Here at Evernote, we’ve been big supporters of the evolution of the Windows platform in recent years. Their innovative interface direction for Windows Phone inspired us to completely rethink the Evernote experience. Now, we’re excited to announce the availability of Evernote for Windows 8, our beautiful, simplified new application that’s focused on providing a great touch and reading experience for Windows 8 devices. It’s the perfect companion to the robust functionality of Evernote for Windows Desktop. Let’s take a look.
The Design
Evernote for Windows 8 fully embraces the great design aesthetic of the operating system, which makes the app feel incredibly light and responsive. The note list is made up of large, bright tiles. We’ve implemented all of the swipe gestures that allow you to navigate and interact with the app. You can even go into Split Screen mode to view Evernote and your browser, Skitch or other apps side by side.
Swipe Gestures
Windows 8 has a number of powerful swipe gestures that allow you to do more with the application:
- Semantic zoom: Pinch out of the note list and tag list to see a high-level alphabetical or chronological organization. Then tap to jump to the grouping you want.
- App Bar and Nav Bar: Swipe from the top or bottom to bring up the App and Nav Bars. The Nav Bar lets you navigate to different parts of the app. The App Bar lets you create notes, sync and perform other actions.
- Charm Bar: Swipe from the right to bring up the Charm Bar, which lets you search, share and view settings.
- Snap View: Swipe slowly from the left to allow Evernote to share the screen with another application.
- Swipe on objects: Tap and tug down on tiles or tags in your note list to select multiple notes at once.
Interacting with Notes
Evernote for Windows 8 lets you find the notes you’re looking for by browsing through notebooks, scanning your note list or searching. Once you find what you’re looking for, the app gives you a beautiful layout, perfect for viewing your content.
To create a new note, tap on New Note in the App Bar. When creating or viewing a note, you can use the side bar to assign it to a notebook or give it a tag. You can also append text to the end of an existing note by tapping on the Edit icon. Add text to a note by clicking the edit icon. Please note that the app does not support rich text editing at this time. You won’t be able to edit notes containing text styles, embedded images, etc., but you will be able to append text to them. We plan to add that capability soon.
Notebooks and Tags
In Evernote for Windows 8, the Notebooks and Tags views allow you to easily view and find the notes you need.
The Notebook View
The Notebook View displays your notebooks however you like. You can view your list fully expanded or collapsed into Stacks. You can collapse or expand the list from the Charm Bar. We also indicate which of your notebooks are shared by displaying an icon inside of Shared Notebooks. Use the Semantic Zoom feature to zoom out of the notebook list to go directly to the items you want. The App Bar also lets you add a new notebook, if you’d like.
The Tag View
If you rely on tags to organize your notes, then you’ll love the Tag list in Evernote for Windows 8. For the basic use case, you can tap on a tag, then view the associated notes. For more precise results, notice that when you tap and tug on a tag to select it, certain other tags in the list grey out, while others don’t. The tags that stay visible are the ones that you’ve used together with the selected tag. Now, if you tap on a second tag, you’ll be able to quickly jump to a list of notes that are tagged with both.
Getting Started Guide
If you have questions about Evernote for Windows 8, we have answers. Check out our Getting Started Guide for an overview of the new app.
More to Come
There’s a lot more coming to Evernote for Window 8. Our simplified version of Evernote for touch interfaces is going to get lots of great new features and capabilities. We hope you like Evernote for Windows 8. Let us know what you think.
