Evernote
There’s no official way to send #Supernote files to #Evernote, but that doesn’t mean we can’t, right? š
I made myself a tool to make it easier to film the Supernote. It is essentially a miniature table with an acrylic top to let the light through. I also cut it to fit the Pixel camera bump. And yes, the next video will be about sending #Supernote files to #Evernote š
New #Evernote Tasks: May 2024 walkthrough.
Evernote Tasks has a new design and new features. So, let’s talk about them.
Customizing Evernote is a must-have option because everyone uses it differently.
Every so often, I get the impression that Bending Spoons is following some of the same problematic routes that have already been attempted beforeĀ them.
I love how fast the new mobile experience is, and I’m sure people who create notes mostly on their phones are happier than ever. But what I’m feeling is discomfort. Itās now 5 days since I started using the new Evernote home for mobile, and Iām yet to use the main screen as intended.
Stacey Harmon said it best: āI have to think about it a lot more than I used toā.
(ā¦) Iām really struggling to embrace the new Home. It is not clicking for me. (ā¦) Iām missing the customized create button. The options there donāt reflect my preferred capture ways. (source)
I also am just struggling to navigate the app and get to what I want. Iām not finding it intuitiveā¦ I have to think about it a lot more than I used to. (source)
If we go all the way back to 2014, when Evernote 7 adopted a modern interface to replace the previews skeuomorphic design mimicking a Rolodex, some complaints were about the lack of customization. Which the company ended up addressing.
When Evernote 8 for iOS came out, customization was gone again. And, as inevitable as gravity is, I remember people asking for many settings. One of the more prominent among my community was a way to turn off the recently used notebooks from the top of the notebooks list. Which, by the way, I didn’t felt the need to remove. In fact, I liked it. And that’s precisely my point.
Customizing Evernote is a must-have option because everyone uses it differently. So much so that Evernote 10 brought back many ways to personalize the app. Unfortunately, that’s now gone again.
But credit has to be given when it’s due. Bending Spoons was able to put together a user interface that has the best elements from many older iterations.
The creation buttons that were used on the first versions of the app are back. Then there’s the dock from Evernote 8, which makes it a breeze to switch from one view to another. And there is even a widget borrowed from the original version 10. To top it all off, this might be the fastest Evernote app ever released.
There’s just one missing piece: customization. And that’s something they could’ve learned from history. Evernote users need options simply because each one of us has a different vision of what makes the perfect Evernote experience.
And talking about history, in the second part of the video below, you can see a glimpse of how I try to keep Evernote’s history intact. Ironically, I do that using Obsidian.
Hey #Evernote, please allow us to personalize the new Home.
Today’s video is an experiment. I always liked the chronology vibe of a vlog, and I wanted to add it to my channel. But instead of my daily routines, what I would like to do would be to share a constant stream of content related to my interactions with products and services I use and love.
It’s of course, easier said than done, but I think I’m getting there. Today’s videoĀ is as close to what I have in mind as I could ever get. The first important element is that it starts as a follow-up to Saturday’s video. Then there are the related topics. The beginning of the video has everything to do with one of Obsidian’s vaults, which in turn is linked to what I find interesting in Scrintal.
š I just finished moving all my tasks back to Evernote. The new notebook tab is even better than I had expected. I’m keeping notebooks with recurring tasks collapsed, which makes all the other tasks highly visible. I am looking forward to seeing that tab in the mobile app in the future.
New Evernote Home for mobile. Did I likeĀ it? Well, I have some suggestions.
The Evernote mobile apps for Android and iOS have changed a lot over time. But one thing all the versions have in common is the struggle to strike a balance between using the notes we already have and capturing fresh info.
The creation buttons were always there from the very beginning, but eventually, they would be combined with different ways to get to existing notes. Sometimes, they would be more prominent at the bottom or top of the screen, as in the newly released version. Other times, a drop-down or Rolodex-style would take up more screen real estate to make old notes easier to find.
Around version 4 or 5, a star icon was added to the dock for quick access to the Shortcuts, which back then were called Favorites. Variations of the star would exist for numerous subsequent versions, occasionally being eliminated only to be reintroduced. The one I liked the most was a little notch at the bottom of the screen.
With the introduction of Evernote 7 for iOS, something similar to the current widgets was introduced. Users would be able to select which Rolodex-style cards theyād like to be visible, and sure enough, Favorites was one of the options.
Favorites or Shortcuts were the best way to get to specific notes before Evernote Home existed. But now thereās no quick access to either. Both are two taps away from the new Home screen. So, hereās what Iād like to see improved on this new mobile client.
First, I think we can agree that thereās enough room on that screen for a small star. Regardless of where it is put, we need quick access to a selected group of information in the form of notes, notebooks, etc. Also known as Shortcuts.
I know for a fact that many users love the Scratch Pad. One of my clients even uses it as a way to create all his notes. But I believe there are already enough ācreation optionsā (buttons) on that screen to give advanced users a way to replace the Scratch Pad with another widget. In my case, for example, a Filtered Notes or Pinned Note widget would be of much more value.
Finally, the mobile widgets page settings should be completely independent of the desktop and web clients. As shown in the video below, I still see value on the widgets page, and I came up with a workaround to make it more pleasant to use. However, with quick access to Tasks and Calendar on the dock, thereās no need for these widgets on the old Home anymore. The problem is, if they are removed from there, they will also be removed from the desktop and web clients, where I do need them.
Also regarding settings, I am curious as to why the removal of the Scratch Pad widget from the old widgets page will also remove it from the new Home page.
What about you? Did you like the new Home for mobile? I would love to know your thoughts.
Some very good points in here. We are 100% confident that the new home is far better for the majority of customers (you'd be surprised to discover how many people don't ever customize their widgets). That said, I do understand that advanced users need more customization. We'llā¦
— Federico Simionato (@fedesimio) May 3, 2024
Now that I have access to the new Evernote Home on my Android, there are many details I’m not happy with. A video about it is coming up tomorrow or Saturday.
I am happy with the recent modifications made to Evernote’s shared menu. It is now much clearer to the user what happens when creating a shared link. However, the publicly shared page still has a long way to go.
I use Evernote, Obsidian, and others. Why isn't one app goodĀ enough?
Not all applications in my Toolbox are incorporated into my personal workflows.
There are two groups of apps in my Toolbox. First, there are the ones I use in my workflows and to help my clients. The second group consists of apps that I donāt use. They are options for my clients that are regularly selected from the numerous tests and experiments Iām constantly doing. Occasionally, they are also featured on my YouTube channel.
The MightyĀ Trio
For example, Trello, which I don’t personally use, is one of my preferred options when it comes to helping companies build workflows. My clients usually donāt have much time and donāt want to spend it with settings. They appreciate how simple and intuitive it is to understand and use Trello.
In other words, the team doesn’t waste time during the implementation of the new process or, after that, in production. Furthermore, it typically takes me only five online sessions to assist small business in establishing their workflows, acquiring knowledge of Agile and Kanban principles, and applying them to Trello.
The same is true for Evernote. I am constantly approached by CEOs and managers, who are overwhelmed with the amount of time they are wasting with all the possible configurations apps like Notion offer.
The fundamental components of Evernote, namely notes and notebooks, require minimal effort to understand and use. Then thereās the outstanding search. Give busy people a way to quickly find information, even in a messy environment, and theyāll be forever grateful.
Its simplicity is still unmatched today. That’s why I still use Evernote for many things, especially the ones related to the calendar, even though I’ve been using Obsidian a lot. More on that soon.
Its powerful search is also very much appreciated. For instance, if someone contacts me, and Iām not sure if weāve met before, Iāll search for their email address on Evernote looking for notes related to past interactions. This is something I frequently do and it’s magical.
More recently, I moved my tasks back to Evernote to try two new features. The full-screen view and tasks on the calendar.
Then thereās Google Workspace, which is equally easy to use and intuitive. But that doesnāt make it less powerful. The real-time collaboration it offers is unparalleled and almost unbreakable. When you add in the fact that documents can be linked to Evernote, Trello, and so many other services, itās a truly unique product. Sometimes it even works as a bridge between apps.
Many of my clients, from different industries, adopt a variation of a workflow that starts with outlines on an Evernote note and resources clipped into a notebook. When the time comes, a Google Doc is created and linked to that note. These two simple steps ensure that the research material, outline, and draft of the final document are all easily accessible.
Eventually, the document reaches a stage where more team members are required to collaborate on it, and it is now shared on a Trello board. Other times, it is shared on Slack, instead of Trello. And that’s fine because the document is always the same. No matter where it is, everyone will be able to work on it while Googleās real-time editing will be doing its magic.
Itās also a matter of taste. Like many of my clients, I simply cannot stand all the buttons and so many settings on Microsoft products. Iāve been a happy Workspace user since 2015 and have no intention of leaving anytime soon.
These apps are formidable, as they are all intuitive and work seamlessly together. I canāt remember how many companies I helped with this trio.
Obsidian
Some of you may recall the series of videos I made about moving the files I had in Evernote to Google Drive. That idea came from Obsidian, which I started using long before Evernote was acquired by Bending Spoons.
My written content has many media elements. Sometimes it is a thumbnail like the one you see in this article, other times itās a clip that I plan to use in a future video. Sure, all these files can be added to Evernote, but thereās no easy way to work on them out of the note.
The thumbnail in this article, for instance, was initially created on Pixelmator before being converted to a JPG. And that is an ideal use case for Obsidian, which keeps notes and all files in our computer files system. We can access and use them from Obsidian or from the computer file system. It doesn’t matter. In other words, I can include the thumbnail in a note, like the one I created for this article, and, at the same time, edit it using whatever app I wish.
While we are discussing this topic, I have always had the desire to post directly from Evernote, but I was never able to find the proper solution. Thatās not the case anymore. For a while now, all my articles and short posts start their lives as a note on Obsidian, which brings us to another tool I love.
Micro.blog is now my hub from where I manage all my online presence. Itās a great tool and there are many videos about it on my channel.
Another interesting workflow is the draft of my next book, which I can write on Obsidian and synchronize with Scrivener. Again, thatās only possible because of how Obsidian notes and files are stored on our computers.
I believe you got the point. Iām using Obsidian for all file-related workflows.
Workflow as aĀ Concept
Since English is not my primary language, I frequently require assistance from technology. LanguageTool is my grammar and spelling tool of choice, particularly because itās a European company with a strong privacy policy. Sadly, there is no Android app available, but thatās okay since most of the time Iām writing on a computer. Which brings us to a workflow I established for my writing.
As you can see in this video, LanguageTool saves temporary or permanent texts. When I have an idea, I create a permanent text, work on it for days, weeks, months or for as long as it takes, then I paste it to Obsidian, format it, and publish it on my blog from there. The last step is adjusting the text saving format to temporary, which will automatically delete it from LanguageTool after a few days.
Thatās what I call a Workflow as a Concept. You donāt need to use a Kanban board or an app to plan and keep track of all the stages. If the process is clear to you, a simple temporary-permanent text setting will suffice.
Hardware
I recently started using a Supernote, and similar to what I described above, it is now part of a Workflow as a Concept. I don’t know why it happens, but very time I come back from a run, I have this storm of ideas that I have to write down.
Writing all of that on my computer or phone was never a viable option. Thereās too much friction. What I do now is grab the Supernote and take notes with tags that will help me filter that information in the future. Sometimes itās just an outline, other times itās a sentence or two.
Iām in love with how simple and efficient this is and will soon talk about it on the Supernote series on my YouTube channel.
And talking about running, my watch of choice is a Garmin Instinct 2. I stand for all the reasons I listed in the 2-year-old video below. The only complaint I have is something I found out much latter. Its battery is not replaceable. And although it’s still averaging 20 days in between charges, a sealed device is something that makes no sense in todayās world.
There are, of course, more software like Firefox, Signal, Final Cut, Apple Motion and others, but this article is already too long, and Iād say the above are the ones that really make my workflow flow.