Evernote - The First App You Should Install

Apparently, there are a few people out there that have not heard about Evernote, even though their Android app has over 10 million downloads!

I get the question a lot when people get their first Android phone, "What apps do you recommend?" I'll confess, I have over 200 apps installed on my Android - but NONE is as useful to me as Evernote. The irony here is that Evernote isn't specific to Android. In fact, it's available for iPhone, PC, Mac, or just online (evernote.com).

The magic of Evernote is at the heart of why you chose to get a smartphone or tablet in the first place: You want to harness the power of mobile. You want access to your stuff, and maybe the ability to share your stuff, anywhere, anytime.



So what does Evernote do? From a functional perspective...

• It lets you quickly and easily capture notes, ideas and thoughts (no more sticky notes in my pockets and on my dresser)
• It's a place to store and share files, pictures, audio (including voice memos) and video
• It's a text editor (I even use it to write this blog)
• It lets you capture a web page, or part of a page - like a single picture or selected text - to read later

It's a little bit like Google Docs, Dropbox, browser bookmarks, and your favorite task/to-do list rolled into one cool application. And while this may sound complicated, it's extremely well-designed and very user-friendly on a phone, tablet or computer.

The structure of Evernote is simple: you have notes which are filed in notebooks. Notes may contain formatted text (and even add checkboxes for to-do lists) and/or various types of attached files. The app has a built-in camera feature to capture a photo and recording feature for a quick voice memo. Of course, you can attach a photo from your gallery, too. More often, I create notes by choosing Evernote from the list of "share" options (see below) on my phone or using my laptop's browser plug-ins to to capture content directly to my Evernote account. When creating a note, you can also assign labels, which adds even more possibilities for staying organized.

The notes are available on all your devices and any computers where you've installed the Evernote Windows or Mac version. The app is free and will suffice for most people, but a premium service for $45/year offers additional features and benefits.

This list of possible uses is almost endless and it's nearly impossible to summarize its awesomeness. A basic-but-favorite use of mine is to record gift ideas for friends and family as I think of them - sometimes even with links and pictures. Yes, there's a reason their logo is an Elephant and their motto is "Remember everything." I keep thinking that Evernote would have been great for the guy in the movie Memento instead of Polaroids and tattoos.

The big question is: How will YOU use Evernote? Save and share favorite recipes... Keep a digital scrapbook of ideas for a home remodel... Take notes in a meeting... Back up important files... Start of list of potential Android blog topics...

You can find more inspiration on evernote.com and there are a ton of demos on Youtube.

Enjoy.

Download Evernote from Google Play Store