How do I work with Obsidian on Mobile?

New version of FSNotes allows renaming files by first line in Mac OS.

I have been using iA Writer on android and has helped me work with Obsidian on the go with my mobile device!

iA Writer doesnā€™t support Obsidian links or am I missing something?

Yes. i meant that i use iA Writer on my mobile device for the same purpose as i use Obsidion on my computer. Sorry if i have not conveyed that properly :grinning:

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Main question:

Folks using Notebooks ā€“ how do I, like, view my files? I put in my webdav credentials for my NextCloud webdav server, and ā€¦ nothing. No errors, but also no folders. How do I find and view my vault?

Bigger Picture:

Iā€™m loving Obsidian, and Iā€™m really want to put all my recipes in it so I can
get off of Paprika, which is a lovely app but I like having more control over my
data. I use my iPad in the kitchen, so I need some sort of iOS solution, with
these features:

  • support for subfolder linking
  • support for Obsidian-style double bracket links
  • working checkboxes in view mode (because I check off ingredients as I add them and steps as I do them, and with ADHD not having that is a deal-breaker because otherwise I end up wondering if I already added the baking powder to the cake batter? not a happy place)
  • ideally integrates with the Files app because my vault lives in NextCloud, which is well integrated into the Files app. NextCloud lets me keep everything backed up on a remote server that I own while syncing across all my devices, and also appearing as just another directory in my home directory on my Mac for when I want to traipse through the filesystem unix-style, so Iā€™m not willing to give it up.

So far Iā€™ve written off:

  • iA Writer - doesnā€™t support Obsidian (double bracket) links
  • Editorial - doesnā€™t support files app, only dropbox
  • MD Notes - doesnā€™t support links, checkboxes are inert
  • 1Writer - doesnā€™t support subfolder links. Also wants me to do webdav, and while it looks like it supports Files, the NextCloud selection is greyed out
  • Byword - doesnā€™t support obsidian links
  • Working Copy - doesnā€™t support Obsidian links, doesnā€™t render checkboxes

So, now Iā€™m trying Notebooks, but Iā€™m probably doing something wrong with the webdav connection? (Also ā€“ hereā€™s my vote for an official Obsidian app.)

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Since my main concern regarding mobile is getting information into obsidian, I use:

  • Drafts (iOS) for ultra-quick text input

    • append general entry to daily note
    • prepend journal entry to daily note
    • create new note and link to it in daily note
  • a few Shortcuts share-sheet actions:

    • Quick-capture to daily note
    • My own Glass Dome to create future-proof markdown links to files, images and websites.

As for retrieval, Iā€™m moderately happy with 1Writer. It only recognises [[wikilinks]] inside the current folder, and its sync ā€” although way better than iA Writerā€™s ā€” is still a bit flaky.

Yeah that app has a really nice UIā€¦ But it doesnā€™t support [[links]] right?

I use Notebooks with Dropbox which works very well. Donā€™t use webdav so have nothing to test with. But the developer is very responsive if you email him.

It does when you change something in the preferences. Look here:

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Iā€™m new to this forum as Iā€™ve been debating between Obsidian and Roam. This forum has convinced me that Obsidian is the way to go. I also use the iPad extensively. I would love to see your video. Can you provide a link? Thanks!

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Anyone tried using Amplenote? I tried the 1Writer workaround for a while, with a Dropbox sync to my vault, but I just didnā€™t end up creating as many notes because of the friction in using a text editor (1Writer) to do the job of a note keeper. I realized what I really needed was a web app so I could access my notes from my Windows 10 work computer (whose admin restrictions wonā€™t let me install Obsidian).

I just started testing Amplenote. It supports bidirectional links, is incredibly fast, allows embedded PDFs, and touts security. The advantage is that itā€™s available on my browser at work, as well as on my iPhone and iPad. Iā€™ve noticed that because I now have my note keeping tool constantly available, the volume and usefulness of my notes has increased.

But the files are stored on Amplenoteā€™s server, and of course one of the main reasons I preferred Obsidian to Roam is the ability to store my files locally. So Iā€™ve tested exporting my Amplenote markdown files and opening them as a vault in Obsidian, and the links work well. Amplenote does add a YAML frontmatter with the title and tags, but I can hide those using the Obsidian plugin.

The problem right now with this solution is that it wonā€™t be a great two-way sync. If I make changes in Obsidian and reimport the files to Amplenotes, it creates duplicate files. It looks like the developers of Amplenote plan on improving the functionality of re-importing notes, but until then, I may have to decide whether to use Amplenote for everything, until Obsidian grows to the point that it offers web or mobile apps.

What Iā€™ve learned in this short time of using Amplenote to quickly create my notes in multiple environments (work PC, phone, iPad, home Mac), is that a true cross-platform app that includes a web and mobile solutions greatly increases my productivity.

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@KnownOne,
Valid remark.

Another ā€œthoughtā€ from my side?
Do we have to include everything we want in Obsidian?

Why not use/search for Best-In-Class software for the tasks at hand and see if they can integrate with the Obsidian workflow?

Obsidian is good at what it does, and to be clear, I would also want a mobile App. As a ā€œtechnicalā€ guy I know this is a huge stress on the maintenance of codebases and other stuffā€¦

Looking at what you wrote:
Amplenote would not be a great example (now) as it lacks some basic functionalities whoich prohibits a good integration into any exisiting Obsidian workflow which needs a good sync between the files you would like to maintain in your vaults.

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You may have tried this already, but two things with 1Writer that I use that reduces (not necessarily eliminates) friction with the app depending on what youā€™re doing:

  • Customize the extended keyboard to eliminate keys that are unnecessary. Iā€™ve got one row of keys that I use and deleted the rest so that I donā€™t have to search for the keys I want, like brackets, headers, bullets, etc. It really makes using it a lot faster since formatting is easier and less of a hassle.
  • Utilize Shortcuts on iOS. This takes some practice if you havenā€™t used them at all, but Iā€™ve found that I can create many types of pages with preset tags and formatting. I can also convert articles to markdown on many sites as long as they utilize reader view.

Then again, your use case may be completely different and the gripes you have could have nothing to do with those issues, but Iā€™ve really enjoyed 1Writer personally and it works for my workflow really well after tweaking a few things.

I think this customization is a big benefit to 1Writer. I used a lot of template-type scripts but could not get one to help with autocompleting links. Have you been able to find an action script for 1Writer that would suggest autocomplete file names when typing a link? I had planned to see if I could do it using the dropbox API.

Have you used the Link button? Itā€™s in the extended keyboardā€”it allows you to browse/search to find a note to insert as a wiki link.

Not as slick as autocomplete but pretty good.

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Hah, I feel dumb now. Didnā€™t know it could do that! Thanks!

Hereā€™s the Twitter thread where I desperately begged the developer for the feature before finding it myself. :sweat_smile:

So, donā€™t sweat it.

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Thanks for that. Brought a smile and made me feel better. :slight_smile:

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I found Epsilon Notes, GitJournal, Moon Writer and Noteless (early stages) all workable, but not perfect.
I was looking for basic markdown rendering and full text search on Android specifically.

Hello!
Thanks for your post. As a user of DT and DTTG I am quite interested in how you open or connect your Obsidian Vault to DTTG.
I am using iCloud to store my Obsidian files. In DTTG I can make a new database but indexing is not possible. How did you point DTTG to your vault and showed it the files?

Thanks for your help.