Develop Bugs

Evernote or Dropbox - Managing Files and Notes

Hey guys,
I have been using Evernote for some time but find that the PC application is quite slow and cumbersome and the mobile implementation though good lacks on something that I can't put my finger down on.
I heard dropbox is very good but I was wondering what ideas people had for storing notes on it or what else I could use the functionality for besides storing some of my apks.

Dropbox is great. Official app just came out, testing it now. My problem with Evernote was the inability to have notes offline for storage on your phone.

Dropbox allows you to store things offline and upload when connected? Sounds interest, how about mirroring folders on your PC?

I don't know whether you can queue things up for Dropbox yet - haven't tested that. As for retrieving things, you'll definitely need to be connected. I found that incredibly silly for a notes application like Evernote, though. Seriously, Evernote? You need a network connection so I can write down that I need to buy milk?
As for mirroring folders, I doubt it. When you install Dropbox on a computer, it sets aside a specific Dropbox folder. Anything you put inside it is synced to the cloud, and automatically put on any other computers you have Dropbox on. You put a file in your laptop's dropbox and your desktop can get it. Your phone can go get it now as well, so it's a cheap wireless file transfer method, if nothing else. As I understand the Android Dropbox implementation, there won't be a folder with your entire Dropbox stored on it like there is for a PC, you'll just retrieve stuff from the cloud.

If I can't add files it just seems a bit pointless ...
Yeah having offline access is a bonus, not going to break much but I may want to make notes on the train, etc.
Thanks for the comprehensive post, looks like more research is needed .

Right now the ONLY files you can send from Dropbox for Android are media files, so only photos, videos and audio files. No text files or documents, so it's pretty useless in terms of notes.

I use Gdocs Notepad, freeware, that syncs with Google Documents.
I've solved in this way.

Sugar sync is pretty good - can sync any files, you get 2gb free, free android client.

OneNote / Live - Awesome feature, barely documented?

I've been using WP7 for about 5-6 days now. It's been an interesting combination of "How can that be missing?" and "Holy crap, that's cool!". By far, I think the most awesome and unique features are the cloud-related ones, like auto upload photos to SkyDrive and Zune.
And then I discovered the uber-coolness of OneNote.
As with many things on WP7, the documentation is scarce, burried, or both. But, did you know that you can have tabbed OneNote Notebook on WP7? Did you know that it can be perfectly synced to the free Web version and to the Office 2010 version of your PC?
Did you know that you can even have multiple notebooks?
If not, here's how:
1. Go to office.live.com on your PC, and make sure that you have a OneNote file created. If you've used OneNote from your PC, there should be a Personal (Web) file. If not, create it.
2. If you have OneNote on your PC, you can open it from office.live.com; just hover over the file, and click Open in OneNote. OneNote will save a book tab on the left side (in rotated print).
3. On your phone, set OneNote sync on (from Settings / Applications / Office / OneNote). Make sure to set Internet to default to mobile version (important!) and navigate to office.live.com in the Browser.
4. Go to the folder you have the OneNote Notebook, and tap it to open it. This automatically adds the Notebook to your OneNote on the phone, and opens it in OneNote. The tabs will all sync.
Presto -- you now have a Cloud based OneNote Notebook synced to your phone! You can see all your tabs, and all your pages; if you make changes, it all gets synced on the cloud automatically, and you can see it all on your Office 2010 version of OneNote, too!
You can even color your tabs. Just set the colors on your PC or Web, and they'll sync on the phone.
Want a second or third notebook? Just create a new one on Office Live, then go there on the phone and add it.
Also: if you tap and hold a notebook section (tab) you have the ability to set that as the default for new pages.
Neat, huh?

Thanks for letting us know, shame I don´t have a WP7
Any pics?

Excellent. I'm a bit of a OneNote junky. I use it for everything. This is great info. Thanks for sharing.

interesting find.
Now we just have to wait for the barrage of people who think the cloud is evil....

Great tip! Just tried it on my HD7 and it works great!
I'm wondering; is there any way to password protect individual pages or tabs? If so, this would be the ideal way to store my passwords and bank details. As of now, there's no eWallet or SPB Wallet for WP7 and I'm missing that functionality :-(
NB I suppose I could set a pin for the phone in general, for basic protection, but still if I give my phone to someone to make a call or whatever they could still open my notes...

The password protection issue is part of my "huh, how did they miss THAT (scratches head)?". It also bugs me that once you put a credit card into Zune marketplace, anyone can make purchases without password approval too -- what's up with that?

Cell phones are normally a "singler user" device unlike computers (although even those are now single-user more often than not). If you want to password protect your notes, just put a pin on your lockscreen that will in effect password protect your whole phone.

thanks for the tip! was wondering how to get one note to sync up! love it

The problem that I have with locking the phone is twofold: first, I don't like how long it takes to go from locked to home screen (too many taps). Second, I generally don't need to lock my phone - the problem is, if I let someone else play with my phone (for example, a kid, in a restaurant to keep them quiet!), I don't want to worry about them buying something on Marketplace
It's not a deal killer for me, and I use my phone totally non-password protected ATM.

Talys said:
if I let someone else play with my phone (for example, a kid, in a restaurant to keep them quiet!), I don't want to worry about them buying something on Marketplace
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You will give some random kid in a restaurant a $500 device to play with and possibly drop or run off with but then you worry about the 5% chance they will accidently purchase a $5 app?

Talys said:
I've been using WP7 for about 5-6 days now. It's been an interesting combination of "How can that be missing?" and "Holy crap, that's cool!". By far, I think the most awesome and unique features are the cloud-related ones, like auto upload photos to SkyDrive and Zune.
And then I discovered the uber-coolness of OneNote.
As with many things on WP7, the documentation is scarce, burried, or both. But, did you know that you can have tabbed OneNote Notebook on WP7? Did you know that it can be perfectly synced to the free Web version and to the Office 2010 version of your PC?
Did you know that you can even have multiple notebooks?
If not, here's how:
1. Go to office.live.com on your PC, and make sure that you have a OneNote file created. If you've used OneNote from your PC, there should be a Personal (Web) file. If not, create it.
2. If you have OneNote on your PC, you can open it from office.live.com; just hover over the file, and click Open in OneNote. OneNote will save a book tab on the left side (in rotated print).
3. On your phone, set OneNote sync on (from Settings / Applications / Office / OneNote). Make sure to set Internet to default to mobile version (important!) and navigate to office.live.com in the Browser.
4. Go to the folder you have the OneNote Notebook, and tap it to open it. This automatically adds the Notebook to your OneNote on the phone, and opens it in OneNote. The tabs will all sync.
Presto -- you now have a Cloud based OneNote Notebook synced to your phone! You can see all your tabs, and all your pages; if you make changes, it all gets synced on the cloud automatically, and you can see it all on your Office 2010 version of OneNote, too!
You can even color your tabs. Just set the colors on your PC or Web, and they'll sync on the phone.
Want a second or third notebook? Just create a new one on Office Live, then go there on the phone and add it.
Also: if you tap and hold a notebook section (tab) you have the ability to set that as the default for new pages.
Neat, huh?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
there is an easier way to get the books synced to your phone and anyone else who you want to have the same onenote books.
1 go to onenote on you pc.
2 click file new
3 in store notebook on select web
4 enter the name of book
5 web location select skydrive and make sure you are logged in to win live
6 if you want a different folder than the default folder (My Doccuments) click new share folder
7 click create folder
8 it will then ask you if you want to email the link to someone
9 click this selection and email it to your phone or anyone else you want to share this book with even other pcs.
10 on your phone in the email you get select the 1st option ("open this book in onenote)
your done.

Everything about How To Use OneNote and sync is well explained here:
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsphone/en-us/howto/wp7/office/use-office-onenote-mobile.aspx

This has been known forever. You can even Sync OneNote on Windows Mobile 6.5 to Desktop OneNote. They started advertising this before the OS was released, back when they gave away office mobile 2010 for WM6.5 users to let them know what was coming in their next mobile OS/Office version.

The annoying thing about Onenote on WP7 is that:
1. it doesnt support equations
2. it doesnt display symbols that aren't in the WP7 keyboard but are present on the PC
3. you can't enlarge a diagram in an existing notebook to view it full size
renders it almost useless to me...
or i need to reformat all my lecture notes! :'(

I've set this up, but am having a few problems:
I have four notebooks on my computer, all are set to sync with Sky Drive. I've opened One Note on my device and told it to sync to Sky Drive. It has added a 5th Note (Personal (web)) to my Sky Drive, which has taken the tabs from one of my Note Books and they now sync to the phone. But it is ignoring the other Notebooks completely.
What do I need to do to get all my Notebooks to Sync?

paulrockliffe said:
I've set this up, but am having a few problems:
I have four notebooks on my computer, all are set to sync with Sky Drive. I've opened One Note on my device and told it to sync to Sky Drive. It has added a 5th Note (Personal (web)) to my Sky Drive, which has taken the tabs from one of my Note Books and they now sync to the phone. But it is ignoring the other Notebooks completely.
What do I need to do to get all my Notebooks to Sync?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hey dude, there was another thread which answered this question in more depth
But to summarise it for you:
1. make sure you have your phone browser settings to view mobile version
2. go to office.live.com on your phone
3. click on the icon to open the notebooks you want to snyc
4. repeat with any others you want to sync
5. SORTED!!!
The trick is to go to the mobile version of skydrive..,. why it doesn't work when you use the desktop version, i have no idea but at least it works...

Sweet, worked a charm. Not sure why the auto-setup think made such a hash of it though!

You guys got me curious and now I'm hooked on OneNote! How could I have never used this before! I have Office 2010 Professional and never used it till now. Sweet!

eternalemb said:
You guys got me curious and now I'm hooked on OneNote! How could I have never used this before! I have Office 2010 Professional and never used it till now. Sweet!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
same here. Very nice to bang out a list on the computer, close it, and it will pop up on my phone.

Ok driving me nuts
I have a quick question I was able to successfully sync the one notes with my focus and my work pc, is there a way I can connect my home desktop to these shared notes? I have been trying desperately to get this done, and for the life of me can't get it working. And I though that opening the file in one note on the pc would do it but my browser some reason doesn't support that..?

[Q] How do I sync my photos w/ Dropbox?

I am using EVO Deck 1.3 stable. I'm tired of having to connect to my computer via USB to get photos/videos off my phone, and since I'm an avid Dropbox user this just seems like an obvious usage of the sync feature.
After roaming through all of my ROM's settings and Dropbox settings I can't find anything to this effect. In fact Dropbox won't even let me upload more than 1 file at a time - is that right??
Please help me cut the USB umbilical and use Dropbox to its full potential!

When I want to upload multiple photos from my phone, I go to gallery and click on the album I want open. Then click the share icon, then dropbox. Then it opens the album with check boxes so you can mark as many as you want. It should upload them in the background then.
I have only found this manual way to do it. But this is better than one at a time, right?

Dropsync
Check the market for an app called Dropsync. I use it to sync my photos and Titanium backups to my Dropbox on my phone and tab. All of my photos are synced between my tab and phone nicely. It works very well with minimal battery drain. Like it so much that I sprung for the Pro version (which I rarely do) just to help out the developer.
Also Google+ will allow you to auto-upload your photos.

RonPorreca said:
Check the market for an app called Dropsync. I use it to sync my photos and Titanium backups to my Dropbox on my phone and tab. All of my photos are synced between my tab and phone nicely. It works very well with minimal battery drain. Like it so much that I sprung for the Pro version (which I rarely do) just to help out the developer.
Also Google+ will allow you to auto-upload your photos.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Huge +1 for this. Well worth the money. I have mine syncing photos ONLY when USB is plugged in and ONLY on WiFi. Just be careful, its a 2 way sync. If u delete a photo from your sd card the next time it syncs it will delete it from dropbox.

[Q] Strategy for saving S Notes / other handwritten notes

I am in love with the functionality of taking notes with a pen, and think S Pen works for most parts.
What has been worrying me more and more is how to ensure that some form of backup happens regularly because I am taking work notes mostly. Looking at some of the threads on Samsung sync wiping out notes from the Note it's a bit scary.
Looking for ideas how can this process be automated. At least maybe PDF versions can be saved.. or any other tools we should use ? I wish Google had a S Notes version lol

Can't answer your questions as I haven't explored S Note enough... but I recommend you use Lecture Notes instead, from my limited experience I would say it is superior to S Note especially with the extensive ability to customize how the app functions to suit your needs. Using the S Pen button to switch between pen, eraser, and cutter is ace!

Didn't try, but there is at least one app that supposedly syncs Card folders to Dropbox (DropSpace)
Sent from my GT-N5100 using xda premium

FaeMinx said:
Can't answer your questions as I haven't explored S Note enough... but I recommend you use Lecture Notes instead, from my limited experience I would say it is superior to S Note especially with the extensive ability to customize how the app functions to suit your needs. Using the S Pen button to switch between pen, eraser, and cutter is ace!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Using the S Pen button to switch between pen, eraser, and cutter is ace
Didn't know that... awesome.
So can you auto save / automate PDF saves?
basically how do you save it for long term?

k000 said:
Using the S Pen button to switch between pen, eraser, and cutter is ace
Didn't know that... awesome.
So can you auto save / automate PDF saves?
basically how do you save it for long term?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It auto saves, and you can specify the interval. However, this is just auto saving your notebooks. From the Notebook board you can import/export notebooks, share notebooks, or back them up as pdf.
I can't find any setting to automate the backup process, but as far as I know there are no issues with losing notebooks in Lecture Notes, and they auto save by default.
You could always get hold of the developer - I believe they have a thread here on xda and ask if it's possible to include auto backup as a feature in a future update?

FaeMinx said:
It auto saves, and you can specify the interval. However, this is just auto saving your notebooks. From the Notebook board you can import/export notebooks, share notebooks, or back them up as pdf.
I can't find any setting to automate the backup process, but as far as I know there are no issues with losing notebooks in Lecture Notes, and they auto save by default.
You could always get hold of the developer - I believe they have a thread here on xda and ask if it's possible to include auto backup as a feature in a future update?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Just coy them to ext sd card you'll never lose them then
Sent from my GT-N5110 using Tapatalk 2

I'm using 'Write'. It only has a pen option though, no way to insert text. But, what is fantastic about it is that creates pure html/svg files on the sd card. You can copy and open them in your browser, without needing to export as pdf or whatever. I use FolderSync to automatically copy these files to my laptop every couple of hours, so I can refer to those notes whenever I want to.

On My N5100 Notes are by default stored on sdcard in the folder: S Note (path: /sdcard0/S Note)
so all you need to do is backup that folder to a cloud or alternate storage manually or using sync apps like Dropspace (for dropbox) or FolderSync (for dropbox, gdrive, and others, It even supports local network shares over samba, couldn't get any better).
Edit:
Forgot to mention that: Samsung Kies will also backup your notes to your computer, however good/stable that is , is still an open question though!

Using S-Note and a Samsung account, it's trivial to do cloud sync. I could throw my Note 8 in the trash, get a new one, and sync my stuff. The limitations of manually syncing (share -> appname) to things like Dropbox and Evernote aside. A less productive but more handwriting centric app called Quill even offers automated Evernote sync I believe. Sketchbook Ink can also sync its stuff with Dropbox, although it's rather minimalist all around.
YMMV with other apps. In S-Note's case, just use a Samsung account.

Spidey01 said:
Using S-Note and a Samsung account, it's trivial to do cloud sync. I could throw my Note 8 in the trash, get a new one, and sync my stuff. The limitations of manually syncing (share -> appname) to things like Dropbox and Evernote aside. A less productive but more handwriting centric app called Quill even offers automated Evernote sync I believe. Sketchbook Ink can also sync its stuff with Dropbox, although it's rather minimalist all around.
YMMV with other apps. In S-Note's case, just use a Samsung account.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
you're right, and the sync is perfect, i.e. until this happens (re-quoted from this thread):
ual4720 said:
On Saturday I connected my tablet to the internet and my snotes started to dissapear. Anyone else have that happen to them? I have been on the phone with Samsung for the past hour trying to retrieve them........
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
in which case, additional backup might come handy

p107r0 said:
you're right, and the sync is perfect, i.e. until this happens (re-quoted from this thread):in which case, additional backup might come handy
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I had a backup with titanium only to find out it doesnt backup the actual notes on the sdcard...
I decided to use dropsync to upload the actual .snb and so now im backed up. Stupid Samsung fail....
Sent from my GT-N5110 using Tapatalk HD

Works fine for me, and my non-local data goes into a different service; such as sending it to Evernote.
Reminds me of Polaris Office, when folk on the TF101 learned it sometimes corrupts documents.

ual4720 said:
I had a backup with titanium only to find out it doesnt backup the actual notes on the sdcard...
I decided to use dropsync to upload the actual .snb and so now im backed up. Stupid Samsung fail....
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Clouds are so many and so omnipresent, it's easy to forget we use them. For me your misfortune is yet another reminder to never rely solely on cloud sync when it comes to important data.

p107r0 said:
Clouds are so many and so omnipresent, it's easy to forget we use them. For me your misfortune is yet another reminder to never rely solely on cloud sync when it comes to important data.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
what bothers me, is I had hard copies of all my notes on my tablet. Samsung failed in their programming by allowing their cloud server to take precedent over my hard copies.
Sent from my GT-N5110 using Tapatalk HD

Spidey01 said:
Works fine for me, and my non-local data goes into a different service; such as sending it to Evernote.
Reminds me of Polaris Office, when folk on the TF101 learned it sometimes corrupts documents.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well, S-note is developed by same company as Polaris office (infraware), so not just a random anomaly I figure.

ual4720 said:
what bothers me, is I had hard copies of all my notes on my tablet. Samsung failed in their programming by allowing their cloud server to take precedent over my hard copies.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Precisely the dangers of two-way background sync. You don't even know what went missing, until the moment you try to find it.
Which leads me to one of the reasons of my severe dislike for MTP protocol we have on Note 8 - on devices with USB Drive Mode, it is so easy to backup/sync files from int/ext cards to PC (e.g. TotalCmd dir sync with binary comparison) - no easy way to do it with MTP.

p107r0 said:
Precisely the dangers of two-way background sync. You don't even know what went missing, until the moment you try to find it.
Which leads me to one of the reasons of my severe dislike for MTP protocol we have on Note 8 - on devices with USB Drive Mode, it is so easy to backup/sync files from int/ext cards to PC (e.g. TotalCmd dir sync with binary comparison) - no easy way to do it with MTP.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I wish someone cooks a rom for this device and helps with this !

ammarr said:
I'm using 'Write'. It only has a pen option though, no way to insert text. But, what is fantastic about it is that creates pure html/svg files on the sd card. You can copy and open them in your browser, without needing to export as pdf or whatever. I use FolderSync to automatically copy these files to my laptop every couple of hours, so I can refer to those notes whenever I want to.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Good to know that ! How do you use FolderSync to copy files to laptop ?

Samsung notes app data folder

Hi
I have been using s note in note5. I used back up the "snotedata" folder that contains all the memos and notes to my pc. I don't like sync and all that stuff. I prefer doing manually.
I would like to do the same with the Samsung notes app. But I don't know where the data folder is. Can you please help.. Thanks

me too
infinitiwoods12 said:
Hi
I have been using s note in note5. I used back up the "snotedata" folder that contains all the memos and notes to my pc. I don't like sync and all that stuff. I prefer doing manually.
I would like to do the same with the Samsung notes app. But I don't know where the data folder is. Can you please help.. Thanks
Click to expand...
Click to collapse

Same here, it's driving me insane.
I need to browser on my PC thru all of my notes and I just can't seem to be able to.
- No PC app for Samsung Notes (although there is one for S Notes...)
- No GUI for Samsung Cloud, meaning it's impossible to merely view what's on there.
- No connection to Evernote.
- No mass-share back from Samsung Notes to S Note (you can do it but only one by one, and worse, it's imported as a picture)
Haven't been able to find the folder or, in better words... I have found "a" folder in Phone\SamsungNotes\SNote3... But all of that is empty, so there must be another place.
If anybody has a clue... I would very grateful
---------- Post added at 08:59 PM ---------- Previous post was at 08:48 PM ----------
I just found 2 interesting folders under :
Code:
Phone\Android\data\com.samsung.android.app.notes\
One is "cache" and it's empty. The other is "files" and it has (??) a JPG copy of all of my notes.
It's a start. But I still cannot find where is the editable file.

LeRitz said:
Same here, it's driving me insane.
I need to browser on my PC thru all of my notes and I just can't seem to be able to.
- No PC app for Samsung Notes (although there is one for S Notes...)
- No GUI for Samsung Cloud, meaning it's impossible to merely view what's on there.
- No connection to Evernote.
- No mass-share back from Samsung Notes to S Note (you can do it but only one by one, and worse, it's imported as a picture)
Haven't been able to find the folder or, in better words... I have found "a" folder in Phone\SamsungNotes\SNote3... But all of that is empty, so there must be another place.
If anybody has a clue... I would very grateful
---------- Post added at 08:59 PM ---------- Previous post was at 08:48 PM ----------
I just found 2 interesting folders under :
Code:
Phone\Android\data\com.samsung.android.app.notes\
One is "cache" and it's empty. The other is "files" and it has (??) a JPG copy of all of my notes.
It's a start. But I still cannot find where is the editable file.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
samsung messed up notes app.. the only real advantage over snote is its lag free 90% of time.

Yeah I want to use S Note full-on, it is the best notes app no question and I have tried damn near every notes app in the Play Store, have had an Evernote premium account for years, etc. But to make it a proper notes solution they need to have a PC app and web app. I installed S Note on my Win7 PC, and I synced but nothing showed up. I tried live chat support and emailed Samsung, the response I got was this:
Thank you for contacting Samsung Customer Care.
From what you've written, we understand that you have installed S-Note software on your Windows PC and looking to view notes created on your Galaxy Note 7 phone.
We certainly understand your requirement by reviewing your email, however would like to inform you that there is no possible option available to accomplish that.
We can create notes and sync them on the software and restore them back, however there is no option of viewing them on the software on the device.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Which makes me want to stick with Evernote even with their 2-device limit (I stopped premium a while back) I can at least add stuff while on my laptop then see it on the phone, of course, and vice versa. That's a basic necessity if they want the notes deal to be taken seriously.

You need to be rooted
The folder is that same name but under /data/data/.......

Smart switch
infinitiwoods12 said:
Hi
I have been using s note in note5. I used back up the "snotedata" folder that contains all the memos and notes to my pc. I don't like sync and all that stuff. I prefer doing manually.
I would like to do the same with the Samsung notes app. But I don't know where the data folder is. Can you please help.. Thanks
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Smart switch for samsung phones will let you put the notes from Samsung notes onto your sd card or pc etc.. the note in Samsung Notes are kept on the cloud not eithin the phones storage.

I think the "Samsung notes" are stored on the s8 internal storage and not elsewhere because when you run out of room on the internal storage the samsung note app won't save unless you delete sometging off the inturnal storage.
Where are they stored??

I also prefer to back up manually!
Does anyone know how to delete the cloud back ups of Samsung Notes? I've used smart switch to back them up and restore them, but, I cleaned up the 175 notes I've taken/made over the years down to 28. If you import from cloud you get all the ones that are there, including all 175! Samsung don't know how to either.
Thanks!

EASY!
all smsmsung note files are stored in 2 folders.:
data\data\com.samsung.android.app.notes\SDocData\
data\data\com.samsung.android.app.notes\app-attach\
just backup these 2 folders if you want to restore it (on a different phone with the same app)
sdoc data contain .sdoc files (container files, so if you rename to .zp you can extract mps3s(voice msgs) and text in raw data)
in app-attach are the drawings as .png
remember, when erasing a note in the app it is still in the 2 folders , just not visible any more in the app. very bad from a security and data savings perspective...
also with this regard i dont recommend (any) cloud backups - the (few) smasmsung apps i use dont have wifi/internet access anyway (AFWall+)