Obsidian for Mobile
Productivity
note-taking
SHOW HN2021
760points
318comments
#19of 2,533 in 2021
Top 1%of 2021 by points
How HN took it
MixedNo clear lean
54 positive, 86 neutral or asking, 16 mixed, 23 critical, out of 179 comments about the project. Thread score +0.21.
Design: 10 for, 8 againstExecution: 10 for, 4 againstIdea: 13 for, 0 againstPrivacy: 0 for, 5 againstPerformance: 5 for, 0 against
The thread, comment by comment
Each row is a top-level comment and its replies, in HN's order. Select a cell to open that comment on HN.
positive neutral or mixed critical about another commenter or something else the maker
What HN said
What people liked
Plain Markdown files give data portability and avoid lock-in.
From 2 comments
Obsidian has really delivered in a crowded note-taking space by focusing on the fundamentals: 1. Privacy. You can roll your own syncing (or use iCloud, Dropbox, etc.), without…
dkislyuk on HNI love using Obsidian and it is where all my notes live. Last year when I was searching for wiki-type note taking tools, I stumbled upon many of them including Roam Research,…
prashantsengar on HN
Fast performance despite being Electron-based on desktop, and active development.
From 3 comments
Aside from the other praise people have given Obsidian it is also by far the fastest electron app I've ever used by a lot. Curious if the devs have any insight how they have made…
spookyuser on HNI'm a note-taking power nerd who has used all the buzzy apps on Macs. Obsidian is by far the best — it's become my personal journal, my knowledge base, a quick and dirty blog, a…
Raphomet on HN”Obsidian loads blazing fast. No network requests or fancy animations.” This makes such a big difference. I wish everyday that I could turn off iOS animations…
manigandham on HN
Plugin ecosystem and customizability.
From 3 comments
I've absolutely been loving Obsidian since I started using it, which was only 3 months or so ago. But the plugin ecosystem has well and truly hooked me in. It's brilliant that…
genghizkhan on HNHi HN! After months of private beta, Obsidian is now finally available for Android and iOS! Obsidian is a personal knowledge management app that works on top of a local folder of…
ericax on HNI love using Obsidian and it is where all my notes live. Last year when I was searching for wiki-type note taking tools, I stumbled upon many of them including Roam Research,…
prashantsengar on HN
Active community on forum and Discord.
From 1 comment
Obsidian is really nice, and quite powerful, especially thanks to plugins. It's also moving fast, the developers are very active. I used it for a while to move on from org-mode,…
slightwinder on HN
Objections
Sync options are limited on mobile; Obsidian Sync storage cap and iCloud lack of end-to-end encryption.
From 3 comments
That went faster than expected, awesome to see! My major issue with the mobile apps is the syncing. On iOS you get to decide between iCloud or Obsidian Sync. On Android you can…
eXpl0it3r on HNGreat. You need to use the paid sync option if you want full mobile funcitonality and also use the desktop apps. I guess icloud works if you are all apple only, but no E2E.…
Gatsky on HNSo how does this sync exactly? Can I use an iCloud folder, an iOS filesystem provider, or do I need yet another service to have my notes on my desktop as well?
rcarmo on HN
Electron-based desktop app dislike and preference for native apps.
From 1 comment
I've tried Obsidian and it is not for me. I really don't like the trend of apps being in Electron and there are much better native apps, especially on macOS (Bear, IA Writer,…
nklmilojevic on HN
Edit and view mode divide and link-focused approach not suited to some users.
From 1 comment
I tried out Obsidian but its really not for me. The divide between edit mode and view mode is annoying and I don't really see the appeal of the focus on the graph and links - I'd…
swilliamsio on HN
Lack of multiple vault support and global configuration.
From 1 comment
Obsidian is really nice, and quite powerful, especially thanks to plugins. It's also moving fast, the developers are very active. I used it for a while to move on from org-mode,…
slightwinder on HN
Requests
Better outlining ability.
From 1 comment
I love using Obsidian and it is where all my notes live. Last year when I was searching for wiki-type note taking tools, I stumbled upon many of them including Roam Research,…
prashantsengar on HN
Image capture workflow improvement.
From 1 comment
the only things I didn't like of obsidian was working with images was a nightmare, in Evernote you have a shortcut to take an area screenshot, it stores automatically in a…
student2k on HN
Quick capture from iOS share sheet.
From 1 comment
Suggestion -- addressing friction at initial note-capture stage can help a lot with adopting Obsidian. As an example, I was looking to see if there's an easy way to capture links…
d4rkp4ttern on HN
Self-hosting option for Obsidian Publish.
From 1 comment
I love Obsidian and I've been taking notes this way for about a year. But somehow I still find myself going back to VSCode with some extensions which add obsidian like behavior…
sureglymop on HN
Questions
How does sync work and which sync options are supported on iOS and Android.
From 3 comments
So how does this sync exactly? Can I use an iCloud folder, an iOS filesystem provider, or do I need yet another service to have my notes on my desktop as well?
rcarmo on HNI use Dropbox to sync my Obsidian folder. I wonder how Obsidian for Mobile can handle that. [I presume it cannot]
lolive on HNexcellent app! Now I just need to figure out how to sync my vault that I keep backed to a remote Git repo. Also, I saw this (An Interactive Introduction to Zettelkasten) on…
riffic on HN
Whether formula support exists for math notes.
From 1 comment
I've picked up studying math. Right now I'm using "plain" markdown, but I'm starting to struggle with writing down formulas. Is this something that Obsidian (or something…
hebrox on HN
Whether Dynalist integration or migration is planned.
From 2 comments
I was actually very surprised to learn from a comment above that you are also working on Dynalist, something I'm a happy user of. While I understand that Dynalist is an outliner…
usrme on HNI've absolutely been loving Obsidian since I started using it, which was only 3 months or so ago. But the plugin ecosystem has well and truly hooked me in. It's brilliant that…
genghizkhan on HN
Alternatives named
Joplin
From 1 comment
Has anyone used Joplin (https://joplinapp.org/)? How does it compare to Obsidian? I've used Joplin for a while. It's Markdown so I like it. The UI is dry (compared to Evernote).
wiradikusuma on HN
Roam Research
From 2 comments
I love using Obsidian and it is where all my notes live. Last year when I was searching for wiki-type note taking tools, I stumbled upon many of them including Roam Research,…
prashantsengar on HNAfter a year+ of using Roam, I discovered https://mem.ai a few months ago and haven’t gone back to Roam. Mem is invite only beta I think. Raised 5.6M from A16z. It has…
d4rkp4ttern on HN
Mem.ai
From 1 comment
After a year+ of using Roam, I discovered https://mem.ai a few months ago and haven’t gone back to Roam. Mem is invite only beta I think. Raised 5.6M from A16z. It has…
d4rkp4ttern on HN
Notion
From 1 comment
I tried out Obsidian but its really not for me. The divide between edit mode and view mode is annoying and I don't really see the appeal of the focus on the graph and links - I'd…
swilliamsio on HN
org-roam
From 1 comment
Any org-roam users here? I started with Roam Research (one of the believers, even), but then moved to org-roam to keep the files under my control. Is Obsidian worth trying if…
rayxi271828 on HN