Why is iOS's Evernote so bad compared to Android's?

[Faisal Malallah 51]

I've been a premium subscriber for a while. I use evernote on my Android Samsung Note3, work Windows PC, home Linux PC (wine), and iPad. After 3 major versions of Evernote for iOS, I'm now convinced that Evernote iOS progammers have a serious problem. Three major versions, and Evernote still can't get it right on iOS!!

 

The program keeps crashing more than on any other device

The program is very unresponsive

Tags doesnt display how many notes have the same tag

No nested tags

 

If you compare iOS Evernote to Android Evernote, you'd get a feeling these are two completely different programs with the Android's one being a lot better. Why can't evernote just port the Android version to iOS? I know Android uses java while iOS is objective C, but it's not really that hard to port a program to another languange rather than creating a whole new design and layout with its own bugs.

 

Evernote, please give up on the iOS version and just port the Android version to iOS.

 

 

[GrumpyMonkey 4,319]

I've been a premium subscriber for a while. I use evernote on my Android Samsung Note3, work Windows PC, home Linux PC (wine), and iPad. After 3 major versions of Evernote for iOS, I'm now convinced that Evernote iOS progammers have a serious problem. Three major versions, and Evernote still can't get it right on iOS!!

 

The program keeps crashing more than on any other device

The program is very unresponsive

Tags doesnt display how many notes have the same tag

No nested tags

 

If you compare iOS Evernote to Android Evernote, you'd get a feeling these are two completely different programs with the Android's one being a lot better. Why can't evernote just port the Android version to iOS? I know Android uses java while iOS is objective C, but it's not really that hard to port a program to another languange rather than creating a whole new design and layout with its own bugs.

 

Evernote, please give up on the iOS version and just port the Android version to iOS.

 

It's because Evernote hates Android users

http://discussion.evernote.com/topic/46540-why-does-evernote-dislike-android-users/

 

Seriously, though, they run a lot differently and do some different things. It is a work in progress, and hopefully, it will work a lot better for you with future updates. 

[ZZZ 135]

You should thank your lucky stars you're using the current version of the iOS app.  A year or two ago it was so horrible (and bad compared to the Android app) it was unbelievable.  They've improved it hugely since then.  Unfortunately they seem intent on creating a "cute" iOS app, compared to the outstandingly designed Android app.  But they've at least gotten the iOS app to a point where it's useful.  I'm referring to the iPad app, I have no idea what the current iPhone app is like.

 

If you don't like it, you may want to try the outstanding paid app named Clever HD.  It's cheap, $5, and makes the iPad much like the desktop program.

 

https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/clever-hd-another-client-for/id568312823?mt=8

 

Edit: lol at the first review in that link: "thank goodness this app exists! The official app is an abomination."

[Faisal Malallah 51]

Zzz

I really don't get why is it that they have a perfectly working model on the Android and yet insist on creating a whole different one on iOS from scratch.

Port the Android version and get it over with

[ScottLougheed 1,316]

Zzz

I really don't get why is it that they have a perfectly working model on the Android and yet insist on creating a whole different one on iOS from scratch.

Port the Android version and get it over with

This cannot be done. Both operating systems have hugely different underlying capabilities and requirements and limitations. Just "porting" is impossible and would ultimately produce a hugely inferior app on BOTH platforms. To adequately accommodate those limitations and optimize for the specific capabilities requires building from the ground up on each platform.

Personally, having just set my tech-moderate mother up with Evernote on her android and Windows devices, I have to say I cannot stand the appearance and organization of the android app, which is, of course, solely my opinion and not actually a problem with the app.

[jefito 5,589]

Zzz

I really don't get why is it that they have a perfectly working model on the Android and yet insist on creating a whole different one on iOS from scratch.

Port the Android version and get it over with

I think that you folks ought to meet up with the Android folks who think that the iOS client gets all of the good stuff, and buy each other a Coke or something.

 

As Scott says, porting isn't really an option.

[Metrodon 2,184]

Yeah, the recent blog post about mobile had an Android user complaining how his platform was so badly treated compared to iOS.

 

My suggestion is the same to everyone, whatever platform they use - grow up.

[jefito 5,589]

Yeah, the recent blog post about mobile had an Android user complaining how his platform was so badly treated compared to iOS.

 

My suggestion is the same to everyone, whatever platform they use - grow up.

But I don't wanna grow up...

[ZZZ 135]

This cannot be done. Both operating systems have hugely different underlying capabilities and requirements and limitations. Just "porting" is impossible and would ultimately produce a hugely inferior app on BOTH platforms. To adequately accommodate those limitations and optimize for the specific capabilities requires building from the ground up on each platform.

 

You are obfuscating to avoid his main point .  While it's true that you can't just write once and then port to the other application, they can and arguably should make both apps operate near identically.  Please note, I didn't say they should make both like Android even though IMO they should, I said they should make them both operate similarly.

 

As Scott says, porting isn't really an option.

 

 

See above.

[jefito 5,589]

This cannot be done. Both operating systems have hugely different underlying capabilities and requirements and limitations. Just "porting" is impossible and would ultimately produce a hugely inferior app on BOTH platforms. To adequately accommodate those limitations and optimize for the specific capabilities requires building from the ground up on each platform.

 

You are obfuscating to avoid his main point .  While it's true that you can't just write once and then port to the other application, they can and arguably should make both apps operate near identically.  Please note, I didn't say they should make both like Android even though IMO they should, I said they should make them both operate similarly.

 

As Scott says, porting isn't really an option.

 

See above.

See further above. The quote was specifically:

"If you compare iOS Evernote to Android Evernote, you'd get a feeling these are two completely different programs with the Android's one being a lot better. Why can't evernote just port the Android version to iOS? I know Android uses java while iOS is objective C, but it's not really that hard to port a program to another languange rather than creating a whole new design and layout with its own bugs.

Evernote, please give up on the iOS version and just port the Android version to iOS."

The point that Scott made was that it may not even be possible to make them behave similarly in all cases because the underlying OS requirements and conventions differ.

The claim that "it's really not hard to port a program to another language" is very debatable in itself.

[ScottLougheed 1,316]

Thanks jefito, that's exactly my point.

[ZZZ 135]

I read what both Faisal and Scott said.  It gave Scott an excellent opportunity to point out Faisal was wrong*, while ignoring his larger point .  The apps can be made to function near identically, and statements to the contrary such as "it may not even be possible to make them behave similarly in all cases because the underlying OS requirements and conventions differ" are obfuscation.  Of course by saying "similarly in all cases" you are technically correct and left yourself an opening the size of the grand canyon if someone disagrees, since "similarly in call cases" is open to interpretation.  But if we don't want to be silly with word games, they can be made to operate very similarly, that they don't was a very explicit design decision, or perhaps better put total lack thereof.

 

*At least for now, Google is working on a pretty good porting project, and technically there are already porting applications, but it's true you can't write a complex app and "just port it over".

[jefito 5,589]

It's pretty obvious -- at least to me -- that the practice of not making the apps on the various clients identical is by design, or at least there's not a lot of impetus to do so. The reasons aren't explicitly given, as far as I know, but my take is that they're more interested in making apps that are appropriate to the underlying OS, and getting feature parity is secondary. That's been true on the desktop clients as well for some time. We already know (because they've said so) that the teams are largely independent of each other, in terms of feature and design priorities. So will they change that practice? Good question, but they don't tell us, in general, what their future plans are, so we only have past behaviors to go on. In general, I would like to a see a general feature parity, but do I care that the apps don't behave identically? Not really. I seem to be able to use each of the Windows and Android clients pretty well.

The porting thing is a red herring, and the more I think about it, the less appealing / probable it sounds. They're not going to pitch an existing, largely functional code base without a very good reason. Moreover, a port doesn't just happen by magic in most cases: you do the port, change all of your infrastructure around the new code base, make the port actually work, and add the polish, and all of that takes time, and in the meanwhile, the code that you ported from isn't just standing still either, so now you've sunk a lot of resources into producing something that isn't up to date anyways.

Since you cite the original poster, it's not clear that crashing and lagginess are by design, and neither are the they likely to be automatically fixed by any port. They're just bugs that need to be fixed. The second two issues concern tags display. Well, OK, point taken, but again, this doesn't require a port to address. So is that the worst of it all? The OP doesn't say.

Besides all of that, there's the even larger issue that I've already pointed out: the claim that the Android app is better than the iOS app seems to be disputed by folks in the Android community, who aren't happy that (paraphrasing here) the iOS client gets all the love, while Evernote for Android languishes. I don't have a good view on that (except that I see the anecdotal claims because I read a lot of forum posts), so I can't say that one app or another is better, so the claim that the Android app is ipso facto better is somewhat in dispute anyways.

[ZZZ 135]

The reasons aren't explicitly given, as far as I know, but my take is that they're more interested in making apps that are appropriate to the underlying OS...

 

Which would be valid if we were speaking about a desktop PC versus a 7" tablet for instance.  But when we're talking about phones versus phones, and tablets versus tablets, it's nonsensical.  However if you can explain why a 10" Android tablet should operate completely differently than a 10" Apple tablet, with concrete examples*, as opposed to, "appropriate for the underlying OS", I'm all ears !  Almost all other software builders seem to make such apps as consistent as possible, so perhaps EN has discovered some secrete difference for why even the navigation structure should be completely different.

 

*A concrete example would be the dedicated buttons on Android for "menu/settings" means menu/settings for iOS need to be accessed differently.  But that's a minor issue, not a reason for having apps that don't even resemble each other.

[Rgrenader 35]

 

Zzz

I really don't get why is it that they have a perfectly working model on the Android and yet insist on creating a whole different one on iOS from scratch.

Port the Android version and get it over with

I think that you folks ought to meet up with the Android folks who think that the iOS client gets all of the good stuff, and buy each other a Coke or something.

 

As Scott says, porting isn't really an option.

 

 

So true.  Cruise over the the Penultimate forum and see how 'Droid users feel the exact same way!

[Faisal Malallah 51]

 

Zzz

I really don't get why is it that they have a perfectly working model on the Android and yet insist on creating a whole different one on iOS from scratch.

Port the Android version and get it over with

This cannot be done. Both operating systems have hugely different underlying capabilities and requirements and limitations. Just "porting" is impossible and would ultimately produce a hugely inferior app on BOTH platforms. To adequately accommodate those limitations and optimize for the specific capabilities requires building from the ground up on each platform.

Personally, having just set my tech-moderate mother up with Evernote on her android and Windows devices, I have to say I cannot stand the appearance and organization of the android app, which is, of course, solely my opinion and not actually a problem with the app.

 

 

First of all I own an iPad (iOS) and a Samsung Note 3 (Android) and I use both (Tablet and Phone). So I dont have a preference of one over the other; I would like to have Evernote functioning and working well on both platforms.

 

I have seen and use numerous programs that look and function almost exactly the same in both platforms; and they also function well. I understand that both operating systems have "hugely different underlying capabilities" but I'm also sure that a program can be made to function, look, and feel the same on both OSes just like other vendors have been able to do. It might be more work (although debatable), but it can be done. It was done before and will continue to be done.

 

My point is exactly focused on this... Evernote is creating two different programs on the 2 OSes while they can make the design, look, and function the same on both. I have seen 3 major versions of the Evernote client for ios, and all three are suffereing from almost the same problems. Wheras evernote on my Android note 3, is running near perfectly.

[whitley 3]

I hope it's okay to piggyback on this topic. I use Evernote on my Mac at home and my PC at work. I like it so much I'm shopping for a smartphone--my FIRST smartphone-- so I can take it with me.

 

Which raises the question, iPhone or an Android phone?  Setting aside the many possible price and hardware differences for the moment, my questions are:

• Which mobile OS do you prefer and why?
• As far as Evernote, is there really a big quality difference between the iOS and Android app?  
• In general, on average, which OS has the better apps? 

 

.

 

 

 

[ScottLougheed 1,316]

I hope it's okay to piggyback on this topic. I use Evernote on my Mac at home and my PC at work. I like it so much I'm shopping for a smartphone--my FIRST smartphone-- so I can take it with me.

 

Which raises the question, iPhone or an Android phone?  Setting aside the many possible price and hardware differences for the moment, my questions are:

• Which mobile OS do you prefer and why?
• As far as Evernote, is there really a big quality difference between the iOS and Android app?  
• In general, on average, which OS has the better apps? 

 

.

Each OS has its pros and cons. Evernote works well, but differently, on both platforms. I would say there isn't a dramatic difference in quality between iOS and Android versions of Evernote, but there are difference.

For example, there is some extra flexibility in accessing and dealing with files/attachments on android, and there is in-line handwriting on the latest release for android. However, Evernote for iOS has Penultimate (Which is a bit more feature-rich than the recently released handwriting built into the android app but has the disadvantage of being a separate application). The applications have different appearances to cater to the prevailing design trends in their corresponding platforms. 

All of this is to say that which is better is highly subjective based on aesthetic preference and some minor workflow niggles. 

 

As far as the quality of the available apps goes, this too is subjective. Both operating systems have lots of great applications available to them. In most cases there are very few situations where an equivalent application cannot be found on one platform or the other. 

 

I use an iPhone and iPad. Largely because 1) I own a lot of other Apple products and have for many years. 2) I don't use google's services all that much (I have a paid email provider). 3) I got into the iPhone when the 3G was released and before there was an abundance of high-end android phones and have invested heavily in the iOS ecosystem. 

Note that most of that has little to do with any real quality difference between the two operating systems and more to do with my personal situation. 

 

Go with your gut.