Use case or problem
I have many notes with embedded PDFs or other file types. When using Obsidian on my desktop PC, PDFs have a header bar with some controls of which one is a button with three dots (⋮). Clicking on that reveals a kind of context menu. Some of its options are:
- Open in default app
- Show in system explorer
- Reveal file in navigation
These are super useful, e.g., when I need to copy a PDF to send it somewhere or in order to edit the embedded file in its default app.
However, on iOS these options are missing. As my embedded files often have very long, sometimes even cryptic names, it is very hard to find the embedded file without these options.
Basically I then need to switch to edit mode (increasing the risk for unwanted edits), move my cursor to the beginning or end of the attached file so that its file name becomes visible, then select and copy the file name (but not anything around it like the square brackets), switch to the Files app, search for the copied file name and only then I can open it, e.g. to attach it to an email or edit it.
Proposed solution
Make the options Open in default app, Show in system explorer and Reveal file in navigation available on mobile devices as well, especially on iOS. Ideally, make them available not only to PDFs but to all file types and not only in Edit mode, but also in Reading mode, e.g. via contex menu on long-tap.
Side-quest: improve the desktop apps usability by offering these options for all file types in Reading mode (on Windows context-menu via right-click would be preferred).
Current workaround (optional)
- Switch to Edit mode
- Move cursor near embedded file to see its markup
- Select and copy file name
- Switch to Files app
- Search for copied file name in Files app
- Open file