Evernote: Notes Everywhere - Mac, Web, Phone

Evernote was a moderately interesting note taking application for Microsoft Windows when I first looked at it. That was my opinion of if when I tried it out a few years ago. That all changed with their recent beta version. The beta version adds a Mac version, a web version, and synchronization between the Mac client (as well as Windows) and the free web service. This means that you can work on any computer (Mac, Windows, Linux, etc.) using either the Evernote web service or client and keep all your notes synchronized. They also provide a web view for phones. Did I mention all of this is free? Simply amazing.

The Mac, Web, and phone versions of Evernote all provide the option to scan through notes in a list or thumbnails. The thumbnail view displays a bit of each note's content. The list view provides a preview pane to quickly look at all of the content of the notes. The Evernote web service seems to provde a larger thumbnail view. But, you can scale the thumbnails in the client view by dragging the "A -- A" control at the bottom right of the window.

I found the Evernote web version to be reasonably fast and has all the features of the client version. Generally speaking, I don't see a need to use the client side software unless I know I will be off the grid (no network access) for a while. However, it is comforting to know that by using the client-side software, I can work with my notes even if I am offline or if the Evernote web service is down for whatever reason.

The Evernote web service has a scaled down version for the iPhone and iPod touch. It lets you create what they call a quick note. However, you cannot edit any notes. This restriction applies to the quick note too. Once you commit it, you cannot edit it until you get back to your Mac. Evernote does not have an offline solution for the iPhone/iPod touch yet. But, we can speculate they are taking a hard look at the iPhone SDK.

If you have a Windows Mobile based smartphone, Evernote has a client software for it that lets you create a quick note, upload various file types (text, voice notes, and photos) and access online notes. And, best of all, it doesn't require any kind of synchronization process requring connecting a smartphone to a client Mac (or PC for that matter). You just use the service.

You can find the mobile version of the Evernote web service at...

http://preview.evernote.com/m/

It is great to see a traditional client-side developer really taking advantage of web services and providing a full roundtrip experience for its users. Up until now, these kind of client-web roundtrip data synchronizing was coming mostly from web-based firms like Google (Google Docs) and Zoho using Google Gears to provide the offline experience. Ubiquitous software is definitely what I want to see more of. As much as I like Microsoft OneNote on the Windows side of the world and Filemaker Bento on the Mac side, they both force me to be on the workstation the software is installed on to access the data I entered. Evernote frees me from that data access restriction. My data can be available anywhere on nearly anything: Mac, PC, Linux box, iPod touch, or phone.