Evernote 5 Review

We all want need to stay in touch with our private information at all times and share it with others when necessary, regardless of the device at hand, whether it's a computer, tablet or smartphone. 

Evernote is one of those tools that can synchronize data across multiple devices and keep users up to speed with all their notes, whether they are based on text (regular and handwritten), audio, webcam, or screenshots. It gathers all information into one place and gives users the means to seamlessly share notes with other people by publishing them on popular social networking websites. There's no doubt regarding Evernote's entertainment value, but the tool goes beyond that, as it can be used for professional purposes as well.

Installing it takes minimal time and effort. Before entering the workspace, users are required to create an Evernote account (email, username and password) that will be needed for every login across all devices supported by the program. Confirmation via email is not necessary to get started.

In terms of visual appeal, the interface is clear-cut. The main application window has a neatly organized structure that meets basic user expectations regarding a notetaking utility. A system tray area is created at startup, and Evenote is automatically sent there on close. Split into separately accessible tabs, we can find a left panel with shortcuts, notes, notebooks, tags and others, the note list, and the note panel. This snippet view can be exchanged for a list or card view.

As previously mentioned, there are a few types of notes that can be inserted into the utility: text, ink (i.e. handwritten, currently supported by Android mobile and tablet devices), audio, webcam, and screenshot.

Audio notes enable users to capture sound stream from microphone, as well as attach existing audio tracks. They can be accompanied by text with the same previously described formatting options. The same rule applies to webcam notes, where the application is capable of recording and saving footage from webcams.

The date of creation and last update are prone to changes. The last modification date is taken into account by the tool by default when sorting messages in descending order in the notes list (the most recent ones are on top). However, notes may be sorted by many other criteria, such as title, location, author, tag, or subject. A notable feature that Evernote shares with advanced text editing tools is an automatic word and resource counter (e.g. images, searchable images, PDFs, audio). What's more, users may set up reminders with email notifications.

As far as additional exporting options are concerned, notes can be sent to other people via email (optionally CC the sender address), and posted on Facebook, Twitter or LinkedIn. If users allow the program to create a public link for notes, this URL can be copied to the Clipboard with one click. Alternatively, they can create a private link to share only with a select group of people and grant them specific permissions (e.g. read only, read and write).

Moreover, users may alter the default destination for captured screenshots and deactivate the annotation editor's auto launch after grabbing frames, ask the program to run at system startup until further notice and deny its automatic updates checkup, and so on.

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