New user here (I just bought DevonThink Pro + DevonAgent Pro + DevonThink to go yesterday), and I’m wishing I’d started using these apps earlier in my life!
I’m a long time Evernote user, who converted mostly to Obsidian about 2 years ago, but I never found a good way to manage my many Obsidian Vaults ( a “general” vault + a vault for my fiction etc) + all the pdfs I have on Google Drive (locally downloaded) + all the other random stuff I’ve collected. Today I finally imported all of my Evernote Notes into Devonthink.
Devonthink has been excellent so far. I’m using it more as a “unified search” tool, and I’m loving it. I’m sure I’ll find more use cases in the future.
Kind of a different use case, but DevonAgent has been excellent for crawling the web and finding information related to specialized topics. I have an elderly parrot (she’s pretty healthy!) and she has a few old age related issues, and DevonAgent did an excellent job of finding the latest research for me!
If I had one request, it’d be for an Android App, but I understand that’s not likely to happen. Still, can’t hurt to ask!
Anyway, thanks to the devs for all of your hard work!
For what it’s worth, DEVONthink Server works pretty well on Android through a browser – it’s a much more limited feature set, and mobile browsers are more restricted than desktop ones, but if you have an Android device the basics are there – though you’d probably want to wait till the next sale to consider it… The Server features are enabled in the demo and disabled on purchase of the standard and Pro editions, so unless (as in this case) you’re constrained by a sale deadline, there’s a lot to be said for running out the generous demo period and trying the Pro and Server features out to see whether they might be useful to you in possible future upgrades. (I realise that advice is no use to you now!)
If you want a stripped-down version of DEVONthink on your Android device, then DEVONthink Server is the solution, as @NickLowe suggested. But bear in mind that not only is this the most expensive version of DT - undoubtedly worth it if you really need it - but you also need to run it on a Mac with a 24/7 internet connection.
But if using your Android devices only as input tools and working with the databases exclusively on the Mac is enough for you - as I do most of the time, just not with Android - then there are simpler options at no extra cost:
You could set up one or more folders for DEVONthink on a cloud drive, e.g. Google Drive. You write notes (Markdown/Plain text at best) on your Android device and save them in this folder. You also save web pages, images or other content in this folder. Then you set up DEVONthink to index this folder and create a smart rule that simply moves everything in this folder to the Global Inbox. This way you have an external inbox. Or a series of inboxes: one for notes, one for pictures or whatever you want.
You could write hashed tags in the notes, which DEVONthink then recognises and converts to proper tags when importing. You can use your own naming convention to create tags for files you can’t write in. Let’s say you name images “Actual name | tag1, tag2, tag 3”. Then a small script in DT would automatically split the name at the pipe, keep the first part as the actual name of the picture, split the second part again at the commas, and convert the strings “tag1” etc. into proper tags.
You could also make DT automatically move the items into databases or groups according to their tags.
I think Internet connection only required if user plans to connect remotely over the internet. Works on a local network without Internet connect as far as I know (except for software updates). And 24/7 running required only of use is required 24/7. Server can be scheduled to sleep or power on/off during hours/days when DEVONthink not required.
I assumed that someone who owns a Mac with a DEVONthink Pro licence only uses their Android device away from home or where the Mac is located. And you’re right, “a Mac accessible at best 24/7 via the internet or a local network” would have been more accurate than “running 24/7”.
I was aiming to point out to an ex-Evernote user that the server has to be run by themselves and DEVONtechnologies is not a large corporation providing such a service.
My own Android use case happens to be purely domestic – I have a Boox e-ink tablet (Max Lumi) which I use almost entirely for reading on – though I do often access my desktop Mac remotely on iOS and MacOS, and it’s not a big deal, because I usually leave it on when I go out anyway (and indeed if I’m away for a few days).
DT Server is quirky, and I’ve never got upload to work, though it’s not something I actually need and it usually turns out I’m just missing something. Download is fine, if idiosyncratic in its handling of PDFs, and creating documents remotely works very well, though there’s no Rich Text option (just plain text, Markdown, and HTML Formatted Note).
^very good of you to point this out. I’m aware of this, but I imagine there are plenty of migrating Evernote users who wouldn’t be aware.
It’s kind of funny… I was first attracted to Evernote back in the late 00s / early 10s (I forget when I started using it), by the promise of having my notes in the CloudTM. I’d never lose a note again.
Now I’ve come full circle. Enough time has passed that Evernote seems like it might be on its way out, and now I’ve gone back to a “local” first approach with Obsidian + Devonthink, where I maintain control over my data. Though, I say local first- I’m still backing everything up to Google Drive / Backblaze / external drives.
I always like DEVONthink especially because it works offline. I sync between iOS and macOS locally through Bonjour. I don’t want my notes, journals to go to the cloud. Also I do website archives for useful one and the size is currently more than 2GB. As I archive more often, the size is only going to increase. I am happy to purchase/upgrade the software once in a while as I can use it locally. I don’t like putting all my data in cloud
I use an encrypted cloud sync-store; in addition to Bonjour
Bonjour sync is restricted to both apps active at the same time, devices on the same network
Agree with the discussion title; Devonthink is an incredible tool
