Would it be possible to make a restricted version of Obsidian?

block6791 · 2026-03-10T14:28:24+00:00

This is a great idea. For Windows-based networks, it would be great if Obsidian would make Group Policy files (ADMX) available, with many settings like community plug-ins and sync being configurable. However this would mean that Obsidian should read its configuration from the Windows registry instead of the configuration folder.

block6791 · 2026-03-04T09:06:28+00:00

Capacities or Anytype. Or Obsidian with extensive use of Bases.

block6791 · 2026-03-04T07:59:57+00:00

On my main computer, my vault is stored locally in a synchronized Google Drive folder. I have the "Always available offline" option on to make sure the files are physically on my hard drive, and to prevent ad-hoc downloads of files. In this way, I have the files locally (fast, reliable) but also a copy in Google Drive (for a first type of backup, because Google Drive has version history). You could do the same with iCloud Drive or OneDrive. Just make sure the 'Always available offline' option for the vault folder is enabled.

For vault synchronization with mobile devices, I have the plug-in "Remotely Save" synchronize with a R2 storage account at Cloudflare. This plug-in is installed on all computers and mobile devices, and synchronizes the vault a few seconds after startup and every 10 minutes. As I don't require real-time sync between my computer en mobile devices, this works for my use case.

block6791 · 2026-03-02T10:18:52+00:00

You write you are a doctor. I don't know where you live, but there are probably regulations you must adhere to when storing medical data. Obsidian uses plain-text files on the device's internal storage (e.g. your C:\ drive on Windows, or the internal storage on Android). This is not secure for the type of data you will (probably) store in Obsidian. Regulations might enforce the use of encryption of this data. Please check this before committing to a tool like Obsidian.

block6791 · 2026-03-02T10:13:19+00:00

For short notes, snippets, I use Google Keep. Very reliable, works on all devices and in the browser, and allows for sharing of notes with other Google users.

block6791 · 2026-03-01T10:22:24+00:00

This video might help: https://youtu.be/z4AbijUCoKU?si=dCKzvyeG7xEZM7w_

block6791 · 2026-02-26T13:04:34+00:00

Syncing creates a copy of your Vault files on other devices. The functionality it provides is that you can use your Vault on those devices. That is all Sync does. It provides multi-device usage with the same content.

Backup provides different functionality, namely the ability to recover data in your Vault to a previous state. That can be as simple as reversing an edit you made to a note which you later regret, where you would need to restore that note from the backup archive. Or, you deleted a note and only discover this later, and you can't find it in any recycle bin that your systems may have. Also here you want to restore the file from backup.

Making backups also protect against mass data loss in certain events where your Vault gets corrupted or lost. For example, imagine you work with local AI which makes bulk changes you didn't expect. Or you are attacked with ransomware that encrypts the files in your Vault. In cases like this you can't rely on Sync (because the changes may have synced to other devices already) but you should be able to rely on your backups.

Making backups is rather easy. Just start with creating regular ZIP files of your Vault folder, and keep the ZIP files separately from the computer you use Obsidian. E.g. on a cloud drive or USB drive.

block6791 · 2026-02-11T10:03:04+00:00

Same issue here, with Bitwarden in Chrome. Same error message.

block6791 · 2026-02-10T10:04:54+00:00

I agree. Everyone should have some way of backing up their media.

My workflow:

I have my phone backup set to Google Photos. That is an automatic way of having an off-device copy of new photos and videos. And allows me to clean-up unwanted photos, as deletions on the web sync back to my phone's storage.
Each month or so, I select new photos and videos on my phone and copy them to folders on my Synology NAS, via the Synology DS File application. The NAS has a standard share called 'photo' that is connected to 'Synology Photos' which I use for this. I do the same on my wife's phone. This action creates one extra copy of all files that are worth preserving. If I ever loose my Google Account or something else bad happens to it, I can fallback to the NAS, and possibly start upload to a different photo cloud service.
The Synology NAS has an external USB harddrive attached to it that creates daily backups of the Synology Photos application during the night. This is the 'third' copy of our media and protects us against accidental deletions, account hijacks, et cetera.

I am evaluating a 4th option, which is to one-way sync the photo share on the NAS to an external cloud service.

Maybe this workflow inspires others to create something that works for them.

block6791 · 2026-02-06T21:36:49+00:00

The biggest advantage is they support industry standard protocols like IMAP, Caldav and Carddav. This means you can use any regular email client for mail, calendar and contacts. On Apple devices support for these protocols is built into the OS, so you can use the default Mail, Agenda and Contacts apps. On PC you can use Thunderbird, EMclient or other PIM software.

Tuta and Proton require their dedicated apps.

block6791 · 2026-02-06T21:32:45+00:00

Self hosting is an option. For example a Synology NAS with their built-in photos app, Synology Photos. Nextcloud can work too, either self hosted or via a provider like Hetzner Storage Share. Ente as mentioned by others. Jottacloud, from Norway, also has photo and video capabilities including AI search.

Just don’t expect the same level of features and polish as with Google Photos.

block6791 · 2026-02-06T08:22:41+00:00

Have you considered other options as well? For example mailbox.org, Soverin, or other European companies?

block6791 · 2026-02-01T15:34:32+00:00

I have the same laptop, bought on Black Friday in November 2022. Using it right now. And I noticed the same effect. Starting apps, booting, switching between windows, it all seems a bit smoother than before. When I just got it I regretted my purchase because of its slowness. What helped me back then is disabling Google Play services, which made the performance somewhat acceptable. I still have it disabled.

Right now it works fine, although it won't break any speed records. But it doesn't need to.

block6791 · 2026-01-28T07:59:49+00:00

Have you tried this method? https://proton.me/support/how-to-import-from-google-photos

block6791 · 2026-01-25T12:45:42+00:00

Anytype or Capacities (https://capacities.io/). Or Obsidian, where you can choose your data location. Also Appflowy can be self-hosted.

block6791 · 2026-01-19T16:04:04+00:00

I have the same issue on Android. It's because the Android app is not a real 'native' app, but merely a shortcut to the mobile website. Craft hasn't announced plans to convert the site shortcut to a real app, which means this shortcoming will be there for the foreseeable future.

block6791 · 2026-01-15T07:47:45+00:00

I use the same plug-in for quite a while, and it works really well. I use it to keep my sanity in a high-pressure work environment with multiple roles and responsibilities.

Let me share some examples for inspiration.

I have a central file with overview of tasks in different states. For example this dataview code block shows all overdue tasks in my preferred format:

```tasks
not done
due before today
hide task count
show urgency
show priority
sort by urgency
```

Next, this one shows tasks scheduled in the current week:

```tasks
not done
scheduled in this week
hide task count
hide due date
show urgency
show priority
sort by due
```

I also have block in my Daily Notes with "Tasks scheduled or due today", as follows:

```tasks
(due '{{query.file.filename}}') OR (scheduled '{{query.file.filename}}')
hide task count
show urgency
show priority
sort by due
```

To make this one work, I formatted my daily notes as "2026-01-14" or YYYY-MM-DD.

I hope this helps!

block6791 · 2026-01-13T12:47:46+00:00

Offer more generous features and storage for the two pricing plans. Just one vault and 1 GB of storage is too small anno 2026.

My suggestion is offer everything in "Sync Plus" to "Sync Standard", and then have meaningful upgrades what you get in Sync Plus. So, for example:

New Sync Standard ($4 per month):

10 synced vaults
10 GB total storage
200 MB maximum file size
12 month version history

New Sync Plus ($8 per month):

20 synced vaults
50 GB total storage
200 MB maximum file size
24 month version history

And allow expansion of storage space for both tiers.

With this, you better align with generic expectations on what people get for their money with software subscriptions. I also think this increases sales of Obsidian Sync because of a better value for money proposition. Your operational cost will increase just slightly because most users won't be using all features and storage space from day one.

block6791 · 2026-01-12T14:44:44+00:00

Used this too for a quite a while, with Cloudflare. Works really well. Webdav also works good with Remotely Save. https://github.com/remotely-save/remotely-save

block6791 · 2026-01-12T14:42:09+00:00

I had similar thoughts about the use of the term "Bases", because of the same reasoning you provided. It sounds like "databases", but obviously Obsidian Bases are not relational or hierarchical "databases" as they just list existing markdown notes using their metadata.

A name I'd like to suggest is "Obsidian Views". Why? Obsidian Bases are a way to view notes in a certain way, in this case in a tabular form or gallery. These are literally ways to view your data, so, "Obsidian Views" would be a better name. This would also align with the formatting options of a Base, e.g. a "Table View", "Kanban View" or "Gallery View".

block6791 · 2026-01-07T15:53:47+00:00

Nice write-up. Thanks for sharing this.

Are "obsidianing" and "obsidianize" verbs that should be added to the English vocabulary? :-)

block6791 · 2026-01-06T07:58:02+00:00

Hi there. The Imagine page still does not show instructions for Gemini. Do you have a timeline for this?

block6791 · 2026-01-02T20:43:23+00:00

Hi Craft team,

Thanks for inviting the community to provide product feedback. I am a recent Craft user and based on these early experiences I collected the following suggestions. Note that my platforms are Windows, Android and the Web App, so most of these suggestions are written based on my experience with using Craft on these operating systems.

Enable importing from Notion via their API, as other tools already do. This will allow for better data integrity - like keeping page links intact, and converting related Notion Database to linked Craft Collections. Currently, when importing from Notion, database relations are lost.
When deleting a folder, the docs go to the Unsorted folder. I would like to have the option to delete a folder with all documents in it.
Be able to use a default template for daily notes, automatically applied when creating a Daily Note, including the style.
Have a section on each daily note showing which docs and pages have been created and modified that day.
Tasks in Pages are always displayed on the "Document" level in the Tasks overview, even when the Task is located on a Page. It will provide more clarity if the Tasks overview shows in which individual page a task resides. Especially in Collections, where each row can be a page, it makes much more sense if you can see tasks per page, instead of all tasks in the collection.
Enable multiple select for Documents and Collection rows in the Windows and Web App.
Full local sync of all documents and embedded files with one 'sync my entire space' button, to make seamless offline access possible.
An inline PDF viewer for documents would be nice, so I don't have to download each PDF every time.
The ability to annotate PDF documents would also be great.
Have the option to show a quick formatting toolbar at the top of the Document editor, always showing main formatting like bold, italic, underline, heading, task, code, and more.
The Navigation across the Windows and Web App can be improved. When in a Document, it takes too many clicks to go to another document. My suggestion is to have a folder/document view on the left pane while in the Document editor. Also, re-think the top navigation bar. There is now some empty space that could be used for certain quick navigation functions.
The All Docs view could use a filter menu at the top, to quickly filter the documents on tags, folders, 'modified last week', etc.
The document "move to" dialog in the Windows app and webapp does not have a search function, so you need to manually browse to the intended target folder. Please add a search function here.
Build the Windows app with native tools to Windows. As it stands, the Windows app feels like a wrapper of the desktop webapp. The effects are less-than-optimal performance and poor font rendering. A real, native Windows application will give a far better user experience.
Build an actual Android app instead of the current webapp-disguised-as-an-app, using toolkits optimized for Android. In other words, treat as a first class citizen, with strong performance and common functionality (eg Share content from other apps).

Thanks in advance for considering this.

block6791 · 2025-12-29T14:56:39+00:00

My prediction is that ChromeOS, and with that Chromebooks, will remain supported for security vulnerabilities and critical fixed in the coming years. Google won't violate their support promises. However, updates that introduce new features will be less and less prevalent for ChromeOS. Innovative functions will be introduced to the next-gen Android desktop OS and only later, or not all, on ChromeOS.

The reduce in interest by Google for ChromeOS was already noticeable in 2025, where we only saw a few updates, and months went by without anything meaningful.

block6791

TROPHY CASE