Over the past few weeks I’ve been testing a new version of Simplenote, which just went live in the App Store. The new Simplenote, which reaches version 3.1, is a huge update that adds many requested features and a great surprise from the developers: the app now comes with native Dropbox support, configurable in the Settings. Simplenote can now sync text files back to a “Simplenote” folder in your Dropbox account (you can rename it), and syncing sessions happen every several minutes, but can be triggered manually. Dropbox integration is a feature exclusive to the Premium subscription, which can be purchased for $12 a year. In my tests, Dropbox syncing has been very reliable and now allows me to natively integrate Simplenote with a plethora of other iOS and Mac word processors that support Dropbox.
Simplenote 3.1 also introduces much improved tag support, with auto-completion and cell look like in Mail app, possibility to tag people to share a note with them (great time saver) and automatically share with everyone notes within a tag group. I don’t use tags much, but the new features are really interesting.
What’s great about this update, Dropbox integration aside, is support for lists: Simplenote can now turn any note into a list. You can add new items to a list, drag & drop items to re-arrange them, go back to note view at any time from the Info popover. For compatibility purposes, lists are stored in plain text as well – which is good because I can sync lists back to the desktop as well. You can cross off items with a swipe on screen , very cool.
I’ve been using Simplenote every day for months now and the latest update is just another great addition to a useful set of tools that allow me to sync notes (and now lists) across the web, Mac and iOS devices. Go download Simplenote here.
Update: Simplenote announced that the pricing of Premium is now $1.99 per month or $19.99/year.
Full list of bug fixes below.
- fixed an intermittent crash when the note list updates
- fixed slowdown when typing in larger notes
- fixed toolbar sometimes disappearing when using versions
- fixed not being able to use spaces in passwords
- word count now reports actual count rather than an estimate
- improved note list preview for notes that have a single paragraph of content
- removed redundancy in note list previews when viewing notes by tag
- fixed occasional display problems with note info
- fixed published notes erroneously disabling the sharing button
