Yes, I do love the Notion application. However, I would be remiss if I did not tell you the flaws with the application. Especially, if you are looking for an application to use in your business. My goal is today is help you make a fully informed decision on whether Notion is suitable for your business or not.
The Offline Experience
Yes, the application does work offline but not very well. The major issue with using Notion offline comes when you have not preloaded the pages. If this is the case, then you will not be able to access them. Also, updates made while offline do not always sync correctly. Individuals have reported this happening while they were working on airplanes and the end result is not so nice.
Now, to give Notion some credit they have stated that they are working on this issue and hope to resolve it when the next major update is released.
Searching Inside Notion
Yes, you can search for items easily within Notion. However, other applications like Evernote, for instance, do a much better job. Also, you cannot search for specific files within Notion. Finding dates, authors and pages is not an exact science like in apps like Evernote.
Mobile App Upgrade
Notion has released an improved IOS version of Notion mobile application but my gosh, it is slow. Also, Notion is working on a “Quick Notes” feature for easily logging notes on mobile devices. The last update did introduce faster performance improvements but nothing revolutionary.
Loading Databases
Let’s face the facts, that bigger databases can take a few seconds to load and they do not work well offline. This is a pain if you have a hefty CRM that needs to be loaded up or you’ve started to use databases for managing a journal and want to go back and browse your history.
File Management
There is not any local file storage and management. You can only open files through the web service. In addition, all the files are backed up on AWS which means that you are limited to accessing through Chrome or Safari.
Databases Formulas
Let’s face the fact that trying to use formulas on a Notion database sucks. It will not replace Excel anytime soon. I tried to use a Notion Database to replace my current Excel checkbook register. It just did not work. I thought it would allow me to easily access the data while traveling. Nope, I guess I will just have to keep using Excel for now.
In Summary
Let’s face the fact that no application is going to be able to do everything. However, Notion does a lot of things well. As with any application you just need to understand its limits. Click here for more content. Please sure to leave me a comment, subscribe, and share this video.