Settings are not saved

[retrosmarc]

Hello,

I really appreciate Simplenote. I use it on my phone (Android) and on my laptop (Firefox on Linux), to share notes, links, and lists for all types of personal operations and for work. On Android, I installed the app once and stay logged in. I open it on a day-to-day basis and do not log in again every time. On Firefox, I log in every time because my Firefox is set to automatically delete cookies, history and everything on leave. (Personal preference)

Here is the problem:

• In the Android app, I have set the order of notes on "alphabetical" once, just after install. Since then, every time I open the app, notes appear by alphabetical order. It's just fine.
• But on my laptop, every time I log in, the default order is "latest modified". I need to manually go to "Settings" and change it to "alphabetical". It happens several times per day, because I don't keep my navigator open continuously. I have about 50 notes that have a specific name to quickly find them, so alphabetical order is of major importance for me. "Last modified" is of no use for me.

Expected

I would expect Simplenote to remember my "sort type" preference and show notes by alphabetical order each time I log in, without having to manually go to "Settings" and modify things. I took the example of the "sort type" but it's the same for all display settings: "note display", "line length", "sort order", ...

Where did you see the bug

• Browser (if applicable): Firefox on Linux
• Simplenote app version: current online version

Thanks in advance

[pachlava]

Thank you for the idea @retrosmarc! And thank you for letting us know that you enjoy Simplenote ❤️

The reason why this currently behaves as it is, is because the presentation settings are device-specific, not account-specific. Nuking the cookies, as well as reinstalling the app will revert the display settings to default values.

Now, when we keep in mind that this should be made account-specific, I believe this change is something that should be addressed in our Simplenote-United repo, which is dedicated to enhancements/bugs/ideas for versions from all of our platforms (Android, iOS, Electron, macOS native). I'm moving your issue there.

[codebykat]

Yes, this is working as expected for the web version. I don't believe we have any plans to centralize preferences rather than keeping them device-specific. You can persist the settings if you stay logged in instead of clearing cookies.

[retrosmarc]

Thanks @pachlava! OK @codebykat but too bad! From a user perspective, settings should be centralized. If the aim is to allow users to have different settings for different platforms, let's make settings platform-specific (for example, display settings for the web version and display settings for the app version), but always centralized online and not stored on the device. Clearing cookies is a habit that I see more and more around me, so the problem will persist.

[pachlava]

@retrosmarc as a workaround for the time being, you might consider using the desktop version for Linux, which is essentially a Web-version wrapped in a separate window, with the only difference of a bit more extended import functionality. Cookies clearing issue will not be a thing then (unless it's done manually and very intentionally)

[retrosmarc]

@retrosmarc as a workaround for the time being, you might consider using the desktop version for Linux, which is essentially a Web-version wrapped in a separate window, with the only difference of a bit more extended import functionality. Cookies clearing issue will not be a thing then (unless it's done manually and very intentionally)

Interesting workaround, thanks! I didn't notice there was a Linux AppImage.