Evernote replacement — functionality questions

[meta]

Hi. I was a DEVONthink user for years (in fact I have multiple licenses for different versions), but when I got a smartphone and tablet I wanted my notes available on them, and DEVONthink had no option for Android, so I switched to Evernote.

However, Google gave up on tablets and affordable phones, and Apple opened up iOS to personal development, so I’ve switched to iOS and can’t imagine switching again. I’m therefore considering switching back to DEVONthink, if I can duplicate an Evernote-like setup.

The features I need are:

• Ability to keep a huge database in the cloud and have a metadata replica on my phone and tablet, search the metadata, and download and cache only the full notes that I select.

• Encryption of all data in the cloud. I don’t have this with Evernote, and it makes me nervous about putting things like tax documents and medical records into it, so right now I have those somewhere else.

• Markdown support. This is another thing I don’t have in Evernote that makes it a PITA.

• A way to pull in my existing Evernote data.

It would also be nice if I could have multiple databases, so I could have a Mac-only DB for things I know I’m not going to need on my phone. (e.g. back issues of Scientific American)

So I want to make sure I’m understanding the functionality, and in particular whether DEVONthink To Go can offer me a searchable metadata-only replica with full data fetched on demand, syncing between Mac, iPhone and iPad.

Assuming the answer is yes, I’d need to upgrade an old DEVONthink Pro license, buy DEVONthink To Go once for my iPad and iPhone, and buy the $7.99 IAP for DT2G, am I understanding correctly?

I’d also need a WebDAV server accessible from the Internet. I can do that easily enough, I have a Synology server I could put WebDAV on, or I could buy some cloud server space. Are there any recommendations regarding which WebDAV servers are fast and reliable? Does anyone have experience with Synology and DEVONthink?

Also: Suppose I set my wife up with one of my other licenses. Could I set up a database for items to share with her, and have that sync between our Macs? Would she need DEVONthink Pro as well, or would DEVONthink Personal be sufficient?

Thanks for any insight you can give.

[BLUEFROG]

• Ability to keep a huge database in the cloud and have a metadata replica on my phone and tablet, search the metadata, and download and cache only the full notes that I select.

You’re not going to keep “a huge database in the cloud”. You could store a large volume of Sync data (which is distinctly different than “a database”).

Yes, you can have a “metadata only” database in DEVONthink To Go 2. And yes, it requires the in-app purchase of the Pro Pack.

• Encryption of all data in the cloud. I don’t have this with Evernote, and it makes me nervous about putting things like tax documents and medical records into it, so right now I have those somewhere else.

Sync data can be optionally encrypted, but again, this is Sync data not the files as you’d see them in the Finder.

• Markdown support. This is another thing I don’t have in Evernote that makes it a PITA.

You can write Markdown in DTTG2 and DEVONthink. (I write in Markdown in Pro Office every day.)

• A way to pull in my existing Evernote data.

Yes, this is possible with File > Import > Notes from Evernote in DEVONthink.

It would also be nice if I could have multiple databases, so I could have a Mac-only DB for things I know I’m not going to need on my phone. (e.g. back issues of Scientific American)

DEVONthink Pro and Pro Office support this. Also DTTG2 allows you to have multiple databases.

Are there any recommendations regarding which WebDAV servers are fast and reliable? Does anyone have experience with Synology and DEVONthink?

People use Synology NAS drives with WebDAV for Syncing. However, recommendations on remote Sync locations comes with a big YMMV as we cannot control the quality or availability of any remote location.

Also: Suppose I set my wife up with one of my other licenses. Could I set up a database for items to share with her, and have that sync between our Macs? Would she need DEVONthink Pro as well, or would DEVONthink Personal be sufficient?

Also: Suppose I set my wife up with one of my other licenses. Could I set up a database for items to share with her, and have that sync between our Macs? Would she need DEVONthink Pro as well, or would DEVONthink Personal be sufficient?

Yes, you could Sync between the machines if using a common Sync location (or a Bonjour connection on your local network), but Personal would not allow for multiple databases. She could only Sync the Global Inbox.

[meta]

Thanks for the reply. One of my licenses was valid for 2.x Pro, so I bought DT2G and I’m giving it a try.

Turned out I had a 50GB Box account I wasn’t using for anything, so I’ve gone with that for my sync store. For now I’m replicating everything, I’ll worry about skinny replicas when my phone starts to get full. Once I pull out all my magazines and user manuals into a separate database on my Mac, my actual go-everywhere data is pretty small.

Kudos on the amazing quality of the Evernote import functionality.

Now I just need to work out the easiest way to convert my RTF notes to Markdown.

[BLUEFROG]

Glad to help. Cheers!