App similar to Evernote

[AceCoolie]

Hi. I'm looking for an app similar to Evernote. I want to be able to sync notes from my Windows PC, iPad, and iPhone. I want to be able to view the notes offline. This is where I'm having issues with Evernote. The free version won't allow you to do this. I would upgrade but I don't want ongoing monthly fees.

Does anyone know of an app that will meet my requirements? I have no problem paying for it but I just hate the idea of monthly/yearly payments. I want to buy it once and be done with it.

Thanks!

 

[AceCoolie]

Looks like Simplenote might be what I want.

 

[i0Nic]

I use Simplenote.

I previously used Evernote regularly, now I just use it as a way to store invoices, PDF's I want to refer to and other multimedia/image heavy notes.

For text notes, I use Simplenote + syncing to Dropbox. On the desktop, I use both the NValt app on the Mac and the Simplenote web client to enter notes, as well as the Simplenote app on both iPad and iPhone.

I also sometimes use IA Writer on the Mac, iPhone and iPad. I sync these notes to the same Dropbox folder that I sync my Simplenote notes to, so effectively I can use either IA Writer or Simplenote as my note entry app and they all end up in the same folder.

I use tags to classify each note.

The reason I switched my text notes to Simplenote is that it's a much faster and cleaner experience for text entry. Searching is very quick and painless with both Simplenote and Nvalt, whereas it always feels a lot slower in Evernote. Since the majority of my note taking is text based, it made sense to switch to a text optimised app over Evernote's app-that-does-everything approach.

That's my system and it's been working very well for me.

 

[palpatine]

if you are a student, evernote currently has a free offer for a premium upgrade:
https://www.evernote.com/group/en-college-promo/

but, even if you are not a student, premium membership is pretty inexpensive. remember, you get 1gb of uploads each month, and this is cumulative, so if you dump in a bunch of pdfs, pictures, and whatnot you can have up to 12gb of stuff on the cloud by the end of the year. if you decide to go back to free, that all stays there.

simplenote and other programs are nice, but only for text, so rather limited. if all you have is text, then they are the way to go.

 

[stylinexpat]

Not sure why you can't just store the images on your iPad Why do they make you have to upload them to their server and then make you pay for the space needed

Sort of like the iCloud thing Fine if that is what you want but sucks if you don't have the option to choose.

 

[AceCoolie]

if you are a student, evernote currently has a free offer for a premium upgrade:
https://www.evernote.com/group/en-college-promo/

but, even if you are not a student, premium membership is pretty inexpensive. remember, you get 1gb of uploads each month, and this is cumulative, so if you dump in a bunch of pdfs, pictures, and whatnot you can have up to 12gb of stuff on the cloud by the end of the year. if you decide to go back to free, that all stays there.

simplenote and other programs are nice, but only for text, so rather limited. if all you have is text, then they are the way to go.

Thanks for the info. I'm currently working on my Masters so this would apply to me. I'll have to think about it some more.

 

[dancj]

I use Notebook and find it perfect for my needs.

It doesn't do pictures or anything. Just simple text files, but they're arganized by category and they sync quickly with either Toodledo (which I use) or DropBox.

I think it's around $3 but I can't be sure because the app store won't show you e price of an app you already own.

 

[palpatine]

Not sure why you can't just store the images on your iPad Why do they make you have to upload them to their server and then make you pay for the space needed

Sort of like the iCloud thing Fine if that is what you want but sucks if you don't have the option to choose.

i am not sure if you are responding to my post about evernote, or someone else's post. with evernote, the idea is that you have your account synced across multiple devices. turn on your mac, it is all there. use your android tablet, it is all there. if you don't care about syncing, then i think evernote is still great on the desktop (you have local folders that don't sync), but you'd probably be better off with one-note or some other service. if you are into syncing, then i don't know of a product that even comes close.

as for graduate school (the op), i would say this is the most important application i own. i've got everything in there: journal articles, scanned books, reading notes, lecture notes, etc. all accessible with the touch of a finger. wow

 

[stylinexpat]

i am not sure if you are responding to my post about evernote, or someone else's post. with evernote, the idea is that you have your account synced across multiple devices. turn on your mac, it is all there. use your android tablet, it is all there. if you don't care about syncing, then i think evernote is still great on the desktop (you have local folders that don't sync), but you'd probably be better off with one-note or some other service. if you are into syncing, then i don't know of a product that even comes close.

as for graduate school (the op), i would say this is the most important application i own. i've got everything in there: journal articles, scanned books, reading notes, lecture notes, etc. all accessible with the touch of a finger. wow

The developers of Evernote should easily be able to give the end user the option to sync or not sync. If one wishes to sync then they can hit the sync button and if they don't want to sync then the items stay on the person's iPad.

 

[palpatine]

The developers of Evernote should easily be able to give the end user the option to sync or not sync. If one wishes to sync then they can hit the sync button and if they don't want to sync then the items stay on the person's iPad.

I can't comment on how easy or difficult that might be, but I can confirm that the ability to selectively sync does not exist on the iPad. On the desktop versions you can designate a notebook as "local" in order to keep things in it from syncing.

I don't find this to be an issue, since I want the things I put in Evernote on my iPad to be available in Evernote on my desktop. I've always considered that a strength of the application. If the syncing is not what you want, then another program might be better for you.

 

[elmo151]

why not use evernote. the price is right, it's well tested, and runs on just about everything