Memo pad/notes

[Clymmer#AC]

Evernote for me

I've been trying each of the notepad apps over the last couple of weeks too.

• EasyNote: Really pretty, but a bit clumsy when it came to actually editing stuff on my D-Inc.
• NoteEverything: One of the better ones. Liked that it backed up to GoogleDocs
• ColorNote: Nice idea and implementation.
• HTC Notes: simple and standalone.

I tried a couple of others, but these were the notable ones.

...and then...

I came to my senses and remembered that I'm an EverNote user. Now I just pump everything into EverNote and sync it to my EN account on the web. That makes the notes accessible on my phone, all of my computers with EN installed on them and any computer that has web access via the evernote.com website. Notes can be filed into my choice of notebooks, single/multiple categories or left without a category so that I categorize them later since they dump into a "notes without category" bucket that's easy to find and then reassign.

Evernote is the place where I keep everything that I need to remember, but don't have the ability/desire to spend that much energy trying to hold it all in my brain. It's like a brain archive that I can do stuff with and recall later.

 

[dwhitman]

I'm an Evernote user on WebOS. While I use and love the program, at least on WebOS there's a limitation that in practice has been a major pain.

On WebOS, Evernote doesn't cache notes locally - the program is really just a local interface for the web-based datastore. I think (but am not 100% sure) that this is also true for the Android app.

Why is this a big deal?

1. On WebOS, the program is slow to load, and individual notes are slow to open. It's NOT the kind of instantaneous access to information that I'd come to expect with the Memo app on the old PalmOS.

2. On a plane or other spot with no connection? No notes, period. Major fail.

The Android 3banana app DOES cache notes locally, syncing between your device and the Snaptics website when possible. The Snaptics functionality isn't quite as rich as Evernote, but I'm hoping the local note cache will more than make up for that. I'm going to try 3banana when I get my Evo, and have already ported my notes from Evernote to Snaptics.

 

[NicksGarage]

I'm going to be a new Android user soon coming from Windows Mobile. I'm trying Evernote right now on my WM phone but can't get past the fact that it doesn't keep a copy of the notes on the phone so I can use them offline, like on a plane.

I see in their site that they're doing offline for the iPhone so maybe they'll upgrade the Android app to work that way.

 

[strykstaguy]

I use StatusNotes for small memo's or reminders...however Evernote fullfills my larger needs

 

[yomonk1]

I had tried Evernote but often times my phone is out of cell service and I need something that is "on the ready". I just started with Springpad and I love it, you can share it with a PC version and syncs easily, make lists, etc. Check it out, many more things its useful for on top of that. See if this is what you need. (and its free)

 

[yahtzee]

Are there any of these Apps that sync with notes in outlook ?

 

[dwhitman]

I posted upthread about my intention to try 3banana when I made the transition to Android. Been using it for a month now, and while I do miss some of the features of Evernote, I've 100% converted to 3banana. Instant access to my notes (while maintaining a web-based backup that I can access from my desktop) easily trumps the extra stuff that Evernote brings.

 

[ChrisC]

I'm another PalmOS refugee, now squarely in the Android camp and trying to fix my last major problem: no Memo capability. That's one of the core apps in the Palm world (along with Contacts and Calendar, yeah it was THAT important to the platform) and it's the last thing I really need to get working to finally be able to shut down my Palm Desktop for good.

So, having gone through this thread, here is what's been mentioned:

- AK Notepad
- Astrid
- ColorNote
- EasyNote
- EverNote
- GDocs Notepad
- NoteEverything
- 3Banana

Here is what I must have in a memo app, and really I'm just replicating the 10-year-old Palm feature set:

- add and edit notes on mobile device
- add and edit notes on web
- sync between the two
- just need plain text, don't even need formatting
- offline use / cache on mobile device
- 4000 characters minimum
- display title (or first line of memo text) in a list of memos
- sorting by title (or first line of memo text)

That last one ... Oh my god why do the apps not just give me list of the memos, sorted alphabetically, that I can scroll through? I don't want to search. I don't want to use tags. Just give me a title field (or use the first line of the memo, like Palm did) and SORT IT. Really? I have to ask for this?

3Banana does not appear to support EDITING of notes on the web.

So, which of the above memo apps do all of these basic things? In particular, can you check if yours lets you jump straight to a list of your memos SORTED by title or first line of text?

Also, dear app code writers, could you put a little more effort into the documentation for your apps? Snaptic and 3Banana, I'm looking at you -- try clicking the word "support" in the upper right corner of your website.

 

[JF]

3Banana does not appear to support EDITING of notes on the web.


Also, dear app code writers, could you put a little more effort into the documentation for your apps? Snaptic and 3Banana, I'm looking at you -- try clicking the word "support" in the upper right corner of your website.

For 3 Banana - if you are saying that you cannot edit the notes from your browser, then you are incorrect. If you edit on your browser on computer, it syncs with the 3 Banana on your device. If this isn't what you mean, please explain.


For support on Snaptic page, my support button is all the way down on the bottom left corner of my 3 Banana note site, and https://snaptic.zendesk.com/home this pops up. Are you saying you can't find the support link?

 

[braj]

I totally like 3Banana notes, it seems the best of everything I've tried.

 

[Gekko]

i like -

Note Everything - Android app on AppBrain

 

[ChrisC]

JF: thanks for the info that 3Banana allows online/desktop/browser editing. It didn't when I tried it out a couple months ago.

They really need to fix that support link at the top (hint: use an absolute URL).

Gekko: NoteEverything does Palm import, which is a big plus. I see they do Google Docs sync, another plus because I won't have to register / track a separate account. Of course, as someone else in this thread said, it'll be yet another way that Google owns my soul

Followup questions about 3Banana and NoteEverything use on Android:
Can you go straight to the notes listing without searching?
Can the notes listing just show one line (i.e. title) or does it "preview" multiple lines?
Can you sort the listing by title?

P.S. to the NoteEverything author: your website doesn't work AT ALL if I have cookies disabled.

 

[darrylb1]

I went through a pretty thorough process and ended up keeping note everything. Practice makes perfect as you learn the features .

 

[scramer]

I like Note Everything (purchased Note Everything Pro).

For a quick, reminder note I like StatusNote. You can choose the icon to stick in the status bar. I know you can do the same thing with the Note Everything, which I use, but for an emergency, have to remember the note, I use the StatusNote.

 

[Gekko]

i like the Paint Scribble Doodle Note function on Note Everything. sometimes i just need to scribble myself a quick note in handwriting and unlike other similar apps this one utilizes the full screen for the note.

 

[mabmarc#WP]

Followup questions about 3Banana and NoteEverything use on Android:
1. Can you go straight to the notes listing without searching?
2. Can the notes listing just show one line (i.e. title) or does it "preview" multiple lines?
3. Can you sort the listing by title?

1. Yes it shows a list of all notes without searching.
2. No the least you can show is the title and 2 lines of preview.
3. No. I don't see any options for sorting. They appear in the order created on my app with the most recent at the top.

 

[ChrisC]

mabmarc, you didn't say but I will assume you are talking about 3Banana. NoteEverything I believe does do #2 and definitely does do #3, so you must mean 3Banana. (edit: yeah, he meant 3Banana)

I've learned that Note Everything does not do Google Docs SYNC. I asked the developer and he said they are working on it. What they do have is import/export from GDocs, which is not the same sync.

So now I'm going back to my list to see what the other options were ... in my earlier post I itemized what I care about (basically replicating the 10-year-old Palm feature set) and here is where the options stand:

- AK Notepad: dead product, developer hired by Snaptic
- Astrid: v3 just released, a bit messy, will hold off on evaluating
- ColorNote: no Google Docs sync
- EasyNote: no Google Docs sync (some import/export capability?)
- EverNote: only works if you have a network connection (no offline cache)
- GDocs Notepad: did have Google Docs sync but now it appears to be broken
- NoteEverything: no Google Docs sync (only import/export)
- 3Banana / Snaptic: no sort, bloated listing

Unless I find something that meets my basic criteria, I guess I'll have to throw one overboard. Maybe live with the connectivity requirement of EverNote, or live with the crude import/export of Note Everything.

Please do post here if you know any of the issues in the above list to be incorrect!

 

[mabmarc#WP]

Yes, I was talking about 3Banana. I have been using it for a while and I like it. Very simple and clean. Sort would be nice but the search filters as you type so it isn't too bad. The listings aren't bad either, I can see 8 titles on the screen at a time with the font set to small. More would be better though. I like the sync option so if I have to replace my device I can re-sync my notes quickly.

 

[mabmarc#WP]

Here is a nice comparison between AK Notepad and 3 Banana. Looks like AK Notepad may be better for you. It has sort and sync. It also only shows the title of the note in the list. Snaptic looks to be the developer now so the product may not be dead, in fact they just did an update to the app recently.

 

[ChrisC]

Thanks mabmarc! The blog entry (nicely descriptive) that goes with that image is at https://snaptic.com/blog/2010/07/ak-notepad-vs-3banana-notes-on-android/ .

The last thing posted on the AK Notepad site is from October 2009 and says "AK Notepad 1.9.3 is out". The Snaptic site leads me to https://snaptic.com/blog/ak-notepad/ , which then has a link (nearly missed it!) to http://aknotepad.com , and THAT site has a feature list, screenshots and a FAQ. No mention of release status though.

In the Market, I see that it's now at version 2.1.2 . AK really should say something at his old site about the fact that the app continues to be developed. His last post makes it sound like it basically died at 1.9.3 .

I've now downloaded and installed AK Notepad, and it does sort by title! I've set up a Snaptic account -- I wish it was Google Docs, but at least it supports Google OpenID. The whole thing supports all of the minimum requirements I laid out earlier. The only thing I've got to complain about is the notes listing at snaptic.com -- instead of a list of notes by title (or first line), it has all of the text dumped out, in one huge long list. A list of titles would be far easier to scroll through. Well, at least typing in some search text is less painful on the desktop.

We may have a winner! What a pain though. I've been shoving off this task for 6 months because I knew it would suck. Hey every other vendor, check out my list above about why Palm refugees laugh at your products.

Snaptic, thanks for continuing to support AK Notepad!

Now, let me get started with some more serious testing and then the migration ...