Hot damn! This looks promising. Fully functional API too.
Did you find an option you liked?
My first thought was Zoho Notebook. You could create a shared account not reliant on an iCloud acccount, it’s got a web interface in addition to Mac, iOS, and Android apps. And I think it’s a nice-looking app. I’ve since moved to Bear as it best fit my use cases, but I still have some things in the app, and I think it’s rather fun (as note-taking/document storing apps are concerned).
Good luck finding something that works for you!
I missed this, I don’t mean share the notes, k mean both log into the same account.
Right, but we would have to log into the same primary account for this to work, which won’t work for me as we need to keep everything else separate. I think Apple changed something behind the scenes that doesn’t allow us to add secondary iCloud account for Notes.
No I still haven’t found anything. I’ve looked at Zoho and Joplin but they aren’t as usable as Evernote even though I don’t like the Evernote interface all that much. I also don’t like the search in Evernote as it finds what I want once in a while. I’ll post back if I find anything.
There must be an underlying reason here for wanting to change and that should probably be a key starting point for understanding the requirements. Similarly, whilst some suggestions have been made, they seem to be falling short. Dealing with IT customer requirements on a pretty much daily basis, it seems to me that a clearer definition of requirements would make a significant difference here.
As an initial attempt to get some clarification I’ve jotted down a few points below.
- What is it about Evernote that is driving you to look for an alternative?
- Knowing this might help hone in on the most viable alternative.
- What is it that you need your ultimate solution to do?
- I’ve picked up that you need to be able to store files (PDF, Word, etc.), text (plain/rich?) and perhaps embedded images.
- I’ve also picked up that it must have a more reliable search than Evernote.
- I’ve personally been using Evernote for well over a decade and have never had any search issues. Do ensure you know the Evernote search syntax definition and advanced options to make best use of search.
- It must allow you and your wife to share notes.
- Must that be on different accounts (i.e. you want to have independent notes that are priate from each other), or would a shared account suffice?
- It must be ‘usable’.
- In the reply above regarding Zoho and Joplin you have cited them both as being insufficient on grounds of usability, so it would be great to understand what it is about those services that doesn’t meet your usability criteria.
- You note that you don’t like the Evernote user interface. What is it that you don’t like? What are you looking for in a replacement service’s user interface.
- Since this is the Automators forum, presumably there are specific automation things you are looking to do/have available with the replacement service. What would these be?
First off, thanks for this detailed response! I definitely have needs around each of these as all of my posts have alluded to in summation.
- What is it about Evernote that is driving you to look for an alternative?
- I find Evernote bloated, i.e. it’s not quick and easy to use (like Apple Notes). The interface is less than desirable. I’d like to just be able to add a new note quickly (say on my phone for example) and that involves too many steps with Evernote. There are more usability issues with it, but that is one. I’m open to alternative ways to create a note if someone learned something new about Evernote that they may have changed etc.
- What is it that you need your ultimate solution to do?
- I’ve picked up that you need to be able to store files (PDF, Word, etc.), text (plain/rich?) and perhaps embedded images.
- Yes, store all of our “stuff” but also have lists for packing, but ultimately be our combined brain (my wife and myself) that we can revisit as needed “where is the name of that restaurant in London we wanted to visit, etc”
- I’ve also picked up that it must have a more reliable search than Evernote.
- I’ve personally been using Evernote for well over a decade and have never had any search issues. Do ensure you know the Evernote search syntax definitionand advanced optionsto make best use of search.
- Thanks! Yeah I wasn’t using that at all! Not sure how that escaped me!
- I’ve personally been using Evernote for well over a decade and have never had any search issues. Do ensure you know the Evernote search syntax definitionand advanced optionsto make best use of search.
- It must allow you and your wife to share notes.
- Must that be on different accounts (i.e. you want to have independent notes that are priate from each other), or would a shared account suffice?
- I want it shared only, i.e. this is a joint account between me and my wife. I do not want separate accounts. I may have my own for other reasons, but I can use DevonThink for that (she doesn’t like DevonThink as it isn’t simple enough of an interface).
- Must that be on different accounts (i.e. you want to have independent notes that are priate from each other), or would a shared account suffice?
- It must be ‘usable’.
- In the reply above regarding Zoho and Joplin you have cited them both as being insufficient on grounds of usability, so it would be great to understand what it is about those services that doesn’t meet your usability criteria.
- They are both a bit clunky in terms of interface and slow in terms of finding/accessing notes. I have a large amount of notes I import from Evernote, so that might be what is slowing it down. But I need to import them and be able to search them.
- You note that you don’t like the Evernote user interface. What is it that you don’t like? What are you looking for in a replacement service’s user interface.
- Much more clean a la Apple Notes interface. Get out of my way when I don’t want to see anything but allow me to get access to deep features when I want without too much friction.
- In the reply above regarding Zoho and Joplin you have cited them both as being insufficient on grounds of usability, so it would be great to understand what it is about those services that doesn’t meet your usability criteria.
- Since this is the Automators forum, presumably there are specific automation things you are looking to do/have available with the replacement service. What would these be?
- The automated aspect would be to have notes created from Email messages I want to store offline for future search, i.e. receipts from providers, Swift newsletters I want to reference at a later time, etc. along with Tags that help me find them. Evernote can do this from Airmail I believe, but I’m not sure of anything else other than DevonThink that will allow this. Also, I’d like to be able to create rules to auto file some of these, like the receipts.
I hope that makes it clearer, and thanks for the questions!
I wanted to take a second to update you on what I’ve been trying out. As I stated in my previous post I was experimenting with using Trello as my note repo. The other day, I took some time and transferred all my notes from all my various sources (iOS Notes, OneNote, and Google Keep) to Trello.
I’ve also been trying my best to use the force press option on the Trello app on my phone to quickly add a new note/card.
So far, I think I am liking this the more I use it. It’s easy enough, plenty of organization capabilities (columns, labels etc.), and with the recent update, every account comes with the Butler Power Up which definitely adds to the flexibility and customization.
It’s simple enough to use that my wife is on board (for the time being) and I have setup some Siri Shortcuts for her to easily do things as well. I also plan on leveraging the easy to use API and wrap some custom software around it to make it desktop friendly for me.
Not really what Trello was intended for, but it checks off some boxes for me in what I look for in a note taking app:
- Quickly add notes
- Searchable interface
- Labels/tagging system
- Update history
- Attachments
- Tasks/checklists/due dates
- Fast syncing
- Wife can/will use it (can is easier than will)
- Organization (sorting various ways)
Not sure if this helps you or wastes your time, but thought I would share anyway.
What do you do for a “Notebook” in Trello?
Back in OneNote, I just kept it all in one single notebook and sectioned it out. For Trello, I suppose I would just create a new board.
Coming from a OneNote/Evernote background here’s how I figured the conversion would work/does work:
- Notebook = Board
- Section = List
- Page = Card
- Label = Label
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