It seems inevitable that any major release has a few issues, and this is true for Notebooks 5.0, as well… Here is a summary of what has been reported so far; wherever possible we also suggest workarounds. – An update (5.0.1) is on its way.
Major Issue
The issue on iOS 4.2 has already been described… The only workaround is to use Notebooks’ WiFi Sharing or any of its import/sync options.
Issues related to Formatted Documents
- After editing a rich text document in full screen mode (header and footer off), the “Done” button does not disappear with the keyboard; in this state, changes are not saved.
We suggest not to edit rich text documents in full screen mode for now. - When using the split keyboard on the iPad, changes you make to formatted documents are not saved.
So please, don’t use the split keyboard for creating rich text documents in NB5.0. - In split view mode on the iPad (column left, text right), we recommend to set the Hide Document when moving to a different Book switch in NB’s settings. This avoids a crash when trying to create a rich text document in a book different from the currently displayed document’s parent.
Minor Things
- When using the light interface, some cells in the move/jump list may appear black; switching to the dark interface resolves that
- Global setting for background color is ignored (only pattern is accepted)
- Passcode protection is too restrictive and hides protected items even after disabling protection in NB’s settings
- Dropbox auto sync:
- plist files are always synced, even of disabled in settings
- NB seems to be stuck if device is connected to a WiFi network, but network has no internet connection
- Setting the default “Inbox” may lead to a crash
NB 5.0 – Known Issues
Yes: I have had some crashes, but fortunately no data loss.
There is one thing: on the iPhone there is an option in the prefs to “sketch on white paper”: is sketching coming to the iPhone? I would **love** that!
Well, Alfons, it is a most impressive update to a most impressive, pleasant-to-use app. Alas however, I have had a disaster which I cannot begin to explain. For the last couple of days I have been editing, in HTML on my iPad 2, a 6500 word document which I originally created on my MacBook Pro in MS Word. It was in good order when I shut down my iPad 2 last night. This morning, when opened, the file was blank except for “(null)”: in other words, my document is lost. Any suggestions will be gratefully received. Meanwhile I am switching back to Docs to Go.
Hello Bruce, I cannot tell you how much I regret that you lost that document. I mean, Notebooks is a writing app, so nothing like that should happen…
We have identified the cause (it is related to HTML documents not originally created by Notebooks) and fixed it for N 5.0.1. To avoid that with other documents it would suffice to select “Apply Current Style” to mark it as a NB formatted document.
Unless you automatically sync to Dropbox I am afraid there is no way to get that document back, but with Dropbox sync you should find a complete version history of the document on the server.
Plain text documents are not affected by that, by the way…
Thanks Alfons. I now have 5.0.1 so all should be well. The v.5.00 upgrade is so considerable that I am still learning how various things work. All very interesting!
Just one further small bother: I tried a voice memo in 5.00. It worked, but the replay was so soft that I couldn’t use it. Could the volume (record and/or playback) be increased? In 5.0.1 it seems louder, but is still a bit on the low side – though no doubt earphones would help.
BK
Bruce- The same thing happened to me yesterday. We are in the process of converting our core system and I had six months of project notes that were completely wiped. The only item to remain is (null).The app is great, yet it is impossible for me to recover the six months of lost notes. It is a huge blow.
Joel, don’t you have *any* backup of your data, not even in iTunes, that you could restore that document from?
If you have an iTunes backup, would not have to completely restore your iPhone or iPad, you could extract NB’s data and that document specifically with a backup extractor application on your computer.
With a Dropbox backup things would be simpler even, as DB gives you a full version history of the document for up to 30 days.
I admit I have not established a backup for data, but my problem occurred with version 5.0.1 on a new iPad. I had notes saved over the course of several days of travel, and this afternoon I did some other work, switched back into Notebooks, called up my file, and saw: null.
The file was html, and created in Notebooks. If the problem is html files, perhaps people shouldn’t use them. I know I won’t, not even on my iPhone where the app has been trouble-free.
We’re not at all happy to hear that this issue still persists in 5.0.1; the fact that it is not reproducible is what makes it so hard to find. I have a few questions, maybe your answers can help us understand under which circumstances the text disappears.
If you still have that note and open its info from the book view (tap and hold the document’s entry in the list), which size and modification date are reported? That date, do you recall if that is the last time you editd that document, or is it the time you opened it?
We do everything we can to fix that, and yes, this issue only affects HTML documents. There is no need to worry about plain text.
Thank you!
I no longer have the document, but since it was only yesterday that this happened I can tell you the error occurred after I had edited the document. I made a few entries, switched to Safari to look at a couple of other things, and when I went back into Notebooks and navigated through the file path I saw the “null.”
And thank you for the reassurance about plain text. I have switched all my other files into that format.
David