Evernote is a suite of software and services designed for notetaking and archiving. A "note" can be a piece of formatted text, a full webpage or webpage excerpt, a photograph, a voice memo, or a handwritten "ink" note. Notes can also have file attachments. Notes can be sorted into folders, then tagged, annotated, edited, given comments, searched and exported as part of a notebook. Evernote supports a number of operating system platforms (including OS X, iOS, Chrome OS, Android, Microsoft…
$7.99
per month
OmniFocus
Score 8.0 out of 10
N/A
OmniFocus is a project management platform for iOS: Mac, iPad, and iPhone. It has features such as task management, Siri capture, and workflow automation.
I initially liked how OmniFocus was set up, but over time have gone back to a combination of Evernote and Todoist/Drafts for my daily organizing. This has been strictly from an ease of use and functionality perspective.
I selected Omnifocus, initially as it was Mac based and allowed me to keep on top of all my projects and tasks due to access on an iPhone and iPad. Previously I have used Microsoft Project, however I feel that Omnifocus is more powerful and easier to use.
Evernote is an excellent tool for keeping track of client relationships and taking notes. The indexing is excellent, with text in images and text. However, a Wiki might be better for large-scale collaboration. It is a perfect use case for it, and it is hard to beat. To-do lists that need to be tracked or have due dates assigned do not work well in Evernote. It's almost like a library that anyone can add to, edit, tag, and reference. Evernote has a limited checklist function in terms of tasks meant to be kept in one place rather than reviewed and organized over time.
1) Great for managing your work and personal activities. 2) One of the best implementations of the Getting Things Done method. 3) Not really suited for collaborative work management; OmniFocus is managed on a per-user basis so you can't share/assign tasks.
Ease of viewing what tasks need to be done at the present moment and the sorting of those tasks by availability, due date, start date, needed resources, and project.
The visual interface is really nice to work with, the UX/UI is intelligent and intuitive.
It's the most extensible software I've used. There is a community of people that publish compatible scripts for Omnifocus at no charge.
The code is robust and I've almost never had a bug or a glitch that resulted in issues.
The software syncs in the cloud between MacOS and iOS seamlessly and faster than other To-Do software. The sync aspect is available free of charge.
The development team at Omnifocus is on top of bugs and they have been adding releases regularly to increase functionality and performance.
While OmniFocus adheres to the GTD (Getting things done) principles, it can be used in almost any manner and you aren't stuck with just that methodology.
I would really like to see graphic presentations of how I allocate my time, what categories of tasks don't get accomplished, etc.
I would like to see OmniFocus include Gantt chart functionality, such as allowing me to see how long it took me to accomplish a task from start to finish. Allowing me to actually input time spent, and seeing it on a Gantt chart, would be icing on the cake.
I can't really imagine how much they'd have to charge me to make me quit Evernote. I can't really think of any technology that has changed my life as much without going back to email in the 90s, or the introduction of the iPhone. I know I sound ridiculous, but it would be really tough for me to live without it. If I were forced to choose between my smart phone (and keep in mind that I get lost in my driveway) and my Evernote, I'd probably choose my Evernote.
Basic visual organization - ability to create a notebook and store user notes inside of it.
Basic easy navigation - You can quickly move in and out of files and notes.
User intuitive addition - whatever you need to add to your document, it's relatively easy to understand and use.
We find overall that we still want some functionality in creating better task lists, boards, and other things that we find in Notion - which is the tool that we use as a team notebook/storage space.
Generally issues are by connectivity and not Evernote availability but I have had issues in the past with cross-client consistency of data which Evernote Support has ID'd as bugs that are still unresolved as far as I know
I bet you won’t even need to call their support. Their product has never failed me. Simply put. But if you were to email them to gather some details or help, I bet they won’t disappoint you. Don’t worry about the support, it’s the last thing you should worry about this product.
OmniFocus has excellent user forums. They're active as well as mature, since the product has been around for years. I've never needed to actually contact customer support because OmniFocus is popular enough that I've always been able to find an answer in the forums, or in an article, or in a YouTube video.
Make sure you think about your tags. If you end up with multiple similar tags then things aren't grouped together as you might prefer. For instance if you have a tag called Disney and Walt Disney, this will split up your articles. Evernote makes it simple to correct, but I suggest you make sure your users look closely at the existing tags before creating new ones.
The most similar program I have used is OneNote by Microsoft, and other note taking programs exist like Notepad and Microsoft Word but those programs do not offer syncing like Evernote does. There are newer programs in the space like Dropbox Paper and Google Docs which would be on a list of ones to consider.
OmniFocus is built for the user with a lot going on - consequently, it does a great job at organizing lots of things in a manageable workload. It's perfect for taking a project and breaking it down into small tasks for yourself or teams. Once you get past the learning curve, it's quick at adding new tasks. Overall, it's an excellent product.
Evernote has allowed our school's over 3000 students and staff members to work more efficiently instead of spending time on making physical notes, clicking pictures, and uploading them to the cloud in order to share them
The investment in Evernote Premium has also allowed for heavier files to be attached in each note such as student work that allows teachers to be certain that students have followed deadlines and finished assigned tasks
Evernote has allowed our school to smoothly transition in and out of online learning as the local COVID-19 protocols change and student work requires one platform to be based on throughout
OmniFocus keeps our tasks moving forward. Using a free script you can search all your current projects for projects that have no next step assigned to it to ensure nothing falls through the cracks.
When we serve our clients, the attention to detail we are able to give them comes from accurate tracking of what we need to deliver.
We complete projects 25% faster than before and we can see where the bottlenecks are immediate. We have also been forced to document tasks in a more concrete manner which allows for better execution.
