#Evernote alternatives bloat update#
#Evernote alternatives bloat plus#

Both contain simple bold, italics, and underline options. When it comes to writing notes, Evernote and Apple Notes have a number of tools that overlap. Many people who formerly used Evernote have grown content with Apple Notes, so I thought it would be helpful to take some time evaluating the two apps side-by-side. On devices with 3D Touch, you can also create a new note by pressing firmly on the Evernote app icon from your Home screen. Pressing this creates a new text note, but you can also long-press it to receive options for creating a new Audio, Photo, or Reminder note.

#Evernote alternatives bloat plus#

3Ĭreating new notes can be done from any screen in the app thanks to the ever present green plus button. If you have a lot of notebooks, the search option at the top of the menu is useful. Tapping on the notes view at the top of the screen presents a dropdown menu containing all your notebooks. Lastly, notes can be found easily thanks to the helpful Notebooks menu. This makes it one of the best places to quickly access a regularly visited note. In addition to housing all your starred notes, the Shortcuts tab also contains a list of Recent Notes you’ve accessed. You can add a star to any of your notes, which adds them to a list of Shortcuts. The second way to quickly access notes is by using the Shortcuts tab. For a note-taker that’s built to house a huge amount of data, search is a crucial area to get right, and Evernote excels here. The Search tab also contains a list of recent searches, so with just a tap you can repeat a previous search. Search results appear instantly with each keystroke, divided into helpful sections of Notes, Notebooks, and Tags. When you open Search, the search box is automatically selected so you can begin typing your query immediately – no further taps required. My favorite search option is the dedicated Search tab. Left: Notebooks drops-down menu Right: Shortcuts tab.

In any case, I’m happy to have a fast app again, and hope it stays that way. It’s difficult to say what caused the speed variances, as they took place during times when the app version and OS version didn’t change. But just recently, the app’s reverted to its snappy form. For about a week, though, things grew progressively slower. Truly fast, as in, night and day compared to past versions. Over the last two weeks of use, speed has been a mixed experience for me. When Evernote announced version 8 of its iOS app, they said the redesign focused on speed and simplicity. Lastly, sorting options allow you to sort notes by date updated, date created, or note title. You can also choose a highly-compact view without any body text or images at all. 2 There are Small, Medium, and Large display options for notes in your Note List, which changes both the amount of text previewed as well as the size of image thumbnails. Tapping the ellipsis at the top of the All Notes screen presents you with a number of options. The vertical Note List can be customized to best suit each user’s preferences. The card design with options on swipe imitates Apple’s News and Mail apps in iOS 10, and works well as an interface for managing notes.įrom left to right: Evernote, Apple Mail, Apple News. Notes are presented as cards in a vertical list, and swiping one to the left presents buttons to star, add a reminder, or trash the note. 1 Whites and grays dominate the color scheme, with the app’s hallmark green sprinkled throughout. Visually, Evernote looks every bit like a modern iOS app.

#Evernote alternatives bloat update#

The more time you spend with it, though, the more substantial an update it proves itself. But Evernote recently launched version 8 of its iOS app, which led me to give that service another try.Īt first glance, Evernote 8 is similar to past versions. Notes has kept me satisfied since its big update, and I know many people are in the same boat. But what Apple demonstrated with Notes’ overhaul looked promising, and I gave it a shot. My experience with Notes in the past had been frustrated by poor syncing that led to data loss on multiple occasions. I’d been unhappy with the clunky state of Evernote at the time iOS 9’s Notes was unveiled. That changed in June 2015, when Apple introduced a revamped Notes app for iOS and macOS.

For a time, there weren’t many worthwhile alternatives for Apple users to explore. New features and tangential apps added over time created bloat and became distractions. But as the service grew larger, it became a less efficient tool for the core task of viewing and creating notes. It once reigned as king of note-taking services, successfully blossoming in an increasingly mobile world.