The Evernote app has been helping people record and remember everything since 2008. We wrote about Evernote in One in a Million…Apps for Business and again in There’s an App for That! Favorite Mobile Business Apps for 2015.
Their success may be attributed to several factors:
- Evernote is not just a mobile app. It works on a wide variety of devices—including both mobile phones and desktop computers (for those without smartphones)—and with platforms including Android, Apple iOS, and Windows.
- The Evernote Stacks, Notebooks, Notes, and Tags you store can be accessed on numerous devices by multiple people of your choosing from anywhere that has an Internet connection, thanks to Evernote’s cloud storage.
- They offer free/Basic, Plus, Premium, and Business versions. The Basic version is very functional but there are limits on Note size and on the number of uploads allowed, and you can’t save e-mails to Evernote in this version.
- Evernote won an Apple Design Award.
- They search out interesting apps that integrate with their product to make the user experience even better. Small businesses will benefit from their Business, Productivity, and Paperless collections of apps. Education and Lifestyle collections are also available.
It’s easy to get started. Sign up for a free account with a username OR e-mail address and a password. Take the Evernote tutorial or begin recording notes immediately.
To record a Note, you can
- Type
- Handwrite a note with an Evernote-friendly handwriting app
- Record an audio note or voice note
- Speak a note using voice-to-text software or let Evernote transcribe it
- Use your WebCam to record a note
- Use the Evernote Web Clipper (where available)
The Web Clipper lets you
– select the Web content you want to save
– specify where you want to save it
– tag it so it is easy to find later
– save it from the Web page you are on to your account
A Note is a single record but it can contain more than one kind of information. For example, you may want to capture a blog headline and its corresponding URL. Add images as visual cues to the content. If the blog post contains very little text, you can also add audio notes or attach a document or PDF file.
Once you have created a Note, you can store it in a Notebook with a theme of your choice. This will make it easier to find information at a later date. Some people choose to file Notes chronologically. Others choose labels that correspond to project names, clients, content themes or titles, and locations. The choice is yours.
As you become more and more comfortable with Evernote, you will find more uses for this app and your Notes and Notebooks collection will grow. You can then create Stacks to further categorize and subdivide your material. An individual may have Personal and Professional Stacks. A small business may have Stacks for each project, each client, or each department. Evernote’s Help & Learning and Tips & Tutorials tell you how to do this and more.
Other Evernote features we think you’ll like:
- Evernote’s Optical Character Recognition recognizes text that appears in photos as well as text in documents, on receipts, in PDF files, and in subtitles. This makes it easier than ever to find text.
- The voice notes you create are searchable.
- You can search based on WHERE you created a Note.
- If your Note is time-sensitive—like an appointment—Evernote can send you a reminder.
Sign up for an Evernote account and start remembering everything.