Evernote is just announcing a major update to their Android app that brings it up to Version 2.0. As the version number indicates, this update brings some truly significant features and tweaks to the app. Among the key changes… version 2.0 has a new, more intuitive interface, it has a cleaner home screen, you will find a new search interface, there are new views with new options and the list goes on. It also brings simpler sorting and browsing, it is dramatically faster, it offers offline note storage and it brings background syncing.
Over all this update brings many of the features on par with the solid and more “mature” Evernote for iPhone app while also taking advantage of some of the Android-specfic features that are available on that platform. There are other new features however that push this version of Evernote past the iPhone app. Key among them… with the Android App you can now record audio as you type since “The audio recorder is right in the new note screen so you can tap and talk at the same time.” (ala Livescribe to a degree) and you can now send content from other apps into Evernote using a new sharing option and Evernote will turn it into a new note. As an iPhone user I’m sure hoping to see these features make an appearance on iOS in the near future.
For those of you who have Android handsets and use Evernote this is a rather nice way to start the week. A full rundown of the new features follows thanks to Evernote…
New Home screen- You’ll immediately notice our new, cleaner, more intuitive home screen, which allows you to make new notes, gives you fast access to your notes and displays synchronization status.
New Search interface-
We placed the Search magnifying glass at the top of every screen so you can quickly jump to Search from anywhere. The Search screen lets you create new searches, view previous ones, access saved searches and search for things near your current location. Type into the text field and press enter to do a keyword search. You’ll notice that we also filter down the list of tags, notebooks, saved searches and previous search so it’s easy to repeat common searches.New views, more options-
When viewing a note, you’ll see a little tab at the bottom of the screen. Tap this open and you can see all the notes in your current search. Swipe left and right through the thumbnails to quickly switch between notes. We love this feature and have nicknamed it
To view note details, tap on the note title when in single note view. Also, tap the menus to get quick access to map location, open the source page in your browser and to switch to other viewing options.
Easier sorting and browsing-
We made browsing notes, tags and notebooks much easier. You can group your notes by notebook, location, or month and use the scroller to switch between sections. Note sorting happens lickity-split and even works offline. You can also tap and hold on any of the notes in a note list to quickly access note options, such as Edit, Delete, Note info, Email, Map view, Tagging, and more.We’ve also changed the interface, adding a convenient header bar to make it easy to switch among searches, notes, tags, and notebooks.
Dramatically faster-
Evernote 2.0 dramatically improves browsing, viewing and searching through notes. It does this by downloading all data about your notes, such as tags, notebook names, saved searches, note titles, and thumbnails when you first launch the app. Thanks to Android’s background processing capabilities, it can also sync periodically in the background to make sure you’re always up-to-date.In addition, whenever a note is viewed or created on the device, it will be stored offline for easy access even when there is no network connectivity. This feature is available for both free and premium users.
Please note: - The initial sync may take some time, so we recommend connecting your phone to a power source and connecting to a WiFi network.
Offline notebooks for Premium users (most requested feature!)-
Premium users get even more. If you have an Evernote Premium account, then you will be able to specify the notebooks that you want to be saved for offline viewing (do this via Preferences in the Settings screen). Evernote will then download all the notes contained in those notebooks, including any attached images and files, and save them all onto your device’s SD card.
Simpler note creation and multiple attachments-
We even improved note creation by allowing you to attach as many images, PDFs or audio files as you’d like. In the New Note and note editing screens, use the buttons in the header to add a picture and other files, assign tags, switch notebooks, or pull in local files.Widgets
Google Search widget searches Evernote-
If you’re running Android OS 2.1 with the latest Google Search widget, then you can search right from your device’s home screen and matching Evernote notebooks, tags, previous searches appear right along side the other things you store on your phone.
Improved widget
- Speaking of widgets, we’ve also updated the widget providing easy access to creating notes, searching, or just jumping to the Evernote home screen.Home screen shortcuts-
One of the features that we love in the new Android OS is shortcuts. With Evernote 2.0, you can make a home screen shortcut to any note or search. This is perfect if you want to jump quickly to your to-do list or common searches straight from the home screen. Create a shortcut by tapping into the menu when viewing a note or search, then tap the “shortcut” option.
So much more
Record audio as you type: The audio recorder is right in the new note screen so you can tap and talk at the same time.Storage options: Running out of storage space on your device’s internal memory? Evernote 2.0 lets you move the app to the SD Card.
Sharing from other apps: You can send content from other apps into Evernote using the sharing option. We’ll grab the info and turn it into a new note.
In-app Premium upgrade: You can upgrade to Evernote Premium straight from the application Settings.
More to come
Even with all these huge changes and updates, we’re not slowing down one bit. There are lots of new, great things on the horizon for Evernote for Android. Evernote 2.0 is just the beginning.
