Evernote is a terrific, free, organizational app available for PC, Mac, iOS and Android. It is basically a digital notebook with the ability to create many different notebooks with many different pages in each notebook. You can search within notebooks or within the whole file and your notes will sync automatically between all of your devices. There is a yearly fee if you want to password protect your account on your mobile devices.
What has really expanded lately are the options to save information in many different ways to Evernote. Here are a few of them:
Grab a document, image, or other file on your computer, and drag it into Evernote. Drop the file in the note list, and Evernote saves it as a new note. To place the file inside a particular note, just open the note and drop it right in.
On your mobile device, take a picture from within Evernote. You can add a reminder for the day you take it and you can search for any word in the image. On an iPhone or iPad, tap the camera button at the bottom of the note you want to add the picture to – or create a new note, then tap the camera. On an Android phone, open an existing note or create a new note, then tap the paperclip icon to capture a new photo from your device’s camera or tap the picture icon to attach an existing image from your Gallery.
Capture audio! – For Mac or Windows, create a new note or open an existing note. Click the microphone button from the formatting bar. You may need to click the double arrows at the end of the toolbar to reveal more options. Click Record to start recording. You can type and record at the same time, but if you leave that note the recording will stop and save. A red dot will appear on the Evernote menu bar icon to indicate that a note is currently recording. When you’re done, click Save to stop recording and save the audio to your note.
Tip of the month
Help with Robocalls on your mobile phone
Hopefully you are aware that the government is looking into ways to help block all of the annoying, unsolicited calls you receive on your mobile device. There are good practices to help reduce these calls, but there also is exciting news about some features that should be available soon. As an iPhone user, I can’t wait for iOS 13. One choice that you will have is the option to route calls from unknown numbers straight to voicemail. According to the feature listing, your phone will allow calls from numbers found in Contacts, Mail, and Messages to go through. Anything else will go to voicemail, and assuming the caller is legit, they can leave a message.
If you find yourself receiving a lot of spam text messages, you can forward the message to the number 7726 (spells SPAM). It won’t block the number from texting you right away, but it will allow your carrier to look into where it came from and put an end to it.
Samsung has a built-in call block and spam protection service. You can enable it by going to Settings – Caller ID and Spam Protection. There is a free app called Hiya – available on both Android and iOS. Most cellular providers have call blocking features of some kind and some are free while others have a fee. Check with your provider to see what they offer.
