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Samsung Notes update - broken/poor functionality details

(Topic created on: 12-10-2020 11:15 AM)
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Sikander457
Student
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I'm writing to list why the new update for Samsung Notes has been extremely disappointing, as it has removed or broken a lot of the features that existed in the old version.


BROKEN FUNCTIONS IN NEW UPDATE

Categories:  when converting the old format notes over, the categories got completely wiped.  The new update only has a tagging system, meaning that if I want to re-organise my several hundred converted notes, I have to manually re-tag each of them individually, whereas previously they were all neatly organised into category groups.

It surely would have been just a basic courtesy to ensure that (even when replacing the category system with a tagging system) converting notes from the old format to the new format would have also converted their categories into tags. For Samsung's customer service representatives to fob me off with the suggestion that I can re-add all the tags manually just really isn't good enough.


Search function:  extremely patchy.  Often it only searches the note titles in the new format, although occasionally it searches the note bodytext as well (this tends only to be for more recently-created notes).  The inconsistency is deeply frustrating. The previous version of Notes used to search both the titles and body text of all notes. Again, this is such a basic bit of functionality that has been broken by the update, for no real purpose.


Formatting:  in the old Notes app, you could add bulletpoints and tickboxes which was very useful and I used them regularly to keep the content neatly on the screen.  In the new update, this seems to have been removed completely. Again it is not clear why. Being able to put the text in different colours or font sizes is not very important to me if I cant format the content in a way that's rapidly "scan-able" and digestible.


Export:  I find the updated Notes app almost unusable compared to the reliable version I had been using it before.  However, I can't even transfer my data out to import it into some other notes app that actually works, because there does not appear to be any mass export function to convert all notes into an extractable file. There is an option to share/save as file for individual notes, but again, this is very labour & time intensive for what should be a simple computer task, and is just more evidence of how Samsung have really not given good user experience with this update.


Compulsory: I didn't ask for this update and wasn't given an option by the OS. One day I just found myself locked out of the Notes app by a popup saying that there was a new version that had to be downloaded. 

I wasn't given any kind of indication that doing so would essentially strip a lot of the old functions (or that it would destroy important bits of my organisational data like the categories), just lots of flashy assertions about how this would be a great new update which would deliver extra functions - so I was neither informed, nor did I really consent.


CONTEXT

I've been using the Notes app for several years now and was very happy with it, and had a system where I'd sorted things into different categories etc.

The old version's whole utility for me was that I could jot things down according to a set format (particular information in bulletpoints or tick boxes etc), and index them into categories so that I could easily pull key bits of info up again for quick reference on the move.

I can't do any of that now, and it's made literally thousands of notes (material I spent years building up) much much harder to consult quickly, and has also disorganised groupings of notes from the categories I'd put them in.

I have been a loyal Samsung customer ever since the Galaxy Note 2 came out, and was planning to continue as one, as I find the whole stylus and big-screen notetaking function a key attraction.

However, this terribly executed update has not only destroyed a lot of my painstakingly-created data (by nuking the categories), but has also been very badly handled by the customer service side who have just repeated very irritating pro-forma suggestions that I can re-add hundreds of tags manually, or individually export thousands of notes into other filetypes.

It's been extremely frustrating to me tha Samsumg Galaxy Note phones have apparently destroyed their USP which had kept me buying them for the past decade.

The whole thing has left a very bitter taste, and if these issues are not fixed by the time I need to upgrade my smartphone again, I will almost certainly just switch to Apple, which doesn't mess around with user's access to their data like this.

I would be very grateful if a Samsung representative/developer could respond to this post confirming that these issues will be looked into and fixed, as this making this post is what the customer service team advised I should do to get these issues resolved.
3 REPLIES 3
Ishpreet
Student
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Hey Sikander

 

You are absolutely right and explained so well... all your points are valid... just wanna add 1 more thing...

In old format, if by mistake we delete or edit some part of our already saved note, then it takes our permission for Cancel Discard or Save.....

 

Whereas in this new format if by mistake, while writing some new points in your already saved note, you delete some part, then its gone forever... you cannot retrieve it back... its automatically saved 

Hughjitsu
First Poster
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Agree totally. Exact same issues, literally 700 notes that I cant search for anymore due to tagging broken. Its a a NO from me..Your not going to Hollywood!!!

Sikander457
Student
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agree completely about the auto-saving, another v irritating new feature that no one asked for, all the old content just instantly & permanently disappears if overwritten
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