Still facing data loss when jumping between multiple clients/instances of Evernote

[Shadoninja 4]

I use Evernote on the Windows client at work, the web client at home, and mobile client when I am not at a computer. I jump between instances of the same notes a lot. I have been using Evernote for quite some time now, and have continually battled data loss when updating notes that are stale/outdated. Can this please be prioritized? I have made threads about this in the past and I have seen many other users talk about the same thing here. Usually, each thread gets the same response: "Make sure to refresh your browser/sync your clients before updating a stale note!" That is a workaround, not a solution. I forget to do this all the time. There are many documented and implemented ways to prevent accidentally updating outdated documents for REST API's. I have personally implemented one of these. Can this request please reach a developer so the community can know when this issue will be addressed?

[John in Michigan USA 129]

I agree...there are a lot of scenarios I've noticed that are the same or similar to yours:

1. There are times when a note falls out of sync between different platforms and you get a Note Conflict notice...but other times that you don't! For example, if you have a list with checkboxes, and you check items 1-3 on one platform, and items 2-4 on another platform, but don't make any other changes to the list (i.e. don't enter edit mode?), it doesn't detect a conflict.
2. When it does detect a note conflict, sometimes it creates a special notebook to hold the conflicting note...but other times it just puts "Note Conflict" in the title. Why and can it please pick one way?
3. Sometimes even after I've synced on all platforms, search results fail to update so it looks like sync failed. Particularly the Android and iOS apps. I have to open each note to make sure.
4. Sometimes even after I've synced, I open a note and it says "there is a newer version of this note, do you want to update". I thought I just did!
5. I'm certain there are other examples I can't think of right now. If only there were some sort of central, authoritative repository of bugs that the community could consult to avoid duplication! OK that was perhaps too sarcastic...but it's been years, and I'm frustrated. It seems like management doesn't understand how many bugs there are, or doesn't seem interested in getting beyond a reactive, piecemeal approach to them, or really taking advantage of the power of their user base.

[productivefreak 0]

I am new premium Member here. 

I am a premium member but I am still facing this problem.   I just write down and copy something in my phone and when I saw it in my computer it does  not show up.  When I wanted to delete a note which I make on the phone in computer than it does not deleted.  Many files of the same name (note) has appear in my specific Notebook.  I do not know where to approach. Should I talk with evernote members here or contact with evernote customer care.  

 

 

[Shadoninja 4]

I want to make sure this thread stays extremely specific. The Evernote team needs to handle the situation where a user edits a note that is no longer up to date. If someone is editing a note that is no longer in sync with the the latest version found in Evernote's database, a warning should be presented to them before any changes are saved. I think a confirmation dialog would be perfectly acceptable here. Give users a chance to say "Oh my note is stale/outdated? Ok, let me decide if I want to push the current version, or reload the page and reapply my changes."

From what I can tell, as soon as you start typing on a note, it begins syncing with the server. If this is true, then that simplifies the issue even more. People won't get more than a couple key strokes into an update before a big warning pops up that lets them know they need to refresh their browser/app.

 

[John Wagenman 0]

I would also like a better solution for this. 

I've been using Evernote for a long time but have only recently started having problems with this. 

 

[John in Michigan USA 129]

On 2/21/2019 at 12:57 PM, Shadoninja said:

I want to make sure this thread stays extremely specific. The Evernote team needs to handle the situation where a user edits a note that is no longer up to date. If someone is editing a note that is no longer in sync with the the latest version found in Evernote's database, a warning should be presented to them before any changes are saved. I think a confirmation dialog would be perfectly acceptable here. Give users a chance to say "Oh my note is stale/outdated? Ok, let me decide if I want to push the current version, or reload the page and reapply my changes."

From what I can tell, as soon as you start typing on a note, it begins syncing with the server. If this is true, then that simplifies the issue even more. People won't get more than a couple key strokes into an update before a big warning pops up that lets them know they need to refresh their browser/app.

 

Fair point, it is important to stay on topic. Here's why I tried to broaden the question.

Your OP said "I use Evernote on the Windows client at work, the web client at home, and mobile client". In the first two of these use cases, your preferred solution (a warning or confirmation dialog) would work. In the case of mobile (and rarely, in the case of the Win client in which the net link can drop out for a few seconds), you can't guarantee that the connection will be there right when you start your edit. Even if you yourself don't do edits while offline, others will, and EN is supposed to support that. So, EN needs to handle the case of: a note is edited, and the client can't immediately check to see if that note has already been edited someplace else. EN needs to detect & process the conflict (automatically or by alerting the user) later, after the client(s) have come back online. Only at that later time then can the user be notified and given a choice of how to resolve it, with enough context about how the versions of the note differ to make the right choice. That is why I tried to broaden the discussion. Does that make sense, or am I missing something about your use cases?

[John in Michigan USA 129]

Here is a deep link into a discussion from 2012, when EN was still struggling with this problem. You'll see from that discussion that even in 2012, EN users had been having sync questions, and debating among themselves what was reasonable to expect. It would help to have a clear statement from Evernote themselves about what to expect the current product to do.

[Shadoninja 4]

Oh wow.... that thread you linked has me pretty much feeling hopeless about this. And yeah, offline note editing makes this much more complicated. I still think a note conflict warning that gives the user a chance to respond to the situation is simple enough to be prioritized. But if this feature has been requested for 7+ years, then why should we even bother asking haha. That is a pretty big sign of poor prioritization from their product management.

 

It looks like the forums are just a place for fans of Evernote to come together and talk. Kind of a shame. I really like this platform, but I wish the users could reach the devs somehow.

[jefito 5,589]

19 hours ago, Shadoninja said:

It looks like the forums are just a place for fans of Evernote to come together and talk. Kind of a shame. I really like this platform, but I wish the users could reach the devs somehow.

Well, it certainly is a mainly user-based forum, but it's not just for talk. A lot of people get help for their Evernote problems directly from Evernote users. To your second point, Evernote developers do sometimes chime in here, but you can't realistically expect to engage in  long conversations with them -- there's way too many of us, and too few of them. Evernote would rather have them spend their time, you know, developing software, which is their job function. That being said, all posts are read here by Evernote staff, and problems are funneled to the development staff, as is common in many development houses. Beyond that, there's always this: