A Note On Penultimate - from the Evernote Blog

[gbarry 2,658]

All--Jamie, VP of our Mobile Products, just released this announcement on our blog: http://blog.evernote.com/blog/2014/11/19/note-penultimate/ regarding Penultimate 6.0, your feedback, and what we plan to do about it.

 

I've reproduced the post below for searchability purposes. Your feedback in our community here informs our decisions across our product lines. Please keep the feedback coming, both below and here: https://discussion.evernote.com/topic/75812-penultimate-6-faq-and-how-to-info/
 

We take a big approach to redesigns. We think that as devices become more powerful and operating systems change, our apps should follow suit. A week ago, we released an update to Penultimate, our handwriting app for iPad, that was meant to demonstrate our vision of where digital handwriting is headed. We did not do a good job.

 

Simply put, we released this version too soon. Our big ideas were overshadowed by usability issues and incomplete features. The complaints from the community have been loud and justified.

 

Here’s what we’re doing about it.

 

This week, we are submitting an update to Apple with the following improvements:

• The drift feature returns with scroll speeds that match your writing speed
• The zoom box will be resizable
• Introduction of a sliding tray within a note to let you jump to specific sections easily
• The ability to insert a page above or below
• The ability to clear and delete a full page
• Adding page breaks and page numbers
• Note titles will be turned on by default (you can turn them on manually now)

We have heard complaints of missing notes and notebook. As far we know, there is no data loss associated with this update. In this new layout, each Penultimate notebook became its own long note. Scrolling through the note displays the notebook’s content. The sliding drawer that we’re introducing will let you easily navigate to any part of a note. Learn more about notes in Penultimate in our knowledge base.

 

We’re continuing to apply your feedback and enhance the experience. In the coming weeks and months you’ll see improved functionality and new features that will make Penultimate better than it’s ever been.

 

As a company grows, a common external perception is that it loses touch with the needs of its users, and events like this only further that feeling. This is fundamentally not true at Evernote. We’re sorry. We screwed up. We’ve heard your feedback, and are going to make things better. Once we’ve solved the immediate issues, we’ll change our process to make sure big new releases go better in the future. We do believe that we’re taking Penultimate in the right direction, but this was not the way to unveil our vision.

 

Redesigns are important, especially for an app like Penultimate. As technology races ahead, activities like handwriting are in danger of becoming nostalgic. We think Penultimate can play a significant role in keeping handwriting a vital part of our lives.

 

Thanks for your feedback. Keep it coming.

 

 

[jamesv 0]

Thank you. I await the new upgrade. 

 

But as a BIG fan of Penultimate, I have to stress that users should have the option on how they want their notebooks displayed. I prefer to flip to a new page as I did in the previous version. I like that Penultimate operates like a real notebook. That's one of its best features. The scrolling feature that was introduced in 6.0 makes no sense to me. It's like writing on toilet paper and who does that in real life? No one ever.

 

Plus, when using a Bluetooth-enabled stylus, it IGNORES fingers and palm actions when the stylus is connected. So, the idea of using two fingers to scroll to a blank page only works when I disconnect the stylus. So, I'm going through 4 or 5 clicks to disconnect, scroll, then re-connect my stylus. 

 

I like that the stylus connects faster. I like the new highlighting feature. And I like that my handwriting looks way better in 6.0. But all these additions fail in comparison to an upgrade that removed some of its best features.

 

Thanks for listening and responding. And as Techcess said, it says alot about Evernote to recognize that they made a boo boo - and to share it publicly. Just next time, ask for people in your community to beta test. Judging from the activity in the forums, you'll have quite a number of people who'll jump at the chance to help.

I like many of the EN members prefer the flip book as opposed to the two-finger slider method.  Sometimes it takes several attempts to get the page to move.  The flip book made your app look more authentic.  It was the very thing that got my attention to become a user.  When I used it in my manager meetings, my peers were excited by it as well and wanted to dump the pen & paper notebooks they carried around.  I say bring back the the flip book 'cause the covers looked so cool.

[smichael 0]

There is still huge disconnect between you "the Evernote visionary team" and the daily users, as evident by your scrapping the analog notebook visual metaphors (and notebooks) for some multi-colored saucers / circles that make no sense whatsoever. That strong of a departure really signals the demise of handwriting rather than reinforce it. I have not opened it since I downloaded the errant version. 

 

Handwriting is something that is easy, fluid and simple. Though your new interface is simple, it's neither intuitive nor user friendly. I've never had to relearn how to use a piece of paper. Now with your ridiculous UI design I'm being made to- a monumental waste of my time. It really show disdain to all those who paid for the app. 

 

Please give us back the old interface. I'll even pay for it again. And fire the team leader who came up with this crock of an update.

[tomek.ka 1]

People! Wake up and abondon any hope! We have written dozens of posts requesting return to the old version. And what is the outcome- zero, null, total silence. They simply do not give a damn about our thoughts. They know better.

If someone ignores me then I am not going to beg for his/her attention. I will survive without Penaultimate. Let's see how they will survive without customers. I turn to Goodnotes and say Bye Bye ...

[mroyse 1]

Yes--I was having the same horrible writing problems.  After using this APP for a long time, I finally gave up and found the MOST AMAZING APP:  Noteshelf!

 

I HIGHLY RECOMMEND IT.  I love it even more than what Penultimate "used" to be.  The writing is so amazing and responsive.

 

Just give up on Penultimate--you'll just be miserable!  I love LOVE Noteshelf (personally)

Noteshelf is what PU should be. EN/PU don't care any more and are looking for magic in a world of realism and professional people trying to use a product that once was good and now clearly forgotten. This update is bad, plain and simple. Noteshelf it is.

[vandevyver 17]

Yes--I was having the same horrible writing problems.  After using this APP for a long time, I finally gave up and found the MOST AMAZING APP:  Noteshelf!

 

I HIGHLY RECOMMEND IT.  I love it even more than what Penultimate "used" to be.  The writing is so amazing and responsive.

 

Just give up on Penultimate--you'll just be miserable!  I love LOVE Noteshelf (personally)

I second this.

 

 

Penultimate never worked well, not then, not now :

• clumsy and limited interface
• writing lacks fluency, even with APEX stylus (I do not recognize my handwriting here)
• auto advance in larger bottom window is just a joke : the more I write to the write the quicker I have to write; remembers me of 'modern times' by Charly Chaplin
• writing with the promoted Jot Script : worthless : offset of the tip is too much, parts missing, ...
• Integration in Evernote is reasonable good however

 

My advice to all who want to 'note on tablet' : have look at NoteShelf.

(actually, Evernote, maybe have a look yourself too)

• Jot Script still a nightmare
• APEX works perfect
• very good interface, functions,
• very very fluent 'ink' (I recognize my handwriting :-)
• reasonable Evernote integration (this could be better, less proprietary 'note shelf')

Hope this influences.

Kind regards

 

Luc

[tassiecelt 57]

I've used Noteshelf for quite a while. To it's credit, it finally provided a quick way to export to EN, if you want to pay extra for the Evernote Auto Publish add-on.

My problem with it still is that while it's easy to get a note to Evernote, just as easy as penultimate, once the note is there it cannot be added to (additional notes, photos etc)

On a Mac it cannot even be merged with another note. So as far as my workflow goes, including handwritten notes, photos, text, pdf files etc - all into one related note, for that Noteshelf is still lacking.

 

By comparison:

Goodnotes, when imported to Evernote allows editing to add any info desired (or that which EN allows).

The app has some features that I really enjoy such as shapes.

The downside is that export to Evernote is far from automatic, it takes several steps to achieve that.

 

nothing is perfect I guess

[Techcess 0]

Dear Tassiecelt - You have a good point here and I was annoyed that I had to purchase the Evernote syncing app to make that happen.  If I am really honest , my favourite note taking app is Goodnotes but the Evernote syncing isnt there at all (apart from exporting to ) .  I like the fact that Penultimate updates all the time.  This is why the updates of the app itself are so disappointing!  Essentially it's concept is brilliant, but the reality just isn't there anymore.

[tassiecelt 57]

Dear Tassiecelt - You have a good point here and I was annoyed that I had to purchase the Evernote syncing app to make that happen.  If I am really honest , my favourite note taking app is Goodnotes but the Evernote syncing isnt there at all (apart from exporting to ) .  I like the fact that Penultimate updates all the time.  This is why the updates of the app itself are so disappointing!  Essentially it's concept is brilliant, but the reality just isn't there anymore.

I have tried to contact Goodnotes about a better sync but I've not had a reply yet.

[laurawozct 0]

I agree with some others here: your prompt acknowledgement of the issues and commitment to release improvements arising from the troubled update is much appreciated. 

 

However, I fear your plan may be haphazard and reactionary since the original thinking behind this "improved" version is flawed by the abandonment of the paper-like notebook that allows users to scan and flip through different notebooks very easily.  The writing and scrolling features are abysmal.  My notes have vertical clawing-like lines running through them because I can't readily scroll through them as before. 

 

It seems to me that allowing users to revert back to the original version until a fully optimized upgrade can be released would be beneficial to everyone--users would have the features and benefits that attracted them to the product in the first place, and Evernote could take the proper amount of time to test and troubleshoot the app before releasing another version. 

 

In any case, looking forward to these improvements - when can we download the new version, or the old version?

[ygourven 6]

Seems fair, but I'm still having major issues with the new version and namely notes which are unreadable and unshareable. 

A bit of a bummer and a great disappointment.

 

Why don't you offer users to choose between the old and the new version. The old version suited me perfectly I don't want your new features and they don't work anyway. And the zoom thing is just horrendous. Not to mention legibility and issues with Evernote link when notes lose one or several pages.

[jamesv 0]

^{I, like many of the EN members, prefer the flip book as opposed to the two-finger slider method. Sometimes it takes several attempts to get the page to move. The flip book made your app look more authentic. It was the very thing that got my attention to become a user. When I used it in my manager meetings, my peers were excited by it as well and wanted to dump the pen & paper notebooks they carried around. I say bring back the the flip book 'cause the covers looked so cool.}

[jamesv 0]

Also, while you are making changes.  Can you provide an option that allows penultimate to export in text mode (word, PDF, etc.)?

[Chad S. 1]

I'm very disappointed that EN has developed Penultimate into a product that has resulted in 1.) me canceling the renewal of my Premium subscription, 2.) me migrating to a competitive product (Noteshelf), and 3.) me loosing confidence in EN's ability to address customer complaints.

***If there was the option to rollback to 5.3.1, then I would not have made those decisions.

I hope that EN will appropriately act (not react) quickly (how long has this been aging?) and satisfactorily (how many are satisfied, now?) enough to show how much value is given to EN's loyal (not so much anymore) customers and to those customers' feedback (an obvious, unified voice).

I also hope that my dwindling interest in EN will not decline to a level where I no longer even care to see if Penultimate is restored to the awesome product that at one time gained and kept my loyalty. However, I believe that this post will be my last venture into EN info and updates.

May Penultimate become something more than a case study in misguided product development and poor customer service...

[suckhoe 0]

what annoys me about Penultimate is that when a note is synced with EN it become impossible to ADD to that note, i.e.. attach text, files, chung cư 88 láng hạ photos or any additional information. Why don't you offer users to choose between the old and the new version. The old version suited me perfectly I don't want your new features and they don't work anyway.

[brettmansdorf 6]

EN - its been well over a month since I abandoned PU...  Went to GoodNotes - who does NOT sync ,with you.  Since then I've opted for one of the three EN accounts to expire and spent the money on dropbox...  Although nowhere near the same as EN, it does offer functionality and fit for the needs of that instance.

 

Jot Bluetooth pens work exceptional with GoodNotes.

GoodNotes works very well - bit of a learning curve, but very good - much better than even the claims of PU.

Dropbox works well for collaboration and storage.

 

I'm still (twice over) a premium user, but must admit the simplistic functionality of Dropbox/goodnotes, I'm embarrassed it took me so long to part ways.

 

To other (mis-guided) loyalists of EN...  I was there - and I'll suggest this - you can keep paying EN for the product that brought you here first, while abandoning PU for a FUNCTIONING product.  I'm still a huge evangelist for EN - but finally saw beyond my clouded judgement on the PenUltimate product.

 

I certainly hope you get this derailed train back on track someday, or you abandon completely and focus on the core competency...

 

Regards Brett...

 

PS...  would still consider EN buying GoodNotes a move in the right direction...

 

[Mark Naly 1]

People, give credit where credit is due.

PenUltimate took a really bad left hand turn but they have corrected it.  I am a person that does not like change but 90% of what they've done w the new update is rock solid.

It's better than it ever was and it's by far my favorite business app.

I tried all of the other apps previously suggested by users on this chain (who probably who work for the deveopers of those apps) and they  simply don't compare.  It's not even close.

PenUltimate is easliy the best note taking app available.

The left hand turn sucked you guys... but great job correcting it.

[tassiecelt 57]

Penultimate is fixed, YAY!

Or is it? Just downloaded it, within one minute I was put off it. I added a photo and can find no way to move or resize it on the page. I'm used to doing this all the time with GoodNotes.

Am I missing something?

[tcallahan29 1]

I have read about the updates but oh was I disappointed when my 200 pages of notes became one document. I will refer to the knowledge base but I have lost control of deleting pages and general edits I was used to making.

[Randen Montalvo 9]

Guys i applaud the effort, but i am so frustrated with how the zoom box mode works in Penultimate . In every app the box can be narrowed and moved to a certain level of the screen leaving your wrist making no marks on the screen and the box a perfect custom line for writing in zoom mode. I have no idea who put this like this but in Penultimate the box extends statically all the way to the bottom of the screen not allowing you do manipulate the bottom of the box and move it to the middle etc. The theory in not allowing that baffles as why allow the top to be extended and not collapse the bottom? Its just bizzare people want to use Penultimate but its frustrations like that , that are just bonkers because every other company has figured out Zoom not Evernote? Heres another bizarre behavior the app doesn't automatically go to the next line in zoom mode? I mean thats pretty basic stuff, you guys prior had gesture control for that now you have to touch a enter button on screen to head tot he next line stopping your writing??? In literally every other app the zoom box knows your at the end of a line and returns...NOT in Penultimate for some really odd reason. 

 

When auto saving to Evernote the notes in Evernote when reviewing are terrible resolution, the writing looks bad in presentation mode and a lot of the finer writing looks choppy and not smooth. I have exported pages from , Notes +, Notability, Paper by 53 all have this nice smooth look thats legible and readable. Penultimates writing just looks extremely choppy when viewed in Evernote, and i am shocked why a in-house product isn't as good as just about every other app that saves to Evernote???

 

Another gripe, the New Stylus is getting trashed in reviews with the iPad Air 2...why because like version 1 owners, you guys abandoned people who purchased the Jot Script with a Air 2 released a newer version that not only has the same issues but still skips marks!!!!. I used a colleagues of mines waiting to see this finally get palm rejection and not miss marks and it has the same behavior again and again as version  1. Guys honestly you need to test this thing, literally there is zero reason to buy the Script 2 if you own a Air 2 because the writing is not reliable. It constantly missing strokes and the Palm rejection still has issues creating fine marks. 

 

 

I am at a loss for this product and feel let down, its been years and Penultimate and the Jot Script seem to be truly a back burner product due to its lack of really at least being where the competition is or better...but its bizarre that its not even on par....my gosh. Products like Notes + Paper by 53 , Note Shelf have amazing usable features....Paper has Palm Rejection down to a science, Noteshelf does aswell even with a NON- BLUETOOTH stylus , Notes + has a active web browser and amazing ink display when writing phenomenal Zoom writing and exporting. Audio recording for note taking. 

 

But Penultimate......my gosh. What is this guys....does anyone take a look at the competition? Its feature set is similar to the Crayola app i use for my 7 year olds BT stylus..sadly that has better palm rejection and response time aswell. 

 

Evernote Premium User Let down for about 3 years now with Penultimate and the Jot Scripts. There was one year when you where close...since then...i don't know how is this usable to anyone. 

 

Penultimate 

Stop making high production promotional videos detailing a product that clearly doesn't work as intended. In a LAB this may work but in real life this app is rough crude and lacking in some basic features that other apps have had for years already. 

 

Jot Script 2

Anyone whom has a Air 2 shouldn't be recommended to buy it, it has the same issues as the first with skipping marks and the plan rejection still leaves marks on the screen. I would honestly take the apps rejection from Noteself steal the Zoom box from Notes + and ask to borrow the SDK for palm rejection from Paper by 53 for there Pencil. I have tried it numerous times guys, its simply the worst integration due to you really wanting to use it effortlessly instead, it seems all the effort was put into its charging abilities????????  With the Pencil by 53 i open the app it works i can write i can draw no marks....The writing catches everything...Its like using a Jot Pro with the pad..just an amazing response time. TRY FAST WRITING WITH THE JOT SCRIPT 2 on a IPAD AIR 2.....i guarantee you it will start skipping to the point of frustration. 

 

 

Something has to be done, it been years guys. This is still a pig with lipstick on. 

[tassiecelt 57]

what annoys me about Penultimate is that when a note is synced with EN it become impossible to ADD to that note, i.e.. attach text, files, photos or any additional information. This makes it near impossible to use in my workflow whereby I need info from various sources in one related note, including handwritten notes.

 

This complaint applies to current and previous versions. I've mentioned it to support before buy never had a reply.

[tassiecelt 57]

Well that seems fair enough. After many people saying that EN has done nothing, this should satisfy.

[Techcess 0]

Its a big step for a company to publicly hold their hands up to something that needs fixing. Most put a marketing sheen on their comments and don't publicly take responsibility.  I really respect you for what you have posted and can wait to try out the new Penultimate features.  I adore Evernote and really want the full integration of a handwriting app.  I am looking forward to what is next!

 

Many thanks

[capricaspark 9]

Thank you. I await the new upgrade. 

 

But as a BIG fan of Penultimate, I have to stress that users should have the option on how they want their notebooks displayed. I prefer to flip to a new page as I did in the previous version. I like that Penultimate operates like a real notebook. That's one of its best features. The scrolling feature that was introduced in 6.0 makes no sense to me. It's like writing on toilet paper and who does that in real life? No one ever.

 

Plus, when using a Bluetooth-enabled stylus, it IGNORES fingers and palm actions when the stylus is connected. So, the idea of using two fingers to scroll to a blank page only works when I disconnect the stylus. So, I'm going through 4 or 5 clicks to disconnect, scroll, then re-connect my stylus. 

 

I like that the stylus connects faster. I like the new highlighting feature. And I like that my handwriting looks way better in 6.0. But all these additions fail in comparison to an upgrade that removed some of its best features.

 

Thanks for listening and responding. And as Techcess said, it says alot about Evernote to recognize that they made a boo boo - and to share it publicly. Just next time, ask for people in your community to beta test. Judging from the activity in the forums, you'll have quite a number of people who'll jump at the chance to help.

[JoeT. 5]

Thank you for the feedback!

 

I´m glad to hear, that the complaints have been heard.

Glad to see that the major usability issues will be dealt with.

..but I am sorry to hear that things that were already good in the past are not simply re-implemented (full screen zoom, individual pages) - I wounder...why try to change instinctive usability issues that simply belong to a "Notebook" - scroll paper should be an add on, a feature for those few that feel comfortable with it.

...I guess I better wait to see the results, before I judge further...

 

Looking forward to being able use the app again!

 

Cheers!

[PhoenixDelgado 1]

I appreciate this very much--here is a comment I posted elsewhere earlier today:

 

I really dislike this new version--IT IS INCREDIBLY INCONVENIENT.  I cannot search for a specific page within a notebook (the way I used to have thumbnail views of each page) without wasting time scrolling through my entire notebook.  THIS IS SO INEFFICIENT!  I'm a busy executive who needs to find things quickly and easily.  There are many other very BASIC problems and would like to know:

 

WHEN ARE THE "MORE TO COME" FEATURES GOING TO COME?  SOONER RATHER THAN LATER I HOPE OR I AM DITCHING THIS FOR ANOTHER APP/PROGRAM.

 

Do you have a timeframe for when the new updates are being released?  I can't wait this long since I use this app all-day/everyday.  I need something that works now so, unless it's soon, I'm switching to something else

[tomsmith@nwlink.com 13]

 

All--Jamie, VP of our Mobile Products, just released this announcement on our blog: http://blog.evernote.com/blog/2014/11/19/note-penultimate/ regarding Penultimate 6.0, your feedback, and what we plan to do about it.

 

I've reproduced the post below for searchability purposes. Your feedback in our community here informs our decisions across our product lines. Please keep the feedback coming, both below and here: https://discussion.evernote.com/topic/75812-penultimate-6-faq-and-how-to-info/

 

We take a big approach to redesigns. We think that as devices become more powerful and operating systems change, our apps should follow suit. A week ago, we released an update to Penultimate, our handwriting app for iPad, that was meant to demonstrate our vision of where digital handwriting is headed. We did not do a good job.

 

Simply put, we released this version too soon. Our big ideas were overshadowed by usability issues and incomplete features. The complaints from the community have been loud and justified.

 

Here’s what we’re doing about it.

 

This week, we are submitting an update to Apple with the following improvements:

• The drift feature returns with scroll speeds that match your writing speed
• The zoom box will be resizable
• Introduction of a sliding tray within a note to let you jump to specific sections easily
• The ability to insert a page above or below
• The ability to clear and delete a full page
• Adding page breaks and page numbers
• Note titles will be turned on by default (you can turn them on manually now)

We have heard complaints of missing notes and notebook. As far we know, there is no data loss associated with this update. In this new layout, each Penultimate notebook became its own long note. Scrolling through the note displays the notebook’s content. The sliding drawer that we’re introducing will let you easily navigate to any part of a note. Learn more about notes in Penultimate in our knowledge base.

 

We’re continuing to apply your feedback and enhance the experience. In the coming weeks and months you’ll see improved functionality and new features that will make Penultimate better than it’s ever been.

 

As a company grows, a common external perception is that it loses touch with the needs of its users, and events like this only further that feeling. This is fundamentally not true at Evernote. We’re sorry. We screwed up. We’ve heard your feedback, and are going to make things better. Once we’ve solved the immediate issues, we’ll change our process to make sure big new releases go better in the future. We do believe that we’re taking Penultimate in the right direction, but this was not the way to unveil our vision.

 

Redesigns are important, especially for an app like Penultimate. As technology races ahead, activities like handwriting are in danger of becoming nostalgic. We think Penultimate can play a significant role in keeping handwriting a vital part of our lives.

 

Thanks for your feedback. Keep it coming.

 

 

REPOSTED from other other forum:  

 

Jamie, 

Overall, good posting. I appreciate the fact that your company has acknowledged the mistake of a premature release, and I am also happy that you are moving forward with repairs. The rest of this I intend as constructive criticism. Please heed it. 

1. You rushed to a release the first time. Your posting indicates you are rushing to a second release. The first rush was a mistake. Isn’t it a mistake to repeat the same activity again?

2. You and your company have still not answered the hundreds of pleas of making the old Penultimate version available until the release is completed. Why? If there is a good reason, why not just state it?

3. By my observation, as well as the feedback others have already posted here, your new release is only addressing parts of the lost functionality of the old version. Why? If you are sorry you lost touch with your customers before, why are you not listening to that part of it now?

4. My suggestion is simple: re-release the old version until you have taken the time to make ALL of the necessary fixes to the new version and you have adequately beta tested it to make sure it meets customer needs and desires, then release it. 

Your announcement of an apology only goes part way. You need to rebuild the bridge to your customer base in a way that we will trust that you know what you are doing. Rushing to get a partial fix out is worrisome, and I fully understand why some people feel they need an alternative product rather than continue to ride the roller coaster with you. 

 

I have been a loyal customer until now. I switched to GoodNotes yesterday. It’s not to late for me to switch back, and I prefer to, but if this goes on much longer, I will have too many notes in another format and too much vested in another path. Give us all a reason to stick with you — I’m not quite hearing it yet.

[rjs2000 0]

Page orientation also needs fixed. I have all my notes in landscape format, but the new app only works with portrait. So now I can't easily review any of my notes. Serious flaw, among the many others already noted.

[PabloHosehead 0]

As an FYI, you mention that there are no known data losses with the update.  That may be true as far as migrating notes from the older to the newer version, but I had a whole evening's worth of notes that were written in 6.0 disappear on my overnight--including revisions I had made to earlier content, which then reverted to pre-revision status.  

[PhoenixDelgado 1]

Yes--I was having the same horrible writing problems.  After using this APP for a long time, I finally gave up and found the MOST AMAZING APP:  Noteshelf!

 

I HIGHLY RECOMMEND IT.  I love it even more than what Penultimate "used" to be.  The writing is so amazing and responsive.

 

Just give up on Penultimate--you'll just be miserable!  I love LOVE Noteshelf (personally)

[DotJot 0]

5.3.1 was 2 steps forward; writing got a lot smoother, flipping pages was a breeze, it was like a real note book without the additional weight- really loved the app.

6.0.1 went 5 steps back; nice background colours but bad functionality, scrolling instead of flipping, functions that were aptly placed got screwed placing for the sake of aesthetics, worst of all the writing performance sacrificed for the sake of additional redundant program design/code(guessing).

Two small strokes of the pen(.1) a giant flip(-off) to loyal clients. By the way it was your previous design that convinced me to invest in the jot script.

I'm guessing some 'highly qualified' over zealous staff joined the team or some dolt bought a significant amount of equity in the company and arrogantly decided that she/he was qualified to make such drastic poor changes, thus missing the mark that the penultimate factor in the app's success is the client. The solution to this debacle: drop the ego, listen to the collective advice, bring back the previous design, make improvements on that design. You could keep the new design for iPhone users who seem to prefer the scrolling instead of flipping the pages but the previous design works optimally for the iPad.

Having spent money on your product it would be an immense disappointment if you do not heed our collective feedback and therefore creating a lose-lose situation.

[Martin Lindholm 1]

I can't help but wondering how the update came to be such a step backwards when it comes to support for the Jot Script pen.

Couldn't certain portions of code, regarding the pen behaviour, rendering and palm rejection, have been kept from previous version?

It's just sad to see a good app become unusable and to witness the backlash in this forum, and elsewhere on the internet, alongside your (Evernote) inability to fix the problem.

[hls_steve 0]

Fundamentally, all of the "improvements" described above still fall WAY short, and don't really address the biggest issue with the new Penultimate, which is that the new "zoom box" is so vastly inferior to the old full page zoom that it is almost inconceivable that anyone could have thought the change would be an improvement.

The old, full screen zoom (with the semi-transparent full page behind it) was revolutionary, it was brilliant. This new zoom box makes Penultimate nothing more than a clone of Noteshelf and Notes Plus (except that both of them are better executed, so it's a poor imitation at best). Luckily I still had an old version in my iTunes and was able to delete the new version and downgrade back to the old one. But if it weren't for the Evernote syncing, I would have given up on Penultimate all together.

[Mark Jantzen 5]

It's so frustrating to see an app as good as Penultimate was become unusable, at least on my iPad.  I can barely write a letter or word.  While I "only" have a 3rd generation iPad it still should do the basics.

 

I'm having a hard time believing anyone actually tested this app and said, "Wow, this works well".

[James Mayes 1]

Back in January, CEO Phil Libin wrote a blog post "On Software Quality and Building a Better Evernote in 2014" - http://blog.evernote.com/blog/2014/01/04/on-software-quality/.  I realize this is a Penultimate post, but it's an Evernote product.  So if the focus in 2014 was to improve software quality, how does this release get out when it's so obviously flawed?  The Evernote app is having an equal number of issues lately with note titles disappearing, attachments that you can drag into a black hole, etc.  I've been a long time Evernote user and gave up on another note taking app to use Penultimate when Evernote purchased it because of the integration.  I'm hoping I didn't make the wrong choice.  It would be painful to switch from Evernote to another solution.

 

I still don't understand why Penultimate is a separate app.  It should be integrated into Evernote so we can take notes directly in EverNOTE instead of having to switch back and forth.

[tassiecelt 57]

I still don't understand why Penultimate is a separate app.  It should be integrated into Evernote so we can take notes directly in EverNOTE instead of having to switch back and forth.

 

I agree, it would be better integrated.

[Remmy 9]

Back in January, CEO Phil Libin wrote a blog post "On Software Quality and Building a Better Evernote in 2014" - http://blog.evernote.com/blog/2014/01/04/on-software-quality/.  I realize this is a Penultimate post, but it's an Evernote product.  So if the focus in 2014 was to improve software quality, how does this release get out when it's so obviously flawed?  The Evernote app is having an equal number of issues lately with note titles disappearing, attachments that you can drag into a black hole, etc.  I've been a long time Evernote user and gave up on another note taking app to use Penultimate when Evernote purchased it because of the integration.  I'm hoping I didn't make the wrong choice.  It would be painful to switch from Evernote to another solution.

 

I still don't understand why Penultimate is a separate app.  It should be integrated into Evernote so we can take notes directly in EverNOTE instead of having to switch back and forth.

 

Very interesting James, I read the blog entry you referred to, here's a quote:

 

"Over the next few months, we’ll be releasing new versions of all the apps that incorporate our many lessons learned about what does and doesn’t work. All of our apps will be getting significant improvements and simplifications to the user experience starting in the next few weeks. The five most important areas of improvement that we’re targeting on all platforms are note editing, navigation, search, sync and collaboration.

Our new philosophy is to find every spot in our products where we’ve been forced to make a trade-off between doing what’s simple and doing what’s powerful, then rethink it so that the simplest approach is also the most powerful. We know we’ve found a good design for something when that conflict disappears. It feels like magic when that happens, and we’ll have several bits of magic in the coming months."

 

So much for 'magic' ...

[Mark Naly 1]

I am still having significant problems with Penultimate picking up my stylus/writing quick enough. No where near where it used to be before the update.

Am I the only one still really frustrated by the writing responsiveness of it??

Hey Evernote/Penultimate, can we get a timeline or response on when we can see another update to address this?