In October the popular note-taking application Evernote updated from a variety of different version numbers in Mac, Windows, iOS & Android to an (already) infamous v10.

Despite months of beta-testing with quite a large group of users, being launched into a user-base that numbers in the millions has prompted loud screams of protest from every direction.

v10 seems not to have all the bells and whistles that were available in the previous models, few if any of the ‘new’ features that were expected from some.. ambitious.. marketing claims, and -worse yet- probably because said millions of users are all downloading / emailing / posting much more actively at the moment than previously, Evernote is now S-L-O-W for many users.

However; Do Not Panic — er, yet, anyway.

Mac, Windows and Android users can avoid updates and stick with their present version for the foreseeable future. You just won’t have access to (what there is of) the shiny new service for the moment. Wait ’til the dust dies down and think about it in a few months.

If you failed to get the memo and have updated and hate it, Mac and Windows users all have two fallback options.

  • uninstall v10 and go back to the previous public releases, or
  • install the Legacy (slightly tweaked) previous version that will co-exist with v10, and use both.
Mobile users have fewer options.
Android users have to make a choice: old or new — but at least they have the opportunity to uninstall v10 and go back to the current 8.13 if necessary. (It’s a bit fiddly but possible.)
iOS users, for the moment, are stuck. You have been, or will soon be updated and nothing you can do will stop that. If you can’t live with that, then the only access you’ll have to Evernote will be via Desktop for the time being.
Don’t abandon Evernote, because IMHO every current alternative is still less attractive. Stick with the legacy version for as long as you can before worrying about possible changes.
On the positive side in the last week or so Evernote has already added back several features that users were missing, and their much vaunted new app architecture should allow them to develop more and better features much quicker for all users in the coming months.
Like Douglas Adams says: Don’t Panic!

(Photo by Jasmin Sessler on Unsplash)