This post had a different working title of “‘Evernote Food’ Not So Tasty but We Can Spice it Up” but I settled on the more descriptive “Evernote, There is a Better Way to Add Functionality than Releasing crApps”. Regardless, here’s what led to the post and what I want to suggest to remedy the company’s current trend of releasing all-but-useless-apps.
As I wrote the other day when Evernote released Evernote Hello, I am all but shocked Evernote would offer an app whose functioning relies on handing ones iPhone to a total stranger in order to use it. That, however, is only the start.
On the same day Evernote released Evernote Hello, the aforementioned “hand your iPhone to a total stranger who may not have washed his hands in days” app the company also released Evernote Food.
Evernote Food lets you record your meals. You can take a picture, add some tags, record the location and add notes. It is a simple, basic, inane app that really has no purpose for being since everything it does can be accomplished using Evernote itself. Yes, Evernote Food basically gives you a template for recording something specific while cluttering your iPad or iPhone with yet another app that you will likely never use or, use infrequently.
Evernote, listen up, there is a better way. The whole “single purpose app” thing is so very 2010. Here at the tail end of 2011 it is time for apps that serve multiple functions while not compromising on any of them. THAT is what Evernote needs to be doing. So my advice to the company is this-
Stop making crap apps and do something useful. Something like… templates. Yes templates. After all, that is pretty much what Evernote Hello and Evernote Food are. They are templates for specific records you create in Evernote. All of that can be done right in Evernote by simply offering pre-designed temples for different kinds of records. It would allow one app, Evernote, to serve multiple functions without the company releasing garbage like Evernote Hello and Evernote Food.
Evernote: Give me templates IN Evernote rather than individual apps that are limited or useless and we will call it good.