It’s hard to get balanced and objective information about Obsidian.
People either love it or hate it. Too much of the information is produced by those with OOS, or “Obsidian Obsessive Syndrome.” It’s fanboy propaganda and enthusiasm.
I listened to a podcast where an Obsidian enthusiast cohost forced every topic on every episode to have a connection with Obsidian, no matter how tenuous. I stopped listening to the podcast.
For the last couple of weeks, I’ve been working through MacSparky’s Obsidian Field Guide. I’ve taken other courses on Obsidian before (Sweet Setup course). This is the first course that gave me a practical understanding of the functioning of Obsidian and taught me in such a way that I could function independently.
As I worked through the Obsidian Field Guide, I would pause the video and try out features for myself. I’d also switch to the Craft app and see how that app replicated many of the basic functions of Obsidian.
MacSparky did an excellent job of teaching. He acknowledged that Obsidian is a difficult app to learn and use. He spent much time and effort figuring out how to break things down and teach them in a way that communicated.
MacSparky’s Obsidian Field Guide could also be slightly overenthusiastic at times, but I thought it was more balanced than most.
After dabbling in Obsidian in the past, I promptly dropped it. This time, though, I see some limited functions for which I could use it.
Obsidian: The Good
I’ve used Craft for a couple of years. Many of the much-touted features of Obsidian (such as back linking) are also features of Craft.
I was curious to see whether these features were more useful to me in Craft or Obsidian. My review will often compare and contrast the features of the two apps.
What did I find positive about Obsidian?
• Obsidian is blazing fast. It’s fast typing, fast in jumping to links, and fast in searching.
• Obsidian easily creates links and new documents to link to. In Obsidian, you type double brackets and type the name of the document you want to link to. As you type, any existing pages with that name appear so you can click on them to link to them.
That’s pretty similar to Craft, where you type the @ symbol to create a link. Craft also searches document and blocks to link to. However, in Obsidian you can also create an inactive link, or potential link, which is not a feature of Craft.
Obsidian makes it easier to create a new document to link to. To create a new document to link to in Obsidian, you right-click and select “Create this file” or select a different line, then click on the inactive link, and it automatically creates a new document with the name of the link.
In Craft, it’s often a lot more hassle to create a new document to link to. Since Craft searches for not only the names of documents but also text blocks, the list of possible links can become quite long. It takes time to navigate to the bottom of a longer list to find the “create new document” action. Craft has the same feature, but Obsidian’s implementation is easier.
• In Obsidian, I can control the font size on both my Mac and on my mobile devices. As my eyes age, I find that many of the default font sizes apps use are too small for me to read comfortably.
Obsidian has full font size controls for both the interface and documents under the Appearance option in settings. This feature is not only on the Mac but also on the iPad and iPhone.
Craft can only increase or decrease text size for selected blocks of text in a document. There are no global font size controls. New documents go back to the smaller default type.
• Obsidian provides an option to see back-linked files in every document automatically. If I turn this option on, every document I open shows any back-linked files. I like that.
Craft also provides the option to see back-linked files, but the option to see the link takes two mouse clicks has to be chosen for each separate document.There is no global selection to see all backlinks in documents. It’s a pain in the rear and creates unnecessary mouse clicks.
• In Obsidian, accessing all commands and options is easy. To access the searchable command palette, you can either use the slash key “/” or the keyboard shortcut Command-P. I appreciate having both options. I prefer using the keyboard shortcut.
Craft has only the slash key to access the command palette. I would prefer if there was a keyboard shortcut as well.
• Obsidian has great customization ability, but that comes at the cost of greatly increased user complexity. For those who like to tinker and customize everything, Obsidian provides the ability to do so.
• The graph function is interesting and has potential for future development. I’ve heard plenty of Obsidian promoters claim that the graph function results in seeing new connections between thoughts, but I haven’t seen any examples of this. My hunch is that it’s more hype than reality, and it sounds better in theory than in practice.
Presently, I see more practical potential in making thought connections in a good mind map app like MindNode than in the Obsidian graph. But I think the visual nature of the graph has potential if it’s developed further.
Obsidian: The Bad
Obsidian promoters often seem to be unaware of any negatives with the app. But every app has negatives:
• Obsidian might well be the “most powerful” notes app, but the cost of admission is geeky nerdery and requires users to become pseudo-programmers. To access the real power features in Obsidian, users have to become familiar with YAML and must input lots of metadata in any document they plan to access for advanced functions.
Most of the unique “real power” features in Obsidian are contained in 3rd party plugins like DataView. But to use DataView, users must become proficient with YAML and learn to use the arcane programming-like language required by DataView to make it do what it does.
• Obsidian, without massive revision, will never become a widespread consumer app. It’s an app for power users who don’t have an issue with programming geekery and aren’t seeking a beautiful or artistic interface.
For the average user and many Mac/iOS power users, it’s way too tinkery and complicated to use its power features.
• The survivability of files in Obsidian because “it’s just a folder of markdown files!” hype is overblown and disingenuous. Promoters make a gigantic deal of the fact that Obsidian is based on a folder of markdown files that reside on the user’s hard drive. They point out that if the app disappeared overnight, you’d still have access to all your files.
While that’s certainly a positive point, it’s not the major consideration people try to make of it.
I know many Obsidian enthusiasts who regularly use apps that are not based on folders of Markdown files. They use task managers like Omnifocus and Things, calendars like Apple Calendar and Fantastical, and databases like Apple Notes and DevonThink for much of their key data. Yet none of these are based on “a folder of markdown files.”
Apparently, this is not such a big deal since it doesn’t stop these Obsidian users from depending on these other apps. And when was the last time you heard of a major app just “disappearing overnight” and stealing all your data? No, I haven’t either. It’s a straw man that enthusiasts enjoy knocking over.
Also, most apps provide an export or transfer feature to make it simple to get your files out of their database. Craft exports to Markdown, image, PDF, and MS Word. It can directly transfer files to Drafts, Ulysses, IA Writer, Things, Day One, Bear, etc. There are many more options than are found in Obsidian.
• Enthusiasts highlight features in Obsidian but fail to point out that these same features are available in other Notes apps. The hype makes it sound like Obsidian is the only app capable of “linking your thinking,” but that’s inaccurate. Roam Research, Craft, Notion, and now Apple Notes all come to mind as having the same ability to link files. And there are 3rd party applications like HookMark that allow the linking of files, even in different apps.
Likewise, much is made of the graph view in Obsidian. However, mind-mapping apps like MindNode have long made it possible to see (and manipulate) visual connections between thoughts. Obsidian has nothing new here and is limited to only showing thoughts and links. In my opinion, MindNode does a better job of it. You can visualize thoughts, see the connections and links between thoughts, and manipulate those thoughts in relation to each other.
Obsidian: The Ugly
• Unfortunately, a lot of the interface in Obsidian is just plain ugly. Obsidian doesn’t have an attractive working environment. While 3rd party themes have helped a lot, it’s still very basic and unattractive. Compared to Craft, it’s downright ugly.
• Much of the coding and output in Obsidian reminds me of MS-DOS. It looks like something that Microsoft would have produced in the mid-80s. Microsoft was all about performance, power, and customization. But there was no sense of design, art, or beauty. It was nerdy geekery at its finest.
While the DataView plugin can, with sufficient metadata in documents and a mastery of the DataView coding language, create some amazing custom tables and lists, they won’t win any design prizes. They look like something created on an IBM PC using MS-DOS.
Frankly, some of the geekery looks are not Obsidian’s fault; it’s Markdown’s. The first time I encountered Markdown reminded me of the old MS-DOS word processors that required formatting codes to be inserted. I felt like I’d gone 30 years back in time.
I understand the value of using Markdown, especially when preparing text for the web. I use it to write my blog posts. But let’s be honest, it’s pretty ugly.
I find it ironic that many people who moved to the Mac to experience a beautiful and artistic interface now spend much of their time writing in Markdown and using Obsidian with its spartan interface.
My weekly review template in Craft and Obsidian exemplifies the difference between working with artistic vs. utilitarian documents. They took about the same amount of time to produce, but the designs are worlds apart. Which do you think I’d find more pleasant to use every week as I work through my weekly review?
Weekly review template in Craft:
Weekly review template in Obsidian:
My Conclusions About Obsidian
1. Most of what I want to do I can do in Craft, but some functions are easier or more convenient in Obsidian than in Craft. This is especially true of how links are created and displayed and how new documents are created to link to. I prefer the way these are handled in Obsidian as opposed to Craft.
2. There are a lot of functions Obsidian (with the DataView plugin) can do that Craft can’t do, but I don’t want or need to do these things. I agree; it’s really cool how DataView can collect the information you want (assuming you’ve provided YAML information in the documents and know how to program DataView to show what you want) and display it in unique ways.
But I don’t really care it can do those things because I would rather not have to input all the YAML data or learn how to program DataView. And more importantly, I do not need to use these super-power features. Just because an app has advanced features doesn’t mean you must use that app.
3. There are many things Craft (or Notion) can do that Obsidian can’t do. Craft excels in easily creating beautiful and attractive documents. Obsidian strikes out here.
4. I am testing using Obsidian for one very narrow purpose. I like the ease with which Obsidian creates links, inactive links, and new linked documents. It’s easier for me to use Obsidian for this than Craft.
I’m doing an extended test run using Obsidian to create a “self-aware” database in which I record my thoughts about many topics in my life. It’s similar to what MacSparky describes as his “sparkyOS.”
I use many applications for very specific purposes. They are what I consider the “best in class” applications for each function that I need.
I envision myself using Obsidian in the same way. I’m not tempted to make Obsidian my “One Application to Rule Them All,” as some have done. I don’t like the looks or hassle of it.
However, I can see myself using Obsidian as a place to record my thinking, along with MindNode. I’ll continue using Craft when I want beautiful-looking documents for my own use or to share with others.
If you’re wondering if Obsidian might work for you, buy MacSparky’s Obsidian Field Guide. It will help you to understand how the app works, and how it can be used.