The future of Evernote

[Alvin C 121]

I have been an Evernote Premium member for 2 and a half years, and recently I noted some changes of this application.

 

Let say Evernote Food, in which I used to used almost every day, had uploading issues since iOS 8. The staff just said they are looking into the problems and have not had any bug fix update for almost two months, i.e. the app has become useless.

 

Most ridiculously, Evernote didn't further communicate with us here, didn't say how they will treat the app (say shutting down Evernote Food) but they spoke it to media instead... (see here: The company will also stop investing in existing consumer products, including Evernote Food.)

 

Hello is another example however the feature has already been replaced by its own Evernote app.

 

I understand that the company has to earn money, and at least, they have to look for funding more effectively to enhance sustainability. Just like Google, in which the company has a lot of products, but in one day they stop some applications... But the problem is, some services in Evernote have been gone so quietly. Some users paid for it but may not feel secure when using Evernote.

 

I like Evernote and think it's not only a note-taking app, but a space for me to figure out what I should do in the future. Thus I had more and more memories in the Evernote cloud.

 

I know that Evernote will change continuously, but at the same time begin to feel insecure about its series of policies, especially something without being told...

Maybe Evernote will one day give up the consumer market and just focus on the business one...

[Matze B. 12]

I second that - and reading this forum there are a lot of users out there feeling that way, too. 

 

I was about to go for a year premium because I REALLY like what EN was originally all about. But the current tendencies towards teams and business isn't the core competence of Evernote - IMHO. It's a shame that NOONE from EN posts anything about this gossip here to clarify the situation :-(

[Mike O 0]

All it takes is a look at what happened with the launch of the new version of the Penultimate app.  A dismal failure.  Completely useless.  Not just partially useless, I mean completely useless.  It's a hand writing app that won't let you write or for that matter, anything else.   Took a great product and neutered it.  Not sure why.  But if this is the way the company is moving, I guess it will be short lived.  

[Frank.dg 1,385]

All it takes is a look at what happened with the launch of the new version of the Penultimate app.  A dismal failure.  Completely useless.  Not just partially useless, I mean completely useless.  It's a hand writing app that won't let you write or for that matter, anything else.   Took a great product and neutered it.  Not sure why.  But if this is the way the company is moving, I guess it will be short lived.  

 

How could Evernote come out with a (Penultimate) version that so many users unanimously lament is a step back? Although I just tinker around with Penultimate on occasion, I am astounded at the comments I find here (and I feel for many users):

 

https://discussion.evernote.com/topic/74824-penultimate-60-released/

 

I was one of the discontented iOS users after the current iOS overhaul. The previous release (the one which looked like a filing cabinet, with beautiful animations) was miles ahead of the current one. This is the point I'd like to make: after an outcry about the widespread decline in software quality, especially related to a security issue and the then new iOS 7 release, Phil Libin came out with a blog post on January 4th of this year (mostly in response to Jason Kincaid's rant on his blog), which I saw as a refreshingly sincere apology and a "We'll try better" kind of thing.

 

You'd think they'd have learned from their mistakes... or at least have made good on their word. 

 

http://blog.evernote.com/blog/2014/01/04/on-software-quality/

 

Here's an excerpt:

 

"I got the wrong sort of birthday present yesterday: a sincerely-written post by Jason Kincaid lamenting a perceived decline in the quality of Evernote software over the past few months. I could quibble with the specifics, but reading Jason’s article was a painful and frustrating experience because, in the big picture, he’s right. We’re going to fix this...... The precipitating factor was the frustrating roll-out of our iOS 7 version. We gained many new users, but rushing to completely rebuild the app for the new platform resulted in stability problems that disproportionally hit longer-term customers, including ourselves."

 

Maybe Jason Kincaid needs to give Evernote another kick in the pants... or at least preempt another open response to deal with some widespread frustration - perhaps in the form of another Evernote blog post. 

[Alvin C 121]

 

All it takes is a look at what happened with the launch of the new version of the Penultimate app.  A dismal failure.  Completely useless.  Not just partially useless, I mean completely useless.  It's a hand writing app that won't let you write or for that matter, anything else.   Took a great product and neutered it.  Not sure why.  But if this is the way the company is moving, I guess it will be short lived.  

 

How could Evernote come out with a (Penultimate) version that so many users unanimously lament is a step back? Although I just tinker around with Penultimate on occasion, I am astounded at the comments I find here (and I feel for many users):

 

https://discussion.evernote.com/topic/74824-penultimate-60-released/

 

I was one of the discontented iOS users after the current iOS overhaul. The previous release (the one which looked like a filing cabinet, with beautiful animations) was miles ahead of the current one. This is the point I'd like to make: after an outcry about the widespread decline in software quality, especially related to a security issue and the then new iOS 7 release, Phil Libin came out with a blog post on January 4th of this year (mostly in response to Jason Kincaid's rant on his blog), which I saw as a refreshingly sincere apology and a "We'll try better" kind of thing.

 

You'd think they'd have learned from their mistakes... or at least have made good on their word. 

 

http://blog.evernote.com/blog/2014/01/04/on-software-quality/

 

Here's an excerpt:

 

"I got the wrong sort of birthday present yesterday: a sincerely-written post by Jason Kincaid lamenting a perceived decline in the quality of Evernote software over the past few months. I could quibble with the specifics, but reading Jason’s article was a painful and frustrating experience because, in the big picture, he’s right. We’re going to fix this...... The precipitating factor was the frustrating roll-out of our iOS 7 version. We gained many new users, but rushing to completely rebuild the app for the new platform resulted in stability problems that disproportionally hit longer-term customers, including ourselves."

 

Maybe Jason Kincaid needs to give Evernote another kick in the pants... or at least preempt another open response to deal with some widespread frustration - perhaps in the form of another Evernote blog post. 

 

 

I do think this has been the past, as they have Business and don't care individual consumers anymore. Now, they removed / stopped developing some features and even apps QUIETLY. I am worried that if they will stop the original Evernote app and even the whole service one day without any notice.

 

From the forum I didn't think the team members are willing to communicate with users, even the Premium those who paid for it.

 

Evernote Hello > Food > Mac updates not through App Store without notice unless you browser the website or the forum > ...

 

I don't mind the integration or shutting down some of the services but at least the company should show their responsibilities. Not keeping the apps in App Store without deleting it to let more people misunderstand those services still exist and put valuable data into the wrong place.

[Robbie 10]

I may sound offensive, but to be honest, to consider evernote can take on microsoft in business integration by current offering of software solution is just daydreaming. (I read a thread about evernote's ambition)

Office suite is far far more capable in business area for almost every aspect you can think of. Evernote is just like a toy in comparison.

The prices of office 365 personal and business plans are quite competitive as well.

 

I feel pessimistic for evernote if they really decide to go down the business path.

I have quite a few friends who are old users of Evernote (back since the founding). Almost all of them now only use web clipper and do all the rest elsewhere like Onenote because of the limitation of evernote as a piece of software.

 

Now that evernote has a separated class of premium level, i don't mind they introduce features discrepancy if they will still invest in the personal note-taking area.

[mathiepe 44]

Sadly enough I feel this thread and the comments made by almost everyone above. Evernote seems to be going the business path, where the personal usage (as a note-taking app) has made Evernote big. I feel Evernote seems to leave a lot of work half-done lately, as there are many things to improve on. Many things that users have asked for a long time, and many things that are more inherent to the note-taking core of Evernote. I would find it a bit strange if they go further into the business path, knowing that (probably) a vast majority uses Evernote for note-taking (and all that comes with it) and for personal usage. The recent changes and updates are indeed difficult to rhyme with Phil Libin's words. Don't get me wrong: I (still) love Evernote and am a very satisfied premium-member. But I feel the same way too and I just don't know what to expect from Evernote in the (near) future.

[nixfan 1]

Rule #1 of good software development: listen to your users.

 

I don't think Evernote has really been listening to their users for a long time. That's why they don't have a way to upvote and categorize feature requests. I understand that they did but they got rid of it. It's not that to start something like uservoice.

 

It all comes down to management, and it is clear that Evernote has dysfunctional management.

 

The good news is that this leaves an opportunity open for a good competitor. I actually primarily use Nixnote as my user interface, but it doesn't have a strong developer base and the one developer is retreating back from it.

 

So I'm evaluating my options and maybe someday I'll try to write something up myself.