gbcb

For more info: iPad mini Retina WiFi 32G, running iOS 8.1 (12B410)

Sigh. It's better. I know you were working on a tight deadline and couldn't fix everything. It's great to have a working drift feature back. But the handwriting rendering is sluggish and looks awful compared to, say, the beautiful handwriting recognition of Notes Plus, which I bought last week. Seriously, you should look at the work they've done on inking. Vector graphics are the way to go. Other notes: - Nice to have pages back, but I still miss the page-turning metaphor. - If you really insist on using a zoom box instead of full-screen zoom (sigh, again), please give us a way to undo and select pen function (i.e. pen/eraser/highlighter) right at the top of the zoom box, rather than at the top of the screen. - Landscape mode would be nice. I know you've said you're working on it. - What usability is gained by hiding all the tools? Is having all tool buttons permanently visible really so distracting? Overall, it's better, but the sluggishness and poor handwriting rendering make it unusable for me at work. Sorry, guys -- I'll keep an eye out for updates, but I'm sticking with Notes Plus for now... especially because I've realized that I don't really need to have my handwritten notes perfectly synced with Evernote.

Just tried Inkredible and downloading Notes Plus. Very impressive.

I actually quoted Phil Libin's own words from his January 2014 blog post in thanking him for his response. Hopefully he and his team will recognize that this is a worrying pattern and will take steps to address it.

You're welcome. I've probably come across as rather angry on these pages in recent days (because I have been...). I thought his response and now Jamie Hull's blog post show that they actually understand and are trying to fix this mistake. I really hope they follow up!

My thoughts exactly. A small gesture, but an important one.

Yes, a good first step. Let's hope the update actually goes some way toward restoring lost functionality. As for the "no data loss" claim... I'm skeptical, but again maybe this update will help

Phil Libin just wrote a brief email response to questions I raised about Penultimate and Evernote. You can read it here. Apologies for linking to another one of my posts in a different thread and sub-forum, but I think it's relevant to this discussion.

In an encouraging development, I received an email from Phil Libin. I don't want to cross-post, so you can read it here. Short version: They're working on addressing software problems first, at which point he'll address "process and responsibility" issues. It's a start...

Just received a brief email response from Phil Libin. It's a start: Here's the note I had sent:

(Though kudos to them for having the guts to let irate customers take over their company's forum )

I also wonder: Does Evernote have a comms team, or anyone at all to advise them on communications or crisis strategy? I work in communications, and I think that's a large part of why I keep coming back to watch this train wreck. It's fascinating to see how poorly they're handling this.

I've written two emails to Phil Libin on this issue in the vain hope that he might care. Reposting the most recent one here: Dear Mr. Libin, It has been nearly a week since the Penultimate update interrupted your users' workflows and in some cases destroyed their data. The response to date -- first silence, then framing our complaints as "feedback" to be considered in future bug-fix releases -- has been worse than amateurish, and wholly inadequate. Who pushed for the release of what was clearly an unfinished and deeply flawed product, and why? When will you and the management team take responsibility for this debacle and issue a formal apology? Most importantly, what concrete steps will you take to regain your users' trust? You must understand that simply issuing another update, while obviously necessary, is no longer even close to sufficient. How can we expect you to not repeat this breach of trust when you have not even acknowledged that it occurred? I will continue to raise these questions until you provide satisfactory answers to your user base. Sincerely,gbcb

And the communication is consistently horrible across their products. Take a look over at the Penultimate forum to see how Evernote has alienated and begun driving away a once-loyal user base in the space of less than a week. Catastrophic data loss, widespread complaints of interrupted workflows, and all we get is "thanks for your feedback!". There's a growing thread on alternatives to Penultimate RIGHT ON THE PENULTIMATE FORUM.

Well, no. Responses to individual "bug" reports, perhaps. But no real response from senior management, which it is now clear is where the true problem lies. Phil Libin's tweet -- telling us to wait until they get their act together to issue an update that restores basic lost functionality -- is nothing short of insulting to users who have experienced significant disruptions and, in some cases, catastrophic data loss. Throughout this debacle, Evernote has repeatedly shown that it DOES NOT GET IT. There has been NO attempt to address the betrayal of users' trust. At every step, Evernote has worked hard to dig itself deeper into a hole of its own making. Employee reviews on Glassdoor appear to confirm that this is a company that has lost its focus, lost its way, and is doing everything in its power to lose its paying customers. I don't blame the hard-working developers. I blame the company.