Using note-taking apps has numerous benefits, including organization, accessibility, and syncing across devices.
With cloud-based apps, you can access your notes from anywhere, on any device with an internet connection, and rest assured that your notes are automatically synced and up-to-date.
Powerful search functions and tagging and categorization features make it easy to find specific information, while collaboration tools enable real-time sharing and working with others.
Many apps also allow audio and video recording, image and file attachment, and task management, making it easy to capture meetings, lectures, or interviews, and turn notes into actionable tasks.
Evernote is one similar app that makes note-taking extremely easy making your day-to-day work easier and organized. This post is going to focus on Evernote. We’ll do a comprehensive review exploring its benefits, downsides and other areas.
If you have the app in your sight but not sure whether to go with it, stick around. You’ll have your answer by the end of it.
Also Read: Simplenote Review
What is Evernote?
Evernote is a cloud-based note-taking app that allows users to capture, organize, and store information across multiple devices and platforms.
It enables users to take notes, photos, audio recordings, and videos, and sync them across all their devices, making it easy to access and share information on-the-go.
What do you get with Evernote?
Evernote offers a wide range of features to help users capture, store, and manage their information efficiently. Here are some of the key features of the Evernote app:
Core Features
- Note Creation and Editing: Users can create notes easily using templates for various purposes, such as to-do lists or daily reflections. Notes can include text, images, audio recordings, tables, and checkboxes.
- Search Functionality: Evernote boasts powerful search capabilities, including Optical Character Recognition (OCR) that allows users to search for text within images. Advanced Boolean search options are available on higher-tier plans.
- Organizational Tools: Notes can be organized using tags and notebooks. Users can create shortcuts for frequently accessed notes and utilize a home dashboard with customizable widgets for quick access to relevant content.
- Document Scanning: The app includes a document scanner that digitizes handwritten notes and business cards, making it easy to store and retrieve important information.
- Sync Across Devices: Evernote allows users to sync their notes across multiple devices. However, the free plan limits syncing to two devices, while paid plans offer unlimited device syncing.
Also Read: Best Note-Taking Apps With Stylus
Advanced Features
- Task Management: Users can create checklists with due dates and reminders. Paid plans allow task assignments to other users, enhancing collaboration.
- Calendar Integration: With paid subscriptions, users can integrate their Google Calendar into Evernote, enabling them to create notes directly from calendar events and receive reminders.
- Customization Options: Users can set custom global keyboard shortcuts, create personalized templates, and customize the home dashboard layout on paid plans.
- Attachments and Annotations: Users can attach files to notes and annotate PDFs directly within the app. This feature is particularly useful for reviewing documents or making notes on images.
- Offline Access: Evernote allows users to access their notes even without an internet connection. Changes made offline will sync once the user is back online.
Also Read: Apple Notes Review
Where does Evernote score over its competitor apps?
Unlike many competitors, Evernote combines note-taking with robust task management and document handling capabilities. This all-in-one approach reduces the need for multiple apps.
Evernote’s web clipper is highly regarded for its ability to save web pages, articles, and other online content efficiently. Many users find it more effective than similar tools offered by other apps.
The use of tags, notebooks, and shortcuts allows for a highly organized structure that can accommodate a large volume of notes without becoming unwieldy.
The ability to include various media types in notes—such as audio clips and images—provides a richer experience compared to simpler text-based note apps.
Evernote consistently rolls out new features and enhancements based on user feedback, ensuring that it remains competitive and relevant in the evolving digital landscape.
Evernote’s combination of powerful features, customization options, and seamless integrations makes it a leading choice for individuals seeking an effective note-taking solution.
Check Out: OneNote Review
How does the advanced search function in Evernote work?
Evernote’s advanced search function is designed to help users locate specific notes quickly and efficiently through a variety of sophisticated search techniques.
Users can employ Boolean search operators such as AND, OR, and NOT to combine or exclude keywords, allowing for more targeted results.
For instance, typing “dogs AND cats” retrieves notes containing both terms, while “dogs OR cats” returns notes with either term.
Additionally, Evernote supports advanced search syntax, enabling users to refine searches based on criteria like creation date, tags, or content type (e.g., audio or images).
Users can also search within specific notebooks or by note titles using commands like notebook:Finance
or in:title:Coffee
.
Other features include the ability to find text in PDFs and scanned documents, as well as handwriting recognition in images.
These capabilities make Evernote’s search functionality powerful and versatile, particularly for users with extensive note collections.
Also Read: Goodnotes Review
How does Evernote handle offline note access?
Evernote allows users to access their notes offline by enabling them to download specific notes or entire notebooks for use without an internet connection.
This feature is available to users with a paid subscription. Once downloaded, all content within the selected notes remains accessible, and any changes made while offline will be synced to the cloud once the device reconnects to the internet.
Users can easily manage offline access by swiping left on notes to download them or using a dedicated “Offline” tab in the app for quick navigation.
On desktop versions, all synced notes are stored in a local database, ensuring full access even when offline.
Is Evernote free? Are there any paid plans? What do they offer?
Evernote offers both a free version and several paid plans, each with different features.
Free Plan
The Evernote Free plan allows users to create up to 50 notes and 1 notebook. Users can access basic functionalities such as note creation, organization with tags, and offline access.
Recent updates have added features like note history, document scanning, and enhanced search capabilities to the free version, making it more robust than before.
However, the free plan limits users to a maximum note size of 200 MB and a monthly upload limit of 250 MB. Additionally, users can only connect one device at a time under this plan.
Check Out: Notability Review
Paid Plans
Evernote offers several paid plans, including Personal, Professional, and Teams, and Enterprise which provide expanded features:
- Personal Plan: $8/month. Allows up to 100,000 notes and 1,000 notebooks, with larger note sizes (up to 200 MB) and a monthly upload limit of 10 GB. It also supports unlimited device connections.
- Professional Plan: $15/month. Includes all Personal features plus advanced collaboration tools, enhanced search options, and additional integrations.
- Teams Plan: $15/user/month. Designed for organizations, it offers collaborative features tailored for team productivity and management.
- Enterprise: For people needing custom solutions.
The prices are subject to change. Check Evernote’s website for the latest.
Are there any cons of Evernote?
While Evernote scores on most parameters, it has some drawbacks.
Its free version is limited that restricts device access and storage. This can be a barrier for those needing more features. The premium plans may also be costly compared to competitors offering similar functionalities at lower prices.
Additionally, some users find the interface outdated and less intuitive, leading to navigation frustrations. Performance issues, such as slowness and glitches, have also been reported, particularly on mobile devices.
Concerns about data privacy and the lack of end-to-end encryption may deter security-conscious users.
Furthermore, while suitable for individuals and small teams, Evernote may not meet the needs of larger organizations due to its limited collaborative features and the absence of options to password-protect individual notes.
Also Read: Google Keep Review
Verdict – Is Evernote worth the hype?
Despite the cons, I would recommend using Evernote due to its comprehensive features that cater to various organizational needs, making it a valuable tool for both personal and professional use.
Its robust note-taking capabilities, including document scanning, task management, and seamless integration with calendars, help users stay organized and efficient.
The ability to access notes across multiple devices and the powerful search functionality, which includes OCR for finding text in images, further enhance its usability.
Additionally, Evernote’s customizable templates and collaborative features make it suitable for diverse applications, from project planning to everyday task management.
Overall, its versatility and user-friendly interface make it a strong choice for anyone looking to improve their productivity.