Filed under: Software, First Look
Yojimbo 2.0 brings new features, improved syncing, and joy
Yojimbo fans, rejoice! 2.0 is finally here!
Waiting for Yojimbo 2.0 has been a bit like being Linus van Pelt waiting for the Great Pumpkin to arrive, but today the patient and faithful have been rewarded.
Yojimbo is a "digital junk drawer" to put all kinds of information: pictures, bookmarks, web archives, regular text, or (its crown jewel for me) that seemingly endless pile of registration codes for software. My favorite feature is the Quick Input Panel which lets me quickly and easily throw things into the "junk drawer" which means that I use it almost without thinking about it. See the Yojimbo Tour for an overview or checkout the introductory movie (QuickTime) if you haven't seen Yojimbo in action.
The 2.0 version brings several new features and improvements, most notably a new "Tag Explorer" which lets you drill down into items you have saved with various tags. (Yojimbo users will also be glad to know that tag management has been improved too.) The Quick Input Panel, Save to Yojimbo, and Drop Dock have also been improved. (See What's new in Yojimbo 2.0 for more.)
Yojimbo used to be one of my favorite and most-often used applications; however, trouble with syncing via .Mac (which neither the Bare Bones excellent support folks nor the .Mac support folks could solve) eventually led me to abandon it. So my first step today was looking at the detailed release notes. I had to read all the way to the bottom to see: "Miscellaneous changes to improve reliability of MobileMe syncing." And there was much rejoicing!
Current users (individual, family, or educational) can upgrade for $20. New licenses are available for $29 (educational), $39 (individual), or $69 (family) through the Bare Bones online store.
UPDATE: Yojimbo 1.5.2 was also released today. If you are using a 1.5.x version of Yojimbo, use the "Check For Updates" feature to download the update.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
Look said 3:43PM on 9-01-2009
Super over hyped! After 2-3 years, all they can add is “Tag Explorer”. Seriously, it’s laughable. Just because they make BBEdit doesn’t mean that Yojimbo is good..it’s not.
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Gideon said 4:20PM on 9-01-2009
A big reason I got into Mac's was Yojimbo, which much like you I used for a long time until the syncing became such a problem that it was no longer useful to use.
I've been eagerly waiting some sort of substantive update but this seems like weak tea to me... it's more like a point update, some minor changes and fixing things that should have been fixed for free. I might be excited, but I'm not excited to pay 20 bucks for this when I can use Evernote (and have been) that works wonderfully and is free.
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Two wrongs said 3:55PM on 9-01-2009
Still no iPhone app. That is just unforgivable. I would pay a nice amount to be able to sync Yojimbo with my phone, so all the important stuff I keep in Yojimbo available all the time.
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Gideon said 4:22PM on 9-01-2009
That, too! No iPhone functionality! I have to pay someone else even more money to do that! Bah... screw it. The first commenter had the right of it.. a tag explorer, really?
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Tony said 4:03PM on 9-01-2009
I used to love Yojimbo, but the quirky syncing and lack of iPhone support were killers. Evernote is free, syncs wonderfully and has a great iPhone app.
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macboyinsf said 4:22PM on 9-01-2009
This is a big letdown. I'm a long-time user and was looking for this to be a major update and all we get is a tag explorer? It doesn't even look like they did anything to the UI which is looking a little dated. I was expecting there to be a companion iPhone app by now. Well, I guess I'm in the same boat as other long-time users who are abandoning Yojimbo for Evernote. Evernote is not perfect but the fact that it works with my iPhone is enough to convince me to move on and dump Yojimbo for good.
Kyol said 4:03PM on 9-01-2009
And I'm hesitant to pay another $20 if syncing turns out to still fail eventually.
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meh said 4:05PM on 9-01-2009
This blog is like Leo Laporte, likable but waaaay to quick to jump on the newest thing, regardless of whether or not it's useful. I've been burned several times buying new 'gotta have' software recommended here before and I have a feeling the writers forget that people actually have to pay money for these apps, unlike the reviewers.
Color me skeptical but I'll be holding off on purchasing this while the jury is still out.
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TJ from TUAW said 5:49PM on 9-01-2009
a) There is a 30-day demo of Yojimbo 2.0 for you to test and see if it is what you want and if it will work for you. (backup your existing database first since the format changes).
b) This app came out this afternoon, so obviously no one knows if the sync problems are resolved "for good", but they're definitely aware of the problem and sought to work around it.
c) If I decide to upgrade, I will pay the $20 for my upgrade myself. I "kicked the tires" today using the same demo version that you have access to. Yes, my decision will be largely based on whether or not sync works.
And yes, I too wish that the announcement came with at least a *hint* that an iPhone app was in the works.
Evernote is free (technically ad-supported/limited) or subscription based, and doesn't have a bunch of the nice touches that I like about Yojimbo. On the other hand it has a Windows/web/iPhone version. I installed the demo of WebJimbo to access my Yojimbo information and found that I, personally, never used it in the 20 day demo period, so I didn't buy it.
Options and personal preferences don't equal something being objectively "good" or "bad". If I didn't need sync I never would have stopped using Yojimbo 1.5.
jln said 7:52AM on 9-02-2009
I'm looking for an app like this these days (Yojimbo, Evernote, Together, whatever?). That said, what I would love to read is the nice touches you mentioned that Yojimbo has over its competitor. I'd love it.
Jack said 4:14PM on 9-01-2009
You almost have to think it's a joke. Even voodoopad has an iphone reader. The only person I know that still uses yojimbo is gruber, and that's just because he use to work for barebones and can't quit the love.
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brackintosh said 4:32PM on 9-01-2009
I agree that 2.0 doesn't seem to be worth the $20 upgrade fee. I'm hoping I'm missing something.
However, I was happy to find out that there's a new version of 1.5 available for free - Version 1.5.2 (72) - that is also supposed to help with Mobile Me sync problems. I found it and installed it with the Check for Update menu option.
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Twist said 5:33PM on 9-01-2009
Sadly it doesn't sound like "improved syncing" means syncing via something besides MobileMe. If I could sync multiple users Mac-to-Mac via the internet or even a non-MobileMe server/service sitting somewhere in the middle I might actually use this application.
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TJ from TUAW said 5:55PM on 9-01-2009
You are correct that the only option to sync is via Mobile Me. Syncing to WebDAV or similar would be a nice option.
Mark said 8:33PM on 9-01-2009
I sync my Yojimbo database between my two Macs using Dropbox; it works perfectly! Dropbox has always been 100% reliable for me (unlike MobileMe) - in fact I'm also using it to sync my 1password, OmniOutliner and SideNote data.
I would love an iPhone version, as at the moment I'm really stuck for my data on the move. I won't be upgrading to v2 as it doesn't offer me $20 of improvements.
antiorario said 6:41PM on 9-01-2009
Yes, their support folks are awesome, but as TJ said they could do nothing to solve the synchronization problem I had with Yojimbo – basically it was clogging network throughput not only for the computer it was trying to sync but for my whole (W)LAN. After that, I think they should be offering the upgrade for free.
So I will stick with Evernote, whose non-paid account still does all I need and includes a good iPhone app (not to mention a far more likable icon, in my opinion). OK, I won't have the MobileMe-based background sync, but so far I haven't missed it.
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Greenie said 6:48PM on 9-01-2009
I'll join the rest of you.
Way to long to release. Very underwhelming. No iPhone companion. And a cost to upgrade for current license holders.
Glad I switched long ago.
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macguyincali said 7:01PM on 9-01-2009
Yeah, I'm one of those who is pretty saddened by the lackluster upgrade BareBones is offering. The tag functionality HAS improved and made it more useful (not just the tag explorer). I am disappointed that this is a paid upgrade for what amounts to a point update. I'll probably pay the $20, because in all honesty, I use Yojimbo a lot and just couldn't get Evernote to be as simple and straightforward as YJ. That being said, I installed the demo earlier today (back up your old DB) and it seems pretty cool, however, it is STILL trying to sync after several hours... Same problem I had as before. Don't have the energy to go through days and days of troubleshooting with the (admittedly helpful) people at BB. I'm resorting to Chronosync to make a mirror of my YJ file on each computer. Not ideal since it doesn't sync, just copies the whole DB. At any rate, I DO NOT recommend buying this software if it is your first time. As an upgrade, I'm willing to take the ding... but I'm an obsessed mac guy and have DEEP pockets!
Dave said 7:01PM on 9-01-2009
What are the alternatives?
I use Yojimbo and love it - solid app IMHO, though I am underwhelmed by this particular update.
Would love to sync my data to my iPhone. Evernote is overrated and I'm never cared for the iPhone version. I'm not saying/all I'm saying - nice app but for me.
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jeremy said 9:05PM on 9-01-2009
How is evernote overrated? While I have never used Yojimbo it sounds like it does exactly what I can do for free with evernote.