this post was submitted on 13 Jul 2023
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Can we talk about how bad the mobile app is? (self.obsidianmd)
submitted 1 year ago by Sheltac to c/obsidianmd
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For context, I use obsidian on a PC, an iPad (with or without keyboard), and an iPhone. I use obsidian sync to keep everything going, and that works like a dream. None of my criticism is of sync itself.

Now, the complaints.

The iOS/iPad app is on the shitty side of usable for me. Navigating notes is very clunky, organising them is nigh impossible, and there are so many little UI papercuts that there’s just too much to list.

And I’m true online complaint style, I shall now try to list them:

  • long pressing a tab on iPad brings up a context menu or makes the tab drag-able to reorder. One of the two, with no indication of which is which at the time you start pressing, like some sort of shroedingers pachinko long press function.
  • if you’re a fast typer (I use obsidian, among other things, to write novels), then good luck with special characters. One in a while, obsidian will decide that you want all of them at the start of the line and nowhere else is acceptable.
  • in the same vein, sometimes the cursor will disappear, or just chill above other UI elements like the tab bar.
  • so you’re scrolling through a long file and happened to touch a link? Oh you meant to drag the link to keep scrolling? Fuck you, you are now in the note the link sends you to. Did you press back? Fuck you again, start scrolling from the top.

I could go on for a very long time, but the message is that the app is very clunky, very hard to use efficiently, and feels very out of place among other high-quality apps I use on a daily basis.

Anyone else have a similar experience?

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[–] grabyourmotherskeys 12 points 1 year ago (1 children)

I don't find those issues exist in the Android app. I would like a much faster start up time but other than that, the app is great.

[–] Sheltac 0 points 1 year ago (1 children)

I’ve used obsidian on android very briefly (I was still on android when I started using it) and the issues are definitely there. Maybe it’s not as half-baked as the iPad app, and doesn’t stand out as much in the horrible android app landscape, but the issues are certainly there.

[–] grabyourmotherskeys 3 points 1 year ago (1 children)

I am sorry you are getting downvoted for expressing your opinion. I realize people who use iPhones don't like Android. It's why they prefer I phones, right?

Anyway, I consider it a good app. Like you said the sync is great (I pay for that feature happily). The start up time does bug me.

To deal with the UI issues I use a plugin that replaces the menu when you pull down from the top of the app. It lets you type in a command (any command) so really I basically don't use the menus much. For me the app is mostly used for reviewing data on the fly, for which I find it more than adequate.

You can always edit your markdown files with any other app and Obsidian will handle that well (just make sure it runs to sync). Not sure if you can access the files on the iPhone like that, though?

[–] Sheltac 2 points 1 year ago (2 children)

Maybe that’s where I’m going wrong. I want an app that gives me everything obsidian does on PC, with the same ease, on my phone. But maybe that’s just not easy to achieve.

Downvotes shmownvotes 😁

I used android pretty much since it first released, I’m entitled not to like it.

[–] grabyourmotherskeys 1 points 1 year ago (1 children)

As a developer, I can see the line they are walking. It's a choice they made to try to keep the experience the same but using completely different interfaces. There's going to be rough edges. I am fine with it but I do know what you mean. I'm not doing any heavy lifting on mobile. Capture, review, checking items off lists - that's what I'm using it for.

I think the app is great but within the parameters of the big choice to work the way it does.

I actually used to use emacs on my phone for a long time via an ssh session so I guess I'm fairly tolerant of unorthodox interfaces (was doing this to have full org-mode experience). To each their own.

[–] Sheltac 1 points 1 year ago

Yeah I mean compared to emacs of all things, obsidian on iPhone is a dream.

Compared to apple’s own app, for instance? It’s a lot behind. And I don’t mean in terms of what you can put on notes (my notes are almost 100% text-only and I want nothing but markdown), but in terms of how usable the interface is.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago (2 children)

@Sheltac @grabyourmotherskeys

I find I have to remember to open the iOS app daily to make sure it’s in sync with the vaults on 2 Macs. I’m also mindful to disable all non-essential plugins on phone.

Do you have an example of an app that’s offers a great phone and desktop experience? I find that it’s often less than ideal on desktop to prioritize the phone, or like #obsidian can be challenging to navigate with your finger what was meant for a mouse or trackpad.

[–] di5ciple 4 points 1 year ago (1 children)

It’s fine for me on iphone 11. Only real issue is there are a few plugins that dont work, but it’s awesome they work at all! So may apps on apple dont have those features. I did have an issue with excalidraw file causing the app to crash on start. The file was synced from my laptop.

[–] Sheltac 1 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (2 children)

Do you use the kanban* plug-in? That’s one of the ones that seems to work worst for me. At some point it wouldn’t let me write on cards because the submit button was hidden behind the keyboard.

But that’s a plug-in, though, not the main app.

[–] di5ciple 2 points 1 year ago

Personally not yet. I can see some use cases for it but dataview’s power is incredible. As long as i can pull up notes on my phone, then i’m good. I use a different app to write down things quickly. It then syncs to my obsidian inbox folder.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Might want to give projects a spin.

[–] Sheltac 2 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Is that a plug-in?

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Yes. “projects” by Marcus Olsson

[–] Sheltac 2 points 1 year ago

I’ll have to take a look, thanks!

[–] djc0 3 points 1 year ago

It doesn’t work too bad for me. But I find it super annoying that, depending on which UI element was last in focus, you have to double tap a tab to get it to switch.

I was able to get people to reproduce this on the iPad with a totally fresh vault. Doesn’t seem to be something they’re interested in figuring out or fixing. :(

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 year ago

What??? I love both! The iPad and iPhone app! Super fast, works like a charm and I am always surprised how many feature I can use even on the tiny phone screen! I just installed the projects plug in and was fully prepared to accept it not working on iOS but here we are 🥳 it works like a charm and is super easy to use. I am in love with Obsidian and I use it 95% of the time on iPhone.

[–] redsol2 3 points 1 year ago

The mobile app is what drives me to try Bear again, but then Bear is too limiting so I end up back in Obsidian, and back and forth and back and forth.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago

Agree. Well, the great thing is that we don't have to use it right? So, what shall we use on our vaults on mobile instead? Personally, I only really need the linking and quick open.