Apple Notes vs Obsidian: Why I Made the Switch
Based on Note Companion's video on YouTube. If you like this content, support the original creators by watching, liking and subscribing to their content.
Apple Notes remains hard to beat for cross-device integration and fast capture, but it didn’t solve the narrator’s long-term organization needs.
Briefing
Apple Notes still wins on convenience across Apple devices, but the switch to Obsidian comes down to one practical upgrade: an AI chat workflow that eliminates context switching while working across multiple files. After months of treating Obsidian as “just another notes app,” the change kicked in when an AI chat feature was added to a plugin the narrator was building. Instead of bouncing between ChatGPT in a separate app or getting distracted by browser funnels, the AI chat lived inside Obsidian and could pull in context from multiple files in a single conversation—using commands like referencing “file X” and “file Y”—so ideas could be developed without copying text back and forth.
That same AI-in-editor setup also reframed how the narrator thinks about organization. Apple Notes can be fast to search—typing keywords in the app’s finder is “amazing”—but the narrator struggled with keeping thousands of notes (roughly 2,000–3,000) organized in folders. Obsidian’s advantage is its expandability: a large plugin ecosystem lets users add features that Apple Notes doesn’t natively provide. Data view is highlighted as a popular way to turn notes into queryable tables, while Tracker adds visual graphs for seeing relationships and progress.
Beyond AI and organization, the narrator points to workflow compatibility as a deciding factor. Obsidian’s markdown format makes content portable and easy to move between tools, which matters because the narrator uses GitHub and code editors as a developer. That portability is contrasted with the pain of exporting Apple Notes—moving content elsewhere “is going to be a mess.” Obsidian’s openness also supports a broader range of integrations through plugins, rather than relying on a single tightly controlled app experience.
The final piece is how the narrator bridges the Apple ecosystem without giving it up entirely. Apple Notes remains in use on the iPhone, but a Shortcut called “move to obsidian” sends notes or voice memos from the iPhone into Obsidian and organizes them automatically. In other words, Apple Notes is kept for capture; Obsidian becomes the working home where AI-assisted drafting and plugin-powered organization happen.
Overall, the switch is presented as a trade: Apple Notes offers seamless device integration and quick capture, while Obsidian offers a more customizable, developer-friendly system with AI context and extensible organization tools. The recommendation is straightforward—try Obsidian if there are tasks Apple Notes can’t handle, because many of those gaps can be filled with plugins and workflows inside Obsidian.
Cornell Notes
The narrator moved from Apple Notes to Obsidian primarily to improve day-to-day writing and research workflows. Apple Notes remains attractive for its tight integration across Mac, iPhone, and iPad, plus fast capture and search. The tipping point was an AI chat feature inside Obsidian that supports GPT-powered conversations without context switching, including the ability to reference multiple files in one chat. Obsidian also wins on organization and extensibility through plugins like Data view and Tracker, and on portability thanks to markdown. A Shortcut (“move to obsidian”) keeps Apple Notes useful for capture by sending notes or voice memos from iPhone into Obsidian automatically.
Why did the narrator initially resist switching from Apple Notes to Obsidian?
What changed the decision once AI chat was added?
How does Obsidian address organization problems that Apple Notes didn’t solve well?
Why does markdown matter in the narrator’s workflow?
How does the narrator still use Apple Notes without losing the benefits of Obsidian?
Review Questions
- What specific workflow problem does in-editor AI chat solve, and how does referencing multiple files change the usefulness of that AI?
- Which Obsidian plugins are named as key organization tools, and what does each add to the system?
- How does markdown-based portability influence the narrator’s ability to integrate notes with developer tools like GitHub and code editors?
Key Points
- 1
Apple Notes remains hard to beat for cross-device integration and fast capture, but it didn’t solve the narrator’s long-term organization needs.
- 2
An AI chat feature inside Obsidian reduced context switching by keeping GPT-powered help within the writing environment.
- 3
The AI chat workflow supports combining context from multiple files in one conversation, enabling iterative idea development without copy-paste.
- 4
Obsidian’s plugin ecosystem (including Data view and Tracker) provides organization and visualization options that Apple Notes lacks.
- 5
Markdown is a major advantage for portability and for workflows involving GitHub and code editors.
- 6
A Shortcut called “move to obsidian” lets the narrator capture on iPhone in Apple Notes and automatically route notes or voice memos into Obsidian for processing.