(Archived) Evernote interfaces are getting worse and worse. thinking about switching.

[Rob78 9]

I honestly don' t understand what's going on with Evernote.

The desktop Evernote was perfect. The notebooks in their various stacks were listed down the side. I could instantly click the note I wanted open. Now they've replaced the sidebar with different categories such as notebooks, tags etc. and the notebook show up staggered in the main view where you no longer have the tree view on the side for easy access. Why would they ruin it like this?

I also waited forever for the simple tree view in the ipad app and instead we got this view of notebooks spread across the screen in, and notes in a similar fashion. I had a notebook open and actually had to scroll to see just 5 different notes! because they were made on different days and started with different letters. Five notes were too big to fit in a single screen on an ipad. Just crazy. And now the desktop app is going this way. Horrible use of space and totally cluttered.

Are they going to change the iphone app now too? I assume the PC app will get the awful redesign too.

I just don't think I enjoy the design anymore.

Can anyone recommend an alternative that works on Mac and PC desktops and also the ipad and iphone? Something with a reasonable list view of stacks and just a simple uncluttered interface like the old Evernote desktop.

thanks

[GrumpyMonkey 4,319]

I honestly don' t understand what's going on with Evernote.

The desktop Evernote was perfect. The notebooks in their various stacks were listed down the side. I could instantly click the note I wanted open. Now they've replaced the sidebar with different categories such as notebooks, tags etc. and the notebook show up staggered in the main view where you no longer have the tree view on the side for easy access. Why would they ruin it like this?

I also waited forever for the simple tree view in the ipad app and instead we got this view of notebooks spread across the screen in, and notes in a similar fashion. I had a notebook open and actually had to scroll to see just 5 different notes! because they were made on different days and started with different letters. Five notes were too big to fit in a single screen on an ipad. Just crazy. And now the desktop app is going this way. Horrible use of space and totally cluttered.

Are they going to change the iphone app now too? I assume the PC app will get the awful redesign too.

I just don't think I enjoy the design anymore.

Can anyone recommend an alternative that works on Mac and PC desktops and also the ipad and iphone? Something with a reasonable list view of stacks and just a simple uncluttered interface like the old Evernote desktop.

thanks

Thanks for posting with your thoughts. Personally, the new direction with the OSX and iOS app doesn't fit my workflow as well as other clients, like the Windows one. They are not "awful," in my opinion, but they do seem to be targeting a different kind of user than me. Perhaps one who uses Evernote more for capturing data than creating, manipulating, organizing, sorting, or browsing it. Admittedly, I have seen many users who use it primarily as a place to throw things into for reference, and they don't actually spend much time inside the app.

On the Mac I have switched to the Windows interface using Parallels (https://www.evernote.com/shard/s74/sh/e0533319-72d3-443d-a506-299cdc4b791e/69092ec3e95fad10495698bf3329fdbd), and I find that has been a great solution for my workflow. Again, I want to stress that the Mac app gets a lot of things right like the Shortcuts menu, but like the iOS app, there are just some workflows that it may not be optimized to handle because it lacks things like a vertical list view, sort options, and information density.

On the iPad / iPhone alternatives are a little more difficult, but I know some users have been pleased with Clever HD. For the moment, I am doing a bit more work on mobile on my Android app, but I've increasingly just found I am so much more productive in the Windows app (via Parallels), that I am using the tablets less in the last couple of weeks than I used to. I have a bunch of out-of-town trips coming up, so I will probably use a solution like the iPad + Logmein to run Evernote remotely. I am testing this solution out. Again, there is nothing "awful" about the current update (in my opinion). There are just some workflows that it may not be optimized to handle because it lacks things like a list view, immediate access to note content, quick note creation, sort options, and information density.

[Mike Wood 139]

@Grumpy There can be no better indication of how troubled the updates are, than you switching to virtually the only client that hasn't been updated. Having to resort to logmein is a very sad indeed.

EN wake up and pay attention to your most learned users! (I'm new here, but Grumpy should be looked after)

[GrumpyMonkey 4,319]

@Grumpy There can be no better indication of how troubled the updates are, than you switching to virtually the only client that hasn't been updated. Having to resort to logmein is a very sad indeed.

EN wake up and pay attention to your most learned users! (I'm new here, but Grumpy should be looked after)

Kind words. Thank you

I've always thought we were kind of heading towards the Windows app in terms of functionality (all of the sorts, the vertical list view, etc.). But, I've come to think now that maybe OSX is headed in a different direction. The sorts didn't increase, we didn't get more information density, a vertical list view, the navigation buttons are gone, etc. Again, it's not "awful" or even "bad." I assume that is because the app is being tailored for a certain kind of user -- one that has a different use case than me. That's all. I am coming to think that I might be an edge case after all.

As far as iOS, I guess I expected something similar: more information density, more sorts, the ability to make note links, the list view, and all sorts of new stuff. I've always seen the roadmap (in my mind, at least) with with the functionality of the Windows app as the endpoint. Even though we cannot reach such a place with a mobile device, I'd hoped we would get closer and closer with each update. Again, I think the app is merely being designed for a different use case. I'm fine with that.

So, I am not sure there is anything the developers need to wake up and pay attention to after all. Actually, they have always kindly listened to my suggestions, and I am sure they have considered them all, even if they did not agree with them in the end. I trust the developers know better than us what is best for the app. I think it just works better for me to use the versions of the app that work best for my particular use case, and I am surprisingly pleased with Parallels. I've tended to use Windows on the Mac in the past as a totally separate install, but this is the first time I've had a Windows app open right on the Mac desktop. That is, indeed, quite nice

[Mike Wood 139]

@Grumpy You're fine with it, that's cool.... but I don't think its safe to assume that the Windows EN client isn't going the same way.

Its a bit like one day you are happily walking about with a Windows Mobile Smartphone with front/rear camera, USB Sync, VPN, flip out keyboard etc,

THEN your boss swaps it for a first generation Windows Phone 7 handset looks great but is missing so much. Obviously 2 years later even WP7 is getting there, but can we wait that long? and how many Windows Mobile users now have a WP7 device (not many).

[GrumpyMonkey 4,319]

@Grumpy You're fine with it, that's cool.... but I don't think its safe to assume that the Windows EN client isn't going the same way.

Its a bit like one day you are happily walking about with a Windows Mobile Smartphone with front/rear camera, USB Sync, VPN, flip out keyboard etc,

THEN your boss swaps it for a first generation Windows Phone 7 handset looks great but is missing so much. Obviously 2 years later even WP7 is getting there, but can we wait that long? and how many Windows Mobile users now have a WP7 device (not many).

Have faith. I think the development teams know their users pretty well. I'm just glad we have so many options

[Rob78 9]

Grumpy monkey I think your name betrays you. You are not grumpy enough! You re being a little too kind here, but I certainly respect that. However I must disagree with you that it isn't a bad design. An application that requires a disproportionate amount of input to see and access information is not a good design. But you hit the nail on the head when you brought up information density. This is the main problem and it is getting worse rather than better.

So perhaps you are right that it is targeted at different types if users, that is, users who prefer to have more clutter while having less direct access to information. I find it unlikely that many people would prefer this workflow that requires more user input to navigate and view information though. More likely is that they re trying it be creative and come up with interesting redesigns. The problem is that these new designs are not very functional, are less nutritive and use up more space to do less.

[GrumpyMonkey 4,319]

Grumpy monkey I think your name betrays you. You are not grumpy enough! You re being a little too kind here, but I certainly respect that. However I must disagree with you that it isn't a bad design. An application that requires a disproportionate amount of input to see and access information is not a good design. But you hit the nail on the head when you brought up information density. This is the main problem and it is getting worse rather than better.

I am sure the developers think I am plenty grumpy. I have posted an insane amount of criticisms and suggestions in this forum

So perhaps you are right that it is targeted at different types if users, that is, users who prefer to have more clutter while having less direct access to information. I find it unlikely that many people would prefer this workflow that requires more user input to navigate and view information though. More likely is that they re trying it be creative and come up with interesting redesigns. The problem is that these new designs are not very functional, are less nutritive and use up more space to do less.

People use the app different ways, and if you are into capturing things (for example), it seems pretty well set up for that. You can immediately get to the photos and so forth. That may well be the largest audience for Evernote -- take a picture of Thanksgiving dinner with Food, it goes into Evernote, and you might look at it later, but beyond that, you may not spend so much time in the app. For this kind of user, the iOS Food and Evernote folks have done an excellent job.

Then, there are people like me. I read three articles and a book today, so I have bibliographic information, reading notes, research journal notes, and all sorts of other data that I want to record, tie into my other existing notes, manipulate and organize. I also have a lot of writing yet to do today, and I want to have all of this data at my fingertips. The Card View in iOS is simply not the best view for my task, and only being able to see 8 notes at a time on OSX is like looking through a keyhole (back in the days when houses had them) to see into my memory palace.

I think it is not "bad" design. Rather, it is design with a different goal in mind. I want information density, but that may not be what the majority of users want or need. I'd prefer to have options -- a default user interface that the designers think is best for the majority of users, and alternative user interfaces for other use cases. The Windows Evernote app just happens to come the closest to the ideal UI for my use case, so I am spending more time with that now in order to get stuff done. Again, nothing against the iOS or OSX apps, but they are on a path leading away from my needs these days.

[bigfatal 0]

I agree with you and I will be less kind. The development team took a simple, logical, intuitive interface and clearly thought that more complicated, more clutter is better. They were wrong. It feels like an Apple product became a Microsoft product.

The former vertical structure allowed me to see all the notes from the selected notebook immediately. I could navigate between notebooks without having to navigate new screens. I could drag a note into a new notebook and reorganize as I saw fit and as projects evolved.

This new version is clunky and confusing and worst of all, it does not allow me to see everything at once. Having to navigate to other pages, right click to move notes, etc. defeats the beauty of what used to be a virtual multi-subject notebook.

I am also losing notes for some reason. The subject is named by the GPS location and the note itself is gone. This has happened numerous times.

What a shame!

[Rob78 9]

Yeah, even though Grumpy is trying to be fair and balanced, which is nice, the design is just truly much worse. Not just designed for a specific type of user. Here's a very simple example. Notebooks used to be displayed on the side by default. You could create notebooks directly in stacks, expand the stacks etc. Now that's gone and there is a bunch of extra space in the sidebar. We can add shortcuts, but you can't fold up the stacks, or create notebooks within the stacks or drag notebooks from one to the other or anything. That stuff has to be done on the new dedicated notebook page. It's just silly.

[MrWagstaff 22]

I am a Mac and Windows User, I have to say that at first glance the new Mac interface look really neat UNTIL I realised that I can no longer easily view my nicely ordered stacks of notebooks. The idea of removing the left panel hierarchy view where every thing could be viewed at a glance then replacing it with this fragmented horizontal layout causes me to question if Evernote are field testing this stuff properly (with heavy users). Worse, I now cannot view the whole of my stacks names as there is no way to widen the column. This is a real pain.

I hope that Evernote are not thinking of applying the same logic to the Windows interface as that will be the final straw.

This is the second time since using Evernote that a redesigned interface has made the thing difficult to use. The first being shared notes as viewed by the receiver in a web browser - I had shared schedules of work with my clients via evernote. They are presented in tables and are best viewed wide screen. The new look created by Evernote forces the shared note into a small narrow part of the screen and trying to navigate anything other that simple notes is horrendous. It is made even harder in that the horizontal scroll bar is contained at the bottom of the note and is not even part of the browser window therefore not always visible to my clients.

I am now feeling quite uneasy about committing to this application as I am worried that Evernote will keep moving the goal posts.

[Metrodon 2,184]

You can still view all your Stacks and Notebooks, just right click on the giant notebook icon. You can drag the sidebar separator so that you can see all your Stacks.

[zwettemaan 2]

Why fix something that was not broken? Or at least allow me to keep on using the 'old' UI without forcing your idea of a workflow on me?

Please keep in mind: to me EverNote is a tool, a means. It is not a goal.

Changing the UI forces me to learn new stuff. I am a very busy person, and Evernote fitted my workflow very well. Now it fits it less well, and I am starting to look at alternatives. And I don't like being forced to learn a new UI that I did not ask for. My income is derived from chargeable hours, and as such, your new UI has cost me money. And it's not because other companies do the same (e.g. Apple is trying to force ill-fitting UI changes on me too) that what you do is OK.

If you have 1000 customers, and 10 of them complain, and you make changes to appease those 10 - please think of the silent majority of 990 customers that did not complain. They were happy with what you did. Well, I am one of the 990 - and now I am not happy any more. Unhappy enough to make the effort to find this forum and voice my unhappiness.

[JMichaelTX 4,117]

Have faith. I think the development teams know their users pretty well. I'm just glad we have so many options

GM, sorry, but if you keep posting these type of remarks, then I think you will have to change your screen name to "Alice in Wonderland".

At this point, I have absolutely NO FAITH that the EN Dev teams know or understand their users.

How can you say that with a straight face?!?!?!?!?

[JMichaelTX 4,117]

I honestly don' t understand what's going on with Evernote.

The desktop Evernote was perfect. The notebooks in their various stacks were listed down the side. I could instantly click the note I wanted open. Now they've replaced the sidebar with different categories such as notebooks, tags etc. and the notebook show up staggered in the main view where you no longer have the tree view on the side for easy access. Why would they ruin it like this?

While I don't agree that the previous ver of EN Mac (3.x) was "perfect", it is clearly superior to Ver 5.

I find Evernote to be a critical, vital, app in my everday workflow. I can't imagine my days without Evernote, or something equivalent (or better).

But I have to say that in the over 2 years that I have been active in these forums, I have NEVER see such a rejection by users of a new version of EN Mac as I have seen with EN Mac v5.

Evernote, you made a huge mistake with Skitch Ver 2, but you quickly admitted the error of your ways, and have commited to fixing it.

It is PAST DUE for you to admit that EN Mac v5 is a mistake, and immediately restore the features and UI benefits (like showing total notes in Window bar).

The sooner you do this, the quicker we will be ready to forgive you and continue to support your product.

The longer you resist, the more we will complain, and look for alternate products.

[GrumpyMonkey 4,319]

Have faith. I think the development teams know their users pretty well. I'm just glad we have so many options

GM, sorry, but if you keep posting these type of remarks, then I think you will have to change your screen name to "Alice in Wonderland".

At this point, I have absolutely NO FAITH that the EN Dev teams know or understand their users.

How can you say that with a straight face?!?!?!?!?

Well, I don't know why my brilliant suggestions are not being implemented, that's for sure, but I get the feeling that they needed something out the door right now to coincide with the Business launch. I expect they will spend their Holidays working on my vertical list view, information density (why is it all hidden?), customizable toolbar, etc. The interface just needs a few tweeks here and there.

[JMichaelTX 4,117]

If you have 1000 customers, and 10 of them complain, and you make changes to appease those 10 - please think of the silent majority of 990 customers that did not complain.

Evernote, if you don't know this you should. Most users will not bother to find the product forum, create a new account (while worring about their privacy), figure out how to use the forum software, find the right forum/subforum, and then finally post a msg, pro or con.

The response of most users who do NOT like the software, or an update to the software, is as follows:

1. Quit using the software
   
2. If they MUST use it, use ONLY when absolutely necessary.
   
3. IF they really liked the previous version, AND they have the time, go through the trouble to post a complaint on the product's support forum.
   
   1. 
      
   2. Most users want to be nice, and so understate their problem with the new version
      
   3. A few users, who are really pissed off because of the PAIN your product caused them, will post an abusive complaint.
      
   4. A small number of user will try to post a balanced complaint, politely asking you to fix the problem you caused.
      
      
      
      The point being that for every user who is willing to take the time and trouble to post a complaint, there are many, many other users who feel the same way. There are statistics available on this subject, as it has been widely studied.
      This is NOT a new issue.

[Mike Wood 139]

@JMichael I guess EN rely on login frequency and updates/new note counts to judge customer satisfaction.

Perhaps they should add a rating icon to the toolbar! so we can express/ adjust our 'warmth' on a daily basis!

[cwb 225]

If you have 1000 customers, and 10 of them complain, and you make changes to appease those 10 - please think of the silent majority of 990 customers that did not complain. They were happy with what you did. Well, I am one of the 990 - and now I am not happy any more. Unhappy enough to make the effort to find this forum and voice my unhappiness.

It may be more grim than that.

If you take everyone who's grumpy on recent stuff, collectively they're now still the 10 in 1000.

Evernote does not seem to be doing a good job converting users from free to premium (plenty of vocalized reasons on that, myself included).

Yet they'll no doubt have significant pressure for earnings coming from the investors.

They've shown they can make money from the free users.

The power users may think they're owed some deference as the long suffering loyal premium users.

Yet that perhaps vocal group is small.

Look at the numbers: http://techcrunch.com/2012/06/19/evernote-by-the-numbers-34m-users-1-4m-paying-and-how-different-platforms-pay/

We (Er... Excluding I, I just reverted back to free), are 1M in 34 million. And growing at a slower rate. 5%?

Moreover they make more from the Food, Skitch and Hello users than the Evernote client users.

They're going to follow the money. Worse, when you do finance deals with the devil (and yet they're called angel investors somehow ;-) it's your fiduciary responsibility to. Dance wit' the one w'hat brung ya' - as it used to be said. We may think its us, but it's not.

So perhaps - to try and grok the reasons - try putting the changes in the context of a calculated decision to target a different set of users. The ones actually paying the bills by their sheer numbers. Churn or no churn. In fact maybe churn is a feature. If you're not converting them into continuing revenue, at least they can dwindle away and take their load off your server bills after you've made your $8 off them and make room for the next one.

Short sighted? Sure, IMO, but by their nature investors ARE short sighted, and have short sighted goals for returns. If Phil wants to build his company for the next 100 years, he's going to have to payout the investors first.

So the problem isn't Evernote, it's (as it often is), the uninspired minion horde 90% user base.

So as you glance over at the table next to you, and that MySpace/AOL user snapping a picture of their meal into Evernote Food (though admit it, most of us have dabbled with it, and it's pretty - *ahem* I meant to say, we appreciated the structured data input layer to Evernote)... It's they, not the developers who ruined your Evernote workflow.

[Disclamer: I'm not suggesting you spit in their food on your way out]

[beirne 8]

I honestly don' t understand what's going on with Evernote.

The desktop Evernote was perfect. The notebooks in their various stacks were listed down the side. I could instantly click the note I wanted open. Now they've replaced the sidebar with different categories such as notebooks, tags etc. and the notebook show up staggered in the main view where you no longer have the tree view on the side for easy access. Why would they ruin it like this?

I think a key here might be how many notebooks you have. I was also annoyed with the new notebook interface until I realized that I can put the notebooks I'm currently using into the shortcuts folder. This is actually a net plus for me, as I've accumulated a lot of notebooks but have a lot that I rarely look at. So while I have to move my commonly-used notebooks to the shortcuts display I've ended up with a much shorter list of notebooks to look through.

[NightStalker 407]

I think it is not "bad" design. Rather, it is design with a different goal in mind. I want information density, but that may not be what the majority of users want or need.

Grumpy - I realise that you're trying to be nice here, but let's call a spade a spade - it IS a bad design. It is truly awful. Even if we had not had the previous version against which to compare it, this current version of Evernote is BAD. It is the sort of app I would think might be good if I spotted it in the App Store, download it, run it once or twice, then uninstall it.

Your idea that it is good for people who just capture stuff and store it in Evernote is also wrong IMHO - my other half uses it for just that purpose - particularly recipes - and absolutely HATES the new version with a passion. Downgrading her iPad and Macbook to the previous versions for her (as I have done with mine) scored me a night of very nice gratitude...

Two things stand out for me in this rubbish of an upgrade (and I'm NOT trying to be kind) - the fact that they have actually REMOVED so many features that worked beautifully and made Evernote what it is, AND the fact that they appear not to be listening to a highly vocal bunch of literate, articulate, and obviously heavy users of the software that post in these forums. They are just going on their merry way, rather than stopping the carnage!

Sorry Grumpy - I really do think that you're being not grumpy enough. The time has come where a mess needs to be called a mess!

And for just another example of an upgrade that has royally screwed things up, check out Zite, the personalized magazine app, bought a while ago by CNN. It was by far the most popular and effective news aggregator, and really easy to use. It consistently scored 5 stars on the App Store. So what did they do? Screwed it up with a jazzy new design, changed the interface, took out stuff that worked, and broke much of the functionality that worked so well. I think they must have been watching the Evernote design team! Now it is getting a string of really bad, 1-star reviews. They've lost it. The plot, that is. It didn't need "fixing" so they fixed it anyway. And I have stopped using it, where I used to use it multiple times daily, as it had direct links to Evernote. Now it's yet another mess created by designers for the sake of change.

Stop being such a nice guy, Grumpy - call EN v5 for what it is. A mistake (the nice way to call it) or a screwed up awful mess (the truth).

[PeterLondon 34]

NightStalker - you are spot on once again. It's a MESS, a BiG MESS for sure.

The strange and tragic thing is, that the EN team just don't seem to realise what a fantastic app they created, and how it was well on it's way breaking-out into the business market - just like Dropbox has done.

EN has revolutionised the way I do business, and all the business people I have shown it to have been blown-away and signed-up at once. It's now in my top 3 apps: Email, Web Browsing, Evernote. That is a stunning achievement for a new app.

Many folks who I tell about EN say: "so it's really like Dropbox?". No, no I say. It's a million times better!

[GrumpyMonkey 4,319]

Grumpy - I realise that you're trying to be nice here, but let's call a spade a spade - it IS a bad design.

With a few changes it could be much better for my use case. I cannot speak for others, and like I said, assuming the developers made design decisions with reasons in mind, then we have to assume they were targeting certain kinds of users with the app. Based on the features removed and the ones added, I would say it is for a more casual user. Bad for me, but maybe good for the app. I have introduced it to people who quite like it. Personally, I think the design works best on the iPhone, so those users might have a different reaction than iPad users.

Two things stand out for me in this rubbish of an upgrade (and I'm NOT trying to be kind) - the fact that they have actually REMOVED so many features that worked beautifully and made Evernote what it is, AND the fact that they appear not to be listening to a highly vocal bunch of literate, articulate, and obviously heavy users of the software that post in these forums. They are just going on their merry way, rather than stopping the carnage!

Actually, I think they do listen, and engage with the users. As I said, I think my opinions have been heard, and that is enough for me. Of course, I'd like to see all sorts of changes implemented, but in the end, it is the decision of the designers about what they need to do for the app.

Sorry Grumpy - I really do think that you're being not grumpy enough. The time has come where a mess needs to be called a mess!

Maybe I am not grumpy enough. I suppose that is just who I am. I'll gripe and complain, and then move on if I cannot get any traction. I might post passive-aggressively on the forums about the Vertical List View, Reverse Sort Order, etc. But, that's about the extent of it. The developers have made their decisions and now I have to figure out how to adapt my workflow to the app. Maybe they'll adopt some of my suggestions in the future, but I cannot depend on that.

And for just another example of an upgrade that has royally screwed things up, check out Zite...

A good cautionary tale. I am sure the developers are away of their colleagues dropping like flies around them, and they are trying to avoid the same fate! It is their careers on the line, after all:)

Stop being such a nice guy, Grumpy - call EN v5 for what it is. A mistake (the nice way to call it) or a screwed up awful mess (the truth).

The eye of the beholder and all that. I've got a fairly short list of stuff I want to see in the app: speed, information density, stability, navigability, and so forth. I've got stuff to do and I want to get it done. However the developers want to achieve these things (assuming that they do), I am on board with it (I am not sure that is what the current app aims for).

The current design with a search bar on the main screen, the old split screen with a list view, more sorts, etc. would help me. if the spinning notes are slowing stuff down, then I hope they get rid of the animations. I don't need them. These are not major things that necessarily require an overhaul. It doesn't seem to be a mess to me from the perspective of the casual user, and from the perspective of a heavier user, it could use a few tweaks.

[NightStalker 407]

As I said, I think my opinions have been heard, and that is enough for me

Far too nice a guy, Grumpy That's NOT enough for me. Even if they listen, even if they take note of our comments, but as long as they DO nothing about them, then our time on here is completely wasted. All hot air. Or as we say here Down Under - p*ssing into the wind...!

Since I upgraded back to v3.3 on the Mac, v4 on the iPad and iPhone, and Skitch v1 on the Mac, I'm a happy user again. The only annoyance is I can't stop iTunes and the iOS devices from showing me the updates permanently. I can stop the Mac versions by setting the Preferences not to check for updates at all.

One day, no doubt, these previous versions that I'm running, will no longer work when I upgrade my devices, OS, or some other reason. If they have not fixed the programs so that at the very LEAST they are as good as the previous versions now are, then I will be looking for something else completely.

As somebody already pointed out, the fact that you are having to use the Windows version on your Mac via Parallels say a lot. What will you do when they update the Windows version and make it worse like the Mac version? I hope you noted the link to the previous versions that I posted - you might need it.

Just one tip, though - don't keep the link in Evernote - it may disappear ....

[GrumpyMonkey 4,319]

As somebody already pointed out, the fact that you are having to use the Windows version on your Mac via Parallels say a lot. What will you do when they update the Windows version and make it worse like the Mac version? I hope you noted the link to the previous versions that I posted - you might need it.

The Mac interface is fine and perfectly usable, just to be clear. The Windows app happens to work better for my use case. The Vertical List View alone makes it worth it for me, but in the big scheme of things, it is a little thing, of course. Most people probably wouldn't even use it if we had it. Now, if Windows reduces the information density I enjoy and starts messing around with features, like removing the List View, then I will be very grumpy!

I upgrade with every update to the Mac app looking for the stuff I want to see. It'll come eventually. I keep thinking they are holding out for my Christmas present.

[JMichaelTX 4,117]

I keep thinking they are holding out for my Christmas present.

Yeah, right.

If Santa doesn't deliver, maybe the Tooth Fairy or Easter Bunny will.

[mystical 0]

Same thing for me today on Ipad 2 after upgrading to IOS6 last week. Worse yet, it lost data from one of my notes. Caused me to join Premium service, paying them money just to recover a older, one month old version of the information i needed. Very poor performance from what i thought was a trusted leader. Believe me, i am done with evernote as i cannot ever be at risk of losing important data.

Signed "outta here"!

[EmilyM 2]

I very much appreciate the high-level discussion going on here (and the respectful tone!). I think that most opinions and observations voiced here have the ring of truth. If it ain't broke, don't fix it just to make it look "new." This new version took me completely by surprise and has put a crimp in my Christmas planning -- ironic since I just got the Evernote newsletter last night full of all kinds of suggestions for how to use Evernote to help your Christmas gift shopping etc.

I have been using Evernote since 2008, and never had a problem or a complaint until this week! Suddenly, I find a new version that looks horrible, and I can't get any of the notes I created or updated on my Android phone in the last 2 days to sync to Evernote on my Mac laptop. What's happening is that I can't make the new Evernote sync, and I can't log out of it either, on my Mac laptop. I might try uninstalling and reinstalling, but I'll wait a bit first to see what happens since I'm wary of losing data.

As you might gather I am one of those fairly casual users who "captures and dumps" a lot. And I am also finding that this new interface is wretched! And obviously buggy, too, since it's stopped syncing. If it won't sync, it's useless. Actually worse than useless because I will lose, or lose track of, my data.

I am also one of those very few who were geeky enough (and had enough time on my hands, being unemployed at the moment), to actually go look up my Evernote password, start a new profile, take off that photo of myself that they presumed to put in for me, and figure out where the heck to actually post something about this, and read this entire thread to see what is going on this week. The forums are not easy to navigate, either.

I submitted a tech support request for the failure to sync, but being a free user I don't have much hope for getting a response...

[GrumpyMonkey 4,319]

I submitted a tech support request for the failure to sync, but being a free user I don't have much hope for getting a response...

Hi. Welcome to the forums. Sorry to hear about your sync problems. I think what you are experiencing is probably a known issue. See this post

As for customer service, free or premium, they always get back to you

[SIC 0]

I adopted Evernote a few months ago primarily because I really liked the interface. The current version is *so* different from how it was then, that it's hard to imagine what the designers could have been thinking. I find it so unintuitive that I've more or less stopped adding anything new, and am just using if I need emergency access to my old stuff. Such a shame.

[davortesting 0]

You can still view all your Stacks and Notebooks, just right click on the giant notebook icon. You can drag the sidebar separator so that you can see all your Stacks.

OMFG so tree view has been available to us all this time. People raging on the forum about this for days and this is first time someone (not even from EN) mentioned this.

Now next request i have is to have ability to activate 2nd side bar next to current one or split same one into 2 or 3 vertically. 1 for notebook stacks, 1 for tags.

and even 1 for shortcuts.

That would eliminate all the scrolling and drastically improve and speed things up.

[jefito 5,589]

Oh My Fairy Godmother?!?!?

[Metrodon 2,184]

You can still view all your Stacks and Notebooks, just right click on the giant notebook icon. You can drag the sidebar separator so that you can see all your Stacks.

OMFG so tree view has been available to us all this time. People raging on the forum about this for days and this is first time someone (not even from EN) mentioned this.

Now next request i have is to have ability to activate 2nd side bar next to current one or split same one into 2 or 3 vertically. 1 for notebook stacks, 1 for tags.

and even 1 for shortcuts.

That would eliminate all the scrolling and drastically improve and speed things up.

You mean people look at something for one second and don't recognise it and then get a ladder to get up on their high horse to post self-aggrandising nonsense about their 5 millennia of experience and the destruction of this wonderful and all encompassing product?

Sometimes 5 minutes quiet reflection can be time very well spent.

[Ubiguchi 2]

As a committed EN user this thread finally convinced me to create a forum account and post as its theme is spot on and I really, really want the EN devs take note of the negs they're picking up, otherwise its pretty obvious the EN user base will dry up over the next year or so and the product will go the way of the dinosaurs.

Having previously been a Windows and OneNote user, I came over to EN having decided its the best cross-platform notes application. With its syncing features and general ease-of-use it is currently the most critical application I use, and is a staple part of my Android, Mac OS X, and Windows experience. Although I personally feel the UX has never been as flexible nor as intuitive as OneNote, it was pretty usable until Mac OS X v5, but its now become a real pain in the backside. While I've currently decided to struggle on with EN, given the company seems to have lost the plot, I suspect I'll be finding a replacement sometime in 2013.

So come on EN, you have a bit of time to redeem yourselves and save the product. If you don't understand what you've done wrong, perhaps you should try using the product a bit more, but if you don't get it together soon you're going to be finding yourself at the back of the job queue, having hopefully learned the importance of keeping your users happy.

[Mike Wood 139]

@Ubiguchi I think EN are getting the message and yes the next two months will be critical. If you watch the designer videos and the recent Libin interview it's clear they meant to deliver a different result!

I suggest this is a time for reflection and a good time to pause and draw breath!

Merry Christmas - I hope EN staff get a good break and come back all fired up, ready to rebuild some 'bridges' in the New Year!

[Ubiguchi 2]

@Mike Wood - Merry Christmas back at ya, and also to the EN staff. EN is still the best cross-platform note-taking platform out there, and I'm sure with some reflection and re-focusing it can stay that way.

[NightStalker 407]

As for me, having been posting a fair bit in here and generally being a PITA, I'm just reporting that I'm still very happily using v3.3 on the Macs, and v4 on the iDevices. I'm continuing to check the forums here to see if or when it might be safe to try upgrading once again - but from what I've read so far, that time is still nowhere near. I think it might be sometime during the next Mayan calendar - oh, hang on....

I'm sticking with my earlier versions, and they all just work. The only improvements would be List view on the iPad, and the addition of reverse sort order on all of them.

The only pain is having to select all my iOS upgrades in iTunes one at a time, instead of using the "Download All Updates" button, as there seems no way to tell the iEcosystem to STOP checking for updates for particular apps.

And for those who may have read my mention of Zite in a previous post (off topic, I know, but relevant) - I've gone back to Zite v1 and I'm doing the same with it as I am with Evernote. Zite v2 is an abomination of a mess, and Zite has gone from nearly all 5-star ratings on the App store to most current version ratings being 1-star complaints. But the company is not listening. Sound familiar?

CleverHD is excellent, but still needs a bit of work, including offline storage (preferably using the Evernote database to avoid double storage), and the iOS standard tap on the top line to scroll to the top of a long list doesn't seem to work in CleverHD. But the CleverHD developer seems to be VERY responsive....

Happy Christmas to everyone here, especially the Evernote team, and I hope that the New Year may bring massive changes to Evernote that put it right back where it was with the last version but just with the addition of a couple of extra goodies....

[mogf01 12]

I fully agree with the OP. Evernote is becoming worse and worse, and it has gotten so bad that I really want a replacement. Unfortunately, there seem to be no clear alternative that does the same thing, so I will have to change the way I work with notes most probably.

[Holly Chapple 1]

EN is now a POS.

Can someone tell me how to downgrade.

I asked TS and they sent me a link that didn't work. What a surprise!

I am fortunate to have a 3.0.5 version that still works.

When did cut and paste become "new future feature". Pasting a hyperlink....forget it.......duh!

The new format blows, too.

I totally agree with the threads about calling a spade a spade.

Some who try to sugar coat the problems must think girls don't go number two either.