This is the story of how I helped him save his notes

Evernote, like many other companies, lets us use two-factor authentication. This means that, once you enable this function, you’ll always need to use a randomly generated code in addition to your password to gain access to your account. I see it as a good security feature that we all should turn on in every App where it’s available.

It’s usually activated by scanning a QR code with a so-called Authenticator App, which then starts generating random numbers. But here’s the catch: if you lose access to that App, you are in trouble because no one else has those codes.

As a last resort, there is always a list of one-time-use numbers that can unlock the account in case of an emergency. But not everyone saves that list, despite being instructed to do it every time we turn on two-factor authentication in an App.

The Problem

This unique combination of problems is beyond my comprehension, but criticizing him for not having the printed list of codes would not help. The facts are that this person only had Evernote logged in on his iPad, and he lost access to the Authenticator App.

I don’t believe the support team at Evernote or any other company would be able to help someone in this situation. After all, the codes are generated on the person’s device.

The suggestion

Before anything else, I asked him to try something that would probably not work on the iPad, but who knows? I’ve heard that some people have disabled the authentication layer by accessing the Evernote settings on the computer App. Unfortunately, as expected, it didn’t work on his iPad.

Time for a more drastic approach.

The plan was to move all his notes to a new account. On the iPad, he would have to go to each notebook and share it with the new account. On the new account, he would then create a local notebook and move the shared notes to it.

An important detail to remember is that one can only move 100 notes at a time, and there’s no way to select multiple notes on mobile clients. So, the easiest way to do everything on his new account is on a computer with Evernote’s App installed.

How can you prevent this from happening?

First, you should remember to take care of the Authenticator App you are using and to print the one-time-use numbers list. By the way, a good place to put this list is wherever you keep all your personal documents.

A password management App is another option. Many of them can read the original QR code and generate the authentication codes. As they are synchronized with the cloud, you will still have access to the information, even in the event of losing or permanently damaging your phone.

However, if you don’t like this type of Apps, you may want to also print the first QR code you have to scan when you create the code generator for that account. That QR code can be used to recreate the code generator on a different Authenticator App. Just be extra careful with where you keep it because anyone with that QR code can recreate the code generator.

Being good at something doesn’t mean it’s easy or that everyone will be able to do it. After helping clients for more than a decade, I can confidently say that the number of people who are not good with technology is much larger than we think.

Today, I started helping a new client who had already told me about his lack of proficiency in technology. In situations like this, Evernote is always my top choice because it’s easy to understand and use.

In about 20 minutes, my client was comfortable with the user interface and the simple structure of notes and notebooks. Tags and tasks were also part of the explanation, but I told him to ignore them for now. Even in such a short time, I was able to show him all the basics and how Evernote Home can be used as a summary of all the information he has in the app.

Next, I helped him strategically think about and create some notebooks that he’ll be using to add content for the next few days.

In half an hour, a person who is very uncomfortable with technology was already creating notebooks, adding information, and moving notes to organize things on his own. That’s how intuitive Evernote is.

If everything goes as planned, he will arrive at the next session with many more notes and some discomfort with organizing and finding information. Yes, you read that right. It is intuitive, but it can’t do miracles.

This is when we’ll start creating his mindful workflow. I’ll be helping him make sense of all his content while introducing strategies using tags, widgets, or whatever else. It will all depend on how he describes what he is having a hard time finding or doing.

Baby Steps

Not only is he uneasy with technology, he also has his business and personal life activities to take care of. Like several others in his position, he cannot afford the time it takes to learn the fancy apps and methodologies productivity gurus love to sell as magical solutions. 

That’s why I try to constantly remind myself that many people can only improve their lives with technologies and workflows that are straightforward to understand and use.

That’s it for today. I hope you have a great week.

Over the years, I’ve heard CEOs say it’s tough to change things or add new features because we all use Evernote differently.

In my opinion, Ian Small, the former CEO, said it best. People often refer to it as My Evernote because, in fact, it is an entirely different experience when compared to the way others use it. That’s why when the company releases something new, some people will love it, while others will see it as a waste of time and resources.

An ecosystem of compatible Apps

If we go way back to the beginning of the Phil Libin era as CEO, the App was much simpler. To add new features, businesses and developers would use the API to create a myriad of compatible services that, in a sense, functioned as plugins. Even Evernote, the company, would create separate Apps if they wanted to experiment with new ideas.

These Apps were listed on Evernote’s website in a space called Evernote Trunk, which was later renamed App Center. Those of you who were not users back then would not believe in the number of services available.

Eventually, Libin’s team began adding new features to the main App. But, the upcoming CEO, Chris O’Neal, took the opposite approach. In an effort to maximize the firm’s resources, he began discontinuing Apps and removing numerous features. That trend, for some reason, never stopped. Even today, features are still being removed. Nonetheless, new ones have also been added. Evernote 10 introduced Home, Tasks, Widgets and many others. And more recently, Bending Spoons add many AI options.

Being in the position of approving, rejecting, and removing features must be extremely challenging. Especially because it has a significant impact on so many people.

As an example, I enjoyed the Evernote map feature, but let’s be honest, how many people actually need to see their notes on a map? Likewise, I always wanted a way to see my notes on a Kanban board. For a long time, there was even a Kanban beta that never saw the light of day. Yet again, does it make sense to spend time and resources developing a feature like this? How many people are likely to use it?

The plugins approach

If the decision to remove or introduce features was a daunting task before the acquisition of Evernote, one can only imagine the current situation after significant staff reductions. But maybe it doesn’t have to be like that.

Remember the App Center? Many people didn’t know about that section on the website. And if they managed to get there, things wouldn’t be easy.

First, not everything would be an App. Some were more about connecting and synchronizing with Evernote. Others I would not even know how to categorize. For example, there was a substitute client for the Mac called Alternote. It was a fully functioning App, but Evernote didn’t build or maintain it. A developer from Ukraine was the responsible for it. Amazingly, the Alternote website is still up, so you can go there to see some of the amazing screenshots. I hope you’re getting a sense of how powerful the API was.

Do you remember the map and Kanban system I talked about before? Obsidian also doesn’t have these features. It doesn’t even have a task feature like Evernote does. However, I can do all of these and much more using plugins.

I’ve got a suggestion

What if Bending Spoons were to stop adding new features to Evernote? Possibly, even remove some of the current features to make the App easier to use and maintain. This would mean that fewer company resources would be needed. What if they were to transform it into something simple and elegant, such as Alternote? What about having a plugins space like Obsidian, instead of the cumbersome Trunk experience?

I do not have numbers or any inside information, but I think it is reasonable to say that this would make maintaining the App much easier and would possibly incentivize developers to innovate, as has never been done before. Naturally, it is imperative that the API is still working as before to make something like this possible.

It would also mean bringing Evernote back to its roots as a note-taking App, which would attract people who don’t like all the new features. At the same time, the plugins would make so many innovations possible. And those who are very specific about how the App should be, would be able to easily create their own My Evernote.

I’d love to know what you think about this idea.