Evernote has long been one of the most popular note taking apps on Android, and for good reason. It’s available not just on Android and iOS, but online, on Windows and macOS as well. Even if you’re not an avid user of Evernote, you might recognize the Elephant used as the app’s icon. Elephants are rumored to “never forget” a thing, so it’s a good mascot for an app like Evernote, designed to keep everything safe and easily-accessible. That doesn’t mean that avid Evernote users want all of their notes to be accessed freely by anyone with access to one of their devices however, and this is why the firm introduced a PIN code lock system some time ago. Previously, it was only available to those that paid the subscription fee to upgrade to Evernote Premium. Now though, they’re making it free to all Evernote users.
Evernote is making the PIN code feature accessible to all, and they’re spelling it out plainly on their official blog saying that “starting now, you can enable a 4-digit passcode lock on your mobile Evernote, even if you’re using the free version.” This is an interesting move from Evernote, a firm that’s been known to hold back certain features and enforce limitations on users of the free app to get them to open up a premium subscription. Recently however, we’ve seen a more relaxed Evernote, partnering with Google to integrate with the abundant space users have in their Drive accounts. Of course, this was more an integration of files linking to Google Drive, rather than letting Evernote users use their Drive space just for Evernote, users will still have to pony up for more Evernote space.
It’s likely that Evernote is looking to pull in some more users with these changes, and with Microsoft offering users a Evernote import tool for their free OneNote app, this among other changes could be seen as a sort of fight back from Evernote. Regardless of motive, this will now enable users of Evernote, no matter what plan they’re on to keep their private notes secure and ensure that only they can open and read these notes.