Obsidian is a really customizable and unique note-taking app. It is fantastic if you like an app that is customizable. This is how their team defines it:
Obsidian is the private and flexible writing app that adapts to the way you think.
When you boot it up, it is very simple to use and get started with. The plugins allow it to do more than take notes in Markdown. You can use the Tasks plugin to add tasks and organize them or you can use the Obsidian Kanban Plugin to get a kanban look at your tasks. You can also use Make.md to turn Obsidian into an editor similar to Notion. Obsidian is built to be super flexible and unique. You can make it look and function perfectly for you. I like to think of Obsidian as the Android or Linux of Note-Taking apps. Android & Linux is very customizable and you can do a lot with the operating system. Even Windows is very customizable if you know what you are doing.
The developers that maintain the app, the plugins, and the themes are amazing people. They maintain these items for free and only offer you to donate to them either via the Obsidian Sync or Publish subscriptions or via GitHub Sponsors or other means. You don’t have to provide any money to use any Obsidian features. It has so many features that other apps like Apple Notes do not have. If you want to know more about the features of Obsidian, I have a detailed article written over at App Seeker. It is a website that is coming soon that details pros/cons of a whole bunch of different apps and helps you find the best one for you. It is hosted using Notion.
That’s great but why don’t you use Obsidian? It is an awesome app, I love it!
That’s awesome you found an app that works for you. I’m so glad for you. Obsidian is such an awesome app and so unique.
I think of it like the following meme:
I have tried OneNote, Obsidian, Readwise, Notion, etc. I finally came back to Apple Notes because it is simple. I need simple.
It is the same reason why I love Apple devices. They just work and they work well. I don’t mind the extra fees that Apple puts on developers because their apps work well.
When it came to my Android phones (while I had them) I would spend 90% of my time at home and at work customizing the hell out of the phones. I would download icon packs, Nova Launcher, and customize everything about it. Then I would get it “perfect” and then I would be happy for 1 week (max; usually 2-3 days) and then restart all over again. It was never ending.
Now, I change up my focus modes once every few months but that’s it. I don’t go changing widgets or customizing my phone like crazy.
Obsidian was Android for me. I was spending all my time at home and most of my time at work, customizing the hell out of it. I developed a basic theme and even got it published to Obsidian Theme store. I was working on adding colors to style settings when I realized I was spending too much time and I wasn’t getting anything done.
So, that’s when I switched to OneNote. I wanted something that would work on my Windows PC because I thought I would use the notes there more and I also love the web clipper OneNote has.
Then I also thought about Apple Notes + Freeform. I tested out Freeform and boy do I love it. I have the infinite canvas that you get with OneNote + a nice typing experience on Mac. It is able to be linked together with Apple Notes and while I have to use 2 apps to do the function of one, it doesn’t bother me because I don’t always need an infinite canvas. Sometimes I like the limits that Apple Notes puts on me for up and down notes.
I have been using Apple Notes + Freeform for a week and I am obsessed. It doesn’t have many features like other apps but I don’t need those features. Most people don’t which is why most people (that aren’t in the productivity space) use Apple Notes, Apple Reminders, Freeform, OneNote, Google Tasks or Google Keep or apps similar to those.
They just work and they work well for them.
I’m glad I can stop seeking my perfect app (pun intended) and I can focus on getting things done. That’s the purpose of GTD.
I’m still working on my task management app and will post about that when that has been resolved but this is the resolution to my note taking app. Even if I don’t have a Macbook to use for my personal notes I will use Apple Notes on my iPad and iPhone. Having an app that just works simplifies everything going through my head each day. I found Obsidian very distracting in this case.
What do you think? What app do you use?
