Evernote’s biggest update since 2020 goes all in on AI

For those who’re like me, it is most likely been a scorching minute since you have thought of Evernote. For years, the note-taking app, as soon as a darling of the App Retailer, confronted declining recognition and profitability. The final time it grabbed headlines was in 2022 when it was offered to Milan-based developer Bending Spoons. Roughly 9 months later, Bending Spoons laid off nearly all of Evernote’s US workforce, and relocated what remained of the corporate’s operations to Europe. Now, Evernote needs to be within the dialog once more. 

Since taking on the app, Bending Spoons has launched greater than 200 enhancements, culminating in the present day with the discharge of Evernote v11. The corporate is touting the replace, which is the primary main launch for Evernote since its poorly received v10 launch again in 2020. The brand new model brings a handful of recent AI options to Evernote, together with one which Bending Spoons collaborated with OpenAI to develop.      

“My want for v11 is that folks give it a try to see how briskly and dependable it’s, how full it’s in what it affords,” Federico Simionato, Evenote’s product lead, mentioned over a video chat. “I feel individuals have an outdated opinion of Evernote that used to match actuality, when Evernote was sluggish and unreliable.”    

The primary of the brand new options Bending Spoons is introducing in the present day known as AI Assistant. Simionato describes it as having ChatGPT inside Evernote. No shock because the firm collaborated with OpenAI to make it. As you’ll be able to most likely guess, you should use AI Assistant to look by way of your notes and notebooks, however the instrument’s utility goes past that. It permits you to work together along with your paperwork and ask follow-up questions. AI Assistant can even generate new content material, and you’ll resolve how what it creates is built-in inside your current notes and notebooks. In my demo, Simionato used AI Assistant so as to add a flight ticket quantity to a observe he had devoted to an upcoming journey to Spain. Over time, Bending Spoons plans to make AI Assistant extra highly effective, with the corporate engaged on making it doable for the chatbot to assign tags to notes and carry out bulk actions throughout a number of paperwork, amongst different capabilities. 

By default, Bending Spoons will allow AI Assistant for all paid customers. A set of granular controls will permit individuals to resolve what content material AI Assistant can entry. The settlement Bending Spoons has with OpenAI means the corporate cannot prepare its fashions on information from Evernote customers. Moreover, any information despatched to the cloud for processing will solely be held as lengthy it takes to finish the person’s request.  

A part of the explanation Bending Spoons is taking a extra ahead strategy with AI Assistant is because of person suggestions. In 2023, the corporate launched a instrument referred to as AI Search. Simionato says his workforce was “extraordinarily cautious” so as to add friction to the expertise to make sure individuals felt Evernote was respecting their privateness. To that finish, you needed to dig into the app’s settings to allow AI Search earlier than it will work. In line with Simionato, customers discovered that setup was “too cumbersome,” and with most individuals changing into extra comfy with AI instruments, the corporate determined to make AI Assistant seen from the leap. 

The opposite new characteristic Bending Spoons is introducing in the present day is one some Evernote customers have been ready for a decade: Semantic Search. As an alternative of looking for a observe utilizing an actual phrase or phrase you used inside it, Semantic Search permits Evernote to filter by way of your paperwork utilizing context. Simionato demonstrates the characteristic in motion by typing “Barcelona journey” into the brand new interface, and Evernote surfaces a observe he created a few journey to Girona. For those who’re not acquainted, Girona is a metropolis about 62 miles northeast of Barcelona and a part of Catalonia. The doc Evernote pulled up had no point out of Barcelona in it, however that did not stop the instrument from discovering it. In line with Simionato, that is probably the most requested characteristic of longtime Evernote customers and one Bending Spoons is glad it will probably lastly ship on. 

Lastly, the corporate has expanded the app’s built-in recording and transcription capabilities. Constructing on AI Transcribe, which Bending Spoons first launched in 2024, Evernote can now document audio from each in-person and on-line conferences and mechanically transcribe and summarize what’s mentioned. This characteristic ought to work in each language that Evernote presently helps. 

As talked about, Evernote’s new AI options can be found to all paid customers. Simionato mentioned Bending Spoons is engaged on making a path obtainable to free customers someday within the subsequent few months. For now, the value of Evernote’s paid plans is not going up, however Simionato famous the corporate plans to regulate pricing within the coming months, principally to account for the actual fact there aren’t many notable variations between the Private and Skilled tiers.