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Obsidian
A versatile writing app tailored to your thinking
•534 reviews•8 shoutouts•3.3K followers
What is Obsidian?
Store notes on your device, so you can access them quickly, even offline. Use hundreds of plugins and themes, to fit your way of thinking.
Do you use Obsidian?
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#2 Productivity Product of the Year
Recent Obsidian Launches
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Obsidian Canvas An infinite space to visualize and make sense of your ideas
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Launched on December 20th, 2022
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Obsidian for Mobile Your plain-text second brain on the go, for iOS and Android
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Launched on July 12th, 2021
Forum Threads
Is Obsidian really that much better vs Bear? Should I switch?
I'm a compulsive note-taker - first started taking notes in @Evernote circa 2011, and switched to @Bear around 2016 when Evernote got too slow (time-to-note and time-to-retrieve got so slow that I found myself taking 5x fewer notes... it felt like my augmented brain was getting dumber).
Since then I've used Bear, and while it's generally nice to use and fast, I've got two main gripes:
1) It's too slow to take notes on desktop (I'd love keyboard shortcuts to open it from anywhere) - I often default to @Sublime because it's so fast to open (yeah, I'm still using @Quicksilver as a launcher... I'm a dinosaur) and I love the editor / know lots of keyboard shortcuts. I write in markdown then use a Sublime-to-Bear plugin to create a new Bear note, which is annoying.
2) The backlinking feature is terrible - it's so buried that I find myself creating backlinks by hand right at the top of notes. This means it's hard to create a useful hierarchy.
There are some other gripes, like the lack of version backups (I accidentally deleted a really critical note and there was no recourse), but generally, I like everything else.
I've heard lots of people talk about @Obsidian, but I've been reluctant to explore it because it seems non-trivial to set up syncing, and I'm dreading making the transition (I never transitioned my Evernote notes due to lots of rich media - audio notes... so my augmented memory is kinda split between pre-2016 and post-2016).
So... should I switch? Is there anything else I should consider?
Obsidian 1.0 - A brand new look, a fresh way to browse, a new start
1.0 brings a complete redesign to Obsidian. The new design is not only more beautiful to look at, it's also more robust, accessible, and easier to theme.Plus, a new way to browse your second brain: tabs. Tabs make it easier to explore many ideas at once.
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Obsidian Alternatives
View all Obsidian alternativesReview Obsidian?
4.85/5 based on 534 reviews
Maker reviews of Obsidian
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The local file first philosophy is refreshing!
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The best note taking app on the market. Markdown is king.
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A super powerful tool for visually capturing ideas with the relational connections that other tools sometimes lack.
Reviews
•1 review
Definitely feels like there are layers to this product I'm not using, but as a n00b I still get tons of value.
•2 reviews
Very steep learning curve. Adding Nick Milo's LYT framework on top really helped me focus on what was required to make this a useful PKM for me!