The intriguing part is “syncs also file attachments inside notes between devices”. Like one had to drag a file inside a note and then Noteplan would do its magic putting the file in some folder and adding a reference into the note. I haven’t tried it, because I want my files to be floating freely between the notes, not linked to them. Perhaps I should give it a spin.
1 Like
It was inevitable that a better product would come along post-Obsidian. Maybe Noteplan is it?
The reality is that Obsidian has a lot of limitations in using and storing graphics and other media types, sharing with other Mac and iOS apps, has to be modified significantly by the user (at least I did), and needs a MacSparky Field Guide to explain. I make limited use of Obsidian but have found myself using it less and less, and moving functions into other apps because they handle it better.
I’ll have to check out NotePlan and see what I think. Any app that gets it’s own MPU episode is worth a look.
2 Likes
Just start using NotePlan and see if it clicks – that’s the best advice for anyone who wants to try it out.
I had years of Markdown-formatted Daily Notes created via the Byword editor app and stored in Finder folders. I imported some of them to jump start my use of NotePlan, and from there I was off and running!
P.S. Thanks for your excellent appearance on the Mac Power Users podcast!
1 Like
I use NotePlan for things that fall into the “administration” bucket and Obsidian for things that fall into the “reasearch / learning” bucket.
NotePlan is for calendar management, tasks, checklists, meeting notes, reference materials relating to the adminosphere—e.g., any tax rules and regulations I need to attend to, licensure requirements, investment management, etc.
Obsidian is for anything I’m researching to broaden my knowledge of deepen my skillset in my areas of expertise or something I’m just plain curious about.
I tried putting everything in Obsidian, but I found that I really needed two separate spaces: one for managing the quotidian and one for fostering creativity.
4 Likes
Great episode, glad to see NotePlan covered and to see a listener/participant here show off their expertise!
As @ldebritto mentioned, I used NotePlan and Obsidian in tandem for a while before Obsidian had its mobile app out. I stopped after Obsidian was released on iPad and iOS but there’re still a number of things I like about NotePlan, especially its native-ness and Reminders/Calendar integrations.
I’m curious about NotePlan users’ experience using NotePlan for writing, e.g., instead of using iA Writer or Ulysses or Pages or whatever. My principle use of Obsidian is actually for managing projects and writing — the academic plugins that allow you to manage references and so on are so good. Any thoughts on that front?
3 Likes
It’s rare that I feel I can take the time to listen to a Mac Power Users episode but I did so with this one and in its entirety because I’m so fond of Noteplan, even though I abandoned it. But every time I do a Houdahspot search and it returns Noteplan entries, or for some reason I open Noteplan up (it’s still active with my Setapp subscription), or when I recently read that Michael Hyatt uses Noteplan, and when I listened to this episode, I think: Shouldn’t I be using this?
And did I hear correctly that David Sparks said Noteplan is definitely on his radar and that he might consider using it (in lieu of Obsidian???) but he only considers making significant changes to his personal operating system at the beginning of a new year? Sound advice. I may do the same and “reconsider” Noteplan at the end of 2024.
My recollection was that I left Noteplan for a dalliance with Tana but when I checked my diaries and logs that is incorrect. I went from Noteplan to TickTick. (I would have to look at those logs more closely to recall why.) Then there was Tana . I also tried Notion as a daily driver. (I still use Notion for some reference material. I also use Obsidian but strictly as a zettelkasten-style research database, not as an all-in-one “everything” solution as I understand MacSparky does.) I finally settled on Capacities and have it open all day, every day, when I’m at my computer.
The problem all those tools have, that Noteplan and Obsidian don’t—and that MacSparky has alluded to so many times—is that they lock your information into proprietary silos. Which means the Mac can’t index them. Which means global search won’t find them. And which I presume means that the forthcoming Apple Intelligence won’t be able to use them. Both Noteplan and Obsidian are plain text; what I call one of the two “forever” file formats. (The other being pdf.) That’s important. And I suspect will become even more important with the advent of AI.
Incidentally, Capacities is on a mission to make their application “offline first” with local storage. I don’t know if this means that the data will be globally indexed and searchable but if not they intend to have local automatic backups of data in markdown which will be indexable. Kudos to them.
2 Likes
Darn you. Capacities is one of those siren apps for me, that keeps calling to me. I’m staying strong, I am happy with my setup. But the idea of markdown backups is intriguing….
Actually, there’s a NotePlan plugin which imports Readwise highlights. I still have my NotePlan and Obsidian linked via common folders, but I switched off the Obsidian Readwise sync.
1 Like
Thanks for the heads-up! I’ll have to take a look.
Update: I’m not sure how I missed it in the plugins.
I add chapters to my highlights, though, and it doesn’t pull those in. That’s crucial for a lot of the books that I take notes in, so the Obsidian integration is better for my use case. I’ll just have to remember to open the vault periodically.
Really enjoyed this discussion. I have been using NotePlan for several years now and have loved how it has expanded its capabilities over the years while still using the Apple infrastructure as its base.
I like the use of the different timeframe notes for Yearly, Quarterly, Monthly, Weekly, and Daily. I do use all of them. And it is nice how they show up at the top of each subsequent note. So, I can see my weekly objectives and tasks each day. And I can see my monthly objectives each week, etc. I like that I can set up templates for each level and modify them when necessary. For example, I use them to do both planning and review, and I found that my templates for weekly and monthly review had too many questions. I just modified the templates until I had ones that worked for me. That flexibility shows throughout the app.
I am primarily an iPad user (over my Mac) so I love that all the features are there. This helps while using Apple Calendar and Reminders alongside NotePlan. I can use Reminders for those little things like take meds or take out the trash and save NotePlan for the larger projects and tasks.
I have been getting more into using the plugins recently. I am using several of them with my favorites being the Dashboard and Projects plugins. In addition I love the updated Filtering capabilities. I have set up a folder with notes for each of my primary focus areas such as Health, Finance, Home, Professional, etc. I add tasks into each of those notes and then use a filter to see the combination of tasks from each note. This along with the Dashboard helps me run my days.
One thing I do not currently do, even though it is possible to do so, is use NotePlan for my PKM type system with notes from my reading, and writing, etc. Instead, I use Obsidian and Bear for those notes. No real reason other than liking the separation. And enjoying playing with Obsidian and Bear. Moving from Obsidian to Bear recently because of how well Bear works in the Apple ecosystem.
NotePlan for me works really well as my goals, planning, projects, and tasks tool, combined with Calendar, Reminders, and Drafts for quick capture.
I am loving using this app every day.
Thanks for the great discussion and recognition of an excellent app.
9 Likes
This is also how I use the two apps, NotePlan and Obsidian. Though recently I have been replacing those knowledge type functions with Bear.
I have done some longer form writing in NotePlan and it works fine. But I have moved more toward using apps such as Typora, Bear, and iWriter Pro for creative writing rather than NotePlan. Some of that is because I like separating the two areas of my life, Life Management from Creative Endeavors. And because the apps designed for writing have some features (such as typewriter mode) that are designed specifically for writing. And since I don’t mind having multiple apps, it’s not a problem.
Plus since all of the apps use Markdown and save locally, I can look at something i have written elsewhere in NotePlan should I want to.
2 Likes
Craft is a proprietary database, and the Apple Intelligence writing tools work just fine with it, just as they do in Obsidian. As for other Apple Intelligence features, I don’t know.
Frankly, I think the “afraid of proprietary databases” theme is way overblown. Many of the same people who use Obsidian for that reason also regularly use and rely on proprietary databases like Day One, Photos, and Notes.
Realistically, how many people have not been able to get their data out of a proprietary database? As long as you pick apps that have good export capabilities (which Notes for instance doesn’t have), to me it’s not a big factor in choosing apps to use. It’s one of those kinds of factors that sounds significant in theory, but not much of a factor in practice.
2 Likes
Many on this forum are much smarter than I am, but I think the same way about apps from large companies that are likely to be here for the next 100 years, tech companies like MS, Apple, Google, and the like. This is why I’m not “overly” concerned about using Word or Pages for most of my writing. I can still open old Pages documents in the older formats. For example, Pages and Keynote will still open and convert older formats circa 2017 and 2019, and I believe even older.
Am I naive or misguided about my comfort level with major proprietary document formats? If this is an issue, I’d feel more compelled to stick with plain text/markdown, notwithstanding the inherent complications and limitations.
2 Likes
I’d say it’s a wise decision, Microsoft or Apple will probably outlive your documents and they need to support their formats for millions of users. Why jump through the hoops of setting a “future proof” alternative? One decides where to put their time and efforts in what one thinks is the most useful way.
Now, another different point is the “proprietary database” format that @Jeagar52 mentions. For example, DEVONthink uses a proprietary database format but exporting is trivial, just drag and drop. Paprika, the recipe manager, also uses a proprietary database but can export it to something that looks like a SQLite database, so in case of disaster I could program something myself to export my yummy recipes and move them to another tool. Fine, again. What is not so fine is if the proprietary database is also stored in some cloud, in that case one needs to carefully plan an exit strategy from the beginning. (Evernote for me is ok because the .enex format can be moved across apps, but can the same be said for, say, Notion, Bear or Supernotes?). You can avoid thinking about all this stuff by simply storing all your notes in Markdown files in regular folders and using an app that supports that structure (probably at the cost of some convenience).
1 Like
Another advantage of a non proprietary note taking app is the ability to share the notes directly with other apps. Noteplan can read and edit Obsidian notes or vice versa.
3 Likes
Yet another reason, at least for .docx, .xlsx and .pptx files: they’re xml based with documentation on these file formats. This makes writing converters very much feasible, and the mass of users in need for this application should be insurance enough for you to be safe.
I place much more value on the inclusion of a share button in an app, which Obsidian doesn’t have because it’s not a Mac App. Craft, although it’s a Mac app, doesn’t have one, either. I hate having to go into the menus and “export” or “transfer” a file.
I just started testing NotePlan, and it’s already looking like a much better alternative to me than Obsidian … and that has nothing to do with the “proprietary vs. non-proprietary” debate.
4 Likes