I have tried more note taking apps/solutions over the last couple of years than I would like to admit. Paper and Pencil (so many books…), Zoho Notebooks, Apple Notes, Google Keep, and Nextcloud Notes are just a few of many… so many.
It wasn’t until I decided on some requirements that I was able to finally trim down the number of options. As of writing this article I daily drive an iPhone, iPad and a Debian with Gnome laptop, a Ubuntu 22.04 server and a Windows 10 gaming rig (I only use the gaming rig for… well… gaming). Before, when I was first testing all of the different apps/solutions I was using an Pixel 4 with GrapheneOS (Something I may return to in the futre.).
Having said all that, below are the requirements I ultimately settled on…
- Cross Platform Support (with so many different OSes and devices this was paramount)
- Open Source* (didn’t want to be tied into a particular service or application)
- Open File Format (so it didn’t matter what application I ended up using)
- Supports Folder (because of how I organize my files and notes)
* Ultimately my choice wasn’t, sadly, 100% open source
Notes Location
I have all my files, notes included, located on my Ubuntu Server with a share setup. I also have folder mounts on my Linux laptop.
Obsidian
Ultimately I decided on Obsidian (https://obsidian.md/) as my note taking application. It has an application for every major OS, desktop and mobile, supports folders, uses the .md file format, and is somewhat open source. I try to limit the Obsidian only functionality that isn’t supported by .md files by default (IE: wiki links, graph view) to future proof the possibility of using a different application.
Accessing Files
PCs When Home: When using my Linux laptop at home I simply open Obsidian and use the vault that I created looking at the shared files through the folder mount.
PCs When Away: I was using a solution where I connected to my home network and then adjusted my folder mounts on my laptop so I could access the vaults as if I were home.
However, at least for the time being, the size of my vault makes Obsidian time out when trying to load the files so I have moved to using Obsidian Sync on my laptop when away from home.
Mobile Devices: When using my mobile devices I use Obsidian Sync.
I suggest you check out the following video from Chris Lawley (https://www.youtube.com/@ChrisLawley/) for all the cool things you can do with Obsidian on iOS/iPadOS devices.