Notion’s offline mode may simply make me ditch Obsidian

Notion is considered one of my favourite instruments. From databases to to-do lists, monitoring eating places I wished to take a look at, and a lot extra, I’ve dabbled in it for years till I lastly made the swap to Obsidian. That’s largely due to Notion’s one deadly flaw. The second you lose web, the app successfully turns into ineffective.

I’ve discovered that the arduous method on flights, cafes with rocky Wi-Fi, even when desirous to examine a washer’s upkeep schedule in my basement laundry with no mobile sign. It’s what pushed me in the direction of Obsidian, a local-first markdown-based app that has by no means failed me after I simply wanted entry to my notes. For a really very long time now, Obsidian has been my security web. However now that Notion has lastly mounted that deadly flaw by rolling out offline mode, it is likely to be time for a rethink. Maybe it’s time to ditch Obsidian and return to Notion. Right here’s why.

For anybody who has used Notion lengthy sufficient, the shortage of offline entry was not a minor inconvenience. It was successfully a dealbreaker. The entire app was designed round its well-defined construction and cloud-first expertise. So whenever you misplaced entry to the web, you additionally misplaced the app’s utility. You may be staring on the prettiest dashboard on the planet, however for those who wished to examine your notes throughout a flight or in an space with no sign, it was successfully ineffective.

For me, that was the hole Obsidian stepped into so neatly. With its markdown-based recordsdata dwelling in your native storage, it by no means mattered if the web was on or off. I may take my laptop computer on a long-haul flight or my cellphone right into a low-signal zone, and my notes have been all the time there. Clearly, I couldn’t sync recordsdata throughout with out the web, however my work up to now was proper there and able to be accessed. I can’t rely the variety of instances I’ve been mid-thought on a flight and wished so as to add one thing to my challenge tracker, solely to stare at a clean Notion display. Obsidian solved that, however at the price of giving up Notion’s highly effective databases, templates and collaboration instruments. Now that Notion guarantees to work the identical method wherever, it feels just like the stability is bridging the hole within the function set. As somebody who’s incessantly on the go, I wanted that form of reliability, and Obsidian has been the place the place I preserve something vital.

In fact, Obsidian and Notion are very totally different in how they strategy note-taking. Obsidian leans into extensibility with plugins for nearly all the pieces, and the truth that all notes are simply easy markdown recordsdata means they’re as moveable because it will get. However the app isn’t excellent. Even the best duties can take only a bit an excessive amount of time to perform.

Notion, however, is extra polished and collaborative. Constructing a database takes solely a few clicks. It rapidly allows you to hyperlink tasks, create aesthetic and practical pages, share them to the web with one click on, and extra. Options like Notion Types are unimaginable for fast information entry on the go. Suffice it to say, Notion has all the time felt like the higher instrument for managing greater tasks, whereas Obsidian is extra geared in the direction of private tasks and analysis. For years I lived in each worlds, and although it was messy, it labored.

Notion’s offline mode replace upends that. With the software program’s newest launch, I can now view, edit, and create notes with no need the web. The whole lot syncs again when you reconnect, just like Obsidian. On paper, meaning I now not want two separate instruments. My use case is healthier served by Notion, and gaining access to offline mode means I ought to be capable to ditch Obsidian. Properly, as is all the time the case, the main points matter, and Notion’s offline mode comes with loads of quirks that you’ll want to be careful for.

For starters, in contrast to Obsidian, Notion’s offline mode isn’t automated. Any web page that you just need to entry offline have to be marked for offline use on every system you propose to make use of. When you overlook to do this, you’re out of luck. Premium plans do ease issues by mechanically downloading current and favorited pages, however it’s nonetheless removed from Obsidian’s always-available simplicity. And since most dwelling and fanatic customers are on the free tier, they don’t profit from auto-downloading.

Then there are the boundaries. Databases are capped at 50 rows for offline entry with no solution to power a full obtain. If in case you have a sophisticated setup utilizing a number of subpages, you’ll must manually toggle every one for offline entry. Subpages don’t mechanically tag alongside whenever you mark a dad or mum web page offline. On high of that, embedded content material, buttons, and types cease working with no connection. None of those points are dealbreakers individually, however collectively they make offline mode really feel extra like a workaround than a seamless function. Whereas I’m glad the function exists, it’s clear that Notion was constructed from the bottom up as a cloud-first instrument.

Regardless of the various limitations of Notion’s offline mode, it’s already making me rethink how I work. As I discussed earlier, Notion comes throughout because the slicker instrument as a consequence of its extra outlined schema of getting issues performed. Obsidian gives extra freedom and has by no means let me down with offline entry, however all too usually it’s important to leap by means of hoops for easy duties. Generally you even want to put in third-party plugins for what needs to be primary performance. That isn’t superb for a way I exploit apps.

With offline mode, Notion has lastly earned again a few of that belief. Offline mode shouldn’t be excellent, nevertheless it now not collapses the second Wi-Fi drops. That’s sufficient for me to contemplate shifting again.

On the identical time, I don’t see myself deleting Obsidian any time quickly. Markdown recordsdata saved domestically are nonetheless unmatched for permanence. If one thing goes flawed, I do know my notes are sitting on my arduous drive, untouched by anybody else. That sense of possession is difficult to beat, particularly for somebody like me who’s deeply entrenched within the self-hosted ecosystem. However the actuality is that I don’t need to reside in two worlds anymore. Splitting notes between apps provides friction I now not want. If Notion can do sufficient for me each day, then Obsidian begins to really feel like a security web I don’t have to examine fairly as usually.

For now, I’ll in all probability combine Notion extra into my every day workflow whereas conserving essential entry paperwork on Obsidian. I nonetheless have to see how properly offline syncing holds up in real-world use. How properly does Notion deal with conflicts? Will Notion improve the database restrict? These are questions that solely long-term use can reply. However offline mode, even in its present kind, is sufficient for me to noticeably contemplate ditching Obsidian. And it would simply be for you as properly.