I am without a doubt a huge Evernote fan. I’ve been a member since 2008 and have paid for Premium access since 2009. While I don’t really need the upload capacity offered by Premium, I started paying because it is product I want to see succeed and stick around. Because I like gadgets I’ve seen different iterations of the product too, from the earliest Android releases to the current Evernote 5 for Mac. I even tried to use the web interface on my old pink Palm Centro. Crazy.
So, what about the new release? The iOS versions for iPad and iPhone came out last week and the Mac version came out (for me) last night. This is a major change for Evernote not so much in the functionality of the notes, but in the presentation of your notebooks. I’m not a technology reviewer but I can give you a few of my impressions on both products. I’m sure there are tons of reviews available out there.
iOS version (mostly for iPhone)
Evernote iOS
1) The iOS version seems to be a LOT faster than previous versions. I had started using SimpleNote on my iPhone for quick notes because it took so long for Evernote to load. It just wasn’t functional for quick note-taking. With the new release they seem to have sped things up a bit. Even navigating between folders and searching is faster than in the old versions.
2) They’ve prominently displayed buttons for quick note-taking and image-capturing. Yet another reason I am more likely now to use the iPhone version for on-the-go captures. The page camera is the third icon. It is for taking images of pieces of paper as it has a cropping function. I honestly don’t use this feature within Evernote because I’d prefer my documents be in PDF rather than images. I use CamScanner and then import into Evenote and that works fine. Do you have a work around for this that you like?
3) They’ve added the Places tab which allows you to see your notes on a “beautiful map” (their words). While that may be fabulous for people who travel a lot, I really don’t know that I see the point. I would love to hear how others use the mapping aspect.
Even with several features I’m less inclined to use, overall it is a nice interface and seems much more accessible. Both the iPhone and iPad versions work great.
Mac version
I just downloaded the Mac version last night, so I am still getting to know it. These are my general impressions.
1) I think the shortcuts section might be the game changer for me. This is a great feature. It allows you to drag and drop your most used notes into a prominently displayed area. I had been using my Inbox notebook that way, but I had to change the notebook associated with individual notes to do that. With the shortcuts box, I can keep those notes in the right notebook and then just make a shortcut to it.
I wish the mobile versions had this feature. The iOS has the favorites star but I can’t really figure out how best to then access my “favorites”. I would love some help on that guys!
2) The one thing I’m going to have to relearn is how to deal without my notebooks on the left navigation. Because that was the Evenote model for so long it will take some adjustment to get used them being a click away. BUT! You can put notebooks in the Shortcuts area. And tags! Really the Shortcuts feature is getting the two thumbs up.
Evernote for Mac
3) I love the new display of notebooks. Maybe more so in the iOS, but they seem to be playing off that Moleskine partnership with the look. Having the ability to collapse the nested notebooks is very nice. I like anything that keeps my workspace clean, so kudos Evernote.
Beyond those main features everything else seems about the same. I’m still not sure about the mapping feature, but maybe if I take more conference notes in Evernote this year I’ll change my tune.
Have you tried the new releases? Thoughts? Usage ideas? Did Evernote forget to add a particular feature?
Hi Lynda,
I too have been exploring both the new ios and mac apps updates.
In ios I’ve been experimenting with the page camera. Even in the version before the latest one. Although I’m very glad they’ve made it more accessible than before…much fewer clicks. I think one advantage I’ve found of using the page camera rather than scanning in a pdf with a different app (I used Scanner Pro) is that on the mobile version the image shows up inline in the message rather than as an attachment I have to open separately. At least I think this is the behavior I’ve observed. I’ll admit I haven’t done systematic testing.
On the mac app, I agree, the shortcuts section in the sidebar is going to be the biggest new feature. Now I just need to decide what to put there!
Also, I think they’ve added a nice enhancement to the search pane. When you start typing a search, down at the bottom of the search pane that appears there is now a “add search option” that allows some really great fine tuning of searches without having to remember the correct syntax. I don’t think that was there in the previous version.
I too am not entirely clear on what to do with “favorites” on ios. I’ve designated a few items as favorites that theoretically I want to have available to me even in a place where I may not have network access. Because by marking as a favorite it is stored in the memory on the phone. But it’s not really my favorite most used notes necessarily, and accessing them isn’t completely intuitive in the new version. But I don’t think this is a deal breaker for me.
All in all I’m enjoying both new app updates and keep trying to find more ways to integrate it into my workflow. One fairly common use I make of it is to snap photos of “whiteboards” at the office so that I can refer to it later.
Thanks for the reply! I will keep that in mind for the Page Camera. I guess it depends on what kind of document it is as to which option I would choose (ie, if I need a PDF or not).
I think the Favorites is a holdover from the early days of Evernote mobile to be honest. It was useful on the iPod when you didn’t have an wifi. I’m just not sure it has much use (for me) now that I have a data connection.
Thoughts on the mapping part?
I agree with you about the favorites. Like I say the only things I have marked as favorites are things I still might want to see even if I lose my data connection…a dead zone.
I’m with you on the mapping. I can’t figure out a use case for me for this feature. If I traveled more potentially I could figure something out. But I usually name or tag my notes so that I can find them. The location is just another layer that doesn’t always align with my organizational system. For instance, I do periodically travel to NJ/NY for meetings. I file those notes either in a notebook or with a tag that tells me about the subject area of the meetings regardless of whether it happened in NY or GSO. The fact that it happened in NY isn’t especially important to me.