Evernote for Mac v6.0 and v6.0.1

SoftwareMarcus · November 20, 2014

Today we released version 6.0 for the Mac App Store and 6.0.1 for direct download customers.

First off, Mac App Store customers are going to get all of the really cool benefits and features that direct download customers have had for a month. This means faster sync, improved note editing with resizable tables and images, work chat, presence, context where one can see content related to their notes, and great new presentation mode features.

The other huge update is a sleek new Yosemite look for Evernote. We previewed some of this at the Evernote Conference last month. This means we’ve taken out the black side bar and changed it to the cool translucent Yosemite look and feel, took out all of the textures and big icons and switched them to clean and simple designs and in addition everything has higher contrast and is easier to read. Overall the word “clean” comes to mind when you see the new design. I really like it and we hope you do to.

We also continue to fix issues and improve existing features.

Work Chat Improvements

We now have pop-ups and some visuals to educate customers about work chat.
Fixed a number of bugs with the chat window and continue to polish the look.
Added support for sharing notebooks via work chat.

Bug Fixes

Improved handling of really long URLs which used to make the note extend off the screen.
Lots of other miscellaneous bug fixes

Why is the Mac App Store version different?

We had to submit the Mac App Store version of Evernote to Apple some time ago for their review and approval so we could release it today.
The direct download version includes the changes we've made in the last week.
We'll submit 6.0.2 to Apple today for release next week.

As always, please post feedback to this new release on this thread to make it easier for me to spot issues. Also state whether you’re using the Mac App Store version or the Direct Download Version since they are different.

You can also download the software at: http://bit.ly/14SxwPz

MErick · November 24, 2014

Please fix the UI by allowing us to revert to the old theme or allow customization.

Also several of my coworkers are reporting errors (in performance and capabilities).

BTW Is there a better (official) place to submit complains?

Thank you.

jacksnack · November 24, 2014

Several DAYS for indexing????

Anyway.... I have restarted twice...notes come back, then disapear shortly thereafter.

It depends on the size of your database I guess. And did you try V6.0.1?

I dont want to go through a full uninstall of the App Store version and reinstall.

Also, a lot of my notes are local, I don't want to export / import and take a chance on something getting borked.

Waiting for 6.0.1 on app store (or indexing in a day or two).

darragh · November 25, 2014

I think I found another bug for the latest update - the keyboard shortcut for Copy Note Link no longer works. Selecting it from the menu works fine, but not using the "control-option-cmd C" that used to work. I have tried my keyboard viewer and it seems like those keys are still working, although trying to create the shortcut myself through the Settings app>keyboard>shortcuts has the same not-working result.

Has anyone else had this problem recently? I tried searching but didn't find any reports from this latest version.

Hopefully this gets resolved, I use this shortcut a lot!

Torben Ibsen · November 25, 2014

HI Evernote.

I think that many of the problems your users (me included) experience are owed to the fact that you try to provide two different versions of Evernote for Mac. The one from your download site and one from Mac App Store.

I have worked 37 years in the software and computer business and it is my experience that you are trying to do something which is impossible. It cannot work as long as your employees are humans. Only robots could manage this task without making errors.

I have worked as an expert in parts of the worlds biggest business software product, SAP which is used by most major companies in the world. So I have a lot of experience in testing and version management between development systems, Quality Assurance systems and production systems. And in maintaining "the old version" and "the new version" during upgrade processes over longer time periods. It is a lost cause!

You can only reach a higher, consistent quality level of your software if you stop trying to have to "current" versions of the software for Mac customers.

Also, even if you managed to do the impossible, there is still little old me. I cannot always remember if my software is downloaded form App Store or from a vendors Web site. So even if you didn't mess up, I will!

crankygeologist · November 26, 2014

Has anyone from Evernote acknowledged the disappearing title when you print a note? I know it was mentioned by a couple forum users at the very beginning.
Real tiresome... and definitely a bug (not a design flaw here).
M

Yes, it's a bug. I submitted a bug report ticket to EN and they acknowledged the bug and are working on a fix.

goldfilm · November 29, 2014

Right now my two top choices to improve in the new Evernote version are:

1. Make it faster again, especially in to do list editing

2. Make the check marks in the to do lists darker or even with color again

Thanks!

JMichaelTX · November 21, 2014

Let's not forget this is a free software . . .

Well, to set the record straight, it's not really free.

Your use of the product is paid for by us Premium account owners, who do pay.

Allowing you to use the product for free is just a sales gimmick to get you to upgrade to Premium.

JMichaelTX · November 21, 2014

For those of you that would like to see higher contrast or more legibility can you tell me specifically in what parts of the app? It doesn't help me if you say the entire app.

3) What about snippet view?

Regarding snippet view: for me the summary text is and too small and too light grey. Hardly readable. I feel strain in my eyes when focussing form large titels too small summary.

What is the point of showing the small, low contrast text in the Snippet view if you can barely read it?

It should be enough to just make it a smaller font size than the Title.

We need to be able to quickly scan down the list of Notes to find the one of interest. If I have to stop and study carefully, closely, slowing at the subtext in the Snippet then it has little to no value.

JMichaelTX · November 20, 2014

Marcus, thanks for the update. I know those who go through the Mac App Store will really appreciate it.

Issue: Low Contrast Text

The attachment to the below post clearly illustrates this issue with Ver 6.

In particular the column titles are very low contract AND very small font size, making them very hard to read.

Again, it continues to appear that your UI designers put more importance on looking cool, looking like Apple, than they do on essential readability.

Thanks for the screenshot of the column headers. That will get adjusted.

Regarding contrast

This is our highest contrast release ever. We've had this app reviewed by text accessibility experts. This was done for our users who have complained about legibility (including you JM )

Seriously??? Maybe your "text accessibility experts" need glasses.

I just don't see how you can call this high contrast, with grey text on grey/green background.

Just compare the screen shot with the text on this forum, even in the quote blocks, and the big difference should be apparent.

righteousdork · November 20, 2014

Really wish I hadn't upgraded.

When I read that the new Web UI would be pushed out to the other clients, I guess I expected a little more advance notice.

Is color so bad? It's just so stark. No sign of the Evernote green I've come to love and admire except in the icon.

I really think the Android folks have nailed the design with a modern fresh look that doesn't sacrifice color.

I'm sure I'll get used to it. I guess I'll have to.

I need to find a way to turn off the translucency though. Either that or get rid of some wallpaper.

NightStalker · November 20, 2014

Oh sheesh! Going by that screenshot of JMichaels' above, there is no way I'm going to upgrade. "Text accessibility experts"??? Surely you're kidding? Is it April already?

And what IS it with all this translucency/transparency nonsense? That alone is one of the reasons that I am not upgrading from Mavericks to Yosemite - the other (and main one) being that they have badly broken the Mail app. I won't go off-piste and discuss that here.

If I have a window at the front, I want to read it. I don't want to see the ghost of the wallpaper behind it, and I most certainly don't want to see another app's window full of text ghosted behind what I'm trying to read.

Does this upgrade bring back "Email Note" as an easy to use, one-click option? I didn't think so.

Does it give us options, to turn off Context, Chat, and Translucency? Ones that actually, really, turn them right OFF - as in "GONE"? Don't think so.

Does it give us back a configurable toolbar? Nope - didn't think so.

So give me one reason WHY I should even think about upgrading to v6? It seems to be just adding more things I don't want and don't like, while not fixing or bringing back the things that I do want.

This is getting very depressing - I checked out OneNote yesterday. It's still not up to what Evernote used to be, but it's getting closer....

UncleRic · November 20, 2014

Evernote for Mac 6.0 via App Store:

Lost many of may tags??

I Installed the App Store version and I thought it ported only about 60% of my tags from my existing EverNote.

Now I'm at a loss.... wait a minute...

I clicked on the Sync.... now syncing.

I see my old tags coming back.

Okay... FALSE ALARM.

Heart Rate returning to normal.

Stuhrer · November 20, 2014

Thank you for the new version.

I agree with the remarks that the flat and low contrast look seems to be modern but is not necessarily friendly to the eyes. Just to let you know, in Germany such a user interface is actually illegal to be used for work although not many companies care. There are regulations how big the smallest font has to be on the screen and how the contrast needs to be. I am member of the works council in my company and I would strongly vote against such an interface.

I prepared a picture that shows the problems and that it would be easy to change. It is not a space problem.

righteousdork · November 20, 2014

I may have found some relief.

Goto System Preferences > Accessibility

Stuhrer · November 20, 2014

Seriously??? Maybe your "text accessibility experts" need glasses.

I think the opposite is the case. These guys are all very young and (still) have good eyes. But that will change rapidly if they continue working with such UIs.

NightStalker · November 20, 2014

I may have found some relief.

Goto System Preferences > Accessibility

That's a system preference setting in Yosemite, which is not present in Mavericks or earlier. Does the new Evernote have the stupid transparency thing happening when running under Mavericks? I'm not upgrading, so I can't check for myself.

Jackolicious · November 20, 2014

Oh sheesh! Going by that screenshot of JMichaels' above, there is no way I'm going to upgrade.

And what IS it with all this translucency/transparency nonsense? That alone is one of the reasons that I am not upgrading from Mavericks to Yosemite - the other (and main one) being that they have badly broken the Mail app. I won't go off-piste and discuss that here.

If I have a window at the front, I want to read it. I don't want to see the ghost of the wallpaper behind it, and I most certainly don't want to see another app's window full of text ghosted behind what I'm trying to read.

Does this upgrade bring back "Email Note" as an easy to use, one-click option? I didn't think so.

Does it give us options, to turn off Context, Chat, and Translucency? Ones that actually, really, turn them right OFF - as in "GONE"? Don't think so.

Does it give us back a configurable toolbar? Nope - didn't think so.

So give me one reason WHY I should even think about upgrading to v6? It seems to be just adding more things I don't want and don't like, while not fixing or bringing back the things that I do want.

This is getting very depressing - I checked out OneNote yesterday. It's still not up to what Evernote used to be, but it's getting closer....

Accessibility and contrast - We use tools to verify the legibility of our text and have had external review on accessibility. The mistake on our part in that screenshot is the list view column headers. We'll fix that Your feedback is very helpful! In general though, screenshots like http://note.io/1yv71bC represent a renewed commitment to legibility.

Translucency - This is thematic of Yosemite design in general. I respect your decision not to upgrade

Email note - We are not removing this completely. Thanks for the feedback.

Context - As with related notes (context's predecessor), you can always turn this off.

Configurable toolbar - This has not been an option since 5.0 nearly 2 years ago. This is nothing new.

One reason to upgrade to v6: Speed. It's blazing fast compared with v5. Sync is fast. Open/Quit is fast. Etc. Oh, and the note editor is better. Oh, and the contrast is higher. And we've fixed lots of bugs. Ok, maybe that was more than 1

Thank you for the new version.

You're welcome!

I agree with the remarks that the flat and low contrast look seems to be modern but is not necessarily friendly to the eyes. Just to let you know, in Germany such a user interface is actually illegal to be used for work although not many companies care. There are regulations how big the smallest font has to be on the screen and how the contrast needs to be. I am member of the works council in my company and I would strongly vote against such an interface.

I prepared a picture that shows the problems and that it would be easy to change. It is not a space problem.

Font size - if we're in trouble, Apple should be too http://note.io/1HrGthx

As I mentioned above, if you see something, say something. We're listening!

cornetg · November 20, 2014

Is color so bad? It's just so stark. No sign of the Evernote green I've come to love and admire except in the icon.

A glaring case of going from the sublime v5 to the ridiculous v6.

To quote a tweet from the redoubtable Don McAllister of Screencasts Online fame:

"Blimey @Evernote The new Mac version is a bit bright! Why no dark option or theme. Almost unpleasant to view ;-( "

JMichaelTX · November 20, 2014

Accessibility and contrast - We use tools to verify the legibility of our text and have had external review on accessibility. The mistake on our part in that screenshot is the list view column headers. We'll fix that Your feedback is very helpful! In general though, screenshots like http://note.io/1yv71bC represent a renewed commitment to legibility.

. . .

Font size - if we're in trouble, Apple should be too http://note.io/1HrGthx

Jack, your screen shots look much better, but they do appear to be zoomed UP in size.

Perhaps you guys could post a series of screen shots at ACTUAL size of various views of the new EN Mac app running on Yosemite. Better to err on too many screen shots than too few.

While you can post them here, it might be a good idea to post them on your web site where they are easy to find and reference.

Thanks.

NightStalker · November 20, 2014

As I mentioned above, if you see something, say something. We're listening!

Thanks Jack - even though we disagree on much of the direction Evernote seems to be heading, we really appreciate you responding like this, and so rapidly too. Thank you

One point about your response - just because the configurable toolbar issue has been around for over 2 years doesn't mean that we don't still want one. Many do - every time it is mentioned on numerous different threads, it gets followed by several "+1" posts.

I fail to see WHY we can't have one - I want to get rid of the Chat button, as I will never use it. I want to add an "Email Note" button and a "Print" button, as I use those all the time. And I want to move the buttons around to suit my own peculiar way of working, using spaces and flexible spaces, just like you can on 99% of all other apps that run on Mac OS X.

I appreciate your list of reasons to upgrade - but that screenshot of the low-contrast text on JMichaels' post is enough to stop me. And the whole translucency thing. Is that still present even under Mavericks? Can I turn it off completely from within the app's settings? Mavericks doesn't have that System Preferences setting that turns off the transparency.

And thanks again for responding - I just wish those further up the decision-making tree and who decide on Evernote's direction etc would listen to what so many are saying on these forums.

Jackolicious · November 20, 2014

Adjusted my screenshot. Sorry, it was from retina. http://note.io/1HrGthx

JMichaelTX · November 20, 2014

Adjusted my screenshot. Sorry, it was from retina. http://note.io/1HrGthx

Thanks, but it obvious that the Finder has much better contrast than Evernote.

zwaldowski · November 20, 2014

I'm happy to see Evernote pushing the envelope with their apps. I trust when you say it's much faster, but I'm having a lot of trouble seeing it.

The UI in 6.0.1 is dog-slow. Window dragging, window resizing… scrolling through the contents of a note is even slow! What possessed you to make the background behind the notes behind-window transparent? My notes should be my notes! Spend a minute in Mail, Finder… is there anywhere else in the OS where the thing that you're doing your primary work on is just transparent for no reason?

The editing toolbar can be transparent, fine, but it should my notes scrolling under it, not my wallpaper! And scrolling through my list of notes is slower, that's like the one thing I do most in Evernote! I said to myself, fine, they wanted a nice pretty UI they could screenshot, I'll put it in List Mode… nope, that's transparent too! You made every other row transparent?! Why?!

Look, I'm not a reactionary it-changed-so-it's-bad type. I was thrilled to hear Evernote made a Yosemite update. But this should not have been it. Either it's not fully tested or not fully baked or something else.

I'm truly frustrated because using Evernote 6 right now makes using my whole computer slower… I've had Evernote stuck in a full-screen space of its own for months now, and now because of Evernote 6 I can't enter Mission Control without chug from /something/ that your app is doing. Using my computer is faster when I quit Evernote, and I'm not exaggerating. Do you really want to be that app?

It's unfair to your users and to the design of Yosemite to just throw up your hands and say "this is the direction the OS is going". No, it's not. Not once do the HIGs recommend making the whole window translucent. In fact, they say the opposite. They encourage taste and restraint, and that is not what Evernote 6 shows.

I haven't come this close to enabling Reduce Transparency before, and I've been running Yosemite full-time since Beta 1. Instead, I'm eyeing Evernote's export button, which sucks because I was about to pay for Premium.

Evernote_Convert · November 20, 2014

So what about the banding...? I added a full picture of the below on another thread outside of this one.

Green/white row banding is present on the right hand side of the image...but fades out as you go left.

Not an optical illusion..it looks this way at all angles. Is this as intended?

BTW - image upload is limited to 30K so I can only upload this tiny screenshot...(for Evernote...where I can store everything?)!!

NayverM · November 20, 2014

New design is amazing but...

Blue everywhere... it's a nice color but where is the green touch of Evernote ? The new web interface is more coherent with the spirit. Evernote 6.0 looks like Yosemite, but doesn't really looks to Evernote...

Evernote_Convert · November 20, 2014

Just answered my own question above about banding.

1. if you use EN without a window behind it, you correctly see the green bands separating "rows" of notes

2. If you are using evernote with another window behind it....where ever the window behind EN...overlaps with EN in front...EN looses it's banding in the area of the window behind it.

Is this how it should be?

camner · November 20, 2014

Were any of the much touted "Text accessibility experts" over 50? Or does the tech world assume that once we hit our half-century mark we have 1 step in the grave and from there we don't have to see ANYthing well.....

SoftwareMarcus · November 20, 2014

Just answered my own question above about banding.

1. if you use EN without a window behind it, you correctly see the green bands separating "rows" of notes
2. If you are using evernote with another window behind it....where ever the window behind EN...overlaps with EN in front...EN looses it's banding in the area of the window behind it.

Is this how it should be?

The bands have a very slight transparency so you see the background bleed through a little.

By the way, I'm older, have bifocals and the text looks sharp and easy to read to me but I think this kind of thing is very subjective.

Jackolicious · November 30, 2014

All of the "Untitled" bugs seem fixed in Ver 6.0.2.
And, after reindexing is complete, performance is very good.

See Evernote Mac v6.0.2 Released

All feedback has been read and noted through this point. Since we're on a newer version now, let's use that thread.

Mac App Store will get the latest version as soon as we're approved by Apple. If you don't want to wait, feel free to download the latest version directly from Evernote.com.

XMG · November 27, 2014

I'm using tinypic.com to get the url to post images here... Although I started out with 500kb allowable uploads here, I'm now down to less than 30kb...

Agree, iOS and web are fine. And to define 'fine' - it's not to say I don't have suggestions. But this would be specific to my personal tastes. The current Mac OS version is simply an extreme swing of the pendulum that is probably getting everyone on these forums lol. It's just the small simple things.

When Marcus is asking for specifics on what to tell the designers, this kinda shows a sign that the designers are either:

- using the wrong gamma on their screens since they feel it has enough contrast (perhaps they are using PC's to choose colors for the Mac?)

- using old CRT screens (not probable)

- love minimalism that it invades into their profession too much (probable)

- cannot distinguish levels of priority in ux/ui (not probable hopefully)

- are listening too much to user feedback that they make all areas of the interface the same level (hence everything is too bright)

It's kinda fun watching this space though.

Every design has haters, but it's that fine line when you do a tiny bit too much...

JMichaelTX · November 26, 2014

I have been unable to edit or change ANY of my notes! I'm using the Mac App store 6.0 version. Guys this is an unbelievably horrendous *****-up. What's going on???

Many users are reporting that it can take up to a day for EN Mac 6.0 (AppStore) to reindex all of your notes. This may be causing the issue you are seeing. Be sure that you have done a restart on your Mac, or maybe even do a restart now.

If after a day you are still experiencing this issue, you may want to switch to the Evernote Direct download version 6.0.1, or downgrade to a previous version.

See How to Completely Remove and Reinstall EN Mac

Jackolicious · November 26, 2014

We have no plans to remove the email note feature. We have deprecated it. It will remain accessible from the note menubar item for the foreseeable future. You can even add an OS X keyboard shortcut to that menu item if you'd like easier access.

goldfilm · November 26, 2014

Notes with to do lists extremely slow to edit yet...

asterix135 · November 25, 2014

I upgraded to 6.0 (app store version) with Yosemite and an current 13" MacBook with Retina display.

I was having the problem where my notes would take a minute to appear in the edit pane (the card/preview pane view was fine). And then when they did appear in the edit pane, they were uneditable.

And from the comments I've seen on the Canadian App Store, lots of people are having this same problem.

This WAS NOT an indexing issue. Or if it is, the indexing feature must be horrid, because I have a sum total of 30 notes in Evernote - most of which are plain text with a few graphics here and there. I let things sit overnight and 24 hours later the same problem recurred.

Luckily, I waded through the comments here to find that somebody suggesting rebooting. This cured the problem for me.

I would really suggest that someone create a sticky at the top of this post with this fix, or even better, update the app store release to fix this problem.

I'm a relatively new user and seeing the update basically render the app unusable, had me very close to deleting it and finding another option.

Still, you think something like this would have been tested first....

SoftwareMarcus · November 23, 2014

I'm running Evernote 6.0 on Yosemite and it's virtually unsuable!

Navigation is unbearably slow. Click up or down arrow and the program waits nearly 2 seconds before the key click is registered on screen. Typing is the same - Start typing and it's nearly 2 SECONDS until the characters start appearing in your note. The longer the pogram is open the worse it is but the issue is present even after a complete system restart.

We suspect that for some people the indexing takes a really long time. This occurs in the background and is very computer intensive and could lead to slowness. Please try leaving your computer on overnight to allow Evernote to finish indexing. For some it might take a full day to fully finish. After this Evernote will work faster than before. Also there was a customer who rebooted his system after the indexing and that seemed to help. Please keep in mind that most people are not running into this issue because they don't have the specific data that you have or there could be some sort of issue in your data that is causing the indexing to take longer than normal. The forums make it sound like everyone is having the same issues and this is not true because the millions of people who have upgraded with no issues don't have a reason to come to the forums so you don't hear of an alternative view. Please write back to this forum after a few days of indexing to let us know if this did or didn't fix the issue. If it's not the indexing issue then we want to figure out a solution.

Limegreen · November 23, 2014

I must have gotten another Evernote update than some of you guys.

Mine is completely in line with Yosemite and it's not 'white' at all. Everything except the notes themselves take on the colour of the background due to it's slight translucency. It brings forth the content and It's very restful to my eyes. More so than the previous version in fact, which I considered to be fine if perhaps a bit tacky.

You don't have to make Evernote throw a bucket of paint on it, use a desktop wallpaper that has a warmer colour and voila. There's nowhere in my app that is as 'white' and grating as this very page that you're reading now (except the notes, and they where white previously too).

JMichaelTX · November 23, 2014

I found the below Evernote (ver 3 I think) screen shot while reading another thread.

I love this UI design. What was so wrong about it?

And if you want/need a "cleaner, less distracting" view, then just open the Note in it's own window!

REF: http://arstechnica.com/apple/2008/06/evernote-talks-to-ars-about-public-beta-announcement/

jacksnack · November 25, 2014

For what it is worth, I like the "color" scheme. I just can't use it because 6.0 is so broke.

gbudden · November 24, 2014

When is the update coming to fix these issues. I'm being held hostage...can't open OR it takes over a minute for note to open on IOS app. If it does load, title is changed to "untitled" when I close the note.

JC_Berger · November 25, 2014

I thought I saw it was fixed in the release notes, but I'm still having issues with renaming PDF attachments (I'm still having to use the carriage return work-around).

Torben Ibsen · November 22, 2014

iMac 2009, latest Maverick, Evernote 6.0. I also have the "untitled" note problem.

A am a Premium customer. But even if I were not, this is not OK, you folks at Evernote. Do you not make simple tests of the software anymore? Especially when the new version makes a conversion of the users database. It makes going back two days for my whole system very difficult.

Just like the affair with Penultimate it seems as if your young and inexperienced team of programmers and testers do not realize that the customers actually USE the products and keep many important data in your products. It in unacceptable that the quality of your test is so low that the software immediately corrupts the customers data. - I wonder what it is you actually do with the time you label "test" on your time sheet.

It is no small deal that the notes get "re-titled". Because the title is often the place where your customer writes the search keywords they use to find the notes again.

Fix this and do not do it again if you want to keep paying customers.

Right now I will not recommend anybody to use Evernote and it will take a looong time before I do it again. Trust is hard to gain, but can be lost in a second...

niq · November 22, 2014

I am on Mavericks, foolishly updated to v6 on App store. Besides looking utterly bizarre, the UI behaves in completely erratic ways. Selecting a note from the list shows nothing on the right pane - until after a few minutes have passed... and still it doesn't display properly. Oh, and there's no way to edit! And before anyone tells me "oh maybe it's still syncing" well no, because reselecting the same note means I have to wait a few more minutes. Maybe this is by design too.

Do you guys actually have a QA department? On the Evernote about page, I can see it's "built with love" by a long long list of people... I have to tell you that's the worst kind of love I've ever seen. Maybe you should "build with *some* professionalism" from now on. Instead of listening to your users and adding much requested features, you waste everyone's time with nonsense. Configurable toolbar? Editing styles? No, just some hipster *****. And now I have to go looking for a replacement.

laaurora · November 22, 2014

I’ve been your premium user for a while now, but you don’t see me on these forums making feature requests often. The reason is, I don’t feel I’m entitled to every feature I may possibly want. I paid for the app I saw, because the features it offered when I saw it were just right for me. Any new additions from that moment would be just a nice bonus. The problem is, you started to take things away. Somehow each major redesign you make adds a bunch of cool features that I don’t need and takes away something I actually care about. I keep paying same money for the app that gets progressively worse for me.

I’m an ordinary computer user, maybe a tad on the power side. As it often happens, I have a bunch of apps open at the same time and I switch between them to get my job done. There are few things I need to feel comfortable:

1) I need to be able to swiftly locate the app’s window on my screen or in the bird view (Expose/Mission Control).

Evernote had that. It had character. It had a face that stood out. Now I’m just lost. My browser window, my Mail client, iTunes and now Evernote - everything looks the same. I’m wasting precious moments of my life on trying to tell them apart.

2) I need the ability to find things within the app as fast as possible. I use Evernote many times a day. Seconds matter.

And Evernote had that at some point. The areas of the app had good contrast between each other. My eyes were landing on the target area right away, and with high contrast elements and proper buttons, finding things was intuitive and effortless. Now it’s gone. Now all I see is the sea of sameness and I don’t understand why. I don’t understand why Apple had to remove color from their system a while ago, forcing me to start reading labels and studying exact shapes of similar looking icons, and I don’t know why you had to go and follow their bad example.

3) My job is graphic & web design, so collecting stock imagery and visual inspiration is one of the primary Evernote uses for me. And this is the main reason I’m paying for premium as well. All that imagery does weight quite a bit.

Evernote used to have a thumbnail view, where images were showing in full, the titles were displayed as secondary information and thumbs were actually resizable, so I could make them big enough to see the details I needed. You took that away and replaced with the card view that was not resizable, that cropped all the images and made the titles prominent but they at least were taking their own space and that darker background was really nice and allowed imagery to stand out. With your previous redesign you took that medium gray away, replaced it with pale grey and overlayed the title over 1/3 of the already cropped image. But well, at least it was somewhat see through. This update made the background pretty much white and made the titles fully opaque. So now all I see is small non-resizable image thumbs cropped to a square and then nearly halved with a completely unnecessary title overlays, all on nicely whitish background that nothing stands out against. Here is what it looks for me now. How far do you think I can scroll before feeling dizzy? How easy it is to find an image I need when all I see is an awkward and often random fragment of it? Why... it's not like I'm demanding new things. It used to be there and worked.

Chat is a nice addition for Evernote business, I guess. Context is probably useful for something. It’s nice to see you, guys, moving forward. But I struggle to find any joy in these nice additions as the primary functionality of the app is deteriorating for me.

As I have years invested in Evernote and it became a really important part of my workflow, I’m still grasping at straws and trying to cope with all the improvements you make. But the way it goes, soon I’ll stop being masochistic and will finally move my imagery elsewhere. Then I’ll try to cope with Evernote’s stylish and very Apple-like design for my text notes and saved articles. But this time for free.

Sorry, I’m generally not a person who throws hissy fits over the software, but previous redesign has upset me quite a bit and I really hoped that a new one would ease the pain, but you managed to make it even worse. Evernote is an important part of my life and work, so this situation upsets me more than a little.

groovebak · November 22, 2014

I loved the previous version. Not happy with this one. It's harder to read (I rely on snippet view a lot and I have to strain my eyes to read what the included lines say). It's boring. Just a gray thing on my screen. No color. Hardly any differentiation. Overall, makes me wonder if there's a point in living.

___________________________

update: it's been a couple of hours and the shock is wearing off. I'm slightly adjusting to the new look and I'm beginning to see its merits. It still reminds me so much of the Windows version I ran away from, minus the customizability. It would be great if you could add more contrast/differentiation, or at least give the user the option. It really does get depressing staring at gray for extended periods. My workflow is simple and adaptable so I can't comment much on the troubles the other users are having, but it would be helpful if basic text editing commands like strikethrough weren't hidden two clicks deep in the menu. Little things make all the difference.

Rebecca Davis · November 23, 2014

Yes, checking the preferences was my first move, as well. I just couldn't believe there wasn't a way for me to have a choice in the blinding white confronting me after the update.

It would be a lot easier to make these changes if they were configurable in Preferences. Graphical UI elements like fonts and background colors are almost always things users can change. Seems like a lot of people's complaints never would have made it to this forum if they could have changed the applications behavior on their own. I know that was the first thing I did -- check the preferences for how to change the visuals back to what they were before.

Thanks again for the discussion regarding the new look. I just got out of a meeting with Jackoliscious, our designer and developer to discuss some tweaks that we would like to implement in the short term to help with Pre-Yosemite OSs and legibility issues. I'm not sure we're going to go as far as many of you would like but I think these changes will help. I want to provide all of you a preview of what we discussed. I do want to caution that our developer still has to get in there and code this up so we'll see what is doable and what isn't.

1) Mavericks and Earlier OSs - I think there is a big difference between the experience a Yosemite user has and a Maverick's user (NOTE: When I say Mavericks I really mean Mavericks, Mountain Lion and Lion but it's too darn hard to write that every time so I'm just going to write Mavericks). The Yosemite translucency adds some color and differentiation to the different panes in the product which I really like. On earlier OSs there is no translucency so there isn't a large differentiation between the panes. On Pre-Yosemite OSs we're going to change the sidebar and the divider lines to be darker gray to provide this differentiation. I think this will help with separating the sections of the app and the "brightness" concern.

2) Light Gray Text - The light gray text in the snippet and card view is too light and I agree it's difficult to see. This includes the date and other header text. We're going to darken this text. Also the line spacing in snippet view for this same text is too tight and we're going to try to expand it a bit. Technically card view is tougher to work with so we don't have as many line spacing options in this view.

3) Icons - On Mavericks some icons appear disabled because they are too light. We're going to go through and investigate and fix icon coloring. For some reason they are different colors for different icons. Overall we will subtly increase the darkness of the icons through out the product and make them more consistent.

Thanks again for this open discussion. We are listening but keep in mind that we may not always agree. Just because we don't change something it doesn't mean we aren't listening. In addition, some things are easier to change than others. The bottom line is we're passionate about Evernote and we're working hard to make it a better product for all of us.

squareeyes · November 22, 2014

"Internet bitching?" (To quote Limegreen's original comment before s/he editied the above post) is what manufactureres get when they mess up and don't pay attention to their customers.

Think about why the forum is here, for feedback. So to moan about that is ridiculous.

There's nothing wonderful about a washed out everything removed interface where nothing is discernable. It's a failure not a sucess.

Design by comitee - really? Fine then we'll just go find another product to use. It's the design team that have no business, it's shoddy work, by them and the Evernote team as a whole not to consider implications of changes of this kind.

Dan Wilson · November 22, 2014

"Internet bitching?" is what manufactureres get when they mess up and don't pay attention to their customers.

Think about why the forum is here, for feedback. So to moan about that is ridiculous.

There's nothing wonderful about a washed out everything removed interface where nothing is discernable. It's a failure not a sucess.
Design by comitee - really? Fine then we'll just go find another product to use. It's the design team that have no business, it's shoddy work, by them and the Evernote team as a whole not to consider implications of changes of this kind.

I like it. Whether or not I will after use over a period of time is to be seen. I view it as a success at present. Usually people offer feedback of their own volition if it is negative feedback, so it would be useful to know what random samples of users think.

maslakovic · November 22, 2014

It seems that this is an ego thing with Evernote designers. Its not about 'people not liking change' - and the comment about how we will learn to like it is idiotic. We will not learn to like it - we will learn to tolerate the bland white look until a better option comes along. The same way we have learned to ignore the work chat buttons which seems to be cropping up everywhere despite the fact the most people don't use work chat - and context which most people don't use for anything. At least you can switch off context.

Why is it so difficult for Evernote designers to understand that people use Finder, Mail briefly. In and out. When we use Evernote, we use it for much longer periods of time - by removing all color you have made it extremely difficult for people to work in Evernote without going blind or losing the will to live!

The IOS app has three color schemes. You don't hear anyone complaining about the color for the IOS scheme. Would it take more than 1 hour of programming to add the color options? Or is it an ego thing? Or just plain incompetence? How many people need to complain before you do something? Take a look at the iTunes reviews - they mirror the sentiment on these forums.

JMichaelTX · November 27, 2014

All of the "Untitled" bugs seem fixed in Ver 6.0.2.

And, after reindexing is complete, performance is very good.

See Evernote Mac v6.0.2 Released

Found a bug in the first 10 seconds of using 6.0.1 for the Mac. Print a note, click cancel, note title is changed to "Untitled." Do you guys test your software? I will submit a formal bug report...maybe it's fixed in 6.0.2.

Thanks,
Ken

Same problem here. Also notes take forever to open.

chronoslynx · November 24, 2014

I'm also having issues where Evernote is logging me out *every time I quit the application*. This is bizarre!

lpr · November 27, 2014

Can we please please please get a color customizable UI so that I can go back to a darker interface. My eyes are getting tired so quick on this new one, and it's ugly to look at.

mosheen · November 23, 2014

I have a serious question for the devs: are any of you running an OLED monitor on 4700k? If your not do it, and tell me you can stare at that screen for longer than ten seconds. It hurts to look at. It's literally the brightest program I use all day and that NOT a good thing. Can we please have some color back? Pretty please? I design industrial HMI displays for a living and this would get me fired. Color, color, color.

groovebak · November 26, 2014

We have no plans to remove the email note feature. We have deprecated it. It will remain accessible from the note menubar item for the foreseeable future. You can even add an OS X keyboard shortcut to that menu item if you'd like easier access.

That's a relief! Thanks!

goldfilm · November 21, 2014

Here's my issue/frustration from the upgrade to Evernote 6.0:

Notes are not showing contents for a *very* long time in all views that actually show the note contents (card view, list view, snippet view, top list view).

This happens upon opening Evernote, selecting notes, opening notes in a new window, etc. The note appears empty, and it takes up to two minutes or so before the contents suddenly appear. If I choose another note after the contents appear, I have to wait for that note to populate the contents area. If I quickly choose another note to view, then come back to the originally selected note (which had finally loaded the contents) the contents are gone again, and I have to wait for them to load once more

This happens to every note I choose, in every notebook - and makes using Evernote very frustrating.

Evernote was upgraded via the app store on a MacBook Air running 10.9.5 (I can't upgrade the OS as this is a company owned laptop, and there are issues with Yosemite and tools we use at work at this time).

1. Same here... I thought it was happening only for the first time you open a note, some kind of "upgrade" delay... but not, you switch between notes and all are slow, with no content for a while. Hopefully this is solved soon.

2. A +1 to complain about the color. I like the sleek design but I was loving the to-do check marks in blue.

3. I won't get tired of saying this, especially with so many people bitching about this upgrade:

YOU GUYS ROCK.

Let's not forget this is a free software and this company keeps on paying close attention to this forum. Not like the Apple Discussions forum, with tons of complaints about same old thing and still you don't see one Apple employee showing up to clarify or thank or even consider what people say.

Have a great weekend everybody.

Tmack · November 21, 2014

Jackolicious, you say "we're listening" but every time someone here complains about the new lack of contrast and visual pain the new design is causing, you basically say they are wrong.

Just saying we are wrong is not dealing with the issue. Just saying that if apple does it, it is ok is not dealing with the legitimate complaint.

I am sorry I upgraded, your wonderful product is difficult to read now, plain and simple. CUSTOMER FRIENDLY SOLUTION: add some options for people to adjust the contrast and even add contrasting colors back, especially for people with vision problems. Thank you Jackolicious.

GrumpyMonkey · November 21, 2014

For those of you that would like to see higher contrast or more legibility can you tell me specifically in what parts of the app? It doesn't help me if you say the entire app.

1) Are we in agreement that the actual note has enough contrast since it's on a white background?

2) List View? I'm hearing a lot of discussion about list view. It sounds like it's difficult to read the text on the banding (and I'm guessing a lot of this depends on one's desktop background). I personally don't have an issue here but I understand the point.

3) What about snippet view?

Anyway, it would be helpful and more constructive to provide specific areas of the product you think we should continue to refine vs having larger arguments over transparency. The sidebar of Evernote will be transparent. This is not negotiable because this is by definition a part of the Yosemite design aesthetic.

The bottom line is I agree with the sentiment that we should build a product that works for all of our users so help me provide our design team with specific details to work with. I'm not sure we're going to satisfy everyone but I think we may be able to make things better for some.

P.S. It's kind of funny because on Twitter the new design is getting generally great reviews maybe because one can't write too much .

Hi Marcus,

(1) Overall: I would like the ability to adjust fonts and font sizes, background colors, etc. -- set the default however you like in accordance with the Yosemite design aesthetic, but offer the user some options for customization.

(2) Sidebar: Fine. In fact, markedly better than the previous version. Show the notebook number / total available. For example, 20/250. What is our total available number? No one seems to know -- the Japanese KB changed once to 450, I think. Do the same thing with total notes next to the note icon: 10,300/100,000.

(2) Toolbar: The blue is too light to easily see. Why not blue like the blue on the sidebar? It could use some customization options. Yosemite design aesthetic recommends offering the ability to customize. I concur.

(3) Notes: Not enough contrast between the white note and the surrounding stuff. The same gray as the toolbar color would be a great help throughout the app.

(4) Buttons: They need borders. See the screenshots I posted above for the accessibility view. Doesn't that look refreshingly better and easier to use?

(5) Notebooks: Same as with the notes: use the toolbar grey color and they'll pop right out (I guess -- get some professional designers with experience handling accessibility issues and it ought to be fine). Enable different views. Why no list view? I have no idea how anyone would actually navigate hundreds of notebooks. Enable sorting options. I use Japanese, which seems to get sorted according to Chinese readings (I guess, I actually haven't figured it out), so a most frequently used sort order, last used, etc. would be a great help. Why not give people colors for notebooks? I cannot fathom Evernote's stubborn and longstanding resistance to color and customization. It's as if your designers grew up with The Giver on their bookshelves and took exactly the wrong message from the book -- the point was that the world is better with color!

(6) Tags: Same as notebooks. Enable different views. Why no list view? I have no idea how anyone would actually navigate 100,000 tags. Enable sorting options. I use Japanese, which seems to get sorted according to Chinese readings (I guess, I actually haven't figured it out), so a most frequently used sort order, last used, etc. would be a great help.

(7) Preferences: I spy a relic of the past among your buttons. Purge the skeumorphic green-colored interloper from your app ASAP!

(8) Whoops. I forgot about the side list view. See my comments on the notes -- ditto for it.

davemail · November 25, 2014

OMG, what they said.

What a mess. Went from a harmonious blend of greys, black and white to a stark landscape of blazing whiteness. No focus anywhere.

Ugly, fugly, FUGLY. A sheepish mis-following of Apple's questionable design aesthetic on Yosemite.

I've reverted back to the previous EN version and am hanging on to it for as long as it functions.

Yuck! For the love of god, take it back or make it better. I love Evernote, but not this UI! :/

marielec · November 24, 2014

Has anyone from Evernote acknowledged the disappearing title when you print a note? I know it was mentioned by a couple forum users at the very beginning.

Real tiresome... and definitely a bug (not a design flaw here).

M

spuds62 · November 23, 2014

It would be a lot easier to make these changes if they were configurable in Preferences. Graphical UI elements like fonts and background colors are almost always things users can change. Seems like a lot of people's complaints never would have made it to this forum if they could have changed the applications behavior on their own. I know that was the first thing I did -- check the preferences for how to change the visuals back to what they were before.

Thanks again for the discussion regarding the new look. I just got out of a meeting with Jackoliscious, our designer and developer to discuss some tweaks that we would like to implement in the short term to help with Pre-Yosemite OSs and legibility issues. I'm not sure we're going to go as far as many of you would like but I think these changes will help. I want to provide all of you a preview of what we discussed. I do want to caution that our developer still has to get in there and code this up so we'll see what is doable and what isn't.

1) Mavericks and Earlier OSs - I think there is a big difference between the experience a Yosemite user has and a Maverick's user (NOTE: When I say Mavericks I really mean Mavericks, Mountain Lion and Lion but it's too darn hard to write that every time so I'm just going to write Mavericks). The Yosemite translucency adds some color and differentiation to the different panes in the product which I really like. On earlier OSs there is no translucency so there isn't a large differentiation between the panes. On Pre-Yosemite OSs we're going to change the sidebar and the divider lines to be darker gray to provide this differentiation. I think this will help with separating the sections of the app and the "brightness" concern.

2) Light Gray Text - The light gray text in the snippet and card view is too light and I agree it's difficult to see. This includes the date and other header text. We're going to darken this text. Also the line spacing in snippet view for this same text is too tight and we're going to try to expand it a bit. Technically card view is tougher to work with so we don't have as many line spacing options in this view.

3) Icons - On Mavericks some icons appear disabled because they are too light. We're going to go through and investigate and fix icon coloring. For some reason they are different colors for different icons. Overall we will subtly increase the darkness of the icons through out the product and make them more consistent.

Thanks again for this open discussion. We are listening but keep in mind that we may not always agree. Just because we don't change something it doesn't mean we aren't listening. In addition, some things are easier to change than others. The bottom line is we're passionate about Evernote and we're working hard to make it a better product for all of us.

groovebak · November 22, 2014

btw, one of the reasons I switched from Windows to Mac was I felt the Mac version of Evernote looked and felt better. I now feel like Windows is hunting me down.

Bruno Melo · November 27, 2014

Found a bug in the first 10 seconds of using 6.0.1 for the Mac. Print a note, click cancel, note title is changed to "Untitled." Do you guys test your software? I will submit a formal bug report...maybe it's fixed in 6.0.2.

Thanks,
Ken

Same problem here. Also notes take forever to open.

Ciaran · November 26, 2014

I have been unable to edit or change ANY of my notes! I'm using the Mac App store 6.0 version. Guys this is an unbelievably horrendous *****-up. What's going on???

NightStalker · November 23, 2014

@Limegreen (irony in that name given all the complaints about lack of it)

Of course, your opinion has just as much validity as everyone else's opinions, but you do seem to be in a minority of about one (maybe two - I think somebody else posted that they didn't mind the new interface).

But why should people have to depend on what is behind Evernote to make it legible at all, especially all those who have not upgraded to Yosemite? And what if the object behind Evernote is something like the Mail app? Even Marcus and Jack (see posts above, on this thread) have admitted that there are problems and that they will address them. But what they propose is only tinkering around the edges of the basic problem. The basic problem being that they changed something that was good, and broke it. And they have taken away or hidden everyday functions (like Email Note) buried in menus, while pushing the "New Chat" button at everyone, even though a tiny minority (I'd guess) would use it.

To reiterate once more - they should make the UI as customizable as possible, even to the extent of "skinning" it, and definitely make the toolbar customizable, and if they did that, then all these complaints about the interface would simply go away. I've been on these forums a long time, having been an Evernote Premium user since almost day 1, with multiple accounts. But I haven't seen an outpouring of complaints about a new release as profuse as we are seeing on here. And with so many first-time posters who have taken the trouble to find the forum, sign up, and post. Virtually ALL of those posts are very negative about the new version, while you appear to like it. And you are perfectly entitled to like it. It's just that on balance, the score seems to be many, many on the "dislike" side, with you and maybe one other on the "like" side of the equation. Each to their own.

I should repeat my disclaimer - I haven't upgraded and don't intend to, and my comments are based on what is being said in here, plus numerous screenshots people have posted on various threads. I also am back running Mavericks, as I did upgrade one iMac to Yosemite and hated it (the appearance, plus, more importantly, what they've done to the Mail app which I use, along with the well-documented WiFi issues) so I reverted using Time Machine.

Max Lincoln · November 25, 2014

The new UI is awful. Fortunately my premium account expires in a few days. I'm not going to renew until the UI is improved. In the meantime, I'll probably even try out some alternatives.

Maedhros · November 27, 2014

I'm a big time and long-time Evernote fan and user and haven't had anything to complain about over the years, but now I felt I had to sign up for the forums to comment on the new design.

I can see how Evernote (especially the designers(?)) wants to align the design with Yosemite and whatever Apple is promoting or doing. However, Evernote is a productivity app that needs to focus on simplicity not in design but in ease of use and clarity. To me, everything looks too washed out and bleak, there is no distinction between areas and my eyes just wander across this wasteland of what was until recently an almost perfectly tuned user interface. Also on Mavericks and my monitor almost everything is just a bleak grey/tan color which seems to be even worse than what users on Yosemite (which I will never use since they've dropped support for 3rd-party SSDs) get.

Personally I had to downgrade to 5.5.1 which has awesome UX with three clearly distinct sections that makes it clear where to focus.

The leftmost dark/black section correctly almost fades out of ones consciousness and the actual notes with the card design (with proper edges) really highlights what is the content.

Just my 2 cents, I hope Evernote will reconsider and revert to the old design. Until then I'm on 5.5.x which I use daily and really like.

zebras_in_mo · November 28, 2014

+1 Bravo. Well said.

@XMG: Great work on that mockup above, based on JMichaels' screenshot, and incorporating fixes for many of the complaints. It is a distinct improvement.

Personally (and I stress that it is my own personal preference) I'd be happy if the far left sidebar reverted to dark grey with inverted (pale grey or white) text the way it has been in the past. Even put some (gulp) GREEN in there somewhere..!

One comment from a couple of people that I don't understand, is when they say the previous design looks "dated" - what exactly does that mean? If it looked good before, then it still looks good. Or are those posters the type of folks who have to paint their house in different colours every couple of years?

We had a fairly significant change in UI with v5, but we've got used to that now. But v6 is too many steps too far, and removes all traces of Evernote identity. Now a couple of people have said that's a "good" thing. I'd disagree.

Blindly following the current trend to being cool, and heading for complete and utter blandness by removing colour, demarcation lines, highlighting of selections, etc etc, in my own 'umble opinion, is a BAD thing.

Which is why I'm staying with v5. And having tried Yosemite on a "spare" iMac, and hating it, I've reverted that one to Mavericks, which is where all my Macs will be staying.

As I've posted elsewhere, I hated the bland, flat, "nothing" look of Yosemite, I hate translucency (yes, I know it can be turned off), and it has no character. But above all else - it is badly broken for those who use Apple Mail. That app is my email mainstay for multiple accounts, including my work Exchange account. And the Yosemite Mail app has all sorts of problems playing nicely with Exchange, the Address Panel has gone, there is no way to select multiple email addresses from a list (they have to be added one at a time), etc. Also, WiFi is still badly busted in Yosemite, even after the .0.1 update which was supposed to fix it. It didn't.

The point of the last paragraph is that Yosemite is not ready for prime time yet, and if they don't change Mail back to the way it was, it may never be for many. And Evernote has blindly followed it into "coolness" - but got it so badly wrong. Especially for those who are on Mavericks or earlier. Interestingly, at the University where I teach (I teach in the Faculty of Medicine), which is a VERY large Uni, our IT department has issued a warning NOT to upgrade to Yosemite, and they are busy reverting all those who did jump early, using Time Machine or SuperDuper clones (which we all use). The same thing applies to Windows, by the way - by decree from the IT dept, everyone must be on Windows 7 or XP. Windows 8 or higher is banned and blocked.

I think it is all symptomatic of software companies, both for OS and for apps, all feeling this pressure to "update" all the time, mostly for the sake of it. But there is nothing wrong with getting the basic app to work perfectly through refinement, and then - and ONLY then - adding the occasional new feature (WITHOUT removing features that are already there and that work just fine).

Adobe Photoshop springs to mind - I've been using it since v2. Yes it has evolved over time, but the differences between versions are small, the look and feel really hasn't changed (does that make it look "dated"??), but it works flawlessly. It has to. And new features, like the Smart Healing Brush, are introduced only after everything else is working perfectly. And they did NOT remove the old Spot Healing tool or the Clone tool - two other ways of achieving a similar result but more fiddly. They remain to this day, and many people still prefer to use them.

If Evernote were to take a leaf out of Adobe's book (and I am NO Adobe lover, believe me), then it should be that perfecting the base, and slowly building ON it rather than replacing it, should be the way forward.

Calamity Man · November 21, 2014

Here's my issue/frustration from the upgrade to Evernote 6.0:

Notes are not showing contents for a *very* long time in all views that actually show the note contents (card view, list view, snippet view, top list view).

This happens upon opening Evernote, selecting notes, opening notes in a new window, etc. The note appears empty, and it takes up to two minutes or so before the contents suddenly appear. If I choose another note after the contents appear, I have to wait for that note to populate the contents area. If I quickly choose another note to view, then come back to the originally selected note (which had finally loaded the contents) the contents are gone again, and I have to wait for them to load once more

This happens to every note I choose, in every notebook - and makes using Evernote very frustrating.

Evernote was upgraded via the app store on a MacBook Air running 10.9.5 (I can't upgrade the OS as this is a company owned laptop, and there are issues with Yosemite and tools we use at work at this time).

Sannyasa · November 21, 2014

It's grey!!! Thats not styling... That's just plain boring and has lost the Evernote feel as far as visuals go, I really dislike the new look, surely the Evernote green could have stayed and been 'brought up to date' with some more 'creative' styling than just shades of grey... Sheeeeesh...

BrooklynBen · November 21, 2014

Long time user, first time (I think) to the forums. I was driven here by the redesign. Now, I'm a younger, cutting-edge kind of user. I like running betas, and minimal design.

But I was driven here to complain about the readability of the new design, e.g. I use card view most often, and the grey of the text in those previewed cards is unreadable. At least make it a darker grey.

I find the new design interferes with the functionality, so much that I want to downgrade to the old one. Can we at least have a little control over the colors? How do I downgrade to the old version?

If it stays this way, I may actually consider changing over to some other program and stop recommending it. Aesthetics over functionality is terrible. (At minimum, I'm going to tell my wife, who does have some vision issues and has been using Evernote for her PhD dissertation writing, to absolutely DO NOT UPGRADE.)

edit: I'm running Yosemite on my 2010 27 iMac and 2011 Macbook Air.

righteousdork · November 21, 2014

Some more screenshots. I think it helps to actually see the UI in these discussions.

Wallpaper will play a big factor in how the app looks. Especially if you're using it in full screen mode. If not, whatever window is behind Evernote will drive the coloring.

Here's the wallpaper I tested with:

List View with Transparency - Wallpaper 1

List View with Transparency - Wallpaper 2

List View No Transparency - Wallpaper Doesn't Matter

List View No Transparency - Higher Contrast

GrumpyMonkey · November 21, 2014

Oh. That's even worse. I guess I have to change my wallpaper to see better contrast? I've never seen that before. Well, I guess there is a workaround, so that is good, but I'd prefer customizability. Just give users a choice, let's stop talking about how grey is enough grey, and let's start talking about some substantive and meaningful umprovements we'd like to see. Sure, the developers have done a great job so far with the service, but let's go further and make it spectacular.

GrumpyMonkey · November 21, 2014

We've been talking about fonts, contrast, and other UI things for two years now. How about these as conversation topics instead?

(1) Encryption by notebook

(2) Selective sync

(3) Hazel-like functionality that enables us to automatically tag, rename, search and replace, etc. throughout the app.

(4) Markdown support

(5) Larger note sizes

(6) Show invisibles so that I can see spacing

(7) A ruler

(6) Information density: word counts, URL, sync status, database size, etc. right at our fingertips, so to speak, iinstead of having to open the popover for every single note. Let's go really crazy and talk about diagnostic tools, context for anything in the Internet, related notes in the hundreds or thousands instead of just three, and account information like which notes are shared, number of people joining / viewing public notebooks, and so forth.

They have nothing to do with collaboration, because this is my external brain, and I don't want other people inside my head. Please give it a thought.

RicD · November 21, 2014

MBP, OS X 10.10.1, Evernote 6.0 (using the App Store upgraded 5.7.2) here are issues I am experiencing:

Launch Evernote it appears in the Doc, and in the upper left next to the Apple it shows Evernote, however on the screen Evernote does not open.
Finally after a few attempts Evernote opened. It is in Card View so I click on a note, in the right pain where one should see the note it is now blank. Double clicking the note nothing happens. Sometimes the note opens yet is blank.
Shutdown Evernote again reboot the MBP, after a few attempts Evernote opens, double click any note it sometimes opens, other times it opens to a full screen presentation mode, what the heck is that all I want is to edit the note, and as I move my cursor a blue pointer thingy-bob trails it. Also, the splash screen Go Premium appears. Du'h, I am premium.
Finally Evernote after numerous times pressing Esc or the X in the upper left Evernote closes that presentation window. It now returns to the main Evernote screen, however I still cannot edit any note as it will not take cursor input.

There are other issues. So I used AppTrap removed Evernote 6.0

Installed from the Evernote site 6.0.1. Some of the issues stated above are cleared some are worse:

My Evernote is in Card View, when I double click a note card in the second column, it opens as one would expect.
Clicking on that card then in the right column where we used to be able to edit a note it is frozen, cannot edit in there.
Double click that right column the note opens full screen presentation mode not allowing any editing. Press esc, takes you out of the note back to Evernote.
Again in the card column where my notes are, I double click it now it can be edited.
Click a card then move my mouse over the image in the right column the image vibrates. Click on it it may stop, if it does then click on the image it again vibrates like crazy.
As I am typing this, Evernote is behind it, we can see the note vibrate/pulsate very fast; this is nuts.

As much as I love Evernote I am strongly looking at Microsoft OneNote. Why:

Over the past many months I have experienced syncing issues
Searching not bringing up notes that apply to the search
Search brings up notes that do not come close to the search criteria
Search with tags not bringing up all notes with that tag
Search bringing up notes that do not have the tag I searched on
Other issues.

Yes, for many years I have been a premium user, however this year I will be canceling that.

NightStalker · November 27, 2014

@XMG: Great work on that mockup above, based on JMichaels' screenshot, and incorporating fixes for many of the complaints. It is a distinct improvement.

Personally (and I stress that it is my own personal preference) I'd be happy if the far left sidebar reverted to dark grey with inverted (pale grey or white) text the way it has been in the past. Even put some (gulp) GREEN in there somewhere..!

One comment from a couple of people that I don't understand, is when they say the previous design looks "dated" - what exactly does that mean? If it looked good before, then it still looks good. Or are those posters the type of folks who have to paint their house in different colours every couple of years?

We had a fairly significant change in UI with v5, but we've got used to that now. But v6 is too many steps too far, and removes all traces of Evernote identity. Now a couple of people have said that's a "good" thing. I'd disagree.

Blindly following the current trend to being cool, and heading for complete and utter blandness by removing colour, demarcation lines, highlighting of selections, etc etc, in my own 'umble opinion, is a BAD thing.

Which is why I'm staying with v5. And having tried Yosemite on a "spare" iMac, and hating it, I've reverted that one to Mavericks, which is where all my Macs will be staying.

As I've posted elsewhere, I hated the bland, flat, "nothing" look of Yosemite, I hate translucency (yes, I know it can be turned off), and it has no character. But above all else - it is badly broken for those who use Apple Mail. That app is my email mainstay for multiple accounts, including my work Exchange account. And the Yosemite Mail app has all sorts of problems playing nicely with Exchange, the Address Panel has gone, there is no way to select multiple email addresses from a list (they have to be added one at a time), etc. Also, WiFi is still badly busted in Yosemite, even after the .0.1 update which was supposed to fix it. It didn't.

The point of the last paragraph is that Yosemite is not ready for prime time yet, and if they don't change Mail back to the way it was, it may never be for many. And Evernote has blindly followed it into "coolness" - but got it so badly wrong. Especially for those who are on Mavericks or earlier. Interestingly, at the University where I teach (I teach in the Faculty of Medicine), which is a VERY large Uni, our IT department has issued a warning NOT to upgrade to Yosemite, and they are busy reverting all those who did jump early, using Time Machine or SuperDuper clones (which we all use). The same thing applies to Windows, by the way - by decree from the IT dept, everyone must be on Windows 7 or XP. Windows 8 or higher is banned and blocked.

I think it is all symptomatic of software companies, both for OS and for apps, all feeling this pressure to "update" all the time, mostly for the sake of it. But there is nothing wrong with getting the basic app to work perfectly through refinement, and then - and ONLY then - adding the occasional new feature (WITHOUT removing features that are already there and that work just fine).

Adobe Photoshop springs to mind - I've been using it since v2. Yes it has evolved over time, but the differences between versions are small, the look and feel really hasn't changed (does that make it look "dated"??), but it works flawlessly. It has to. And new features, like the Smart Healing Brush, are introduced only after everything else is working perfectly. And they did NOT remove the old Spot Healing tool or the Clone tool - two other ways of achieving a similar result but more fiddly. They remain to this day, and many people still prefer to use them.

If Evernote were to take a leaf out of Adobe's book (and I am NO Adobe lover, believe me), then it should be that perfecting the base, and slowly building ON it rather than replacing it, should be the way forward.

Frank Undall · November 26, 2014

Well spoken Mr. Parker.

I can add that I have just found another failure in the Danish version (besides the hopeless translations like: "Me press button"..etc.): I used partly clipping and saved a note. Gave it a headline and then syncronised the note. Wanted to print it, but cancelled when I came to the printing window. Then the headline disappeared..! I tried it repeatedly and it “works” every time…

Good heavens. Ironically the note I wanted to save was “How to Completey Remove and Reinstall EN Mac”. Maybe that's the reason for the "sabotage"...

/Frank Undall

ammulder · November 27, 2014

Happy to say 6.0.2 is working better for me -- notes are visible (I know, sorta sad that I have to say that), and the titles don't constantly revert to Untitled (ditto). And least I can get past the panic now in order to actually consider the UI change....

zebras_in_mo · November 24, 2014

I posted this elsewhere, before I found this thread. If EN is interested, here is my experience: I used 6.0 for 4 days. After much difficulty reading anything (I'm 49 y.o. with progressive lenses, FYI), I went in search of solution. I have now DOWNGRADED my Evernote to 5.5.2. MUCH BETTER. I could go on for an hour about the many, many ways the new design is impossible for me to use due to readability issues. But in short, there is no way under the sun that EN tested this with anyone in the real world who is over 40 y.o. and wears glasses/bifocals/progressive lenses. You must provide options for color, contrast, background color, text color, text size, zoom, etc. No way I will upgrade or renew my Premium sub until EN creates a version I can use.

Calamity Man · November 24, 2014

I downloaded Evernote 6 from the Mac App Store. It took 30 seconds ti load each note! I was frantic until I tried staring restarting my computer. That worked. Evernote should make a note of this in download instructions.

That worked for me too! (I swear I had rebooted in my early attempts to remedy the problem, but oh well) Finally, I can get back to working without a enraged look on my face. It makes no sense for an application such as Evernote to require a reboot of the OS. A simple quit/restart of the app should've been sufficient.

groovebak · November 26, 2014

I've said more than enough about the UI of the new version, which I hate, so I won't go on about it. Others are doing it for me.

I also read a TUAW "review" of the new version last night - it reads like an Evernote media release. But while the reviewer apparently liked it, the telling thing was that all the comments below the main article were extremely negative - just like this thread and others. Here's the link - this is the brief version - the one I read last night on my iPad had a whole load more comments, all in the same vein: http://www.tuaw.com/2014/11/24/the-new-evernote-app-for-os-x-is-a-joy-to-use/

But one point that seems not to have been mentioned - not only did they bury the Email Note function two deep in menus, but there is NO KEYBOARD SHORTCUT. They really are trying to make that function disappear, aren't they? They've already said they're "deprecating" that function - meaning they're phasing it out. I wonder if the chorus of complaints will make them reconsider that? It is another commonly used function that works and that many, if not most, people use. Why take away something that works - again???

They're phasing out the email function? That's a game changer for me. They might as well phase me out, too.

twelvety · November 23, 2014

I've never posted on these forums before, but version 6 on the Mac (at least on Mavericks, which is what I use) looks awful. So bright. Hard to tell what I'm supposed to look at. The old version with green and dark grey was calming and got out of the way of my thoughts. To echo what others are saying, could we have some preferences to be able to control whether we use a darker theme or this bright white/grey one?

I also have to say I'm dubious about the chat functions and Context, especially bringing in context from outside news sources. That scares me. You should focus on making Evernote the leanest, fastest, most robust and bulletproof tool for taking and organizing notes. There are so many other sources for web research and chat that I think development time and energy is wasted on those features.

Anyway, those complaints are second to the UI changes in this latest version. I still love Evernote, but please roll back the UI changes. This is depressing to use.

Socialwill · November 25, 2014

Evernote you have created a mess and lots of people that used to sing your praise are now calling for your heads...

I think I can sum up why everyone is upset with you, they feel betrayed Instead of working with your community, that has been loyal with you for years, and doing a public beta test you decided that "EVERNOTE KNOWS WHAT IS BEST" and pushed this and Penultimate 6 on everyone. Then started blowing your own horns on the success you have done.

The line about "We need to follow what Apple says for design" are not holding much water with people. Lots of programs have a unique UI that helps people get done what they want to get done. UI is only part of it as you know, the other part is User Experience and right now that is LOW>

You have betrayed the trust of people by NOT working with your community to flesh out what they want. You did a public beta of 5.6, why the heck did you not want to do this with 6.0? Was there such a pride in Evernote that you did not want to ruin the surprise? You showed it at the conference and in the public keynote, why not let us test it and provide feedback?

My suggestion is that you stop with the "We know what is best for you" and "We have a plan for this" lines and start a process of getting a LARGE group of people to test the next releases ASAP.

STOP pushed features not everyone will use "Work Chat", "Context"

START fixing the key program issues

STOP with surprise releases

START more beta programs

STOP trying to reinvent how we work

START making the current items we do easier

STOP taking away features we use

START allowing us to customize our experience

Ok...off my soapbox

laaurora · November 22, 2014

I really hope the design team does not reverse course because of this feedback.
I think the team did a great job and it's one of the best looking apps out there. Design by committee is not the answer, so stick with your vision and don't compromise it just to please people who have no business designing apps and don't know good design when they see it.

Good design is the design that works before anything. Good design solves problems, not creates them. Aesthetics is only a part of what constitutes great design, and not even a most important one. Any designer worth his salt will tell you that.

squareeyes · November 22, 2014

"Internet bitching?" is what manufactureres get when they mess up and don't pay attention to their customers.

Think about why the forum is here, for feedback. So to moan about that is ridiculous.

There's nothing wonderful about a washed out everything removed interface where nothing is discernable. It's a failure not a sucess.
Design by comitee - really? Fine then we'll just go find another product to use. It's the design team that have no business, it's shoddy work, by them and the Evernote team as a whole not to consider implications of changes of this kind.

I like it. Whether or not I will after use over a period of time is to be seen. I view it as a success at present. Usually people offer feedback of their own volition if it is negative feedback, so it would be useful to know what random samples of users think.

I'm glad you like it.

Unfortunately for those of us who don't and choose to complain there is no way to change toolbars or washed out interface settings.

I also wonder, of those that are making complaints "of their own volition" (well nobody is making me complain exept me) how many of them are Premium customers, and how many perhaps wont be for much longer?

Limegreen · November 22, 2014

I really hope the design team does not reverse course because of this feedback.

I think the team did a great job and it's one of the best looking apps out there. Design by committee is not the answer, so stick with your vision and don't compromise it just to please people who have no business designing apps and don't know good design when they see it.

dingdong · November 22, 2014

Problem: UI is not working properly

Description of Problem: All the notes of a notebook in 'expanded card view or Card view' are showing distorted images. The images are fine if I go into edit mode.

Troubleshooting: Try to install from mac app store and also direct download. But same problem as shown in the image

jusu · November 25, 2014

You had a beautiful app in version 5. This one:

https://blogassets.evernote.com/files/2012/05/mac_cards.png

*sigh*

maslakovic · November 26, 2014

Nice to see so many people posting comments here, in ITunes and elsewhere commenting on the horrible new design, lack of ability to customise the toolbar (and get rid of the work chat buttons which 90% of the people will never use), context which doesn't actually pull anything useful.

If we want to chat to someone - we will use email - the rest of the world uses email, not Evernote chat. If we want to find more information - we will use the internet, not have Evernote pull random pages from the web, etc which are of no use to us.

I really think we need to keep these threads going until someone more senior, or more sensible reacts - and starts considering the needs of paying customers for a change.

Bill Moriarty · November 26, 2014

I used the instructions here to uninstall Evernote 6 and reinstall version 5.7. Thanks for that, people.

So, at least Evernote did leave up older install versions for us to use... so good on them for that.

It worked for me and I'm back to an interface I like.

Syoma1 · November 22, 2014

This is the biggest issue for me! Big notes won't upload and sync badly. Why?

https://discussion.evernote.com/topic/76956-could-not-sync-note-osstatus-error-9800/?locale=en

Exxplora · November 22, 2014

I'm having a miserable experience with the app store version. In addition to the usability issues other have reported, the content of notes is intermittently disappearing from the view window, even though it shows in thumbnails. If I leave Evernote on the note long enough, the title is changed to Untitled Note.

Really buggy release and poorly thought out design. On the heels of the recent Penultimate apology and web clipper bugs, and I'm starting to wonder if Evernote is a reliable solution for the long term, or if they've just hit a QC "rough patch".

JMichaelTX · November 22, 2014

@Marcus: Please give the above post by laaurora a very careful read and analysis.

laaurora seems like a very well-balanced user who is, in general, not very demanding. She bought Evernote because it had a great feature set, and was easy to use. I suspect that she is a very typical user, who you rarely hear from. So her concerns and issues don't register in ANY statistics that you might collect.

I have highlighted below some of the key points that she made.

The bottom line is:

With each new release, Evernote has continued to make EN Mac less usable
Evernote has removed key features that are essential to the workflow of many of us
Evernote has continued to make the UI design harder to read, use, and quickly identify the different sections on the screen

This should come as no surprise to you. laaurora has stated very eloquently what a number of us have been telling you for well over a year now.

I’ve been your premium user for a while now, but you don’t see me on these forums making feature requests often.
. . .
The problem is, you started to take things away. Somehow each major redesign you make adds a bunch of cool features that I don’t need and takes away something I actually care about.
. . .
The areas of the app had good contrast between each other. My eyes were landing on the target area right away, and with high contrast elements and proper buttons, finding things was intuitive and effortless. Now it’s gone. Now all I see is the sea of sameness and I don’t understand why.
. . .
How far do you think I can scroll before feeling dizzy? How easy it is to find an image I need when all I see is an awkward and often random fragment of it? Why... it's not like I'm demanding new things. It used to be there and worked.

Chat is a nice . . .. Context is probably useful . . ..
But I struggle to find any joy in these nice additions as the primary functionality of the app is deteriorating for me.

As I have years invested in Evernote and it became a really important part of my workflow, I’m still grasping at straws and trying to cope with all the improvements you make.
. . .
Sorry, I’m generally not a person who throws hissy fits over the software, but previous redesign has upset me quite a bit and I really hoped that a new one would ease the pain, but you managed to make it even worse. Evernote is an important part of my life and work, so this situation upsets me more than a little.

JMichaelTX · November 21, 2014

BUG REPORT: Search Box Disappears on Small Window

The Search Box disappears when the main EN window becomes too narrow, like one might have on a laptop.

There is plenty of space on the toolbar, so there is NO reason for this.

Once upon a time, Evernote made a big deal about how important it was that the Search Box appear directly above the Note list. What happened to this notion?

Below is a screen shot I borrowed from another poster.

macfixer · November 21, 2014

I'm not saying you (or the original poster) are lying, but I cannot recreate that screenshot. When I shrink the window's width as small as it will go, search will always be there.

Maybe it's a one-time glitch?

spuds62 · November 21, 2014

Changing the look and feel was definitely a step backwards compared to the previous version. Wish I hadn't upgraded on the Apple App Store. You went from a rich look and feel to a stark one. Also add me to the list of folks who find it much harder on the eyes now. Net promoter score just went to a 6 from a 9.

osx4ever · November 21, 2014

Not crazy about the "inspired by Yosemite" redesign which ironically removed all of the dark background now that Yosemite has "Dark Mode". But my main objection here is the now XBOXHUEG Title text. Please back this down to the previous sizing or give me a way to configure it.

maslakovic · November 21, 2014

I'll give it a couple of more days to see if they give an option to change the hidious color. If not I have no choice but to roll back to an earlier version.

adev · November 21, 2014

I absolutely hate it! I can't read the pale font and I am writing a book and use Evernote a lot.

Tried to uninstall and found an old version, but it WON'T LET ME INSTALL IT.

It is absolutely ANNOYING.

JMichaelTX · November 21, 2014

I'm not saying you (or the original poster) are lying, but I cannot recreate that screenshot. When I shrink the window's width as small as it will go, search will always be there.
Maybe it's a one-time glitch?

I don't know Macfixer since I didn't make the screen shot.

Maybe it's Direct D/L vs Mac Store version??

I have seen this reported elsewhere prior to the Ver 6 update.

Should be easy enough for Evernote to test/replicate in-house.

adev · November 21, 2014

Let me know how can I install an older version and I will NEVER update again.

No more such unpleasant surprises, please.

Jan Peeters · November 21, 2014

For those of you that would like to see higher contrast or more legibility can you tell me specifically in what parts of the app? It doesn't help me if you say the entire app.

3) What about snippet view?

Regarding snippet view: for me the summary text is and too small and too light grey. Hardly readable. I feel strain in my eyes when focussing form large titels too small summary.

I also wonder why there is such a large whitespace between titel en summary. Could be half heigh, more then enough. Use the gained space for a enhanced (larger) line height in the summary.

I guess all your developers have the luxury of retina displays because the type in sidebar looks far form great here. Almost has some added aura. See screenshot. This is taken from Macbook Air 11".

Thanks for moulding EN 6 into a proper shape.

Jan

Evernote for Mac v6.0 and v6.0.1

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