I am ditching my favourite scanner and note-taking apps. What are the alternatives?

One of my favourite apps has changed - to the point where I aim finding it no longer usable and it's time to ditch it for a replacement.

It is the (previously) free app Evernote Scannable, which has always done such an amazing jobs of scanning documents AND photos.

I have recommended Scannable to so many clients over the 9 or so years since it first arrived on the scene. And I know that so many iTandCoffee clients have used and loved this app.

So how will I (and other Scannable users) scan using an iPhone in future?

Before we talk about Scannable, let's talk Evernote - the 'parent' of Scannable.

It's time to for me to say goodbye to another favourite Evernote

​Evernote has been my 'go to' app for storing all sort of Notes and content for many years. 

All my receipts have gone into Evernote (with hard copies scanned by Scannable), notes from client appointments have been stored there, bills, health records, etc. etc.

I introduced so many clients to Evernote, in the days when the Apple Notes app was a lot more basic and Evernote offered so much more. I used to run regular classes on Evernote, because it was such a great tool for getting your life organised.

Scannable was introduced as part of the Evernote suite of apps back in 2014/15 - and has been completely free since then. It became my main scanning app from the day I heard about it and tried it in early 2015.

Evernote changed hands in 2023, and has undergone significant change as a result - including new limitations on what is included in the Free plan, and a dramatic increase in price for the paid plans. The Personal plan is now AUD$159.99 and the Professional plan is AUD$209.99 per year.  That's more than a 50% increase for each plan.

In terms of my current use of Evernote, I have found that, more and more, I am instead using Apple's Notes app - which has come a long way over the years and offers similar functionality to Evernote (as does OneNote, for those who use the Microsoft suite of apps).

So I was struggling to justify the additional cost of Evernote with that huge price increase and made the big decision this year to cancel my subscription's renewal in April and stop using Evernote - even though I am still a very big fan.

Before cancelling my paid Evernote account, I had to export all my Evernote Notes so that I could ensure that I retained that history.

This was an incredibly tedious, long-winded process. Evernote does not provide an easy way to 'Export All', and I had to export 100 notes at a time (as HTML files with attachments in a separate folder for that HTML). Given how many notes I had, this was a full day job. I know for many people, this will be too big job and force them to stay with Evernote. 

Here is an article about how to export your Notes from Evernote for anyone looking to do this.

So, what's happened with Scannable?

With all the changes to Evernote and the move away from free features, it seemed inevitable that the free Scannable app would eventually become 'not free' - and this has happened recently, with the latest automatic update to the Scannable app.

Scannable now only allows you to save scans to Evernote, dramatically reducing its previous capabilities. They have removed the ability to save scans to the Photos library, and to 'Share' scans via Mail, Messages and other Apps. 

While the scanning straight to Evernote may not be such an issue if you do still want to use Evernote and want to save scans there, it is just too many steps if you want to do something else with the scan. I really loved the ability to scan and save old Photos straight to the Photos app and choose where other scans went. 

So it is time to move to a new scanning solution for my iPhone.

Join me on Zoom on June 18 to discuss alternative scanning options

I will be on Zoom on Tuesday June 18th at 10am for an informal session where we will talk about the alternative scanning options available, and which one might be right for you.

This session will be free for iTandCoffee Club members with Basic*, Plus or Premium membership (*Basic members must use one there allocation of 3 'free' Club sessions.)

Everyone else is most welcome, for a cost of only $20.

​Or why not Join the iTandCoffee Club to gain access to sessions like this and other great benefits.

Already a member but not sure of your membership level? Here's where to find out.

Interested in upgrading your membership? Here's where to request this upgrade.

Learn more about free session on Scanning Solutions on June 18th

Need help with this or any other technology topic?

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