Why Is This a Separate App?

[TechBarber 100]

I've been using Scannable for a bit now, and I have to say it's pretty phenomenal. I'm just curious though, why is this scanning function not just built into the Evernote app?

 

I would almost make the argument that a separate, stand alone application for scanning will just confuse a lot of the user base. I mean, why would I scan anything using the Evernote app now when I can do it faster in scannable? 

 

Just not sure why this necessitates an entirely separate app. 

[ScottLougheed 1,316]

I suppose this offers some flexibility in that Scannable can be useful for anyone, whether they are an Evernote user or not (which seems almost in contradiction to recent moves of trying to handicap anything that doesn't involve Evernote directly). Personally I think making it separate is a great move. I have recently significantly decreased my reliance on Evernote, but I have used Scannable heavily since it was released because it is one of the best of its kind in my experience.

 

I'm please not to have to load up the entire Evernote application (which can take a while even on my iPhone 6), navigate through this menu and that menu, press this button then that button, scan the paper, send it to the non-evernote app I want it in (assuming I don't want it in Evernote in this case), then invariably have to return to Evernote to delete the note that was created in the process of scanning. 

 

Now I open scannable which loads quickly already poised to scan, bam bam bam, scan my pages and off they go to Evernote or anywhere else. 

 

Additionally, I think of my mother who just recently got an iPhone as her first smartphone. She routinely needs to scan documents but hasn't had the capacity at home (scanner at office of course) or on the road until she got her iPhone. While she isn't an Evernote user, Scannable was the app I directed her to because: 1) it's free; 2) it works very well; 3) its very easy to use. If  she required an EN account to use it, I would have probably directed her to either ScanBot or Scanner Pro, both of which are capable apps, but cost a bit and aren't quite as swift. 

 

I think they really nailed it with Scannable (I haven't been able to say this about Evernote in a long time, so this is a standout moment in my opinion).

 

 

*There are a few little niggles I'd like to see improved, perhaps ironically mostly with the procedure for sending to EN, but really its just a little thing. In particular I'm a bit frustrated that you cannot tag a new scan when sending it to Evernote. I don't mind having to go and load Evernote and tag the scan post-hoc, but really I feel like I should be able to slap the "receipt" tag on a scan when I pick the notebook it belongs to, rather than having to subsequently open Evernote, locate the new file, then tag it. 

[TechBarber 100]

I'm sold. 

 

Seriously - I am. I hadn't thought of the app's potential for non-Evernote users. From this perspective, it makes total sense. 

 

Now that we agree, how about this...

 

Let's put the slick scanning functionality found in Scannable into Evernote. That way, for guys and girls like me that use EN daily, we can scan things with the same amount of awesomeness as scannable. 

 

I also have to admit, I've scanned a few things with my phone rather than my ScanSnap because Scannable does make things ridiculously quick and easy.

[ScottLougheed 1,316]

I agree with you that the slick-ness really ought to get baked into the EN application. I see no reason why they shouldn't do that. Perhaps its just a bit of latency with the development process. 

[Martin Packer 162]

I just recommended it to my Dad - not an Evernote user (yet) - as it is standalone. Initially I was against that, but now I see some use cases.

 

I'm hoping Evernote will build some more synergy between this and the Evernote app - but I can't think of what. :-)