[Feature] A more convenient way to switch between vaults

Right now it requires 3 clicks to switch between the vaults in the iOS app (click on the vaults icon, select the vault, click “Enter vault”). It would be amazing to have a way to switch between vaults in one-click. It might not sound like much, but a more seamless experience of working on multiple vaults would make a big difference.

Maybe above the vaults icon (in the bottom-left corner of the screen) there could be icons that allow you to switch to different vaults in one tap. Basically like Discord allows you to switch between servers.

6 Likes

There’s a duplicate of this on the other forum: Add separate button for vault settings, so that we can open vaults with one tap, not two

I like this solution, but I also like the idea of holding down on the Vaults button to get a menu of vaults that you could slide up and select from.

2 Likes

Let’s do both! A tap on the Vaults button goes back to the just-previous vault. A press lists all vaults.

Use case or problem

I switch vaults many times per day on iPad.

Every time I switch, the process is:

  1. Press the hot key I’ve assigned to open the Vault Switcher
  2. Tap the vault name
  3. Wait a second, then tap « Enter vault »

I would like to skip step (3).

Proposed solution

Currently at step (3) I am presented with three options:

A. Enter vault
B. Rename vault
C. Delete vault

It is extremely rare that I want to do operations (B) and (C).

I suggest you update the vault list to add a “Settings” button for each vault on the right hand side. If people tap the vault name, the vault can open immediately. In the rare cases where people want to do (B) or (C), they can tap the smaller “Settings” button.

Relatedly: I am a little bit scared by how easy it is to accidentally tap the “Delete vault” button at the moment. I’m seeing that button hundreds of times per month, and I have accidentally tapped it a few times. I’ve been saved by the “are you sure?” dialog, but unfortunately the button spacing on the “are you sure?” dialogs is not large enough, so I can easily imagine accidentally tapping “yes” rather than “no” one day, and actually deleting the vault.

10 Likes

I’d like to second the notion that it takes too many clicks to switch vaults on mobile. This would be a simple improvement.

However, it’s possible to remove one more tap from the process by copying how Slack treats servers:

  • Vaults are assigned in order to keyboard shortcuts like cmd-1, cmd-2. (modifiers may be necessary)
  • When swiping from the left, the vaults are enumerated vertically with icons. Tapping on them switches directly.
  • To delete vaults or rename them, you could long press on the item. Depending on the exact layout, you could imagine using a kebab menu or something similar instead.

One other alternative would be to show a native iOS contextual menu when holding the Vault button down, with the vaults listed. This could be a good balance between being quick to implement and fast to use.

3 Likes

Yes, the Vaults menu prioritizes the actions that are used the least, and that Delete button worries me, too.

For the same reason, I think the “How to” and “new vault” buttons should go below the existing vaults. They’ll still be the first thing that new users see, but they’ll be out of the way for everyone else.

Excellent idea. On that list would be an “edit” button, which would allow you to rename or delete vaults. A simple tap would take you back to your just-previously-used vault.

Platform

[X] iOS
Obsidian Mobile version: v0.0.16


Opening vaults on iOS requires two taps: the second tap being the “Enter Vault” option. That extra tap is unnecessary.

Typical iOS behavior for elements like this would suggest putting the much less frequent rename/delete options in a context menu or secondary UI. For inspiration I would look to the Files app, where tapping on a folder opens it and a long-press brings up a context menu with options like Delete, Rename, etc. Since vaults are conceptually similar to folders this type of UI would seem to make sense.

5 Likes

Agreed here. One possibility to increase discovery would be to add some symbol to the end of each vault name in the list, an info (i) button, three dots, or some other indicator that could be tapped to surface those less-frequently used options.

1 Like

I also find this a little annoying as someone who switches between vaults a lot. It takes 3 taps to open a vault, and the taps are on different parts of the screen so there’s finger-stretching.

1 Like

I am thankful for this menu but we (I?) really need a better vault switching Ux. With the slow load times (yes, remove plugins etc) this extra dialog is so annoying and dare I say adds friction to my and likely most people’s workflow. My theory is most people switch often and rarely create so why force this dialog every time when we rarely need it?

Can it be made to work like the attached? Thanks for considering!


3 Likes