Inconsistent and Frustrating

[crazylegsmurphy 27]

Another week of Evernote frustrations.

 

I use Evernote on the following platforms. 

 

- OS X Mavericks

- iPad

- iPhone

 

I have about 44 notes that are my own. I have others that are shared with my girlfriend. This brings the note total to 111.

 

On the Mac client, if I click on "Notes" it shows me all 111 of them. If I click on "Notes" on the iPad, or the iPhone, I only see 44 notes. 

 

I have done the following in an attempt to get it to fully sync the notes:

 

- Deleted the app from both devices

- My girlfriend unshared, and shared all the notes again

- Pressed "Sync" about 15 times

 

So, basically at this point Evernote is becoming so annoying, it is almost useless. The inconsistency among all the clients means that I never know which one is current, where the notes are, or what the hell is going on.

 

Anyone know how to fix this?

 

Thanks,

 

CLM

[ScottLougheed 1,316]

I am unable to reproduce this problem. Granted I have over 1000 notes, and about 375 of them are shared with my partner, and another 50 shared with another party, so the math isn't as easy for me to do. That being said, a cursory look at "notes" in iOS suggests that notes in those various shared notebooks are appearing (I can't speak to the numbers, but I can definitely see notes that are in those shared notebooks). 

 

Now, I happen to be the owner of all of the shared notebooks, and it sounds like your are not the owner, which might make a difference. 

 

On your iOS device, what do you see when, rather than going to "notes", you go to any of those shared notebooks. Are their contents visible?

 

Have you contacted support? Might as well open a ticket with them while we help you tinker around here in the forums. 

[crazylegsmurphy 27]

Scott,

 

If I go to "Notebooks" on the iPad/iPhone I can manually navigate to all the shared notes. If I go to "Notebooks" on OS X, I can manually navigate to all the notes.

 

If I go to "Notes" on the iPhad/iPhone, I can only see my notes. If I go to "Notes" on OS X, I can see all 111 notes (mine, and shared).

 

 

So basically, the iOS versions are not consistent with the desktop client.

I haven't contacted support yet, I was just about to.

[ScottLougheed 1,316]

So notes in shared notebooks are available on your iOS device, they just don't show up in the "Notes" view, you have to go to that specific shared notebook to see them? 

 

Is that correct? 
 

That does seem a bit odd. not sure if that's by design or a bug or an oversight... Submit submit submit!. 

[Lenitas 2]

I did a bit of testing and can shed some light.

 

First off: this is not an iOS problem!

As I've said on the forums before, the different clients are all treating shared notebooks differently.

 

I currently own 375 notes, and my boyfriend just shared a new notebook with a single note with me.

 

Widows Client:

• Total number of notes displayed: 376
• Notes list: contains my boyfriend's note, together with all my own notes
• Note will show up if I search for title: yes
• Shared notebook is displayed: under the stack I added it to

 

Web Client:

• Total number of notes displayed: 375
• Notes list: does not display the shared note
• Note will show up if I search for title:  no! There is no "type ahead" functionality here and the note doesn't come up even when I search for the exact title.
• Shared notebook is displayed: under "Joined Notebooks" rather than the stack I added it to

 

iPad Client:

• Total number of notes displayed: 375
• Notes list: does not display the shared note
• Note will show up if I search for title: yes, and type-ahead functionality makes it easy to find.
• Shared notebook is displayed:  under the stack I added it to

 

iPhone Client:

• Total number of notes displayed: no total number given
• Notes list: does not display the shared note
• Note will show up if I search for title: no! There is no "type ahead" functionality here and the note doesn't come up even when I search for the exact title.
• Shared notebook is displayed: below "unfiled", rather than the stack I added it to

 

Mac Client:

• Total number of notes displayed: no total number given (at least I couldn't find it)
• Notes list: contains my boyfriend's note, together with all my own notes
• Note will show up if I search for title: yes (with type-ahead)
• Shared notebook is displayed: under the stack I added it to

 

 

 

So it is indeed inconsistent and yes, frustrating. No client behaves like another. Pretty irritating if you rely on various clients (for example because you travel a lot).

 

If I add a notebook to a stack then I expect the notebook to be displayed under the stack, not in a seemingly uncategorized pile of joined notebooks.

 

The total number and list of notes should show ALL notes - whether it is one that I created and shared with my partner or whether it is one that my partner created to share with me is irrelevant here. At the very least, the behaviour should be consistent across the different clients.

 

This is hurting my boyfriend more than me, as our "solution" to the inconsistencies is that generally I am the one creating the notebooks and he is the one joining them. I think the necessity of such dirty workarounds is unworthy of a software that is advertised as a tool for collaboration.

 

 

 

Edit: with all this being said, I just realized that I have to use an older version on the iPhone; my boyfriend says that the new version is closer to the iPad one which is a step in the right direction.

[Lenitas 2]

Here's what support says:

 

"Thank you for contacting Evernote support! Unfortunately there is not a way to change the way shared notebooks are viewed on the web, but I can definitely pass this feedback along to our web development team."

 

I guess this was in reply to the stacks thing, mainly, and unfortunately doesn't change the fact that the numbers are all wrong...

[crazylegsmurphy 27]

I got a reply back from support.

 

 

Thank you for getting back with me on this issue.

What you and your girlfriend are experiencing is currently expected behavior and is exactly how all platforms accessing my personal account are behaving.

Having said that I am very sorry for the confusion and frustrations this has caused the both of you. I will be more than happy to forward your feedback on to the development teams for the various platforms in hopes of achieving some consistency amongst the platforms.

 

So apparently it working inconsistently is expected behaviour. I suppose it is expected if you programmed the thing.

 

I think for anyone who is being sold on the idea that the "Premium" account enhances your collaboration with others, it might be a tad confusing when it doesn't work that way. In my personally opinion, the reply from support is consistent with a company that knows it isn't working correctly, or consistently, but doesn't want to admit that. It is the same reason why there is nothing on the sales page that indicates this.

 

I want anyone who is thinking of becoming a premium member to know the following....to avoid any confusion.

 

When another user shares a note with you, you will not be able to see it under the notes section on some clients (iOS, Web). You can see them on the Windows and Mac client. This may affect you in that if you set your iOS software up so you can navigate to the "Notes" section to find all notes by you and your collaborators, you will not be able to see them. You will have to manually navigate to each Notebook (if you can remember which one) and find the note. It will take extra time, and may frustrate you. Buyer beware.

[Lenitas 2]

 

When another user shares a note with you, you will not be able to see it under the notes section on some clients (iOS, Web). You can see them on the Windows and Mac client. This may affect you in that if you set your iOS software up so you can navigate to the "Notes" section to find all notes by you and your collaborators, you will not be able to see them. You will have to manually navigate to each Notebook (if you can remember which one) and find the note. It will take extra time, and may frustrate you. Buyer beware.

 

Actually, I think the worst aspect of this is that in some clients a note called "abc" will not show up in the search results when you search for "abc"... because you weren't the one who created it. You could argue for or against this (I personally think the note SHOULD show up in the search whether or not it currently lives in a notebook you shared with others or others shared with you), I just find it a little scary that the developers have no design consensus here themselves.

[TJ McCue 0]

I can get EN to work on my iPhones (2) and on multiple other devices, but not on my iPad2. Have read most of the threads, tried all the fix suggestions, nothing works. Bummed and frustrated. I'm a Premium user, too.

[GrumpyMonkey 4,320]

I can get EN to work on my iPhones (2) and on multiple other devices, but not on my iPad2. Have read most of the threads, tried all the fix suggestions, nothing works. Bummed and frustrated. I'm a Premium user, too.

 

Are you running iOS7? Have you submitted a support ticket (see my signature below)?