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I Can't Access MY Notes On MY Device? Really?


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Okay, I've been using Evernote for quite some time, I have dozens and dozens of lists on it, and I am quite frequently not connected to the internet (I fly planes for a living).  So, I go to access my notes while over the Pacific, and it says "No Internet Connection", and come to find out that I have to upgrade and pay THIRTY FIVE DOLLARS A YEAR to access MY notes that exist on MY device?

Seriously?  

 

I mean, I just want to make sure I have my facts straight, and that I haven't somehow misinterpreted or clicked on the wrong thing before my head explodes.  If I am wrong, if I can access my notes when not connected to the internet then 1) please tell me how and 2) ignore the following rant.

 

From what I can see, Evernote has inserted code into the app so that before I can access my data it looks for an internet connection and, if it doesn't see one, it denies me access to MY data which resides on MY device.  Then, as if that isn't enough, it essentially holds it for ransom (when I'm not connected) by demanding THIRTY FIVE DOLLARS A YEAR to access my very own data on my very own device.

Now, I understand that Evernote has to pay the bills, and I don't mind paying for an app and I've done so, and I sometimes don't mind ads, and I've paid to get ad-free versions of apps, but this is really, Really, REALLY too much.  For God's sake, we should be able to access our own data on our own devices, and you can charge us for syncing across devices which, after all, does require Evernote servers.

Please tell me I have this wrong.

  

 

 

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Hi @alienbogey,

Offline notebooks for mobile devices are only available for Plus and Premium Evernote subscribers. Because the notes aren't actually downloaded to the mobile device, you will not be able to access them without an internet connection unless you upgrade your account and designate the notebooks as offline. You can, however, access your notebooks when offline using a computer with the downloaded Evernote application installed.

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On September 9, 2016 at 4:01 PM, alienbogey said:

I mean, I just want to make sure I have my facts straight, and that I haven't somehow misinterpreted or clicked on the wrong thing before my head explodes.  If I am wrong, if I can access my notes when not connected to the internet then 1) please tell me how and 2) ignore the following rant.

 

For Windows/Mac platform, we have a complete copy of our notes and can access them without the internet

For mobile platforms, we can designate selected notebooks for offline access and can access them without the internet

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On 9/9/2016 at 6:01 PM, alienbogey said:

If I am wrong, if I can access my notes when not connected to the internet then 1) please tell me how and 2) ignore the following rant.

If using the desktop software you can access your notes w/o an internet connection provided you did not sign out of EN the last time you used it.  As long as you File - Exit or x out you are okay.  

For mobile devices, as stated above, you need to be a paying subscriber.

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10 hours ago, amanda_h said:

Hi @alienbogey,

Because the notes aren't actually downloaded to the mobile device, 

 

I find that VERY difficult to believe as I have been using my notes offline, on my mobile device, for months and months and months, ever since I got the app.  So, of course they existed as files on the device.

Only on my most recent flight did I discover - SURPRISE - that my notes were no longer accessible offline. Furthermore, no, the notes weren't "downloaded to the mobile device", the notes were originated on the mobile device.  

So either Evernote took my notes off of my device, or Evernote changed the app to block access to my notes, that are still there on my device, if the device isn't talking to the internet.

 

 

 

 

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2 hours ago, alienbogey said:

Evernote took my notes off of my device

That is correct - Evernote moves notes from mobile devices to a central server
Evernote is a cloud app, and uploads your notes to the server in a sync process.

This is the default, however Evernote did implement an offline feature

Many users have limited memory on their devices and don't want their notes stored locally
Other users have expanded memory and want the option for offline access
To maintain notes on a mobile device, you assign them to an offline notebook (paid feature)

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I failed to communicate precisely.

Evernote either removed my notes that were stored on my device, or removed my ability to access the notes that are still stored on my device.  

Remember, I formerly could access my notes without any internet access whatsoever (verified approximately four times a month at 35,000' over the Pacific Ocean since January of 2013).  [ <=== I just looked up the date of my oldest note. ]

Limited memory on their devices and don't want them stored locally?  LOL.  What is the size of each text file - 5kb, maybe?

Bottom line:  For 3 1/2 years I could access my notes, stored on my device, without being in contact with the internet.  Evernote has taken away that ability, and now wants $35/year to restore the ability to look at my own notes, generated on my own device, and stored, at least initially, on my own device.

There's a name for that:  Ransomware.

 

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23 hours ago, alienbogey said:

I formerly could access my notes without any internet access whatsoever (verified approximately four times a month at 35,000' over the Pacific Ocean since January of 2013).  [ <=== I just looked up the date of my oldest note. ]

I can only think of two explanations
- You did not run a sync process
   Risky because you loose the web server as a backup
- You were accessing your notes from the device cache memory
   Risky because the device could overwrite this anytime

>>Limited memory on their devices and don't want them stored locally?  LOL.  What is the size of each text file - 5kb, maybe?
My notes take up over 5GB
My largest note is over 100MB

>>Evernote has taken away that ability
afaik, this process has been in place for years from the beginning, and nothing has changed

>>There's a name for that:  Ransomware.
Name calling is so childish
You might try to understand the features and select the product that meets your requirements
You chose to use the Evernote service
Either the feature has no value to you; or it has a value making the paid account worthwhile.

 

 

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@alienbogey,

Notes that have been recently accessed in the iOS Evernote app are stored in the iPhone's cache. This is why you are sometimes able to access notes while offline, as @DTLow mentioned above. The iOS device will push content out of the cache as it sees necessary, to make room for other content that has been recently accessed. This is not something we are able to control, though we do offer the ability to designate notebooks as offline with the paid subscriptions for users who need to be able to access notes/notebooks when disconnected from wifi or a cellular network. For clarity, the ability to designate notebooks as offline has never been a Basic feature, this was not taken away from Basic users.

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Okay, well, I never really expected to make much headway in getting the former functionality restored.  

You're telling me that the ability to look at notes offline has never been a feature, but for 3 1/2 years I've accessed every single one of my notes, which number (pause while I look it up) 131 in total, while offline.  Now I can't.  The message "Can't access offline" was brand new about two weeks ago, never seen before by me, in 3.5 years of use.  

Furthermore, I vaguely remember a number of push notifications from Evernote coming in the past month or so, urging me to upgrade for $$, which I ignored because I was happy with my then-current functionality.  Quite a coincidence that once some deadline for upgrading passed my ability to access offline immediately disappeared, and in order to restore that functionality Evernotes wants me to pay $35/year.  

Ransomware wasn't calling names, it was the closest term I could come up with.  What's the term the concept of a drug pusher who hands out drugs for free, then once the user is hooked, starts charging them?  That's what this feels like.

Yes, I understand that app makers have to monetize they're apps one way or another, and apps that I like & use I usually end buying, or paying to kill the ads, etc, but this is ridiculous that the most basic, lowest-cost-to-the-maker function (files stored on the device where they originated) is $35/year, while the expensive part (files stored on servers and disseminated to multiple devices) is a feature of the basic, free version.

Thanks for the suggestions to seek another app - I downloaded Simplenote and would have liked to have spent my time over the Pacific transferring the notes to the new app but, joke's on me, I was offline and couldn't access them.

Thanks for all replies.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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  • 1 year later...

This got me signing up for this forum. Seriously? Like, really? No? I mean, really??? Internet connection just for viewing my own notes? Nice 'feature', thanks devs, y'all so thoughtful. Do put that on the features description - save some millions people their time installing this.

I'm sorry. I was liking your app until this one. Bad beat.

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On 7/20/2018 at 10:07 AM, no_offline_notes_cringe said:

Internet connection just for viewing my own notes? 

Evernote is a cloud service however there are offline options.

  • The Mac/Windows platforms maintain an offline copy of our data.
  • The mobile platforms have an offline notebook feature for paid accounts.
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On 7/20/2018 at 1:07 PM, no_offline_notes_cringe said:

This got me signing up for this forum. Seriously? Like, really? No? I mean, really??? Internet connection just for viewing my own notes? Nice 'feature', thanks devs, y'all so thoughtful. Do put that on the features description - save some millions people their time installing this.

I'm sorry. I was liking your app until this one. Bad beat.

I presume you're talking about notes on a mobile device, e.g., Android. (If not, please specify.) In that situation, Evernote tries to keep from eating up your device's storage by only downloading notes that are actively being viewed or edited, for which a connection is needed. Some people have thousands of notes, or notes with large attachments, and downloading the whole note database to a mobile device could be prohibitive. Notebooks that are designated "offline" on the device will be downloaded to it (when you're connected). The full explanation from Evernote is here.

Yes, offline notebooks are a Premium/Business feature. From my point of view, the ability to store YOUR notes on SOMEBODY ELSE'S servers at SOMEBODY ELSE's expense and access them from multiple devices using SOMEBODY ELSE'S connectivity (as well as YOURS) is a pretty good deal. If SOMEBODY ELSE wants you to pay to view and edit them without connectivity, well, you've already gotten quite a bit for free, and SOMEBODY ELSE has bills to pay too. Trying to put this more-or-less humorously. ;)

 

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  • 3 months later...
On 9/12/2016 at 7:13 AM, alienbogey said:

Evernote either removed my notes that were stored on my device, or removed my ability to access the notes that are still stored on my device.  

I totally agree alienbogey, the same thing happened to me - this is a bizarre privacy violation. I work on the computer every day, had moved all my business notes to Evernote, but did not understand what you stated so clearly. I'm moving to another product.

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On 11/15/2018 at 1:43 AM, DR1 said:

this is a bizarre privacy violation.

You should understand that Evernote is a cloud service.  The data is stored on the Evernote servers

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  • 7 months later...

Similar problem hear maybe. I have evernote on iMac and MacBook, and all my notes were synced to my computer and I had no trouble accessing them offline. Recently I opened the evernote app on MacBook and was created with a sign in screen instead of my desktop version. I have not been able to access that at all. I've removed all traces of evernote and rebooted the laptop and reinstalled a fresh file. Still not success. I went through that process 2-3 times with no luck. 

I would welcome additional ideas I can try to get back to where I was.

 

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16 hours ago, jack_g said:

Similar problem hear maybe. I have evernote on iMac and MacBook, and all my notes were synced to my computer and I had no trouble accessing them offline. Recently I opened the evernote app on MacBook and was created with a sign in screen instead of my desktop version. I have not been able to access that at all. I've removed all traces of evernote and rebooted the laptop and reinstalled a fresh file. Still not success. I went through that process 2-3 times with no luck. 

A different problem altogether. The original post was about the inability of Evernote to guarantee availability of notes on a mobile device (iPhone, Android) without using offline notebooks, which is a paid feature.

Your problem appears to be with the desktop application, not the mobile application. Anyways, you're saying that you opened the Evernote application on your MacBook, and it gave you a sign-in screen? What happened wen you tried to sign in? Perhaps a screen shot of the sign in screen would help...

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17 hours ago, jack_g said:

I had no trouble accessing them offline. Recently I opened the evernote app on MacBook and was created with a sign in screen

Bad news - Evernote sign in requires an internet connection

It's important to not sign off before going offline, however this may have triggered somehow

>>I've removed all traces of evernote

Just the app, or also the database and associated files ...

You can check the master version of your data on the web platform at www.evernote.com

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As long as you are signed in, there is not problem with being offline when opening EN. It will just open fine, PC or Mac. This is true for as long as the sign in is valid, which is usually for one year.

It is just the sign in that requires an internet connection - and of course all that syncing that is a core EN function. The need to have an internet connection is the same on desktop and mobile clients.

Conclusion: If I know that I will likely be without an Internet link when opening EN for the next time, I should not sign off before.

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  • 1 year later...

My notes are owned by me, not Evernote. So, I should be able to access my notes without having to upgrade or pay a fee. I just want all of my notes. I will agree to not use Evernote ever again. Just let me have my existing notes.

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