Evernote alternative

[Alvinc]

UpNote looks pretty good. They have a lifetime option, works on all platforms, and pretty clean GUI. Have not tried it though. Caveat it seems like it has a small user base and I am wary of such apps as the developer might shutdown any time.

Better stay with the crowd

I tried later on but have given up. Turned to Bear 2 right now and see.

Two developers from Vietnam. Lifetime option with unlimited cloud but what they didn't say is the images uploaded will be resized and you can't paste the images from other apps (I think they try to prevent big storage on cloud because their price is already low). Sustainability is questionable.

 

[lexvo]

Hmmm, it looks like there are mixed experiences with UpNote in this thread.

I started using UpNote last week, and have very good experience so far:
- I have around 2000 notes in it, and am using it on my iMac, iPad and iPhone
- sync is fast, search is fast
- import of my markdown notes went smoothly
- I use UpNote daily and intensively, and so far, no bugs encountered
- it’s WYSIWYG, I like that I can use markdown for formatting
- is has links to other notes, and backlinks
- you can export to txt, markdown, PDF etc.., so notes are not ‘locked up’ in a database

 

[MacBH928]

I used UpNote for a few months - garbage IMO (posted about it in this thread last year). Super buggy, not mac-like at all, couldn't even drag & drop notes from one folder into another, and final straw was lost data.

💀

Hmmm, it looks like there are mixed experiences with UpNote in this thread.

I started using UpNote last week, and have very good experience so far:
- I have around 2000 notes in it, and am using it on my iMac, iPad and iPhone
- sync is fast, search is fast
- import of my markdown notes went smoothly
- I use UpNote daily and intensively, and so far, no bugs encountered
- it’s WYSIWYG, I like that I can use markdown for formatting
- is has links to other notes, and backlinks
- you can export to txt, markdown, PDF etc.., so notes are not ‘locked up’ in a database

maybe they used an earlier release and got better with time?

 

[Alvinc]

💀



maybe they used an earlier release and got better with time?

I tested around a week or two ago.

 

[it wasnt me]

I have never tried Bear. Maybe I should.

Done. Its subscription is roughly as expensive as Ulysses, with a slightly more comfortable access to pinned notes. Others have moved from it to Ulysses. I think it's probably mostly a matter of taste.

 

[MacBH928]

Done. Its subscription is roughly as expensive as Ulysses, with a slightly more comfortable access to pinned notes. Others have moved from it to Ulysses. I think it's probably mostly a matter of taste.

wasn't Ulysses competing with Scrivner and FinalDraft as a novel/script writing app and was expensive or am I imagining things? Sounds like it turned into a "notes" app

 

[it wasnt me]

The problem with contemporary writing apps is that at some point (sooner rather than later) they will try to be best for both notes and long-form prose. Bear seems to be primarily focused on notes (even with a bit more characters), while Ulysses is primarily focused on prose. But the significant question here is: at how many characters do you draw the line?

I have also tested Ulysses as a complement to Apple Notes and it works.

(edit: Solved my sync problems.)

 

[ixxx69]

💀



maybe they used an earlier release and got better with time?

I don't disagree with much of what they stated - except for the clunky interface & buggyness, which doesn't show itself right away. YMMV.

Here's my unedited notes to myself from the few months I used it (over a year ago now, so things can change)...

• This recently got mentioned a bunch of times in quick succession in another thread, which led me to purchasing it (and then wondering if there was a little "campaigning" going on).
• It's got nested folders, manual ordering of notes, and expected text formatting tools (though inexplicably, the developers idiotically chose to put it down at the bottom of the app window - why? why? why? /eye roll).
• It syncs notes between devices well.
• It's got good import/export.
• Tags work well.
• The downside is the user interface makes it feel like a side project - superficially it looks good, but it's quite clunky in actual usage. Lots of quirks and at times kind of buggy interface-wise. Doesn't feel like a Mac native app at all.
• And a minor quibble - the menu bar icon (which thankfully can be disabled) is in color with no option for b/w.
• I’m ditching this app after I lost a bunch of irreplaceable text in a note because the faulty “undo” command “undid” several paragraphs of text without being able to “redo”. This had already happened several times.

 

[MacBH928]

• I’m ditching this app after I lost a bunch of irreplaceable text in a note because the faulty “undo” command “undid” several paragraphs of text without being able to “redo”. This had already happened several times.

I have nightmare about this kind of stuff. I don't want to be hard on the developer but thats why I like to stick with mainstream apps.

That being said, Mozilla and DuckDuckGo have both wiped my whole open tabs in their browsers due to an update...lost forever

 

[lexvo]

I have nightmare about this kind of stuff. I don't want to be hard on the developer but thats why I like to stick with mainstream apps.

That being said, Mozilla and DuckDuckGo have both wiped my whole open tabs in their browsers due to an update...lost forever

Yes, I can understand you want to be on the safe side regarding apps. On the other hand the company that makes Tweetbot and Ivory is also only 2 persons. And let's not forget about a big company like Microsoft with their fair share of bugs (although I think they improved a lot in the past years). Hey, even Apple has had its issues.

With (for me) new software I always check reviews and I try to avoid 1.0-versions. And as far as I can tell, the reviews for UpNote are all good, which made me decide to try it out. For me, UpNote is working great. But of course that's no guarantee one will not encounter bugs (as reported by some in this thread).

 

[MacBH928]

Yes, I can understand you want to be on the safe side regarding apps. On the other hand the company that makes Tweetbot and Ivory is also only 2 persons. And let's not forget about a big company like Microsoft with their fair share of bugs (although I think they improved a lot in the past years). Hey, even Apple has had its issues.

With (for me) new software I always check reviews and I try to avoid 1.0-versions. And as far as I can tell, the reviews for UpNote are all good, which made me decide to try it out. For me, UpNote is working great. But of course that's no guarantee one will not encounter bugs (as reported by some in this thread).

bugs are ok, catastrophic bugs that deletes your data with out having a way to retrieve them....💀
Can't imagine losing my whole iCloud drive data because Apple had a "bug"

 

[it wasnt me]

Can't imagine losing my whole iCloud drive data because Apple had a "bug"

"The cloud" is not a backup.

 

[iJest]

I've completely switched to UpNote. It's one of the best note taking apps I've ever used.

Best Notes App - Write and Organize with UpNote

getupnote.com

It's also cross-platform and can be synced across iOS, macOS, Android, and Windows.

I bought the lifetime license because I love it so much. It's hard finding anything this compelling that works across all platforms. It's also constantly receiving updates.

 

[MacBH928]

"The cloud" is not a backup.

what do you mean/ there is a whole business sector that works on cloud backups. Backblaze, Arq, Crash Plan

 

[4743913]

Anyone found something similar and light to use? Apple notes GUI is just not for me, although simple, I wouldn't call it intuitive.

Drafts is the simple answer.
DEVONthink is best answer.

I use both.

 

[DaveFromCampbelltown]

"The cloud" is not a backup.

what do you mean/ there is a whole business sector that works on cloud backups. Backblaze, Arq, Crash Plan

"The cloud" is simply another copy that is useful to have.
If, for whatever reason, you lose access to the cloud (Internet goes down, company fails, etc), you lose access to your files in the cloud.
You need both cloud backup and onsite backup. If you are really paranoid, then you should organise off-site backup as well.

I like using MEGA because it gives me both cloud backup and onsite storage at the same time. TimeMachine then makes sure I have another copy.

pCloud, iCloud, OneDrive all keep your files in the cloud and download them when needed. This can be convenient but is not safe enough for valuable files.

 

[iJest]

"The cloud" is simply another copy that is useful to have.
If, for whatever reason, you lose access to the cloud (Internet goes down, company fails, etc), you lose access to your files in the cloud.
You need both cloud backup and onsite backup. If you are really paranoid, then you should organise off-site backup as well.

I like using MEGA because it gives me both cloud backup and onsite storage at the same time. TimeMachine then makes sure I have another copy.

pCloud, iCloud, OneDrive all keep your files in the cloud and download them when needed. This can be convenient but is not safe enough for valuable files.

Cloud storage has many benefits when used together with local backups. It keeps multiple copies of your data in different locations, making it more reliable. The security measures in place, like encryption and access controls, protect your files better than what you can do locally. Cloud storage automatically syncs your files across devices, so you always have the latest version available. It's also useful for collaboration and sharing with others.

Having your data in the cloud acts as an off-site backup, safeguarding it from disasters. You can access your files from anywhere with an internet connection, which is super convenient. The cloud also keeps track of older versions of your files, so you can go back to them if needed.

Reputable cloud providers offer customer support to help you with any issues. They also have safeguards to prevent accidental data loss. Plus, you can easily adjust your storage space as your needs change.

While local backups are important, dismissing cloud storage means missing out on these benefits. Using both cloud and local backups together is a smart way to protect your important files. Just make sure to choose a trustworthy provider and follow security best practices for added peace of mind.

Also, in my opinion, iCloud isn't a dependable cloud service. I've experienced random file losses and even lost photos without any warning. On the other hand, pCloud, which you mentioned, is reliable, and I also find Backblaze to be a good option.

 

[DaveFromCampbelltown]

Cloud storage has many benefits when used together with local backups. It keeps multiple copies of your data in different locations, making it more reliable. The security measures in place, like encryption and access controls, protect your files better than what you can do locally. Cloud storage automatically syncs your files across devices, so you always have the latest version available. It's also useful for collaboration and sharing with others.

Having your data in the cloud acts as an off-site backup, safeguarding it from disasters. You can access your files from anywhere with an internet connection, which is super convenient. The cloud also keeps track of older versions of your files, so you can go back to them if needed.

Reputable cloud providers offer customer support to help you with any issues. They also have safeguards to prevent accidental data loss. Plus, you can easily adjust your storage space as your needs change.

While local backups are important, dismissing cloud storage means missing out on these benefits. Using both cloud and local backups together is a smart way to protect your important files. Just make sure to choose a trustworthy provider and follow security best practices for added peace of mind.

Also, in my opinion, iCloud isn't a dependable cloud service. I've experienced random file losses and even lost photos without any warning. On the other hand, pCloud, which you mentioned, is reliable, and I also find Backblaze to be a good option.

Agreed in general. Except...

Having a reliable cloud provider relies on having a reliable Internet provider.
In my area the cables put in some 27 years ago had a 20-year lifetime. They are beginning to fail. Dropouts, up to 8 hours, are a common occurrence.

 

[iJest]

Agreed in general. Except...

Having a reliable cloud provider relies on having a reliable Internet provider.
In my area the cables put in some 27 years ago had a 20-year lifetime. They are beginning to fail. Dropouts, up to 8 hours, are a common occurrence.

Yeah, that makes backing up to the cloud a huge pain in the nether region. When I do on-site back ups, I have 3 back up drives, with the 4th going into a fireproof safe that I update once a month. And then I do the occasional surface integrity checks of the hard drives to make sure they're okay. Sorry about your internet situation.

 

[it wasnt me]

Even with a good internet connection, “cloud providers” (I hope you encrypt your backups locally before storing them on other people’s computers?) sometimes have reliability issues and even lose data every now and then. Never assume that you can easily restore everything from there.

 

[MacBH928]

Drafts is the simple answer.
DEVONthink is best answer.

I use both.

13 pages in this thread I think this is the first time I stumbled upon Drafts as a suggestion.

What makes you prefer Devonthink over something more mainstream like OneNote or EverNote? I think they have been around for a long time but they seem very niche.

"The cloud" is simply another copy that is useful to have.
If, for whatever reason, you lose access to the cloud (Internet goes down, company fails, etc), you lose access to your files in the cloud.
You need both cloud backup and onsite backup. If you are really paranoid, then you should organise off-site backup as well.

idk, I trust server admins and companies to make backups and have running hardware more than I trust myself. I kind of like storing your money in the bank because it will do better job of protecting it than in your house.

But keeping a locally copy is not wrong though.

I like using MEGA because it gives me both cloud backup and onsite storage at the same time.

what you mean MEGA gives you onsite storage? Isn't it a cloud storage company?

Agreed in general. Except...

Having a reliable cloud provider relies on having a reliable Internet provider.
In my area the cables put in some 27 years ago had a 20-year lifetime. They are beginning to fail. Dropouts, up to 8 hours, are a common occurrence.

💀 ...I see your concern.

Cloud storage has many benefits when used together with local backups. It keeps multiple copies of your data in different locations, making it more reliable. The security measures in place, like encryption and access controls, protect your files better than what you can do locally. Cloud storage automatically syncs your files across devices, so you always have the latest version available. It's also useful for collaboration and sharing with others.

I have trust issues with cloud storage services. How do you ensure they have encryption? How do you know their encryption is not like Apple where they say its "encrypted" but in reality the Apple employee has the decryption key and can see all your data.

Also, in my opinion, iCloud isn't a dependable cloud service. I've experienced random file losses and even lost photos without any warning. On the other hand, pCloud, which you mentioned, is reliable, and I also find Backblaze to be a good option.

Ok, given that Apple is much bigger and richer company surely they should have the talent that makes them the more reliable service over pCloud or Mega. So whats going on here, why is BackBlaze and pCloud more reliable?

 

[MacBH928]

Yeah, that makes backing up to the cloud a huge pain in the nether region. When I do on-site back ups, I have 3 back up drives, with the 4th going into a fireproof safe that I update once a month. And then I do the occasional surface integrity checks of the hard drives to make sure they're okay. Sorry about your internet situation.

how to do this "surface integrity check" thing?

 

[iJest]

I have trust issues with cloud storage services. How do you ensure they have encryption? How do you know their encryption is not like Apple where they say its "encrypted" but in reality the Apple employee has the decryption key and can see all your data.

There's nothing inherently wrong with distrust in cloud services. If that's how you feel, then backing up to your own drives would be the best option.

Ok, given that Apple is much bigger and richer company surely they should have the talent that makes them the more reliable service over pCloud or Mega. So whats going on here, why is BackBlaze and pCloud more reliable?

Because they are in the business of data storage, integrity, redundancy, and file version history. Apple has none of these things. If you lose files, they're gone forever. These other services keep multiple backups and versions of your files. Backblaze and pCloud are the only ones I can recommend. MEGA is 100% not trustworthy.

 

[iJest]

how to do this "surface integrity check" thing?

Unfortunately, I haven't found anything to do that in macOS, so I have to use a Windows computer (it's a cheap, palm-sized mini PC) to do that with MiniTool Partition Wizard or AOMEI Partition Assistant.

 

[DaveFromCampbelltown]

13 pages in this thread I think this is the first time I stumbled upon Drafts as a suggestion.

What makes you prefer Devonthink over something more mainstream like OneNote or EverNote? I think they have been around for a long time but they seem very niche.



idk, I trust server admins and companies to make backups and have running hardware more than I trust myself. I kind of like storing your money in the bank because it will do better job of protecting it than in your house.

But keeping a locally copy is not wrong though.



what you mean MEGA gives you onsite storage? Isn't it a cloud storage company?




💀 ...I see your concern.



I have trust issues with cloud storage services. How do you ensure they have encryption? How do you know their encryption is not like Apple where they say its "encrypted" but in reality the Apple employee has the decryption key and can see all your data.



Ok, given that Apple is much bigger and richer company surely they should have the talent that makes them the more reliable service over pCloud or Mega. So whats going on here, why is BackBlaze and pCloud more reliable?

MEGA does both. It simply makes a copy of the directory you nominate onto their servers, so there is a copy on your computer and a copy on their server.

If you log in on another computer, and set MEGA up the same way, it duplicates the copy on their server onto your other computer, so there is a copy on your first computer, a copy on their servers and a copy on the second computer. The MEGA software updates the copies (up and down) when you log in.