My request is for an option in settings menu to entirely restrict any internet access by the app; A simple switch in the setting menu.
I have noticed recently that obsidian does use the internet for some reason and I suspect it is some of the plugins that i have installed that are mostly responsible for this.
Anyhow, Obsidian is an app that does all its core functions entirely offline, and has no need for any internet access for any of its core functions. This is definitely something most of its users value highly when comparing Obsidian to other note taking solutions. Therefore, such a setting to entirely restrict all internet access for people who don’t need it, would be very reassuring privacy-wise. Other options to fine-tune internet access could be added later on.
Obsidian will check for updates every so often and if you have any link embeds and are working on a page it will do so. Very few plugins will reach out to the net unless the plugin is designed to do so e.g., The readwise and plantUML plugins, but there are others.
I have read somewhere in this forum before, in a post by an obsidian dev, that internet access is minimal and that if updates are turned off then the internet access is absolutely zero if there are no web embeds in the notes. I do appreciate it and I am grateful that obsidian does this and it is one of the main reasons that I use it.
But an optional setting that ensures it, that the internet access is nil, regardless of the plugins and themes that one might have installed, is, as I mentioned in the post, a very reassuring thing for users who use Obsidian exactly because it is a completely offline note-taking app unlike Notion or many other apps.
It is true that an external firewall application is a solution too. But, I haven’t been able to find a good firewall application that can block internet access for individual applications in Linux that works for flatpaks or appimages. If anyone here knows such a firewall app, please let me know. And in mobile, firewall application are mostly a hit-and-miss and/or a big battery drain.
Aside from the fact that is most likely not technically feasable with the current tech stack, I agree with @gregp the best way is to set firewall rules using your OS.
Okay, I understand.
Anyhow, I did find a good firewall app for Linux that works for appimages. It’s called firejail; it is there in the Ubuntu repositories. Protip: don’t use the gui version of the app called firetools - it is quite buggy as far as I think. Firejail is simple to use from the command line.
