DevonThink Consulting

I have been finding myself in similar spots and working to isolate a better solution.

Having been through some of what you are experiencing here are a few discoveries to keep in mind.

Anything from the iOS camera roll with DevinThinkToGo (DTTG) will be slow…it only lets you import one blasted photo at a time…might be as many as 7 taps to net a single photo…deal breaker on my side.

I lost information years ago when a similar program went under and I never had an export. DevinThink will not have that as bad of a problem and I mention because it forced me to come up with my own system that has no dependencies…and it took time and effort.

I think you might be able to find opportunities to accomplish the same needs with less effort that you will need to put in for DevonThink, especially if you are already looking to hire someone to get you set up.

DevonThink isn’t a magical answer to manage data, it is one tools to help.

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see https://www.devontechnologies.com/blog/20210302-photos-devonthink-ios

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Update - there is an iOS shortcut that sort of addressed the need - but through links via markup - messy at best.

Company specializes in data and document management and UX and workflow so cumbersome.

Nice idea but do you ever run into problems reindexing after you update the DT working files?

So far, so good.
DT doesn’t know if ChronoSync copied over a modified file, or if it was “me”.
Yesterday I had DT re-OCR a file in that folder, then after verifying its contents, copied back to my working folder.

Not true. To me it happened to more than 500 files. The “fix” does NOT fix it it only now alerts you to when it happens again thus giving you a chance to recover from a recent backup. The real problem probably happened years ago so in my case it was off the end of my backups which went back over 2 years.

The files appear fine until you actually access them. Then even though the title is ok the contents are erased.

Almost everyone getting their data restored is not good enough for a program whose primary function is the storage and retrieval of data. Especially if you are the one who has lost hundreds of items.

As to bug reports. I’ve given up on that. I’m tired of the cavalier attitude towards users on the forums and have just decided to bail. Like @JohnAtl I will try to recoup some of my rather large investment in DEVONThink software by continuing to use the one feature that I find really useful, its web clipper. But then I immediately move those files out of DT into markdown with image links and get them out of the clutches of the DT ecosystem.

One of my biggest complaints about the entire mess is that the tools available to verify and repair a database and to rebuild a database did not give any indications of a potential problem. So I blissfully went along dutifully verifying my databsae and a periodic rebuild as suggested in the documentation only to get blindsided when important items were lost.

I was one of the biggest fans of DT for years, I had been using it extensively for over 11 years. For me to give up on a system I have invested so much time and effort in took a major disaster like this bug. I’m not going back.

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Not sure how it’s “messy at best”. And bear in mind, the shortcut was made due to discussions with users on our forums and support system. If it doesn’t suit you, that’s okay too.

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