Jacob Roach / Digital Trends
I take a lot of notes . Between scribble down some observations while look back a product , get up monumental listing of performance data , move through press briefings , and putting down a monitor to buy egg while I ’m in the middle of the study day , I take a lot of notes . I postulate a propernote - taking app , and for year , that app was Evernote . I ’m happy it no longer is .
Evernote , for most , is the default option for note take . It ’s extremely powerful , you may use it for free , and it works across Windows , macOS , iOS , and Android with synchronise . Over my years of using Evernote , however , the app has easy deteriorated into something that , at best , is frustrating to employ , and at bad , is downright unusable . I have n’t rival Evernote in a few months , and rather , I ’ve pick up Notion . And I have n’t even think about going back .
Jacob Roach / Digital Trends
A slow decline
At the beginning of the yr , I acknowledge some problem with Evernote . Let me walk you through my typical experience using the app . I ’d start the website ( my piece of work is almost only done in a web browser ) , access with Google , and wait 10 to 15 second for Evernote to load . A little slow , but no big deal . Once indoors , an ad asking me to promote would bug out up the moment I adjudicate to click anywhere . And after attempt to ignore the ad , Evernote would graciously ( read : irony ) confirm whether I was certain I wanted to send packing it .
So what ? It does n’t sound like a big pile . Sure , the World Wide Web app is a little tiresome to charge , and there are some pop - ups enquire you to elevate . But this cognitive process happenseverytime you open Evernote . It ’s a self-colored 30 seconds to a minute before you actually do anything , and when you ’re trying to scribble down a note in the hotness of the moment , that ’s enough metre to leave — at least , it ’s enough clock time for my scattered mental capacity to forget .
Nothing compare to the app simply resist to cultivate , though . Earlier this yr at CES , I could not get Evernote to open . The local app would n’t solve and the entanglement client would n’t process . An update had broken the app on my system — I ’m not alone here , either . you’re able to look “ update ” on the Evernote subreddit and chance loads of threads of users with similar experience . I ’ve had several update break various aspect of the app , too . When popping back into my account for this tarradiddle , I stumbled upon an onetime note titled “ F * * * EVERNOTE ” because bullet point would n’t mold aright during a briefing call .
My personal issues with the app are just an example of a much larger consequence with Evernote overall , though . Just last year , the service limited its free programme to 50 editable notes after more than a decennium of patronize unlimited notation for free . And a few months after Italian society twist Spoons adopt Evernote in 2022 , it laid off all of the 129 staff extremity working the U.S. , stating the service is “ unsustainable in the long term . ” Maybe that explain all of those ads to advance .
The only way forward with Evernote for me is to pay $ 15 per month for the cheapest plan — that ’s the cost of an Amazon Prime rank — and go for that an update does n’t divulge my notes . I ca n’t justify that .
The replacement
After my debacle with Evernote earlier this class , I ’ve travel onto Notion , which made our list of thebest Mac apps , and I have n’t look back since . Notion and Evernote are different tools , and it can be unmanageable to wrap your foreland around how much Notion is truly adequate to of . You have notebook computer and notes , as well as a calendar interchangeable to Evernote . But you may also deal tasks through a Kanban panel , create a wiki , and organize undertaking across a team .
That swiftness goes beyond just stretch up a new note , though . The search is also remarkably riotous , even when digging through the hundreds of notes I ’ve already made . Once I find a note , I can well reorganise it , too . Although it takes up more silver screen space , Notion display a few dozen of your line on a left - side carte , let you to quickly drag them to different notebooks .
A fast note - strike app was all I ever take , but the new AI features of Notion have also been very helpful . When look for , you’re able to ask the AI to search for a topic within your note . It ’ll produce a summary and even provide example question . It works shockingly well , too . you may see an example of that above , where the AI is able to break down a complex theme like theLunar Lakeand Xe2 architectures from Intel ground off my notes .
I ’ve been using Notion for a few months now , and I ’ve only just inscribe the surface of what it ’s up to of . I ’m experimenting with some other features — it automatically create a reading list template for books , articles , and motion-picture show , which I ’ve been filling out — but I ca n’t opine diving event into some of the more advanced projection management feature . For my intent of jot down a few notation and look for through them , though , it ’s work a goody .
Evernote has been around for years , but over the past few years , it ’s slowly gone downhill . Between an more and more restrictive free plan , high pricing , and broadly pathetic performance , it ’s not the bank bill - take app it once was . whimsy has been a smashing replacement for me , but there are a ton of other options between OneNote , Google Keep , and Obsidian , among others .
