We’ve repeatedly advised you guys that auto backup is essential for any productivity app, especially note-taking ones. Until this video, it’s been theoretical.
Sync vs backup
While syncing updates the notes on all your devices, a backup is a single copy of your notes from a particular moment. If anything happens to your app, let’s say a bug ‘chews up’ your notes, all your synced notes are affected. Almost instantaneously, all the notes on all your devices will sync and become chewed up.
Should your device back up your chewed-up notes, backed-up notes from yesterday remain unchanged. It’s difficult to appreciate why backup is so important when everything is working smoothly. That is why I am excited to show you guys this rare issue before it gets solved.
My problem with Nebo
I use Nebo to handwrite client recommendations for apps we evaluate and digital workflows we design. I love its accurate instant handwriting conversion because a typed document is ready for sharing as soon as I finish writing it up.
Since updating to Nebo 3.5, my iPad has been having issues with syncing via iCloud. The app displays an error message that I need to update it. Although I have repeatedly reinstalled the app, the bug still persists.
Nebo’s backup system
Nebo is one of those note-taking app that doesn’t have auto backup. It only supports manual backup, which is so much more than you get in CollaNote! But there’s still a problem with manual backup; you must remember to do it every day, systematically. Sadly, that is not a very practical thing to do. I have forgotten to back up my Nebo notes for a very long time (despite the fact that it is my second most used note-taking app).
Because I don’t have a backup for my notes, I am now limited to accessing them only on my iPhone. But I noticed that even the synced notes on my phone are not up-to-date. My most recent notes (from this year) are missing. That is why, I wouldn’t use a note-taking app without a backing up system.
Auto backup is very important
If I had encountered this problem in Noteful, I would simply go to Google Drive to restore the notes I need. Google Drive shows when the notes were last modified.
The note I restored is only missing one page. Actually, it’s not even a full page; it’s a few sentences (which is better than losing the whole notebook). Let’s hope that in the future, Noteful will have an easier way to restore our backup. At the moment, it’s still better than the manual backup option in Nebo and the lack of backup in CollaNote.
When Noteful first launched, it didn’t have automatic backup. Our team didn’t consider using it until it had one, even if it was only to Google Drive. That was when we were able to adopt it as our main note-taking app. That’s how important automatic backup is.
Apps to avoid
As a general rule, we do not recommend using note-taking apps that don’t have auto backup. However, if you can remember to backup your notes each time you change them or consistently every so often, then you can use one with manual backup, like Nebo. However, if you’re taking notes, avoid using an app with no backup options. Apps like Apple Notes, OneNote and CollaNote. If a problem corrupts them, you run the danger of losing them permanently.
We hope our Nebo developers can fix this syncing problem, and we also look forward to having auto backup. Hopefully, this was a practical demonstration of how important auto backup is in your digital workflow. I will update you guys when I get access to my notes.
