Evernote App For Mac Review

Evernote advertises itself as the best note-taking app. It goes far beyond just taking notes, however. Evernote lets users organize their notes into searchable notebooks, clip and send webpages, connect with collaborators and colleagues, as well as edit and format text to a level that rivals many mainstream word processors. This huge suite of features takes Evernote out of the realm of a note-taking app and turns it into a formidable workflow and collaboration tool.

Gorgeous Mac OS X note-taking app with full Evernote integration, night mode, distraction-free writing and Markdown support.

A notepad app with focus issues

Evernote expands the typical notepad app with plenty of additional features, but more doesn’t always mean better.

Evernote is, in a single word, comprehensive. At its heart, Evernote is a note-taking app. You can have the app open on your desktop, and quickly access it to jot down text or notes. You can then save your notes into different “notebooks', organized in whatever fashion you desire. This is an area where Evernote shines: its organizational features are comprehensive, allowing you to search your documents and other files by keywords and categories. For business owners and office workers, this is a major plus. Evernote uses cloud-based storage, which allows you to quickly share and sync files between multiple contacts and devices.

Evernote offers a large library of sleek templates to suit your needs, from itemized lists to invoices and beyond. It's an exhaustive selection that makes it easy to quickly convey information without having to worry about taking the extra time to format a document in a way that makes sense. The features don't stop there: Evernote offers an instant messenger client, a web clipper that lets you save and send cached webpages, presentation tools, and document scanning capabilities. It's a comprehensive suite that rivals like Bear can't compete with.

The app has much to offer.. arguably, too much. No matter what you use Evernote for, there will doubtless be features that you won't be using, which leads to the app feeling cluttered and clunky. The interface can be overwhelming for new users and feels crowded, which means you'll probably take a while to get the hang of using Evernote. Some of the extra features feel gimmicky and unnecessary, like a drawing tool that lets you translate sketches and doodles to your notepad. It's for this reason that Evernote feels like an app that doesn't know what it wants to be. It's not quite a notepad, not quite a workflow tool, and not quite an organizational tool. It's easy to see the difference when using other, sleeker note-taking apps like Bear or Simply Note. They may lack Evernote's features, but the overall experience feels much more directed and user-friendly.

Users should also be aware that there are a few privacy concerns to consider before installing the app. Evernote forces users to create an email-linked account that allows the app to access data to join. You won't be able to simply open the app and start typing. Evernote also has a controversial privacy policy that allows their team to read user's private documents at random in order to improve certain app features.

Though Evernote previously attempted to apply this policy to all users, they have since backtracked after public outcry and made the policy opt-in only. This is indicative of a generally lax attitude in regards to privacy on the part of Evernote; notes aren't encrypted and are stored on Evernote's cloud servers, meaning your data is vulnerable to third party access.

If you're using Evernote to store sensitive data, you may want to think twice before using the app to store your material.

Where can you run this program?

Versions of Evernote are available for Mac, Windows, iOS, and Android systems.

Is there a better alternative?

Bear does exactly what Evernote doesn't: it pares down additional features to provide a simple, streamlined note-taking app. The interface is easy to use and understand, search functions are quick, and it does away with much of the additional features that bog down Evernote. Simply Note does the same, paring down features even further and offering a no-frills, minimalist text editing app that's perfect for jotting down and organizing quick notes.

Our take

Evernote is a mixed bag. It isn’t a simple notepad app by any means; you won’t really be able to pop open the app to jot down a few reminders. Evernote sits somewhere between a full-fledged word processor and a notepad, and does lend itself well to those who like to keep their notes well organized.

Should you download it?

You’re probably safe to take a pass on Evernote. The app’s organizational features and templates are major pluses, but the bloated features make it hard to use.

7.13

The note-taking world is teaming with great apps that are similar to Evernote, especially for Mac. If you've been thinking about ending your Evernote subscription to see if the grass is greener with a different service, you're not alone and you have choices. There is no completely identical replacement for Evernote, but there are plenty of apps on Mac that are worthy alternatives. These are the best for different types of users.

The best: OneNote

If you are looking for an alternative to Evernote, OneNote is your best option thanks to the wide variety of features, cross-platform compatibility, and cloud syncing.

Bottom-line: If you're thinking about ditching Evernote's subscription restrictions, OneNote is the best replacement option.

  • Free with subscription options - Download Now

In-depth: Why OneNote is the best

OneNote on the Mac has everything you need to clip, create, and save notes. You can import pictures, PDFs, file attachments, and more. You can also insert tables, create text links, solve equations, add a date and time stamp, and include graphs.

It organizes your notes into individual notebooks, complete with sections so you can easily see what you are working on. Plus, it has a rich search feature that will sift through every single word in all of your notebooks to find what you are looking for.

Your notes are synced in OneDrive and accessible on any device. You can protect individual notes with a password and share notebooks with others so they can see, and even edit them.

Evernote

The OneNote web clipper lets you save pages from your favorite web browser. You can save an entire page, a screenshot, or just the article. So, you can save your favorite stories on the web in a variety of different ways.

  • Free with subscription options - Download Now

Runner-up: Notability

When it comes to taking notes, Notability is tops. It has powerful note-taking and annotation features that make it a must-have for college students. You can drag images, PDFs, and other documents into a note. When you record while taking notes, you can tap a word to skip ahead to that specific spot in the recording to playback what was said at that moment.

Bottom-line: If note-taking is a priority for you, Notability is a formidable replacement for Evernote.

  • $9.99 - Download Now

For recording notes: AudioNote 2

For recording lectures and interviews while you write, AudioNote has you covered. When you press the record button while you type, you'll see a time stamp next to every new line you write. When you are ready to review what you recorded, you can go directly to the time related to a particular note. If you change a note or want it to coincide with a different time, you can highlight it and update it to the new spot in the recording.

Evernote App For Mac Reviews

Bottom-line: If you only used Evernote for its recording feature, you'll be satisfied with what AudioNote can do.

  • $14.99 - Download Now

For Sharing: Notejoy

If you're big on collaborating with your notes, you are going to love NoteJoy. It is fast becoming what I would consider to be the ultimate replacement for Evernote. You can upload documents from your computer to your Mac or PC and sync them to the iPhone app. Syncing happens immediately. The most impressive aspect of Notejoy is how fast everything syncs. You can collaborate in real-time with others and everything works beautifully.

If your team uses a business or group email account (our team's iMore email account, for example), you can set up collaborations for anyone with the same domain suffix so you don't have to invite people individually.

It also has integrated features with Slack to make collaboration with your team even more streamlined.

It's missing a few key features that Evernote switchers will miss, like a web-clipper feature and proper tagging options. The iPhone companion app still needs a lot of work. Notejoy is, however, cross-platform compatible with Mac and PC for multi-computer users.

Bottom-line: If you share notes, especially with a work team, this is a great way to see and edit notes with others.

Best ocr for mac If you need to scan and digitize documents accurately, we’ve taken a look at the very best OCR software for Mac in 2020 to turn paperwork into searchable PDFs and more. Optical Character Recognition software can scan, extract text and make documents searchable and editable including invoices, images, handwriting, magazines, textbooks and more. The best tools allow you to turn any paper.

  • Free with subscription options - See at Notejoy

Built-in: Apple Notes

Evernote app

The built-in Notes app on Mac is pretty amazing. You can sync across all devices and across multiple platforms. You can create checklists, share notes, and import photos. You can lock notes with a password. There is also a very easy way to move all of your Evernote content over.

Bottom-line: Notes on the Mac.. it just works!

Conclusion: OneNote is the best replacement for Evernote

If you're thinking of switching from Evernote, you won't experience FOMO by picking up OneNote instead.

Evernote App For Windows 10

Updated March 2018: Replaced Quip with Notejoy.

MacBook Pro

Main

We may earn a commission for purchases using our links. Learn more.

We are open

Apple Sanlitun, Apple's newest store in China, is opening today

Apple has announced that its newest retail store, Apple Sanlitun in Bejing, is opening to customers in the area later today.