personally answer your inquiry. I'm closing this request today and encourage you to find the answer to your inquiry via a search on the Evernote Support page or with our active user community in the Evernote forums."

[ScottLougheed 1,316]

With respect to the issue of the 17+ rating:

Just looked in the App store, it looks like Evernote is now rated 4+. If I am not mistaken they removed the integrated browser a version or two ago, and as a result there's a more reasonable age rating. 

 

Oops, should have finished my coffee before posting. The absence of the browser was the very reason for the post. D'oh. Forgot which thread I was in! 

 

Carry on, carry on. 

[Wordsgood 526]

Oh good, I was scratching my head wondering if I'd somehow missed something.