Introducing: Evernote Peek, The First iPad Smart Cover App

Product updates | 08 Jun 201108 Jun 11 | By Andrew Sinkov

143 comments

Several months ago, Phil and I were sitting in a plane playing around with the just-released iPad 2. Of all its features, the thing that floored us was the ingenious Smart Cover. It didn’t seem like an accessory so much as an extension of the device. As we sat there opening and closing the cover, a question struck us: could we use the cover to control an app that would make Evernote even more useful?

Turns out, the answer is yes. We give you Evernote Peek, the world’s first Smart Cover app. Available now.

What is Evernote Peek?

Evernote Peek is a free app designed to help you study, learn and strengthen your memory. Interacting with Peek is pretty intuitive. Once you’ve connected Peek to your Evernote account and selected your study materials, you simply close the Smart Cover and peek under it to see a clue. Raise the cover further to reveal the answer. To advance to the next clue, just close the cover and repeat.

It’s totally new, and yet feels as familiar as lifting a page.

Study your own notes and more

Peek turns your Evernote notebooks into instant study materials. When you launch the app, tap the Add button and sign into Evernote. The app will then display two tabs of notebooks. The first tab contains published notebooks provided by Evernote and StudyBlue. The second tab contains your personal Evernote notebooks. Select the notebook to add it to Peek. Once the notebook has been downloaded, tap on it, close the Smart Cover, and peek to start.

Creating great learning materials
Creating quizzes and study guides for Peek is simple. Go to Evernote and make a new notebook. Then, make some notes. The note titles will become the clues and the note bodies will be the answers. For best results, keep your title to around 50 characters and the body to 250.

Keeping score
Whenever you get a question wrong, tap the checkbox labeled Incorrect. You’ll be able to retest those questions later.

Quick iPad adjustments
There are two quick iPad adjustments that we recommend. First, turn up your iPad brightness to about 75%. Second, turn off your iPad’s auto-lock. Now, start studying.

Peek is perfect for…

Use Peek to brush up on a language, prepare for a test or remember a recipe. Want to keep track of people you met at a conference? Put their names into the note title and company into the note body in Evernote, then quiz yourself in Peek. Going on a trip? Make a notebook of the places you’re visiting with some information about each location, then go through it in Peek. The possibilities for this app are endless.

What do you think?

Building Peek was a fun project for us. We’re very curious to hear what you think. Let us know in the comments.

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LMS

I really wish it would show long questions ans answers in the app. When I first create the note everything is fine, but when I quiz myself only part of the questions shows. What a bummer. If there was a font size on the app itself, then this app would be worth while. Until then, I’m a little disappointed.
Hasan

Hello,
I am a fan of Evernote and have been for a couple of years now. I’ve introduced several people to it and it simply made my phone into a quick note taking device.

I use flashcards to study ALL the time and the fact that I can combine that with evernote is the best news i’ve heard all year.

However, currently I use Anki – a program that allows us to rate our incorrect or correct answers in more detail rather than simply saying correct or incorrect. That way, we are able to come back to the most difficult cards most often and the least difficult cards less frequently.

If Peek could implement such a feature, there is no question, what so ever that I would switch over and bring others with me. Thank you and Good Luck!

Sincere Evernote User.
Daniel O’Connell

Love the app! I’m using it to reinforce learning Spanish. How do I add audio to the clues?
Dogluver

One question: in the telling time in Spanish notebook, it always says cuatro (4) instead of quince (15)
For example, when it asks for 1:15 PM it says la una (1) y cuatro. Is it supposed to be like that? I’m a little confused. Could you fix it in an update if it’s wrong?

Thanks
Michael Zapata

Is there a user community site where people are posting their study notebooks that can be loaded for use with Peek? I have two grade school children and would love to be able to find flash study sessions that people have created at their age level and appropriate to the subjects they are learning. I would pay for access to this kind of material.
- Ron Toledo
  
  This is a great idea. We’ve created a new topic on our discussion forum where people can share their notebooks. Thanks for the suggestion. http://discussion.evernote.com/topic/23146-share-your-education-related-evernote-peek-notebooks/
Eric

How do you make the note cards I can’t figure it out
Ranroun02

Guys im not knowing how to create a notebook .. Well actually i downloaded 1 but im not knowing how to edit them .. Can u plz help ? Tx
Henry Strauch

Peek is a great idea, I even went out and bought a smart cover to utilize it, but its practicality is very limited. Being limited to having to make a new note for every topic or question is no different than any other flashcard app. Study blue is okay at making flashcards, but these do not integrate into peek, so whats the point. Study blue is worthless on its own without an iPad app, especially since you can only access it if you are on the internet. Would be great to add a button or something to Evernote where you can go through a long page of notes(e.g from a class lecture) and simply highlight your questions and answers accordingly. This would make Evernote + Peek a truely efficient study tool that i would use across all of my platforms.
marlowesfu

Maybe I have missed something. Okay I get evernote peek; it is great. I can make all text peek “flashcard” type peeks. What I would like is to include an audio on the peek rather than the clue, if that makes sense. So, for my daughter, I would like to lift first flap she sees “cat” then second flap and is told (I record an audio note) “cat.”
maybe I missed something but when I try she sees cat AND hears cat on first flap.
M
VoiD

Works great on my iPad. Love it!

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