Questions on the Mobile app

[Obsidian-GT]

I am planning to upgrade to a paid tier in a few days, so that I can access the mobile app. Questions for those who use the app regularly:

1. How stable/usable is the app in its current state? I read good things about it but still would like someone to confirm to reassure
2. Do themes and plugins work on mobile? I use the Obsidian_IA theme (with moderate customization of my own) and a bunch of plugins. If the plugins don’t work on mobile yet, that’s not a huge problem…the only one that I use regularly is Advanced Table.
3. How do the notes render on the smaller screens? The contents wrap well or does one need to scroll sideways to see them full?
4. I hope it is not terribly slow. One thing that pushed me away from Notion was, how slow their mobile app was.
5. Best way to sync with iOS-Windows-MBP? iCloud or Obsidian Sync? Right now, I use my Box cloud WebDAV and it works alright.

TIA for all the responses.

[TheAd]

I think in few days it will be available for the general public as well.

[friklik]

Mobile app is incredible.
It is the best markdown app on Android… almost desktop like experience… pretty amazing. So customizable.

I did not notice any major bug… has few but nothing deal breaking.

Plugins work… but not all of them…

Amazed… incredible job.

before I used Epsilon notes… very good app…
but this is next level!

[erithacus_rubecula]

I’ve been exploring the iOS app for around a fortnight and here’re some of my observations.

1. How stable/usable is the app in its current state?

Except occasional minor glitches in the UI, the app generally seems stable.

2. Do themes and plugins work on mobile? I use the Obsidian_IA theme (with moderate customization of my own) and a bunch of plugins. If the plugins don’t work on mobile yet, that’s not a huge problem…the only one that I use regularly is Advanced Table.

Most themes do not render properly on iOS. In particular the iA Writer fonts used by obsidian-ia do not render on iOS, which I feel is a shame. Many other themes also break when it comes to fonts. Incorrect pane size and missing UI elements also plague the app when many custom themes are applied. However, the Atom theme did work cross-platform.

Most plugins work stably on mobile, but some popular ones like outliner can work only on desktop, and the mobile app will not allow you to install them. Advanced Tables should work fine cross-platform.

3. How do the notes render on the smaller screens? The contents wrap well or does one need to scroll sideways to see them full?

The contents do wrap and display correctly, at least when no custom theme or CSS is applied.

4. I hope it is not terribly slow. One thing that pushed me away from Notion was, how slow their mobile app was.

The app is fast and responsive — much better than Notion.

5. Best way to sync with iOS-Windows-MBP? iCloud or Obsidian Sync? Right now, I use my Box cloud WebDAV and it works alright.

The iOS app supports only iCloud or Obsidian Sync. It in general does not work with other sync providers because of restrictions imposed by Apple. Nonetheless, it is possible to sync the vault via Working Copy with a remote git repository, but that requires some extra effort to manually push/pull and maintain the git repo. To the best of my knowledge, currently the only way to conveniently sync Obsidian iOS with Windows is to use Obsidian Sync.

[Daveb08]

@Obsidian-GT

I am planning to upgrade to a paid tier in a few days, so that I can access the mobile app. Questions for those who use the app regularly:

1. How stable/usable is the app in its current state? I read good things about it but still would like someone to confirm to reassure

It opens without issue. It closes like all other iPadOS app. In between it’s like trying to fit a square plug into a round hole. The app tries to be a ‘miniature’ Mac app. There is not enough screen space and I’m talking about the iPad. And Hotkeys! Try to use them without the external keyboard. I gave up using Themes. Few plugins work, fewer work well. I’ve not had any issues with Obsidian Sync between 2 iPads and one MacMini.

2. Do themes and plugins work on mobile? I use the Obsidian_IA theme (with moderate customization of my own) and a bunch of plugins. If the plugins don’t work on mobile yet, that’s not a huge problem…the only one that I use regularly is Advanced Table.

See above. YMMV!

3. How do the notes render on the smaller screens? The contents wrap well or does one need to scroll sideways to see them full?

Try to use the iPad version in split view. NADA, on anything other than 12.9” Pro.

4. I hope it is not terribly slow. One thing that pushed me away from Notion was, how slow their mobile app was.

Have had no issues with speed, including typing.

5. Best way to sync with iOS-Windows-MBP? iCloud or Obsidian Sync? Right now, I use my Box cloud WebDAV and it works alright.

Purchased Obsidian sync, set up MacMini with local (and I mean internal HD) folder to sync to 2 iPads using Obsidian sync. So far NO Issues.

Try it you’ll like it. BUT, my advice, GO PLAIN vanilla for a few more releases of Everything including sync. My bet is you’ll come to like it!

[Obsidian-GT]

I am sure. But I thought now’s the time to upgrade and extend my support to the devs. So started thinking in that direction.

[Obsidian-GT]

Thanks for sharing your experience. I will keep all this in mind when I try the app.

[Obsidian-GT]

Thanks. Looks like I will have to remove the theme. Do customized settings sync across devices? Win/Mac/iOS? Or do you need to do it manually?

[TheAd]

I wish I too could provide support to this community. After I get a job, I promise this lovely obsidian would be the very first community, I will be supporting through an online payment.

[erithacus_rubecula]

If you use iCloud sync, then settings do sync once you overcome an initial bug which resets all of your settings as soon as you open your vault for the first time on a new device. The aftermath of the bug can be manually cleaned by inspecting the .obsidian directory using a terminal emulator on iOS and fixing up the duplicate config file.

I haven’t used Obsidian Sync, but I kind of expect it to not have this issue because it appears to be partially caused by iCloud.

[Obsidian-GT]

UPDATE: I did upgrade to the INSIDER tier and downloaded the app. I set it up to use iCloud. I am surprised how well it works. So far I faced no issues at all. All my snippets work; The IA inspired theme did not render well on mobile but the Christmas theme works like a charm! Plugins also…no problems so far. Super Happy! My only gripe: If I pull from the top, it seems to switch between dark and light mode.