Re:Show HN: Open-source obsidian.md sync server
by lucw on Saturday August 26, 2023 @09:21PM
(#37278531)
Super happy Obsidian Sync user here. I migrated over from Notion, here are the areas where Obsidian blows Notion out of the water:
- Insanely low input lag especially on mobile. Obsidian is FAST. When i'm out and about checking my shopping list, I have a tolerance for maybe 250ms of lag. That's it. You need to show me my data FAST. Notion is a basically a webapp which simply doesn't compete, asks you to re-login constantly. YOU DO NOT ASK A MOBILE USER to RELOGIN.
- Read-only mode: accidental taps instead of scrolls on mobile are a HUGE issue on Notion, especially when you're out and you're in a stressful situation and you need your notes fast. You can not afford an accidental edit. And you simply don't have to focus to carefully touch your smartphone to distinguish swipes from touches. Notion developers just don't get this. With Obsidian, when i'm ouside, i'm most likely in Read-only mode. You can still check checkboxes when in read-only mode, and that's perfect for a shopping list workflow.
- Standard format (markdown). I had tried for some time to automate my Notion backups and it just wasn't possible. With Obsidian, I have no issue using proprietary software because the backing store is Markdown. It integrates nicely with my storage practices. My obsidian files are backed up hourly to my rsync.net account which has 48 hourly snapshots. If I accidentally overwrite something 16 hours ago, I can recover it.
As long as Obsidian meets those 3 checkboxes for me, I'm happy to pay $10/month, $20/month, $30/month, whatever.
- Insanely low input lag especially on mobile. Obsidian is FAST. When i'm out and about checking my shopping list, I have a tolerance for maybe 250ms of lag. That's it. You need to show me my data FAST. Notion is a basically a webapp which simply doesn't compete, asks you to re-login constantly. YOU DO NOT ASK A MOBILE USER to RELOGIN.
- Read-only mode: accidental taps instead of scrolls on mobile are a HUGE issue on Notion, especially when you're out and you're in a stressful situation and you need your notes fast. You can not afford an accidental edit. And you simply don't have to focus to carefully touch your smartphone to distinguish swipes from touches. Notion developers just don't get this. With Obsidian, when i'm ouside, i'm most likely in Read-only mode. You can still check checkboxes when in read-only mode, and that's perfect for a shopping list workflow.
- Standard format (markdown). I had tried for some time to automate my Notion backups and it just wasn't possible. With Obsidian, I have no issue using proprietary software because the backing store is Markdown. It integrates nicely with my storage practices. My obsidian files are backed up hourly to my rsync.net account which has 48 hourly snapshots. If I accidentally overwrite something 16 hours ago, I can recover it.
As long as Obsidian meets those 3 checkboxes for me, I'm happy to pay $10/month, $20/month, $30/month, whatever.