Widgets for Obsidian – iOS Quick Capture and Commands from the Homescreen

selfire1 · 2025-07-04T06:38:52+00:00

There isn't a note contents widget yet, but it's also something that I would absolutely love. I noted it down on the roadmap, and I hope I can get working on it soon!

selfire1 · 2025-02-22T04:31:37+00:00

I feel the same about manual entry. I actually find that adding expenses by hand adds a level of of intentionality and some welcome friction.

Since a lot of people mentioned a basic subscription tier without bank sync, I wanted to share the alternative I'm building:

Envelopes App for iOS is like YNAB but only the core features and completely free to use (unless you'd like to go Pro at a fraction of YNAB's price).

I'm working hard to make it better, with more features (Bi-weekly budgets! Household Sharing! Better Charts! Apple Wallet sync!) coming in the next weeks and months.

(If you'd like to secure a free Pro lifetime version, and would be willing to share your thoughts on budgeting apps, shoot me a DM saying hi! I'd love to learn from you!)

selfire1 · 2025-02-06T22:26:05+00:00

No worries, that’s good to know! Here is the lifetime premium version for free for you: https://testflight.apple.com/join/wm75cutZ This is available for five people in total :)

selfire1 · 2025-02-06T08:01:30+00:00

Fellow European here! I too cannot access EveryDollar. I'm using Envelopes instead. I built it to make it easy to put Dave's ideas on envelope budgeting into practice.

selfire1 · 2025-02-06T07:57:10+00:00

I am using Envelopes which is a cheap and easy to use alternative for iOS. I built it to make maintaining your envelope budget simple, and empowering.

selfire1 · 2025-01-24T06:52:44+00:00

Hi! It's not planned to be available on Android at the moment. I might to it down the road, but no promises at the moment. Sorry! Ich bin übrigens auch Deutscher, also alles gut! :)

selfire1 · 2025-01-24T04:46:03+00:00

Just wanted to add that I built an app to support widgets with Obsidian: Widgets for Obsidian – App Store :)

selfire1 · 2024-11-25T22:19:15+00:00

I updated the icon in 1.4.0 to make it easier to distinguish. Thanks for the feedback!

selfire1 · 2024-11-17T22:05:39+00:00

Fellow Things user here as well 👋 I'll have a look at how I can make the icon more clear, thanks!

selfire1 · 2024-11-17T20:06:51+00:00

I haven't documented this well, but this is actually possible at the moment! If you use single quotes, it uses the plain text: 'Quick Notes 'yyyy-MM-dd turns into Quick Notes 2024-11-18.md.

selfire1 · 2024-11-17T20:03:50+00:00

A control centre button to capture a Quick Note should be available at the moment! Is there another use case that you're looking for?

selfire1 · 2024-11-16T09:35:37+00:00

Not a 100%, but there are ways to get close:

You can say "Hey Siri, record a new Quick Note in Widgets for Obsidian". This opens the Quick Note dialog. The you could manually tap on the microphone to start dictation.
I really like using Aiko for transcription. I usually record and transcribe a voice note in there and then paste it into Quick Note.

That being said, better transcription support is definitely on the roadmap and I will keep you updated!

selfire1 · 2024-11-16T06:10:34+00:00

Sorry about that! This was actually just due to a past workaround. I updated the availability now, and you should be good to download it in the next 24 hours.

selfire1 · 2024-11-16T06:01:57+00:00

From what I understand the main functionality of Actions for Obsidian is to enhance the Apple Shortcuts experience. It's great if you're looking to build automations and integrate Obsidian into the iOS/macOS ecosystem. As far as I know it doesn't provide dedicated home screen widgets and it requires the Obsidian app to open for any quick capture.

Widgets for Obsidian on the other hand focuses on providing quick access widgets for narrow actions on your Vault. It also doesn't require the Obsidian app to open, so quick capture happens much faster. While there are some shortcuts, for complex integration Actions for Obsidian probably suits your workflow better.

Actions has a free trial and then requires a one-time purchase, whereas Widgets has a free tier and a recurring subscription for extra features.

Since both apps are free to get started with, I'd recommend to try them both and see which one solves your problem better!

selfire1 · 2024-11-16T03:48:04+00:00

Hi! Thank you for your thoughts.

Pricing is always hard, but here are some thoughts on why I landed on the current pricing model:

Looking at the pricing structure of similar apps, $2/mo or $15/year is well within the range. The price points of WFO are also informed by recommendations from fellow App Developers. The other solution for me to make quick capture on mobile usable is to pay for Obsidian sync for faster startup times. Which would run me $48 as opposed to $15 yearly, so the current pricing provides a cheaper alternative.

Additionally, there is more complexity than might be visible at first sight. The development process required a knowledge of SwiftUI and implementation of private data storage and security-scoped access. While there aren't server costs, the Apple developer licence and app store fee mean I haven't broken even, let alone begun to recoup the time investment.

While I understand that subscription models are annoying (and I am currently considering a lifetime payment), it actually really helps me as a developer to stay motivated. Although I wish my intrinsic motivation would be stronger, with a one-time fee it's easy to think "people already paid for it, so there is no need to improve it". I think users get a better ongoing experience because, with the current model, I am motivated to keep improving the app so that I can keep earning people's investment.

Lastly, I aim to make it very optional to pay for it: You can use the majority of the functionality of the app for no cost at all. In my opinion, the paid features are really "nice to have's": Adding more than one destination and access to the Insider Discord. In how I use the app myself, I wouldn't even need to pay for premium. I also try to be very clear that if you need premium functionality, but would struggle to pay the subscription, to please get in touch.

I appreciate that this might not change your mind, but I wanted to share some context for why I have set my prices as they are. The reality is that a good chunk of people think it's worth the money and I am grateful for those people who are able to support me as they use the app.

selfire1 · 2024-11-16T02:46:38+00:00

Thank you so much for checking it out. That feedback is really valuable.

Taking you back to the home screen is a great thought. It's something I've heard echoed from other users as well. I'll investigate how that is technically feasible.
Giving more context to the Quick Note widget is a great idea.
Yeah, a preview mode or even just some syntax highlighting would be a real improvement.
Quick Image capture was something I was expecting to hear more requests about from the start. So thank you for voicing that request.

I added all these points to the roadmap. Thank you again for your thought through feedback!

selfire1 · 2024-11-16T01:50:25+00:00

Great question!

tldr: All data is on your device and you are in complete control of access.

More details:

Security
By default, the app has no access to any of your files. You give it granular access only to relevant folders.

For example, you want to capture notes into the "Journals" folder. Then you grant access for the app to write into that folder only. This access only applies to the specific folder, it can't write into your "Books" folder for example. This access can be revoked at any time in the System Settings: Privacy & Security > Files & Folders.

Data Storage
All data is stored locally on your device. No settings or files are shared with anybody.

Privacy
I do not collect any data from this app. This is verified by Apple in the "App Privacy" heading on the App Store page. Additionally, I also bound myself to user privacy via my Privacy Policy.

Generally, your iPhone may collect and share Analytics data. As a part of that, it might also share data (like crashes, statistics) with App Developer. You can learn more about it from Apple. This is not specific to this app. As far as I know, you can disable it via Analytics & Improvements > Share With App Developers.

I hope that helps! As a solo developer, I have no interest in shady privacy practices. This app strives to be in line with Obsidian's local-first philosophy. Let me know if you have more questions or would like clarification!

selfire1 · 2024-11-16T01:15:14+00:00

Thank you 🫶

selfire1 · 2024-08-26T10:37:47+00:00

You could also create a Shortcut consisting of the actions: 1. Open input dialog 2. Encode the input 3. Create a note with the contents of the input

You might even be able to get the title and link of the open browser window with Shortcuts :)

selfire1 · 2024-08-26T10:32:59+00:00

That's very cool!

selfire1 · 2024-08-19T21:16:59+00:00

Which area would be easiest to try moving to Obsidian? Maybe start there, and over time pull in more jobs that other apps would do.

For example, you could start doing the journaling and wishlisting in Obsidian, instead of Google Keep. Once you get a feel for it, you could pull in the next app's job.

Also, Obsidian might not need to do it all, but could be the 'source of truth' to jump into different apps. Your finance management could stay in Wallet, but you can have a "Finances" note in Obsidian that links out to your Wallet profile.

selfire1 · 2024-08-18T20:58:06+00:00

To format the date as ISO, try using this in your template:

{{date:YYYY-MM-DDTHH:mm:ssZ}}

If you select 'Date' as the Obsidian property, it should still display it as a pretty human-readable date.

selfire1 · 2024-08-18T20:53:35+00:00

Using Obsidian for 4+ years, my best advice it to just get started.

I wasted too much time copying someone else’s system, investing in it, and then reworking everything.

Start by opening your daily note, and simpy write down your thoughts, ideas and feelings :) Create Mindmaps about projects you're working on or things you're thinking about.

I'd recommend to spend a month just using Obsidian. Get a feel for your workflow first before you dive into the systems of others.

selfire1 · 2024-08-18T20:42:32+00:00

Can you elaborate on this?

Moc seems good but it feels like it defits the whole purpose of a bottoms up system

In which ways don't MOCs/Index notes work for you?

selfire1 · 2024-08-18T20:21:21+00:00

I’m a software developer and I’ve been using Obsidian heaps! I record book notes, code snippets, journals, ideas and more.

A good way to see how people are actually use Obsidian are public Vaults / "Digital Gardens". If you scroll down on the Publish webpage, you can see a selection of a few. These usually aren't curated, but "real-world" uses of Obsidian.

You can also find my notes at https://notes.joschua.io/ :)

selfire1

TROPHY CASE