It’s been a while since the last Simplenote update, but the developers at Simperium have been busy — oh, so very, very busy.
They’ve rolled out a slick new web app, a new icon, integrated tags for all of your notes, and included a a host of improvements to the iPhone and iPad apps. As usual, I’ll be exploring all of this geeky goodness after the jump.
Simplenote 3.0.2 changelog
Maybe it’s best if we start over
Here’s a “pro tip” for everyone who uses the iPhone app extensively: if you want to muck around with tags immediately, it ‘s best to do it in the new web app, and if you ‘re going to do that, then you should probably re-sync all of your notes once you finish.
I experienced a problem with tags not syncing correctly to the iPhone, so I simply logged out and then logged back in to initiate a re-sync of *all* of my notes.
I probably have about 500-600 notes on my iPhone, but it only took about 4-5 minutes to download them all. Text files are nice and light.
It also turns out there was a bit of a silver lining to a complete reset, since I got to see some of the new animations in action. Simplenote downloaded two notes every second over wi-fi and the whole screen kept scrolling on and on like a ticker tape. This is definitely the same Simplenote I ‘ve used for the past seven months, but it ‘s just a lot more polished now.
New Web App
The web app is one example of the newer, shinier coat of paint that has been applied to my favourite note syncing service. I was never a fan of the older Simplenote interface, especially since it forced you to deal with pages of notes, instead of a gigantic scrolling list. The newer web app is a lot slicker, to say the least, and is much more efficient with screen space. It feels a lot more like an actual application, instead of a set of text boxes.
That said, I’ve been having some intermittent issues with the app, especially when it comes to speed. I’ll sometimes lag out for a whole minute within Firefox or the Fluid site-specific browser I set up for Simplenote, and this usually happens when I try to use keyboard shortcuts like tab, or clear the search field. I’m assuming that the unveiling of this new web app has a lot to do with the lag, but I’m also wondering if it has to do with the amount of information I’m forcing the server to handle.
I’ll sometimes lag out for a whole minute within Firefox or the Fluid site-specific browser I set up for Simplenote, and this usually happens when I try to use keyboard shortcuts like tab, or clear the search field. I’m assuming that the unveiling of this new web app has a lot to do with the lag, but I’m also wondering if it has to do with the amount of information I’m forcing the server to handle.
I have over 500 notes in Simplenote, which honestly doesn’t seem like all that much. Less than half of those notes are articles (2000 words max, mostly 800 words), and the rest are very quick little jots that amount to no more than 100 words each.
I’m assuming the web app is always going to be a work in progress, since the devs at Simperium have the freedom to update it at most any time. I’m hoping this is the case, since the web app seems to lack many of the features present in the iPhone version, which is curious (it’s usually the other way around).
But enough about the web app. This is an iPhone site, and you’d like to hear about iPhone-specific goodness (and there is much of it abound in this update):
Fullscreen notes
As much as I loved Simplenote for taking and syncing notes, I was always jealous of WriteRoom and Write for their ability to go fullscreen…but no longer! This version of Simplenote brings with it fullscreen editing and viewing just like the other kids in the playground. Simply tap on the lower-right hand side to go fullscreen and then tap on the symbol again once you ‘re done.
This fullscreen mode works beautifully, but it ‘s not the best implementation I ‘ve seen thus far. Activating the keyboard in fullscreen mode is as simple as tapping anywhere on-screen, but hiding the keyboard requires a a lot more tapping. You ‘ll have to exit fullscreen by tapping on the bottom-right icon, tap Done in the upper-right corner, and then re-enable fullscreen by tapping the icon once again. Tapping and holding on the fullscreen toggle might solve this issue, but maybe the developers have something else up their sleeves.
As a nice extra touch, the fullscreen icon auto-dims after a few seconds, and lights up again once you scroll or tap on it.
Tags
Oh my. I’ve gotten so used to creating my own little tags in Simplenote (see here) that I almost don’t know what to do with real metatags. Almost.
The big flaw with my current tag system is that it’s not very easy to browse, since I always have to initiate a search in order to filter. Tags solve this problem, since I can simply click on them in the drop-down menu of the web app, or browse them like folders on the iPhone. It’s also great seeing a counter beside the number of notes you’ve created (I have 214 notes tagged as “jaib” from the last seven months). I feel so much more organized and productive than I actually am, and I have Simplenote to thank for this artificial boost to my ego.
I really, really wish you could tag notes en masse, though. I’m guessing somebody is going to make a tool for doing so eventually, but if you’re a user with hundreds of untagged notes, I weep for you. You will not be passing Go. You will not be collecting 200. You will be tagging for the next couple of hours.
Pinned Notes
The name of this feature is pretty self explanatory. I don’t usually need to pin notes to the top of the list since my most frequently edited notes are already there, but I can imagine this being useful if Simplenote isn’t your primary notes app, or if you create so many notes in a single day that pinning important ones in place is the only way you’ll stay sane.
I think of this like a helpful little triage button, but with pins. Priage.
Text Search
One of the things that most iPhone note apps cannot do is parse text for keywords and then show you where those keywords appear. Sure, you can usually find the relevant note with an instance of the word “elephant”, but where in that 1,000 word document is that elephant hiding?
This version of Simplenote can hunt down elephants or any other stray words/animals that may be hiding in the bodies of your text. It will even highlight them in yellow, so they’re easier to spot. All you need to do is search for a keyword within Simplenote, open the relevant note, and use the arrows along the bottom of the screen to navigate the note. The feature’s still a little buggy (the search overlay tends to paint over some words), but it’s still useful for moving you to the vicinity of your keyword.
Sharing
You’ve always been able to e-mail the full contents of a note from Simplenote, but now you can actually publish your notes live to a webpage (example – here), or share an editable note with other Simplenote users (like Google Docs, but prettier and without rich text). The only stickler about the Sharing UI is that it forces you into an e-mail once you activate. There’s no option to simply copy the URL without generating an e-mail draft first.
Version History
I have yet to really take this feature out for a spin, but Simplenote can now keep track of up to 10 (3o for premium subscribers) drafts for every single note in your account. If you accidentally erase an important paragraph or fall asleep on the backspace key and simply destroy everything, you can simply use a slider on the iPhone or web app to instantly peek at your previous saves. There’s an option to restore the text within the iPhone app, but you can also opt to copy everything to help you recover your data.
Conclusion
There’s no doubt about it: this new version of Simplenote is incredible. I’m sure you’ll be seeing many similar opinions on Twitter and other blogs over the next few days, but this isn’t just hype: Simplenote has always been pretty rock solid for syncing your text notes. It’s just rock solid-er now, and it features that added sheen that makes so many Apple products interesting and fun to use.
It’s also still a free download (with Premium accounts available), so there’s no reason not to try it out.
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Simplenote is free to use, but also features premium accounts. I bought my own for personal use and for review on the site. For further information regarding our site’s review policies, please see the “About” page.
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TAGS: Simplenote
