Penultimate 6 FAQ and How-To Info

[Jesse S. 1]

I had to switch to GoodNotes 4 on the iPad.  I couldn't wait for them to add the airplay streaming back into the app.  I'm now looking for alternatives to Evernote Premium as well, since GoodNotes doesn't sync with Evernote.  I'm seriously considering google keep, since I am already a google apps for business subscriber.  This Penultimate debacle combined with the poor UI choices on the new version of the Mac app are leading me to believe it's time to start looking for a new note-taking relationship, as Evernote and I seem to be looking for different things

[Neil M. 1]

Hi there, long time Evernote user, started using Adonit Jot evernote edition to take notes in penultimate this past year.

 

I really enjoyed a number of the features, and they are what also disappeared in this update:

 

1.) I like the flipping pages. Is there any chance we can get this back? I don't want to scroll.

2.) Can we get the inline zoom back? It was better than writing in a box (which is why I originally picked penultimate over other writing apps).

 

Also, I just saw the Evernote business moleskine. Any chance penultimate will get a page layout with the same meeting note sharing capabilities?

[Bjorn Vang Jensen 5]

Personally, I'm not so bothered by the continuous scroll, but two things that have really turned me off in the new app are:

 

1. For a leftie like me, Penultimate's original drift function was awesome. Shifting that to a zoom box was a terrible move, no matter how resizeable it is. Please consider reinstating the original drift functionality, or at least give us the option to have the zoom box located at the top of the screen, like Notability did a long time ago. That will be really helpful for us southpaws
2. Also, like many have pointed out, the ink rendering is really, really, really terrible in the new version. In the old Penultimate, the ink flowed extremely smoothly, and had the look and "feel" of a really nice fountain pen. Some may like that and some may not, but I for one loved it. Notability and Noteshelf both offer beautiful fountain pen-like ink rendering (Noteshelf is the best by far), and I would really like to see that return, or even improved. Perhaps as a separate "pen" choice.

Thanks in advance! 

[hello 0]

1. While working with cut-copy-paste-move tool with a bulk lines of text, there is a very huge lag in response esp.,while "selecting and moving". It makes the tool completely unusable while working with large chunks of text. (Device: Penultimate 6.0.1- iPad 2- iOS 8)

2. Many a time there is a lag while scrolling through the notes with two-fingers.

[SJunto 4]

I haven't switched to another app yet...mainly too busy on other stuff and avoiding the app for now mostly...I like some of the improvements to the prior release - ability to view pages along left side is one, though I still liked the old functionality better...  Here also are a few things that I really think you should consider working on in the next release:

 

-  Cut / copy / past / move ENTIRE PAGE easily (to duplicate, move to another notebook, etc.)

-  Go back to old zoom functionality - just zoom in on one point in a page where you want to, and scroll from there (instead of the goofy box that floats and shows up on the bottom  This is better than what you had, but still not as good as zooming in where you want and having that take up the whole screen - I used it a lot, wrote small notes to myself, zoomed to re-read.

-  Not sure what you can do about the following - but perhaps others have the same issue:  when you expanded the page size to fit the whole iPad screen (which is fine with me), you also "auto-scaled" the graphics up proportionally on existing pages.  By that I mean the following:  Assume you had zoomed in and written in samllish print with a stylus on finest point possible.  When you un-zoomed, you would have small, fine print.  Then, when your new version expanded the page out - it proportionally took the width of the drawn lines up with it - thus making the lines "fatter" graphically, and, if you had a small letter, that expansion / fattening of the lines created blurry / messy written letters which are hard to read.  If possible, you could just make the page bigger, without the scaling of the graphics?  Did this mess anyone else up?

 

Finally, I hope you guys have done something / are considering doing something internally to make sure that product management for this product is looked at differently in the future.  You had something that worked really well.  I continue to hope you will either revert or make changes that look like the old version...  My kids are learning to write in things that still look like a word processor (pages), do presentations in things that look like a PPT deck, etc.  There will be evolutions, but a product management team should never shove them down a user bases throat when you are dealing with people's fundamental data / content input / consumption interfaces.

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Note: had to go in edit post, as this shockingly prudish platform replaced the word s c r e w with " ******** " ... funny

[mroyse 1]

I had to switch to GoodNotes 4 on the iPad. I couldn't wait for them to add the airplay streaming back into the app. I'm now looking for alternatives to Evernote Premium as well, since GoodNotes doesn't sync with Evernote. I'm seriously considering google keep, since I am already a google apps for business subscriber. This Penultimate debacle combined with the poor UI choices on the new version of the Mac app are leading me to believe it's time to start looking for a new note-taking relationship, as Evernote and I seem to be looking for different things

And if we cancel our premium account will they even care. This Update is sad to say the least. If you find something let us know. I am currently using Noteshelf.

[James Mayes 1]

I guess the Penultimate team didn't get a copy of Phil's blog post from January. "On Software Quality and Building a Better Evernote in 2014" - http://blog.evernote.com/blog/2014/01/04/on-software-quality/.

 

And yes...there is another forum just like this one with an equal number of complaints about the latest version of Evernote and issues with data loss there too.

 

I'm really curious to know who the beta testers were that liked this release.  For so many users, old and new, to demand so many fixes (really just putting what was existing functionaliy back into the product) so quickly after the release and for EN to agree and release updates so quickly makes me question the processes and people in place at EN.  Maybe the people are the same ones who released Windows 8 at Microsoft.

 

Seriously though, EN needs to work much harder at protecting not only user data but also user confidence.  We trusted EN.  That trust has taken a major hit.  I'm sorry isn't enough.

[hello 0]

Guys,

1. Pages are not saving properly and I have lost a page in one note. Pls release a quick fix for notes being lost/not saved issues before anything else.

2. While duplicating a note with windows client the pages gets rearranged in random.

[typhoid03 0]

I've been trying to insert a picture into my notes, now when I close penultimate it deletes the picture and all notes in that notebook taken after the picture, I have tried this three times and lost a fair amount of work

[KnRomig 10]

Seriously everyone - it's time to move along.

 

Is it fully clear now that EN does not care about this customer base (or should I say former customer base).

 

The destruction of so many user's workflow, data, and productivity with no resolution (or even apology) is telling.

 

I have been vacillating between NoteShelf and GoodNotes - both have interesting features, yet both are not without faults.  (I understand that Notes Plus is supposed be pretty solid, I just haven tried it yet).

 

What is clear is that both NoteShelf and GoodNotes provide at least the minimum features that, what seems to be quite literally, the entire Penultimate user base relied upon.

 

Features which no longer exist in whatever the "new" note taking app that EN calls Penultimate 6.0 (it is so clearly a different product that the the name itself is misleading).

 

What I find so disturbing is that I paid for Penultimate and now I somehow can't have the product I purchased.  Seems almost fraud - but there is likely language buried in the EULA that permits what is basically theft.

 

Once, i get my new work flow figured and make the necessary changes, I will be closing my company's EN professional accounts.

That appears to be the only way that EN will take any notice - it obviously has disassociated itself from me, so I will soon do likewise.

 

Such a shame, EN was my firm's main research collaboration tool.  Tending toward OneNote, but are exploring other options.

[SJunto 4]

Has been a while since anyone from EN has posted any sort of update.  I assume (hope) someone is monitoring this board.  If so, can you please provide an update of what you are working on, the anticipated timing of those releases, etc.?

[Geez 0]

I stupidly updated my original Penultimate ... the new version is *****.

I have created 102 notebooks since the original app was available and ... needless to say, it was GREAT.

I now cannot use these notebooks, nor manipulate my work in any meaningful way.

Why would Evernote mess with something that worked extremely well, and that didn't need any fixing?

To be clear, just in case the idiots who are responsible for the changes are listening, the key faults are:

- older notebooks are 90 degrees rotated

- page turnings have been replaced by scroll : totally unnecessary

- photo inserts can't be varied in size

- pen scribing is often out of sinc and can be several cm away from point of contact

- icons have been changed needlessly

- thumbnail notebooks have lost their original notebook appeal

- scrolling across pages is now linear & a waste of time, compared with the previous storyboard approach

- using highlights, when under magnification, goes berserk ...

These are the key issues I've noticed without trying the use this updated piece of ***** ..

I'm sure there are others that would be self-evident if I could manage my anguish, frustration and anger.

At this stage, basic customer service would suggest a response and prompt return to 'what was'.

I will. Be pleasantly surprised if there's even an acknowledgement by you folk.

I am referring to 5 years of work as a design consultant ...

How dare you mess with my work in this way.

In a word ... I'm totally PISSED.

G

[cboggs2@comcast.net 0]

How do I see me notes in a notebook alphabetically?. I have 61 notes and they are arranged by date modified. Someone please help.

Two finger scrolling is difficult to use.

The improvements since the 6.0 introduction have been nice but 5 was a better product. I have multiple years invested in your product and I am getting ready to try another product

[ray chamnpney 3]

I want to convert my notes to a PDF and email them from Peneultimate on my IPad ... I could do this on the old version but cannot on the new one -- can it be done and if so how? I have tried emailing the notes from the email function but it only sends a link not the notes. Also, I have not been able to figure out how or what the PDFs function is in the window that contains the email function-- need direction. If I can get this up and running I think I'll be close to being functional again.

[elsatch 0]

I was a daily user of Penultimate and premium evernote subscriber. After this "update" I've used the app twice. First time I was astonished about the laggy response and the bad taste on design. I could note even manage to take a single note. Second time, I checked for the 6.0.1 update... Same abysmal quality.

 

I even checked for my renewal date to unsubscribe... I feel I cannot trust Evernote as a reliable partner into my productivity. It feels more like a burden than as a day-to-day tool. What else won't work tomorrow? Why every new feature feels so not production ready?

[corellia40 0]

If you're still tracking this bug/user request list, in addition to all of the other lost functionality, I just discovered that I can no longer merge notebooks.  This is seriously detrimental to my workflow.

 

I was extremely comfortable with the overlay and found it quite intuitive.  The new zoom box is clunky and made me have to check documentation to figure it out.  

[André Lima 0]

When I change a type of paper inside one note, all pages change too. I need to change only one page. Please, fix it.

[SJunto 4]

Well guys, I give up.  I went away frustrated shortly after this new update.  I started to see some improvements (basically adding back old functionality to the notebook paradigm, which is what made this app so awesome in the first place).  So I started back using the app a bit after the first of the year.  Today, I started writing again with my stylus.  I worked for 45 minutes and the app simply crashed and I lost all my work.  This didn't happen once in the old app.  So I'm moving on...

 

But here's my big issue with this whole release:  It was a failure.  It was a mistake to start over with a new app basically.  I'm not sure why you did the redesign, but you did not understand how your users interface with the app.  And the thing is, its really not a big deal, it happens and is a great opportunity to learn.  What happened next to me, however, is the real shame and failure.  Once your leadership team started to see the reaction (I am making an assumption that some leaders above the Penultimate team actually got involved...could be wrong and maybe this was just bottled up inside that team...), they simply plowed forward into the storm.  It would be really hard to think the Pen team would think "uh oh, we've gotta revert fast" and admit failure - that's what stable, strong leadership is supposed to do and support.  Your organisation had a chance to do the brave, correct thing for your customers - revert back, use this as a learning experience, and move forward again from there.  Instead, I am guessing, as is the case in most organisations, there are a lot of people inside saying "well we learned some things, but come on team, we're great!  Let's keep going forward!!!!"  I'm not suggesting that anyone needed to be fired, or yelled at - just a rational group of people saying "Look guys, understand what you tried to do, but let's go back, look at what happened here and learn from it, and then move forward.  And importantly, let's dialogue with our users about what they like, and where they would like to see improvements".  How many development hours have you spent basically responding to user feedback since this release?  What if half of those hours would've been spent in advance getting input from your users to make some changes?  Instead, you have lost an entire cohort of users, who are now silent and gone, and you can move on feeling like it was just a few crabby people.  Not sure how, or if you can, track usage stats, but I would guess you lost a HUGE chunk of your super-users.

 

Anyway, good luck, I hope this isn't the culture that runs Evernote as a whole.  Organisations that don't reflect on, and look for the root cause of, problems and mistakes usually get into trouble.

[elsatch 0]

I've moved to Noteself and I couldn't be happier. I'm worried about some potential radical improvements to Evernote app in the future could wreck it too. So please, keep working on stability and user reported flaws and don't try to redefine what productivity means...

[Ali2610 0]

Why can't I export a single page anymore??  I have files with many pages and only need to export certain ones, this was available on previous versions.  Why have you all messed up a very nice record keeping tool?????????????

[danthonysmail 0]

Good day. I am a new user to both Evernote and penultimate. I have created all my notebooks in Evernote and would like to see that note book structure in penultimate. I am running the free version of Evernote. Do I need a paid version to be able to view my notebooks in Evernote. Essentially while I am using penultimate I want my notebooks to be auto updated in Evernote. I have 2 notebooks that have 10 plus netbooks in them using the stack feature. I then take take notes in each notebook within the stack. I use and iPad. 

 

Tks 

 

david