Dark Mode for Windows

[Georgi Georgiev 17]

Please implement something for the night owls

[faifaifai 16]

It's been a while since my last reply, and seems there is an answer to the Windows dark mode here:

Evernote is building an unified editor for all 5 platforms, instead of maintaining them separately, meaning that if other platforms have dark mode, Windows will have it too. 

And the font and styling of the new editor is also simplified, so even it was not mentioned in the video, it is very likely it will have dark mode built-in. 

P.S.: Glad to see EN being more open to users and let us know what is going on with their development. People are willing to wait, just let us know that the team is actually working on it. 

[gazumped 11,664]

9 hours ago, faifaifai said:

meaning that if other platforms have dark mode, Windows will have it too. 

... or it could mean that if Windows can't handle Dark Mode,  the rest are 'unified' by losing it. 

Not saying that's going to happen,  but the Evernote Windows developers seemed pretty clear this was not something they could deliver.

[jefito 5,589]

15 hours ago, saphetiger said:

This would at least be an easy option that could be put into the WebUI.  I mean it would literally just be a different CSS to use to present the interface, which could be used as a catchall for unsupported specific applications.  I've never understood the reluctance to support an easy win.  I've found posts about dark-mode in the desktop client that date back to 2013.  You'd think that in 6 yrs it could be prioritized.

We're talking about the native Windows application here. The UI is written in native Windows, not WebUI. Rewriting that UI would be a pain point, and not cheap, as alluded to by @dconnetabove. This would not be an "easy win". 

Note that the Windows application is probably not going away. In the post by Evernote CEO here, he says::

Quote

3. Following up on #2 above, we are NOT planning on eliminating Windows and Mac versions of Evernote with local stores, nor Android and iOS versions with local stores, etc.  Being able to use Evernote whether online or offline is a major feature/benefit and in a million years that's not going away.  Of course, having a local store would be even better if sync was fully robust.  Working on that.

If that means that the Windows native application stays, then dark mode remains a problem. If it means a complete replacement of the current native application with something that supports local stores, then yes, you'll probably get dark mode support. The danger there is if the full range of power user oriented facilities available in the current, then they risk using a lot of dedicated Evernote users who've invested a lot to make Evernote work for them. I doubt that they'd do that.

Also note that there was was -- unsurprisingly -- no mention of when such a thing would be delivered.

15 hours ago, saphetiger said:

I've found posts about dark-mode in the desktop client that date back to 2013.  You'd think that in 6 yrs it could be prioritized.

I've found posts (and participated in them) asking for other things since 2008/2009 (nested notebooks, improved search language, etc.). Prioritization is not a magic wand that makes things get done. Everything has a cost, and that cost must be balanced against other competing concerns: if we do X, then we can't do Y. One of my favorite takes on this is Minus 100 Points.

Don't get me wrong -- dark mode is a popular request, and an important usability/accessibility feature for some folks, and I do sympathize, but I'm also sympathetic to the plight of the developers.

[Camuz 0]

This product looks great

https://klaussinani.github.io/tusk/

It's a Evernote Mod with Dark Theme. 

[faifaifai 16]

On 7/2/2019 at 8:18 PM, gazumped said:

... or it could mean that if Windows can't handle Dark Mode,  the rest are 'unified' by losing it. 

Not saying that's going to happen,  but the Evernote Windows developers seemed pretty clear this was not something they could deliver.

True that they didn't promise anything. However by unifying the editor into one single code base, they will free up more resources and be able to fine tune the editor according to user feedback. Before the editor was unified, when they needed to do a simple modification to the editor, the communication between 5 development teams and product managers must be exhausting, and keeping the user experience consistent across all 5 platforms was almost a impossible engineering goal (and why we have this thread here). 

At least now Evernote team is doing the first step right, so let's hope for the best. 

[VredalertV 4]

EVERNOTE DEVS - ADD A DARK MODE AND MAKE EVERNOTE BEAUTIFUL AGAIN!

 

I loved Evernote, but its UI now looks very dated and looks ANTIQUE on Windows 10... Every other App I use now is "beautiful" in Windows 10...  And in dark mode (Office, my DAW, Chrome, you name it...)

 

I give up, I'm switching to Microsoft OneNote with a beautiful Dark Mode:

 

[Dave-in-Decatur 3,958]

12 hours ago, psierak said:

Windows 10 One Note app now has dark mode... They also have a Import Evernote notes app so you can port easily.. looks like I'll be switching. Such a shame on Evernote to have "no timeline" for this feature. They probably don't user evernote themselves on Windows.. They are probably programming on their macs. 

Farewell, then. I'm sure your mind-reading skills will be missed.

OK, sorry for the counter-sarcasm. But none of us here, neither those who can manage in Evernote without dark mode nor those who can't, knows what Evernote's development priorities are. And of course Microsoft can gift its own note app with dark mode, while making it difficult for other apps to have it. 

[Dave-in-Decatur 3,958]

I know it's a pain to actually read through the thread, but....

 

[shojimeguro 8]

6 hours ago, Dave-in-Decatur said:

I know it's a pain to actually read through the thread, but....

 

Requested since 2012, says something like minimum of 6 months of efforts and only available on UWP?

Lot of other note taking apps based on win32 has dark mode already such as simplenote, google keep, joplin, and many more, they knows it is important features and even google understands.

so basically mr.mathew720 means 7 years is not enough, Maybe 20 years later then evernote implements dark mode then it's already too late, people already using onenote at that time.

 

[jefito 5,589]

7 hours ago, shojimeguro said:

Requested since 2012, says something like minimum of 6 months of efforts and only available on UWP?

Six months of effort is a huge cost in development time -- development resources are finite. And I can almost guarantee you that there are other items with higher priority in the list. So high cost and lower priority means it's less likely to be done sooner. Simple project management.

If dark mode is your critical feature, then you should probably seek elsewhere, unfortunately.

[saphetiger 5]

I've seen this feature requested enough that it's priority should probably raised.  I haven't seen too many more important features delivered in the last few years of using Evernote., but admit that I use it less than I used to because it's bright on my screen.  

If alternative color schemes are really 6mo of effort, then there is obviously some engineering debt around how this is being done, and that  itself would warrant taking a look at it. 

I would be stunned  if this was actually a 6mo feature.   Bottom line, if reading and writing notes creates undue eyestrain, and therefore discouraging use of the app, what do the rest of the features matter? 

[jefito 5,589]

28 minutes ago, saphetiger said:

I've seen this feature requested enough that it's priority should probably raised.  I haven't seen too many more important features delivered in the last few years of using Evernote., but admit that I use it less than I used to because it's bright on my screen.  

We users don't have a lot of insight into Evernote's issue list and their prioritization, but there's lots and lots of feature requests in this subforum (specific to Windows) and the general feature request subforum (which often apply to Evernote), We do know, or can infer, from the CEO's comments elsewhere that the Windows platform is roughly 12% of their user base, so that's a factor as well. Combined with that, they'currently engaged in large re-engineering effort across all of their clients; see the Behind the Scenes videos (https://discussion.evernote.com/forum/306-behind-the-scenes-series/) and any forum postings by the CEO @Ian Small. All of which impinge on development resources. It's not solely a matter of priority, it's always a matter of priority vs. cost.

44 minutes ago, saphetiger said:

If alternative color schemes are really 6mo of effort, then there is obviously some engineering debt around how this is being done, and that  itself would warrant taking a look at it. 

Sure there's technical debt associated with re-engineering classic Win32 API based UI for dark mode. Because it's not supported by the Microsoft APIs. See, e.g. https://social.msdn.microsoft.com/Forums/en-US/e36eb4c0-4370-4933-943d-b6fe22677e6c/dark-mode-apis?forum=windowssdk. There's no magic "Expecto Darkonus" spell, sad to say.

57 minutes ago, saphetiger said:

I would be stunned  if this was actually a 6mo feature.   Bottom line, if reading and writing notes creates undue eyestrain, and therefore discouraging use of the app, what do the rest of the features matter? 

The 6 month estimate comes from @dconnet in this very thread. Notice their user badge. I'll leave it to you to discuss with someone who's actually seen the code. For what it's worth, I value functionality, reliability and usability over dark mode, by a wide margin. Eyestrain isn't a problem for everyone (or me fortunately).  But all use cases are  different, and your mileage may vary.

Other platforms evidently get dark mode support "for free", so that's been added as feasible. For the Windows client, a different story. I think that if it were easy, they'd have already done it.

[Dave-in-Decatur 3,958]

11 hours ago, shojimeguro said:

Requested since 2012, says something like minimum of 6 months of efforts and only available on UWP?

Lot of other note taking apps based on win32 has dark mode already such as simplenote, google keep, joplin, and many more, they knows it is important features and even google understands....

Do those other apps have dark mode in their Windows Store versions only? For some reason, problems with the Windows Store version of Evernote get reported here fairly frequently, introduced by something Windows does to the app in putting it into the Store. I can understand why Evernote would not want to introduce a feature available only in the Windows Store version, without a lot of ground-up programming to get it into the regular app.

3 hours ago, saphetiger said:

.... Bottom line, if reading and writing notes creates undue eyestrain, and therefore discouraging use of the app, what do the rest of the features matter? 

This, I think, is the most important point, avoiding speculations (including mine) about what Evernote is capable of doing and why and when. For some people, the eyestrain issue is first and foremost, preventing work from getting done. So I hope that Evernote will indeed do this; but in the meantime, it may indeed be necessary for those for whom this is the primary issue to find other tools.

[shojimeguro 8]

22 hours ago, jefito said:

Six months of effort is a huge cost in development time -- development resources are finite. And I can almost guarantee you that there are other items with higher priority in the list. So high cost and lower priority means it's less likely to be done sooner. Simple project management.

If dark mode is your critical feature, then you should probably seek elsewhere, unfortunately.

Sure huge cost, but everybody knows evernote has much better profit than other small apps like simplenote, google keep, joplin, and many more so huge cost is most likely invalid reasons.

yes i am seeking onenote since microsoft seems to understand their users much better than evernote

21 hours ago, saphetiger said:

I've seen this feature requested enough that it's priority should probably raised.  I haven't seen too many more important features delivered in the last few years of using Evernote., but admit that I use it less than I used to because it's bright on my screen.  

If alternative color schemes are really 6mo of effort, then there is obviously some engineering debt around how this is being done, and that  itself would warrant taking a look at it. 

I would be stunned  if this was actually a 6mo feature.   Bottom line, if reading and writing notes creates undue eyestrain, and therefore discouraging use of the app, what do the rest of the features matter? 

Agreed, even big company such as google, microsoft, apple, and many more are implemented this feature because they know it is important.

such a shame big company such as evernote doesnt understand.

18 hours ago, Dave-in-Decatur said:

Do those other apps have dark mode in their Windows Store versions only? For some reason, problems with the Windows Store version of Evernote get reported here fairly frequently, introduced by something Windows does to the app in putting it into the Store. I can understand why Evernote would not want to introduce a feature available only in the Windows Store version, without a lot of ground-up programming to get it into the regular app.

This, I think, is the most important point, avoiding speculations (including mine) about what Evernote is capable of doing and why and when. For some people, the eyestrain issue is first and foremost, preventing work from getting done. So I hope that Evernote will indeed do this; but in the meantime, it may indeed be necessary for those for whom this is the primary issue to find other tools.

i thought we are now talking about win32 right? then you mean simplenote, joplin, and many more are not win32 apps ?

they dont even need windows store version to get dark mode, they can implement it on win32 !

yes i glad you understand how eyestrain issue is important but evernote ignored it

[jefito 5,589]

1 hour ago, shojimeguro said:

Sure huge cost, but everybody knows evernote has much better profit than other small apps like simplenote, google keep, joplin, and many more so huge cost is most likely invalid reasons.

I don't think that anyone knows any such thing. Numbers, please?

Here's a number for you: Consider 6 months of developer time to implement. If that developer's salary is, say $100K/year, and there's company 50% overhead for benefits, infrastructure, etc. per employee, then that's a cost of $150K to develop the feature, not including design, QA, etc. That's very much ballpark but should give a rough idea. Now consider that the Windows side of Evernote is 12% of their users, and that Evernote has other competing features that they want/need to be implemented as well, including other user feature requests. How does that stack up against the profit number that you''re going to provide?

1 hour ago, shojimeguro said:

yes i am seeking onenote since microsoft seems to understand their users much better than evernote

Good luck. I tried to import my Evernote note database into OneNote, using Microsoft's importer a year or so ago, and it didn't go well, in fact, it was a disaster. Beyond that, OneNote is a good product, no doubt, but Evernote fits my workflow much better. But if it works better  for you, then of course you should use it.

[saphetiger 5]

4 hours ago, shojimeguro said:

Sure huge cost, but everybody knows evernote has much better profit than other small apps like simplenote, google keep, joplin, and many more so huge cost is most likely invalid reasons.

yes i am seeking onenote since microsoft seems to understand their users much better than evernote

Agreed, even big company such as google, microsoft, apple, and many more are implemented this feature because they know it is important.

such a shame big company such as evernote doesnt understand.

i thought we are now talking about win32 right? then you mean simplenote, joplin, and many more are not win32 apps ?

they dont even need windows store version to get dark mode, they can implement it on win32 !

yes i glad you understand how eyestrain issue is important but evernote ignored it

 

[saphetiger 5]

I think it's fair to say that windows being 12% of their user base is a deceptive metric.  If one noticed dark mode is missing, then chances are one is not using it exclusively on windows.  This inconsistency in the ui seems pretty at odds with stated goals of a consistent user experience. 

In all the years I've used Evernote, the stability has been pretty good, though any stability issues I've had have been in the poor neglected windows client. 

So let's set the windows32, windows and other windows specific versions aside.  

Is it 6mo if effort for the web version?  That would be a viable work around.

[dcon 166]

On 8/14/2019 at 4:05 AM, jefito said:

development resources are finite.

Even more so now, since (um...) a few of us have moved on... The Windows crew was thin before I left. (:waves: Hi @RMorgan!)

(other quotes pulled from other posts in order as I read)

> then there is obviously some engineering debt around how this is being done

The code base is only about 15 years old... "some" is putting it mildly...

> I would be stunned  if this was actually a 6mo feature

I wouldn't. I used to work in that code.

> "Expecto Darkonus" spell

(I love you...)

> I can understand why Evernote would not want to introduce a feature available only in the Windows Store version

Remember, the EN store version is literally the Win32 binary in special packaging. So no "Expecto Darkonus" there either...

> If that developer's salary is, say $100K/year,

Remember, EN is in Silly Valley. I think college grads get more than that...

 

[jefito 5,589]

1 hour ago, saphetiger said:

I think it's fair to say that windows being 12% of their user base is a deceptive metric.    If one noticed dark mode is missing, then chances are one is not using it exclusively on windows. 

The 12% figure is from the CEO,- albeit indirectly. See his post at  https://discussion.evernote.com/topic/120075-behind-the-scenes-series-improving-search-in-evernote-web/?tab=comments#comment-538307, and related posts, which you can track down there. It's probably better to say that it's 12% of Evernote usage, rather than user base, since many folks are indeed on multiple platforms. Even so, the comment on exclusive use of Windows has no bearing on this discussion. We know that 'there are folks who want dark mode on Windows, and we know roughly the relative Windows usage, and we can guess -- ballpark again -- at a rough figure for implementation.

1 hour ago, saphetiger said:

This inconsistency in the ui seems pretty at odds with stated goals of a consistent user experience. 

Um, well, knowing that you have an inconsistency and wanting to remedy it is one thing. Committing a not insignificant amount of company resources to implement the required changes is quite another.

1 hour ago, saphetiger said:

Is it 6mo if effort for the web version?  That would be a viable work around.

Different discussion entirely, since it's a different team, and also depends on your particular use case. I couldn't use the web client for my day-to-day work, so not viable for me. YMMV, of course.

[jefito 5,589]

1 hour ago, dcon said:

Even more so now, since (um...) a few of us have moved on... The Windows crew was thin before I left. (:waves: Hi @RMorgan!)

Nothing I'd know anything about, except for you having left, of course. 

1 hour ago, dcon said:

> then there is obviously some engineering debt around how this is being done

The code base is only about 15 years old... "some" is putting it mildly..

Tell me that the old timeline view (from ca. 2008 and before) is still in there!! How do I turn it on?? And wasn't there a C# phase there (or was it Manageg C++ or C++/CLI?). It's all such a blur. But some sympathy, yes -- the code base I work on is ~20 years old, and retains the original MFC Doc/View file names, though it's moved on much much farther than its original scope.

1 hour ago, dcon said:

> If that developer's salary is, say $100K/year,

Remember, EN is in Silly Valley. I think college grads get more than that...

Yeah, I was deliberately low-balling that whole estimate so that I couldn't be accused of over-estimating to prove a point. Even so, that's still a little high for the far off corner of the country where I live.

[saphetiger 5]

4 hours ago, jefito said:

Um, well, knowing that you have an inconsistency and wanting to remedy it is one thing. Committing a not insignificant amount of company resources to implement the required changes is quite another. 

Consistent user experience across platforms has been a topic frequently embraced when talking about future EN development. 

 

4 hours ago, jefito said:

Different discussion entirely, since it's a different team, and also depends on your particular use case. I couldn't use the web client for my day-to-day work, so not viable for me. YMMV, of course.

This is a possible bang for buck win.  A catch all where if this is something that you care about you could have dark mode on your platform. 

The fundamental argument that the windows code base is old and therefore cumbersome to update only hints that it needs more attention, not that it warrants attention less. 

[jefito 5,589]

1 hour ago, saphetiger said:

Consistent user experience across platforms has been a topic frequently embraced when talking about future EN development. 

Talked about, yes, and for a long time. But it's still a work in progress (see the Behind the Scenes video series). And again, the high cost thingy would tend to push it down the prioritization list, most likely.

1 hour ago, saphetiger said:

This is a possible bang for buck win.  A catch all where if this is something that you care about you could have dark mode on your platform. 

Do you really think that hordes of new paid users would come flooding in due to the addition of dark mode? Really?

1 hour ago, saphetiger said:

The fundamental argument that the windows code base is old and therefore cumbersome to update only hints that it needs more attention, not that it warrants attention less. 

The fundamental argument is that particular feature requires a lot of time (read money) to implement, regardless of the state of the rest of the code base. Neither you nor I can see behind the walls to say how they make their prioritizations. But it sounds to me -- based on available evidence -- that the answer's no, at least at this time, bcause it's not worth it, for whatever reason (and there are almost certainly other factors going on behind the scenes).

[saphetiger 5]

1 hour ago, jefito said:

Do you really think that hordes of new paid users would come flooding in due to the addition of dark mode? Really?

No, but I do think not having this while competitors do could definitely convince people to go elsewhere.  I could also see free users not becoming paid subscribers for the same. 

[faifaifai 16]

Just a little reminder, Evernote is now working on a unified editor across all 5 platforms, instead of maintaining them separately, meaning that if other platforms have dark mode, Windows will have it too (very likely). 

I totally understand the frustration and disappointment of Evernote not being improved much over the past few years. I did move away to competitor product, until I see Evernote releasing the Behind The Scene videos. The intention of these videos is clear, Evernote is trying to improve the product, but it takes time, and during this period, old versions will have the least improvement. Evernote is asking us to give them time. So far from the Behind The Scene videos, the future of Evernote seems pretty promising. I am convinced, so I came back. Maybe wait for a few months to see how it goes. 

But that doesn't mean it is for everyone. I am not here to convince people to stay, just to let people know this information. Making a switch and having to setup all the workflow from the ground up is always painful and expensive. So providing this little piece of information might help people when they have to make a decision. 

Hope this helps. 

[dcon 166]

21 hours ago, jefito said:

And wasn't there a C# phase there

That was the previous store version. When I first joined (2013), there was a single contractor who worked on that. I think he was there about a year (fuzzy memory), then that version went into a holding pattern until the Win32 version was packaged for the store.

> Tell me that the old timeline view (from ca. 2008 and before) is still in there!!

Sorry, no (at least I don't think so - pretty sure it was out of the code before I began). Usually when a major feature is removed, it's really removed.

[jefito 5,589]

2 hours ago, dcon said:

That was the previous store version. When I first joined (2013), there was a single contractor who worked on that. I think he was there about a year (fuzzy memory), then that version went into a holding pattern until the Win32 version was packaged for the store.

> Tell me that the old timeline view (from ca. 2008 and before) is still in there!!

Sorry, no (at least I don't think so - pretty sure it was out of the code before I began). Usually when a major feature is removed, it's really removed.

Ha -- all that was just kidding. I didn't like the timeline version when I first encountered Evernote, but when that was replaced and I checked it out again, I jumped on right away and have been an Evernoter ever since. I think that there actually was a .Net version (3.5??) that was the standard release (not store) but if I recall correctly, its performance wasn't great.=, and it went away in favor of straight Win32, which it's been ever since. Oh, Google to the rescue: https://gigaom.com/2010/01/22/evernote-3-5-for-windows-released/. I think that the original store version may have been the C# version you're referring to, and it was never all that useful to me. I checked it out, but it wasn't even close to what I need.

13 hours ago, faifaifai said:

Just a little reminder, Evernote is now working on a unified editor across all 5 platforms, instead of maintaining them separately, meaning that if other platforms have dark mode, Windows will have it too (very likely). 

Right. That's the "work in progress" bit that I referred to. The "when" part is not clear currently, its immanence plus the estimated effort to convert the Win32 version to support dark mode means that they're almost certainly not gonna do it for Win32; your comment "Evernote is trying to improve the product, but it takes time, and during this period, old versions will have the least improvement" pretty much nails it.

[dcon 166]

On 8/16/2019 at 9:24 AM, jefito said:

 just kidding

i knew that!

On 8/16/2019 at 9:24 AM, jefito said:

think that there actually was a .Net version (3.5??)

Yes, I heard stories of that! As far I know, when that was abandoned, the original C++ code from before was brought back. (That also poisoned the lead dev to anything XAML related)

On 8/16/2019 at 9:24 AM, jefito said:

I think that the original store version may have been the C# version you're referring to

Yes, completely different from v3.5.

On 8/16/2019 at 9:24 AM, jefito said:

The "when" part is not clear currently,

Originally, it was supposed to be well before when I left. I literally LOLd at them (as my old boss can attest to!). He did (grudgingly) admit that I was right... I'm not running that preview/beta, so no idea where they are on it.

[jefito 5,589]

Again @dcon (and sorry, can't stop thinking of the popular rodent control product line when I see the new moniker), thanks for the insights, your work on the Windows Evernote, and your participation on the forums both then and now. Hope that you find happiness in your new endeavor.

I haven't run the Windows preview/beta either, just following the current new web beta, and will try out the next phase Windows application so long as we can run it side-by-side with the old one (with separate databases) as promised.

If the lead developer you're talking about was @kvitekp, he was also a great forum resource. I know a fair bit about operating Evernote for Windows, but there's nothing so definitive as the information coming from someone familiar with the code/design. Anyways, cheers!

[dcon 166]

On 8/17/2019 at 5:17 PM, jefito said:

(and sorry, can't stop thinking of the popular rodent control product line when I see the new moniker)

While it's a play on my real name, I picked it very much because of that. I'm a programmer - I kill bugs dead!

 

On 8/17/2019 at 5:17 PM, jefito said:

he was also a great forum resource

That he was! Great guy too... (and we actually have the same birthday! We had to do some serious time-zone math to figure out who was actually older - me by a couple hours)

[jefito 5,589]

23 hours ago, dcon said:

That he was! Great guy too... (and we actually have the same birthday! We had to do some serious time-zone math to figure out who was actually older - me by a couple hours)

Funny that. At a previous job, I had been there a couple of years, and was reading the comments on someone else's checkin, and they noted it was their birthday, which was the same as mine! Turned out it was also the same year as well, though we never figured out who was actually older. I know that the probability of two people in a room of 25 or so is about 50% (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Birthday_problem), but with the same birth year as well, in a company of ~200? Seems like that's a lot less probably. We also had a colleague with a Feb 29th birthday. too.

[prz 8]

I've made the move to OneNote, and I'm very happy with it - wonderful Dark Mode.  I wrote a couple of blog posts on why I left and how it went:

http://paulzimmer.dreamhosters.com/blog/2018/01/07/evernote-to-onenote-why/

http://paulzimmer.dreamhosters.com/blog/2019/08/21/moving-from-evernote-to-onenote-part-2-the-process/

Adios!

Paul Zimmer

[jefito 5,589]

For the TLDR crowd, translation: "I really really think dark mode is what makes a piece of software great, so I guess I'll just jump into the first dark mode life raft I can find and it will be groovy note takin' and note makin' times forever! And the winner is... OneNote!!!  (voice of Flounder from Animal House, "This is gonna be great!") So even though I don't really understand OneNote all that well -- or Evernote -- I'm just going to jump in feet first, 'cuz I have a master plan!!.An-n-n-n-n-d ***Kersplash!!!*** OK, that happened. So OneNote's importer is *still* pretty much borked, and screwed up my big plan. And my organization. And other stuff, that took a long time to fix up by hand. Because Microsoft, with all its myriad resources, doesn't match up all that well to Evernote's architecture, and didn't even fix their broken importer after 2 years cause the don't care or don't get it.  But yeah, man, *whistle whistle* 'Jus' castin' off those old Evernote chains, shoo-doo-be-doop! Hey OneNote's got a beautiful dark mode and it's free, free, free!! Oh well, my time isn't free, and by the way, its search sucks, and it's tedious to work with and its forums are filled with lackluster no-hopers who just put up with OneNote's nonsense (at least you can get some good info out of those boners in the Evernote forums once in awhile, if you can ever get them to be serious for even three seconds). But anyways, did I mention it has dark mode? Big beautiful dark mode? Maybe the best dark mode!! I really like OneNote a lot!! ❤❤🐶🐶🌷🌸🌹🌺🌼!!! Yay OneNote!!!"

Vaya con whateva...

[Dave-in-Decatur 3,958]

12 hours ago, prz said:

I've made the move to OneNote, and I'm very happy with it - wonderful Dark Mode.  I wrote a couple of blog posts on why I left and how it went:

http://paulzimmer.dreamhosters.com/blog/2018/01/07/evernote-to-onenote-why/

http://paulzimmer.dreamhosters.com/blog/2019/08/21/moving-from-evernote-to-onenote-part-2-the-process/

Adios!

Paul Zimmer

Paul, I checked out your blog posts. From what I can see there, dark mode is the primary, almost the only factor in your decision, along with the evaluation that ON is about at parity with EN (which I assume is correct) and that EN is in serious trouble and is abandoning EN for Windows (which is rank speculation, verging on FUD). I also note that, in exploring OneNote's forums for issues around initial import and organization, you learned that "Apparently, people just deal with this nonsense. It seems crazy to me."--pretty much exactly what some folks (not you) say here about EN and its users.

So, I hope it goes well for you, and best wishes for, um, pretty much exactly what you already had, but with dark mode.

[CalS 5,280]

Sorry, Paul, but the blog reads like a don't convert to me.  Going from pothole group E to pothole group O.  That and "...organizing on the EN side is easier...".  How is it going to be when you organize in the future on ON?  If you think the juice is worth the squeeze, best wishes and I hope it works well for you.

[Dave-in-Decatur 3,958]

1 hour ago, Dave-in-Decatur said:

So, I hope it goes well for you, and best wishes for, um, pretty much exactly what you already had, but with dark mode.

Sorry, that was pretty snarky. I do recognize that dark mode is in fact a deal-breaker, essentially a health-and-well-being issue for some people.

[PinkElephant 8,103]

When I started with computers, all we had was dark mode: First came green on black, then (a revolution, one needed a special permit to get one of these) amber on black.

The first screen with nice black on white was my first Macintosh SE, back then.

But whoever wants dark mode - maybe some of the old CRTs are still selling on Ebay ... you just need to find a converter for the monitors plug. HDMI or DisplayPort will not do !

[Dave-in-Decatur 3,958]

Ah yes, green on black! I think I did move up to amber on black at one point. I also had a pre-Windows word processor that used yellow on dark blue. I don't know if it's good for me, but the fact is that I feel more like I'm writing with a paper-like white background.

[prz 8]

To Dave-in-Decatur and CalS,

The blog posts are intended to be an objective description of my experience, so that others can decide for themselves whether the effort is worth it to them - and perhaps avoid a few pitfalls.  And to give people a little real world data to estimate the effort required - something I couldn't find online when I started this.  

It was never intended as a sell job for OneNote.

For me, Dark Mode is a deal breaker.  And I assume it's pretty important to anyone else reading this thread.  I have concluded that Dark Mode on Windows is unlikely to appear anytime soon - in particular, before my hacked Evernote executable stops working.  I could be wrong.  But, like I said, it's a deal breaker for me.  I cannot use a retina-burn-white background, and I decided to get it over with while my hacked version is still working and I had some free time to work on it.

And, so far, I'm quite happy with OneNote.  It feels comfortable already.  And I can use my SPro and pen as a tablet - even record voice sync'ed to the content.  It has replaced Livescribe for me.  For me, it was worth the time I invested.  Others may make different tradeoffs.  The blog posts were intended to help people make that tradeoff.

Paul Zimmer

[CalS 5,280]

3 minutes ago, prz said:

To Dave-in-Decatur and CalS,

The blog posts are intended to be an objective description of my experience, so that others can decide for themselves whether the effort is worth it to them - and perhaps avoid a few pitfalls.  And to give people a little real world data to estimate the effort required - something I couldn't find online when I started this.  

It was never intended as a sell job for OneNote.

For me, Dark Mode is a deal breaker.  And I assume it's pretty important to anyone else reading this thread.  I have concluded that Dark Mode on Windows is unlikely to appear anytime soon - in particular, before my hacked Evernote executable stops working.  I could be wrong.  But, like I said, it's a deal breaker for me.  I cannot use a retina-burn-white background, and I decided to get it over with while my hacked version is still working and I had some free time to work on it.

And, so far, I'm quite happy with OneNote.  It feels comfortable already.  And I can use my SPro and pen as a tablet - even record voice sync'ed to the content.  It has replaced Livescribe for me.  For me, it was worth the time I invested.  Others may make different tradeoffs.  The blog posts were intended to help people make that tradeoff.

Paul Zimmer

Helped me, thanks.

[shojimeguro 8]

On 8/22/2019 at 10:45 PM, prz said:

To Dave-in-Decatur and CalS,

The blog posts are intended to be an objective description of my experience, so that others can decide for themselves whether the effort is worth it to them - and perhaps avoid a few pitfalls.  And to give people a little real world data to estimate the effort required - something I couldn't find online when I started this.  

It was never intended as a sell job for OneNote.

For me, Dark Mode is a deal breaker.  And I assume it's pretty important to anyone else reading this thread.  I have concluded that Dark Mode on Windows is unlikely to appear anytime soon - in particular, before my hacked Evernote executable stops working.  I could be wrong.  But, like I said, it's a deal breaker for me.  I cannot use a retina-burn-white background, and I decided to get it over with while my hacked version is still working and I had some free time to work on it.

And, so far, I'm quite happy with OneNote.  It feels comfortable already.  And I can use my SPro and pen as a tablet - even record voice sync'ed to the content.  It has replaced Livescribe for me.  For me, it was worth the time I invested.  Others may make different tradeoffs.  The blog posts were intended to help people make that tradeoff.

Paul Zimmer

 

Agreed, especially on Dark Mode on Windows is unlikely to appear anytime soon, i mean this already requested since 2012 and 7 years later still no dark mode...

[hostnik 0]

On 8/22/2019 at 10:45 AM, prz said:

To Dave-in-Decatur and CalS,

The blog posts are intended to be an objective description of my experience, so that others can decide for themselves whether the effort is worth it to them - and perhaps avoid a few pitfalls.  And to give people a little real world data to estimate the effort required - something I couldn't find online when I started this.  

It was never intended as a sell job for OneNote.

For me, Dark Mode is a deal breaker.  And I assume it's pretty important to anyone else reading this thread.  I have concluded that Dark Mode on Windows is unlikely to appear anytime soon - in particular, before my hacked Evernote executable stops working.  I could be wrong.  But, like I said, it's a deal breaker for me.  I cannot use a retina-burn-white background, and I decided to get it over with while my hacked version is still working and I had some free time to work on it.

And, so far, I'm quite happy with OneNote.  It feels comfortable already.  And I can use my SPro and pen as a tablet - even record voice sync'ed to the content.  It has replaced Livescribe for me.  For me, it was worth the time I invested.  Others may make different tradeoffs.  The blog posts were intended to help people make that tradeoff.

Paul Zimmer

Agreed.  I was a EN user a while back, switched to ON because an employer blocked EN.   But I find ON a little slower/kludgy, even if otherwise they're the same.  However I can sync across all my devices in ON for free, and as mentioned, it already has dark mode.  I was about to upgrade to a paid EN to test it again, but now that I see there is no Dark Mode even promised for Windows.... this is just ridiculous.  My eye health is not negotiable.  I've lost most of my night vision already, and I simply cannot use white background apps anymore, period.

[stackers 4]

we need dark mode. We've needed it for years. no excuse as to why it's not here yet. I haven't noticed a single other new feature or performance enhancement, so I haven no idea what they're working on.

[Arvin Yorro 0]

I just found out that Slack just got their dark theme. Now only Evernote is the only app in my work flow that is still using win32api like interface lol

 

[gazumped 11,664]

16 hours ago, Arvin Yorro said:

I just found out that Slack just got their dark theme. Now only Evernote is the only app in my work flow that is still using win32api like interface lol

 

The guy who actually built the current release has explained that there's no way to use the current code base to invoke a 'dark' option in the current Windows code base. 

So Evernote would need to rewrite the application from the ground up to deliver a dark mode.

That rewrite has actually been started (although I don't know whether a Dark Mode is one of the immediate priorities)

It won;t happen overnight either way.

[Cowboy42 0]

I agree.  please work on Dark Mode for Windows

[dgutkowsky 0]

Simply speaking... I WON'T extend my Evernote subscription for another year if you won't come up with DARK MODE for Windows.

Don't be ridiculous already, Evernote Team.

Counting on the deadline. 

OVER AND OUT.

[Tractorman 9]

Just to point out.  It can be “over” or it can be “out”.  “Over and out” makes no sense.  

[CalS 5,280]

The all caps leads to more Out than Over.

[jefito 5,589]

4 hours ago, Tractorman said:

Just to point out.  It can be “over” or it can be “out”.  “Over and out” makes no sense.  

Idioms don't have to make sense to be understood: https://writingexplained.org/idiom-dictionary/over-and-out

Just to point out...

[Kikohs 2]

Hello everyone,

I found a solution to have a dark mode for evernote on windows and on the web.

1. In Chrome install the " Midnight Lizard" extension which turns ALL websites into dark mode. 
2. Open Web Evernote then go to More tools -> create shortcut, tick open in new window.
3. Drag shortcut into your launch bar.

Enjoy!

[stackers 4]

Evernote should be seriously embarassed. This is such a basic feature that has been requested for years. They even already implimented it on some platforms. Port it to windows already!

Don't even know why I pay for evernote anymore...

[PinkElephant 8,103]

Maybe one should read through a thread before adding to it.

EN depends on the OS to set up something like a dark mode, unless they want to create it from scratch today, just to see it skipped by an OS update tomorrow. Windows currently does not support a dark mode from the OS.

So it is easy to get dark mode, if one is serious about it: Get yourself a Mac, get yourself an iPad, they all support dark mode by the OS, and in EN there is one simple switch: Stay in daylight mode all the time, or use the dark mode setting from the OS settings. If you choose this, you get dark mode always on, or depending on a toggle in the OS. MacOS can even use the daily sunset hour to switch to dark mode.

Or blame who is to blame, which is MS for not properly supporting a dark mode ...

[gazumped 11,664]

... and 

On 10/17/2019 at 11:17 AM, Kikohs said:

I found a solution to have a dark mode for evernote on windows and on the web.

???

[jefito 5,589]

21 hours ago, stackers said:

Evernote should be seriously embarassed. This is such a basic feature that has been requested for years. They even already implimented it on some platforms. Port it to windows already!

The dark mode problem relates directly to how Evernote is implemented in Windows and solutions for other operating systems do not apply to Windows, so they cannot be ported. Plenty more details are already available in this thread; please see comments from former employee dconnet. While you may consider it to be a 'basic feature', it is evidently not a simple feature to implement, and therefore is -- so far as we now know -- currently prioritized down.

21 hours ago, stackers said:

Don't even know why I pay for evernote anymore...

Only you can answer that one. If dark mode is a critical feature for you, then you should use a different platform where Evernote does implement dark mode, or use a different note-keeping solution.

[Sigurdur 7]

On 10/21/2019 at 8:28 PM, PinkElephant said:

Maybe one should read through a thread before adding to it.

EN depends on the OS to set up something like a dark mode, unless they want to create it from scratch today, just to see it skipped by an OS update tomorrow. Windows currently does not support a dark mode from the OS.

So it is easy to get dark mode, if one is serious about it: Get yourself a Mac, get yourself an iPad, they all support dark mode by the OS, and in EN there is one simple switch: Stay in daylight mode all the time, or use the dark mode setting from the OS settings. If you choose this, you get dark mode always on, or depending on a toggle in the OS. MacOS can even use the daily sunset hour to switch to dark mode.

Or blame who is to blame, which is MS for not properly supporting a dark mode ...

I don't think we can expect the users to understand the technical constraints of implementing dark mode. Plus the claim that it's almost impossible is not obvious as many other MS apps have the feature; Adobe, OneNote, Keep, etc. The fact is that this company has had 7 years to implement this most requested feature and they have chosen not to - which is a shame. But I think this forum is a fine place for feedback from users, no matter how ignorant we are and how "impossible" the features we request. 

[stackers 4]

On 10/21/2019 at 4:28 PM, PinkElephant said:

Maybe one should read through a thread before adding to it.

EN depends on the OS to set up something like a dark mode, unless they want to create it from scratch today, just to see it skipped by an OS update tomorrow. Windows currently does not support a dark mode from the OS.

So it is easy to get dark mode, if one is serious about it: Get yourself a Mac, get yourself an iPad, they all support dark mode by the OS, and in EN there is one simple switch: Stay in daylight mode all the time, or use the dark mode setting from the OS settings. If you choose this, you get dark mode always on, or depending on a toggle in the OS. MacOS can even use the daily sunset hour to switch to dark mode.

Or blame who is to blame, which is MS for not properly supporting a dark mode ...

What are you even talking about? Dark mode doesn't have to be related to the OS at all. In the end it's just applying different colors. They could easily let us switch to a mode with different colors when we want. It doesn't need to be linked to windows (which does actually have a dark mode).

But yes, Evernote, we still need dark mode for windows. When programming switching back and forth to Evernote is blinding. Please. It's the only feature I've wanted for years.

[PinkElephant 8,103]

Yes, it is possible to implement whatever.

No, it makes no sense if you want a lean, coherent app working the same (or at least similar) on all platforms. EN borrows the dark mode function from the OS wherever it is available. There is a simple switch between "no dark mode" and "enable dark mode whenever enabled on the OS". It makes no sense to develop a separate EN app just for the Windows desktop, because this OS is not handling dark mode itself.

Everybody can have his own opinion on this, of course. I prefer to have engineering hours invested into more forward-looking issues than to heal the shortcomings of one of the operating systems the app is running on. There are more than enough other feature requests in the forum to work on for the next decade - features that would serve all of us, not depending on the OS we run.

[jefito 5,589]

23 hours ago, stackers said:

What are you even talking about? Dark mode doesn't have to be related to the OS at all. In the end it's just applying different colors. They could easily let us switch to a mode with different colors when we want. It doesn't need to be linked to windows (which does actually have a dark mode).

It's just not as easy as saying "Hocus Pocus! Switch Colors!" And yes, of course it *does* depend on the operating system, since you need to interact with the operating system to switch colors, and in a Windows 32 application like Evernote, it would likely mean changing each and every dialog, menu, and images used in the Evernote UI (images in particular don't really respond to "just use different colors"), or at least providing a parallel set of dark mode resources.

As for Windows "dark mode", if it actually worked by simply flipping a switch in the OS, then all applications would automatically work, including Evernote. That many don't should give you a clue that an application needs to be modified to implement dark mode, and according to the person who had their fingers on the Windows code (and who's previously commented on this above), it would have been a very time-consuming process in Evernote's case.

23 hours ago, stackers said:

But yes, Evernote, we still need dark mode for windows. When programming switching back and forth to Evernote is blinding. Please. It's the only feature I've wanted for years.

Funny, I program full time for a living, and switching between Evernote and Visual Studio (something I do a lot) isn't blinding at all. Silly me, though, I work in well-lit places and don't use dark mode system wide. *shrug*

On 10/24/2019 at 2:53 PM, Sigurdur said:

I don't think we can expect the users to understand the technical constraints of implementing dark mode. Plus the claim that it's almost impossible is not obvious as many other MS apps have the feature; Adobe, OneNote, Keep, etc. The fact is that this company has had 7 years to implement this most requested feature and they have chosen not to - which is a shame. But I think this forum is a fine place for feedback from users, no matter how ignorant we are and how "impossible" the features we request. 

I doubt that anyone expects everyone here to understand the technical aspects of implementing dark mode; I don't fully understand it myself, as I've never implemented it, though I have a fair understanding of Windows programming. On the other hand, I don't understand how to fix anything much more complicated than a flat tire on my bicycle, and so, like non-techies here, I need to rely on others' understanding of the problem domain. Possible responses in that case range from "Oh, OK" to "You lazy programmers are just giving us fake news again!!!". Whatever. Again, according to the testimony of someone who had their hands on the Evernote Windows code, it's not a simple matter, and despite the feature's popularity it's apparently been prioritized down. Folks here can trust them or not (I do because they spend a fair amount of time on the forums helping users in a constructive way). BTW, note that Evernote have implemented dark mode on platforms where it where is feasible, evidently the Windows case isn't. If it were easy, they would have also done it Windows, don't you think?

Some fun dark mode reading: do a web search on "is dark mode a fad?"  

[David.Bradway 1]

Please add Dark Mode for the Windows Desktop app!

[avistewart1064@gmail.com 2]

Evernote! You seriously need to add dark mode to windows. I as a costumer who happens to prefer the windows OS, feel unappreciated and overlooked especially, since dark mode is available on every other major OS. 

[matbam 1]

I totally agree with you. I know that Evernote noticed they are not going to add dark mode for windows os. So I'm already transferring all my works to MS Onenote-supports dark mode with windows update-. But my premium subscription date due is April, 2020, I wish Evernote add dark mode since then. Because I've used Evernote quite well other than that.

[Sigurdur 7]

On 11/18/2019 at 11:11 PM, jefito said:

I doubt that anyone expects everyone here to understand the technical aspects of implementing dark mode; I don't fully understand it myself, as I've never implemented it, though I have a fair understanding of Windows programming. On the other hand, I don't understand how to fix anything much more complicated than a flat tire on my bicycle, and so, like non-techies here, I need to rely on others' understanding of the problem domain. Possible responses in that case range from "Oh, OK" to "You lazy programmers are just giving us fake news again!!!". Whatever. Again, according to the testimony of someone who had their hands on the Evernote Windows code, it's not a simple matter, and despite the feature's popularity it's apparently been prioritized down. Folks here can trust them or not (I do because they spend a fair amount of time on the forums helping users in a constructive way). BTW, note that Evernote have implemented dark mode on platforms where it where is feasible, evidently the Windows case isn't. If it were easy, they would have also done it Windows, don't you think?

Some fun dark mode reading: do a web search on "is dark mode a fad?"  

I also trust them when they say it's not a simple matter. Implementing dark mode probably requires them to restructure and hire more developers. But that's the whole point, right? To achieve complex things to stay ahead of your competitors like  OneNote and Keep. I'm an amateur when it comes to coding so maybe I don't understand, but amateurs on the internet have already build a semi-stable prototype of Evernote with a dark mode that works. If amateurs can do it in their free time Evernote surely could do it with the help of professional developers, a full access to the proprietary software, lots of moneys, and some elbow grease. 
You are clearly a person that I admire immensely, a person that helps stupid users like me in forums so I don't want to bicker but you must know as well that when users mention "lazy programmers" or "fake news" their feedback is hinting at something missing, in this case, a dark mode! And as a person that stares at a computer screen 12 hours a day dark mode is one lame fad that I can get behind 😎

[Sigurdur 7]

On 11/18/2019 at 6:12 PM, PinkElephant said:

I prefer to have engineering hours invested into more forward-looking issues than to heal the shortcomings of one of the operating systems the app is running on.

But the most forward-looking issue on windows is the implementation of dark-mode according to the forums.

[pgielzak 6]

On 12/22/2019 at 7:54 AM, Sigurdur said:

But the most forward-looking issue on windows is the implementation of dark-mode according to the forums.

Yes it is and Evernote is slacking. This is disrespectful at this point. One pro tip: Make Que of most needed changes, so people can vote on that. It is almost 2020, GET TO WORK. 

Annoyed  premium user

[HarryH 1]

Around 40% of the population are estimated to suffer from visual stress, where white pages & screens seem to glare and text appears to move around slightly. For others it's just a hindrance in limited lighting and it's not something opticians generally look or test for. If you're dyslexic or dyspraxic (like me) your odds of having it are significantly higher and you'll be in higher need of dark modes or alternative colour schemes. 

Visual stress hinders productivity. Evernote, for most, is a productivity app. Not only this, but the lack of such a mode is especially apparent for users who switch between systems, as is encouraged and I imagine many do, making the feature's absence all the more confusing and disappointing. 

[Schenck 2]

People have offered a lot of reasons, but I wonder if OneNote is taking over evernote users who rely on Windows, so they figure why bother implementing dark mode?

[jefito 5,589]

35 minutes ago, Schenck said:

People have offered a lot of reasons, but I wonder if OneNote is taking over evernote users who rely on Windows, so they figure why bother implementing dark mode?

Me, I wonder Who Wrote the Book of Love, but I don't wonder about this. With respect to dark mode, I'd guess that the number of people who choose One Note over Evernote solely on the basis of dark mode rather than other, more functionality-based reasons, is  vanishingly small, so I doubt that that's much of a factor. That, combined with the fact that dark mode isn't trivial for Evernote to implement (by all available evidence, as noted above), means that this gets prioritized down. If it were easy to do, they would have likely already done it.

[CalS 5,280]

1 hour ago, jefito said:

Me, I wonder Who Wrote the Book of Love

Warren Davis, George Malone and Charles Patrick of the Monotones.  Search is your friend.     I started a cold on Friday, I'm cranky.

[RavBoy 189]

2 hours ago, jefito said:

I'd guess that the number of people who choose One Note over Evernote solely on the basis of dark mode rather than other, more functionality-based reasons, is  vanishingly small

Yep...this is exactly the camp I fall into.  Not having Dark Mode for EN-Windows is a big let down for me, however based on all the other similarly important features/functions I need, EN still wins the day.  And I continue to use a Simple Dark Mode Work Around I shared with the community in 2018, that works great for me.

[jefito 5,589]

4 hours ago, CalS said:

Warren Davis, George Malone and Charles Patrick of the Monotones.  Search is your friend.     I started a cold on Friday, I'm cranky.

Well, mine was rhetorical, but thanks for the answer. Just got over a Christmas cold myself; buck up -- hopefully yours departs soon. Made chicken soup yesterday, can I send some over via Work Chat?

[CalS 5,280]

13 hours ago, jefito said:

Well, mine was rhetorical, but thanks for the answer. Just got over a Christmas cold myself; buck up -- hopefully yours departs soon. Made chicken soup yesterday, can I send some over via Work Chat?

I will take anything at this point.   

[jefito 5,589]

4 minutes ago, CalS said:

I will take anything at this point.   

As you know, a summer cold is a different animal, but a winter cold still sucks.

[zyga 1]

23 hours ago, jefito said:

With respect to dark mode, I'd guess that the number of people who choose One Note over Evernote solely on the basis of dark mode rather than other, more functionality-based reasons, is  vanishingly small

The dark mode available in One Note was the main reason to cancel my Evernote subscription and switch to One Note. The white screen is causing a lot of fatigue to my eyes and I choose tool with dark themes whenever possible. 

23 hours ago, jefito said:

That, combined with the fact that dark mode isn't trivial for Evernote to implement (by all available evidence, as noted above)

I am a software developer myself and having a technical debt is not something to be proud of and use as an argument  in discussion with your customers. WPF (alternative Windows UI technology) was introduced in 2006 and it is quite easy with this technology to provide themes - i was was used in the application I had been working and and black theme wasn't really a big deal.

I have also noticed that One Note provide quite sophisticated font formatting while in Evernote you cannot  fix paragraph spacing when you paste text from other sources so I hat to do some crazy acrobatics with Word to format text as I want. This also a long requested Evernote feature which is not yet on the road map yet.

[jefito 5,589]

27 minutes ago, zyga said:

The dark mode available in One Note was the main reason to cancel my Evernote subscription and switch to One Note. The white screen is causing a lot of fatigue to my eyes and I choose tool with dark themes whenever possible. 

Never said the number was 0. Just small compared to the total number of Evernote users. Hopefully OneNote is working well for you; it didn't for me (importing my notes was a disaster, and the overall note storage structure didn't really seem to suit me), but many many people use OneNote and that's great.

28 minutes ago, zyga said:

I am a software developer myself and having a technical debt is not something to be proud of and use as an argument  in discussion with your customers. WPF (alternative Windows UI technology) was introduced in 2006 and it is quite easy with this technology to provide themes - i was was used in the application I had been working and and black theme wasn't really a big deal.

First off, I am not an Evernote employee, just an Evernote user like you (thread commenter @dconnet was an Evernote employee who had their mitts on the Windows code, and you should read those posts for more insight if you haven't already). Second, nobody here said anything about being "proud of" whatever technical debt Evernote is carrying around. But technical debt is certainly a reality in the business (including with Evernote), and must be accounted for when making prioritization decisions. You don't just blithely wave it away with a magic wand. Thirdly, you should note Evernote is a Win32 application, not WPF, so that technology doesn't really apply in this case. According to those who should know best, dark mode is a big deal for the Evernote Windows application.

[PinkElephant 8,103]

If dark mode is what makes up a first class note and document program - then we have different priorities. It would be disrespectful if it would not have been explained, but there is a lot to read in this thread about the how and why (not). 

So farewell, and good luck ...

[RavBoy 189]

YAY!  Just found another workaround to clipping web-pages, that result in the newly clipped EN-Notes having a pseudo Dark Mode. It's not exactly a complete perfect solution but might help some.

How it Works:  

1. Need to have/use Google Chrome browser.  
2. Download and Install Chrome Extension 'Dark Reader'.  
3. Configure first-time setup of Dark Reader adjusting colour scheme via extensions slider adjusters.  Make sure its turned on when wanting to clip web-pages.  

NOTES:-  

1. only EN 'Article' clip-mode works (Simplified article clip option won't work).  
2. When viewing the newly clipped note on another dark-mode enabled EN platform  e.g. EN-Android ...the app will inverse the colours back..booooo,  but I can live with this as I use EN-Windows 95%+ of the time.
3. Your notes may look different if using different colour settings in the chrome extn.

 

Example NO Chrome Extension | webpage clipped using article view and (how it looks on my EN-Windows Note)

 

 

 

 

Example WITH Chrome Extension on | webpage clipped using article view

 

 

My Extn config settings

 

 

[OrbWeaver 83]

On 1/14/2020 at 11:41 PM, RavBoy said:

Need to have/use Google Chrome browser.

Dark Reader is also available for FireFox for those who would prefer that Google not watch their every click.

[ferseno 3]

Need the dark mode in the Windows app to match ios colors in dark mode !

Please !

[psynan 0]

JuSST put a god damn dark mode button and cut the crab off!!! Thanks!

When is dark mode coming to Windows and/or Evernote Web?

We don’t currently have a timeline to bring dark mode to Windows or Evernote Web. We’re currently focusing on performance improvements and feature parity in these clients before we make changes to the color theme.

[Chewed_crow 0]

I have a visual impairment that causes me eye strain. Dark modes or themes really help my ability to use a computer. I enjoy using Evernote's dark mode on my Android but would really like to have a dark mode implemented for windows.

[dougieefresh 1]

That's a helpful timeline. 

The "feature parity across these clients"* part should include a disclaimer,   *except for dark color theme feature parity, of course ; )*

How did MacOS, iOS, and Android color theme feature parity jump to the front of the line on those priorities and leave Windows at the back or as the designated driver?

What other clients are there than the two main desktop, Mac & Windows, and two main mobile, Android & iOS?

Is it likely that if the development team used Windows instead of MacOS then it would have be prioritized or at least been included?

Aside from the number of details of the matter discussed above for the technical issues, if Dark Mode were a priority, would it not also be pushed out just like any other priority or feature parity?

Perhaps, it could be less of a timeline and more of a dev-user, competitive, or business preference, but then don't devs and ceos also use the customizable Windows, and doesn't EN have to also compete with all the other Note-taking cross-platform apps that have already included the Mac, Android, and iOS clients in their Dark Mode feature parity?

...but all that is only speculation based on experience of what's been delivered.

[dcon 166]

5 minutes ago, dougieefresh said:

How did MacOS, iOS, and Android color theme feature parity jump to the front of the line on those priorities and leave Windows at the back or as the designated driver?

As far as I know, all those other clients support dark mode natively. Win32 does not. Which means writing custom controls for pretty much every single UI element in the app. That is a massive job (I know, I looked into that before I left). So prioritizing performance is a much better bang/buck for the Windows client.

7 minutes ago, dougieefresh said:

Is it likely that if the development team used Windows instead of MacOS then it would have be prioritized or at least been included?

LOL. You joke about that... The Windows dev team is about the only people there that run Windows. (Tho, when I left last June, they had managed to convince a couple more people to use Windows as their primary system)

[jefito 5,589]

1 hour ago, dcon said:

LOL. You joke about that... The Windows dev team is about the only people there that run Windows. (Tho, when I left last June, they had managed to convince a couple more people to use Windows as their primary system)

I suppose the real driver of prioritization would (or should) be number of users of each client. From this, we have the numbers of Windows, Mac and Web users being relatively equal on the desktop (the numbers presented do seem a little funny in that a lot of people use multiple clients, a mix of desktop, mobile and web).

Short form: ever since I've been coming around here, there's always someone claiming that the Mac client is getting the short end of the straw, and someone claiming that the Windows client is the one being neglected. Sort of "the grass is always greener" situation...

 

[kkkkk 0]

You should realize the power of DARK MODE

[dougieefresh 1]

2 hours ago, kkkkk said:

You should realize the power of DARK MODE

I'm reading this thread with the Dark Reader extension to simulate dark mode ; )

[jefito 5,589]

4 hours ago, kkkkk said:

You should realize the power of DARK MODE

Power? I think it's kinda like the power of Nehru jackets as a fashion statement... 

[The Prof 0]

We... need... dark... mode... 

Please do prioritize this 😭 I literally joined this discussion board to leave a note on this. 

[dougieefresh 1]

5 hours ago, The Prof said:

We... need... dark... mode... 

Please do prioritize this 😭 I literally joined this discussion board to leave a note on this. 

Based on experience from the content, timelines, and PR updates from EN, end-user needs and requests are not high on the priority list.

It's just too expensive and time consuming for the fees the end-user pays to cover the costs.

Likely we'll have to just build a bridge and get over it, until the premium users care about not having dark mode enough to quit whining and vote with our premium fees elsewhere.

It's like Microsoft's former CEO Steve Ballmer thinking the iPhone would be a flop, and look at what happened to the Windows Phone long-term.

https://youtu.be/qycUOENFIBs

EN has all the bells and whistles all the other note-taking apps do. They're prioritizing what is better for their business plan instead of the end-users needs, which is clearly a winning strategy long-term.

As long as premium-users keep paying for the CEOs "Behind the Scenes" EN, they will keep delivering EN around their needs until it hurts them too much to not change. Like many of the old "too big to fail" companies, IBM, Blockbuster, Xerox, Toys R Us, etc.

https://bgr.com/2016/11/04/ballmer-iphone-quote-explained/

https://www.computerworld.com/article/3233128/windows-mobile-rip-or-how-steve-ballmer-committed-avoidable-career-suicide.html

 

[Dave-in-Decatur 3,958]

Hi @The Prof (retired one myself) and @dougieefresh, and welcome to the forums and to this thread. Please take a few minutes to read through it, if you haven't yet, to find some explanations of why this is harder to do (not impossible, but harder and more resource-intensive) than it seems. Or just scroll up to this one from yesterday:

You may or may not find these explanations convincing. There have been times in the past when Evernote has seemed to blank out on what users are requesting. I don't think that's happening any more. But the main focus is on unifying the capabilities and user experience across platforms. Could be that once that's in place, dark mode for the Windows program will follow.

Or could be that predicting the death of Evernote, or at least drawing conclusions about their motivations. will become an Olympic sport before that happens. Check back in 6 months or a year and see. My personal take is that for a lot of people dark mode is a necessity for reasons of health, comfort, or just preference. For a lot of others, it doesn't matter. Honestly, I wish they'd implement it faster just so this thread could be put to rest.

[dougieefresh 1]

@Dave-in-Decatur

Points well-stated and quite practical indeed.

Is it possible @Got2bFree has been checking back every 6 months to a year since 2012 or @Lutts from 2013?

Surfing and skateboarding will probably be Olympic Sports before EN speculation does 😉.

You’re right though, speculation amounts to nothing more than speculation unless it contributes toward the solution.

 

 

[Salvor 3]

On 1/24/2020 at 5:13 PM, Chewed_crow said:

I have a visual impairment that causes me eye strain

Me too, but don't hold your breath waiting for a "Dark Mode" in Evernote. From reading other postings, Windows is such a small part of the Evernote user base that it's not worth the effort required to implement this. If you only need to use it occasionally, and don't need a reliable sync, OneNote has a dark mode if you subscribe to Office 365. It seems to work/sync only about half the time but it's easy on the eyes when it does.

[bionboy 2]

It must happen

[Dave-in-Decatur 3,958]

22 hours ago, Salvor said:

Me too, but don't hold your breath waiting for a "Dark Mode" in Evernote. From reading other postings, Windows is such a small part of the Evernote user base that it's not worth the effort required to implement this.

Hi @Chewed_crow and @Salvor, and welcome to the forums. Actually the other postings (especially the long thread I've linked below) generally show that making a dark mode for Windows is not as easy as on other platforms (unless you're Microsoft and wrote the OS code). But it's clear that there are quite a few Windows users of Evernote who need or strongly desire this. They're working on bringing a common user experience across the various platforms, and hopefully dark mode will be be part of it, but nothing has been promised.

 

[peralp 0]

Yes please!

[Salvor 3]

On 2/7/2020 at 10:24 AM, Dave-in-Decatur said:

there are quite a few Windows users of Evernote who need or strongly desire this

"Need" is the word I use. I had both a "Premium" (as OrbWeaver) and a "Plus" account (this one) and my eyesight has made it impossible to read Evernote's bright screen. Thus I had to cancel my Premium account as well as my Plus account. I'm now using OneNote in a limited way (their sync can take minutes vs. Evernote's seconds) and while I always preferred Evernote, I just can't use it these days. I'll be checking the status of "Dark Mode" every few months and may return to EN, but for now, EN has lost my two accounts.

[PinkElephant 8,103]

Another solution: Get yourself a Mac. I got one after having for 30 years to use what our IT-departments pushed on me. These were nice computers, don’t take me wrong. But if I declare them to be IT 1.x, compared to them the Mac feels like IT 2.0, at least. YouTube helped to learn the changes quickly.

And dark mode comes for free, in all apps, EN as well.

[CalS 5,280]

5 hours ago, PinkElephant said:

Another solution: Get yourself a Mac. I got one after having for 30 years to use what our IT-departments pushed on me. These were nice computers, don’t take me wrong. But if I declare them to be IT 1.x, compared to them the Mac feels like IT 2.0, at least. YouTube helped to learn the changes quickly.

And dark mode comes for free, in all apps, EN as well.

The true meaning of going to the dark side!  

[PinkElephant 8,103]

EN uses the OS function on the other devices. So in this sense there is feature parity between the different clients, because it draws dark mode support from the OS everywhere, where available. I personally doubt that EN will develop an own dark mode just for Windows to make up for the inability of Microsoft to provide it.

At least this would be a step away from feature parity, viewed from the coding perspective.

[jefito 5,589]

Merging with main Windows dark mode topic...

 

Look for posts by @dcon or @dconnetfor more information on why dark mode for Windows isn't here yet.

[jefito 5,589]

On 2/27/2020 at 8:09 AM, G3DCustoms said:

I use dark mode for pretty much everything on my android and Macbook Pro, there is zero reason that someone couldn't implement a dark mode variant on Window's machines.

Really? Zero? Do tell.

On 2/27/2020 at 8:09 AM, G3DCustoms said:

just glancing over the two pages and seeing that this has been requested for several years just points to priorities not being the customer.

Glance again, particularly at posts by @dcon (or @dconnet, same human, or canine) for  a better understanding of why this is difficult on Windows, so much so that it's been prioritized down.

On 2/27/2020 at 8:09 AM, G3DCustoms said:

I would like to say I will stay with Evernote, but seeing that they do not care about the Windows users I'd have to say I will find an alternative sooner or later... 

The Windows product is, in general, a good one, with some limitations. One of those limitations is that dark mode isn't available on Windows. If that's one that's a requirement for you, then sure, another product may suit you better. But it's nonsense to claim that they don't care  about Windows users.