Obsidian - Connected Notes
- 68 of 100 · reviews
- 4.5of 5 · store
- 2,581ratings on the App Store
- 500reviews read
An editorial reading of the saved reviews
A powerful linked-note system in Markdown format with files stored on-device. The desktop version is strong. The mobile version falls short: text input is awkward, the cursor jumps, and iCloud sync is unreliable.
Screenshots
What people use it for
Researchers, programmers, and writers building a long-term knowledge base on desktop who use the phone only for reading and quick edits.
What reviews praise
- Full ownership of data as plain text files.
- A graph of connections between notes for navigating the knowledge base.
- A massive plugin ecosystem.
- Works offline.
What reviews complain about
- Mobile text input is uncomfortable: the cursor jumps during manual editing and the toolbar disappears. iCloud sync causes a black screen and missing vaults for some users.
- High barrier to entry: the app is not for anyone unfamiliar with Markdown.
What users experience
3 excerpts from the breakdown. These are individual cases, not a verdict on all users.
Obsidian is a great editing platform. Very extensible and customizable, and I enjoy it a lot. I like that it's OSS, and that my data is encrypted and stored in plaintext.
The vast majority of note apps I've tried do almost nothing to actually take advantage of being digital notes. They give folders and pages of notes you make and thats it. God forbid we ever innovate past emulating paper notes in a binder for digital notes.
Maybe it's just the way our brains age, but I'm a 40yo well-educated professional in technology and education and this app is incredibly intimidating. If you don't already work in markdown this may not be the best place to start.
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