I have always been on the lookout for the next greatest tool to help me be less forgetful, keep up with tasks and have quick and easy access to the things I need. I have to be proactive on organizational skills, it does not come naturally to me. Tools are my friend.
Evernote was something I had used in the past with older versions yet I was never completely sold on the product, that was until their latest version that was across desktop, web and mobile. It truly works with the way I think and function, and continues to grow.
For a while I was using it as a snippet capture tool only. Remembering wine labels, terminal commands for periodic use, etc. Then along came the ability to attach files. genius! I love this portion of the product almost more than anything. Nothing for me works quite the same. I dont use it daily, but it IS handy. and access to my notes from Mobile? Oh yes, you better believe I love that facet of the product. I live and breathe mobile daily.. it is my industry, so I am thrilled that Evernote has a focus.
So why do I sound like a Fanboy yet feel like I am losing my ambition to continue here? Let me explain.
Notes
First and foremost, Evernote is supposed to be for tracking notes. Snippets of text are one thing, Have you ever tried to format a note for meeting minutes or a trip? Use a different font for headers, add a horizontal rule for breaking things up? It Starts to look ok at first but quickly breaks down.
There are no templates for formatting new notes. Adding a new note is one thing, but I’d like to create new MEETING notes, or a new VACATION PLANNING note, or a new JEFFS RANDOM IDEAS note that has a particular format. Heck, it’d be great if I could even add in my own attachments to go along with it. Imagine a meeting note template that had an excel file attached by default that was empty and ready to accept an issues list. That’d rock.
OK, back from dreaming here…Simple things, the formatting does not act consistent between mobile, web and desktop. Heck, even on the desktop there are MAJOR issues with the way things format. You somehow end up carrying over formatting from one type to another without intent. Word processors have been getting formatting (including pre-defied styles) right for a couple of decades. How is this so broken? They say it is in the works to fix, but daily it frustrates me.
Here’s a thought. Could I do free-form (One note like) note taking in my evernote files? How great would that be? Capture notes, draw a quick mind map,etc. I dont think like a word processor.. don’t make me take notes that way!! Why should I be limited to a serialized structure. It is not normal.
Mobile
On to mobile, which should make me smile. You can guess by now that I am less than happy with it. I am only talking the iPhone experience here since that is what I have.
First and foremost is the speed of this application. It is bar-none the slowest application I have used. I only have around 500 notes in my account, this should not be a major issue I would think, yet I continue to WAIT and WAIT for this application to do anything. Trying to search your notes, even over Wi-fi, is incredibly slow. Ever tried to look up your reservation PDF while at the counter of a hotel? You may as well try to run back home and print it. Way too slow and not functional.
How about the favorites? You can mark something as a favorite and it is supposed to store it for offline use. the catch is.. it does not cache attachments. Due to the way the Safari plugin for Evernote works (which is actually an amazing high point for this application), it creates PDFs of the web page you are on. It works like a champ, just don’t expect it to be available for offline use.
Creating new notes on the application is just not useful due to the speed. I rarely try it. I had even gone to the point of buying the Griffen case with the macro lens cover explicitly for Evernote. Again, yesterday when I was trying to take a picture of a business card, it failed. It just hangs and forced a re-boot of my iPhone. I pretty much do NOT use the notes creation from my iPhone. Makes me a little sad.
Honestly, for mobile, I have resorted almost exclusively to using the web interface through safari. it just works far better than the app for the iPhone, which is very sad. It had such promise.
Task Management
Evernote added the ability to add in tasks for items. These are really just little check boxes in front of the text with the ability to tick off the box when complete. Well, what ticks me off is that there is no way to really manage my tasks this way. It is interesting to note TODO items in a large set of meeting notes, yet there is no way to globally manage all tasks to complete, no way to really see what is not yet done. I know this app is for taking notes, but really.. if I could manage my tasks like I do with “The Hit List”, I would be one happy puppy.
Summary
So.. for now I am on the fence. Do I convert my Evernote T-Shirt into a garage rag, go back to finding a new love for note taking and tracking tasks… or do I stick it out in hopes that my Evernote Peeps will fix these issues, and fix them soon. I am truly frustrated and done paying for small subscription after small subscription for applications annually, yet Evernote for me was one that was well worth it.. until I really got into it for my daily routine. Maybe I am just asking too much? Or is my hard earned money worthy of more?
Evernote, oh Evernote… Please fix the mobile application, make it work. Fix the lack of task management in the application, I could really use that.. and for god sakes.. fix the note taking portion of your note taking application. It is a train wreck.
As for the pluses.. thanks for the attachments, cross computer syncing and the hopefully continued innovation. We will wait and see if I continue to use this after another month or two.. and as for my evangalising? I will hold off for now. No more trying to force my friends to sign up on Evernote. Just too many issues as it stands for the way I use it.
For years I have been one to keep notes in varying formats. Sometimes in text files, sometimes in tools such as the OLD evernote, Tiddlywiki, Journal, Yojimbo, etc. The problem is I was never satisfied with any one of them. Something was always not quite good enough. Then.. along comes what should be in everyones tool belt. Evernote.
