Sync needs a major overhaul

[Andrew Chapman 0]

Hi all, 

 

Maybe it is just something specific to my setup, but as much as I *love* Evernote and want to use it more, I'm constantly frustrated by what I see as a flawed sync process.

 

It isn't that I'm hitting in a bug in the sync functionality, it seems to be doing everything as intended, but the approach isn't right. Multiple times per day I get conflicts when moving between my laptop and iphone, and resolving them is a lot harder than it should be.

 

1) Move away from old-school timed sync updates or relying on the user to manually sync. Modern devices and OSs are capable of determining when something has changed and syncing on demand.

 

2) Get the sync functionality the same between platforms so it is at least consistent. On my mac laptop there is a setting to sync every X minutes. No such setting on the iphone app. The iphone app auto-syncs when you navigate back to the list of notes, but the mac app only ever syncs on the timer or when manually requested

 

3) Help resolve conflicts. Even if you don't want to spend time on an interface, at least put basic 'diff' functionality in there so the conflict is within a small section of a note, rather than just bone-headedly duplicating the entire note and leaving it to the user to fix. Better still would be a graphical diff, the sort of thing every programmer uses to merge conflicts every day. This is a well solved problem, no need to reinvent the wheel, just... you know, *have* a wheel!  (btw, my current workaround for this is to paste the conflicting notes into quickdiff.com and have it tell me where the conflict is)

 

I use many other apps that flawlessly and transparently sync in the background all day long between my mac and iphone. Evernote is the only one that has only partially implemented the sync functionality and leaves the rest to the user.

 

I didn't get anywhere with support on this issue, so trying here to see if anyone else feels the same way.

 

AC.

 

[Metrodon 2,184]

I've been using Evernote a long time across multiple devices. I simply make sure that I sync when I've finished using a device and sync before I start using another one. I can count on the fingers on one hand the number of sync conflicts I've had in years.

[CalS 5,280]

What Metrodon said. 

 

I don't know if it was done on the Mac app, but the latest release on Windows syncs local changes when you leave the note, or a after a brief period if you stay in the note.  Very similar to how the IOS devices work.  It helps with the leaving a device, but still have to sync when starting to use a device.