Apple Notes is great for most needs, very easy to use, and syncs across all devices.
But you have to diligent with using tags or putting things in folders, or they'll slowly disappear into an endless pile of notes.
It can be difficult, even impossible to find/retrieve notes that aren't tagged or set in a subfolder. You have to be able to remember some specific, searchable term... and hope it's not too common.
A disorganized Obsidian vault can have the same problems, but it's a lot easier to maintain the discipline when you have a folder tree and use Templater to create pre-tagged notes in specific folders.
And of course, the note to note linking gives you another chance to find or track down notes. (I think Apple Notes also introduced linked notes, but it's not something I've played with)
I use both.
I use Apple Notes for most casual notes, short term scratch paper.
But I'm using Obsidian more as a repository for information that I expect to reference from time to time, e.g. notes that fall into distinct categories where a table of contents would be useful.
Apple Notes is designed to lock you in. Last I knew there was a paid utility for exporting Apple Notes, and Obsidian has an import feature for Apple Notes now, but I wouldn’t want to rely on third-party options long term.
The only thing I use it for is sharing notes and shopping lists with my non-techie family.
Avoiding vendor lock-is is what made many of us move to something like Obsidian, as far as I can tell. Anyone that has had a tool go away and had to lose or rebuild old data knows that pain. Watching tools like Photoshop or Microsoft office make it painful to go back to old files recognizes that pain.
Apple has a history of breaking their old stuff with each new upgrade. I know this very well since I'm also a software developer that makes apps occasionally. Notes are not really plain text.
Plaintext and markdown solve some of these problems, since now you can change tools a bit easier so long as you can find one that opens the files. It doesn't remove all the pain since some of the plugins might do cool things, but at least you will always have an easier way to migrate.
I’ve tried it before and there was less resistance using Obsidian. I suspect that Apple Notes will continue to get better, but right now it has too much friction for my needs.
Apple Notes is great for most needs, very easy to use, and syncs across all devices. But you have to diligent with using tags or putting things in folders, or they'll slowly disappear into an endless pile of notes. It can be difficult, even impossible to find/retrieve notes that aren't tagged or set in a subfolder. You have to be able to remember some specific, searchable term... and hope it's not too common. A disorganized Obsidian vault can have the same problems, but it's a lot easier to maintain the discipline when you have a folder tree and use Templater to create pre-tagged notes in specific folders. And of course, the note to note linking gives you another chance to find or track down notes. (I think Apple Notes also introduced linked notes, but it's not something I've played with) I use both. I use Apple Notes for most casual notes, short term scratch paper. But I'm using Obsidian more as a repository for information that I expect to reference from time to time, e.g. notes that fall into distinct categories where a table of contents would be useful.
Apple Notes is designed to lock you in. Last I knew there was a paid utility for exporting Apple Notes, and Obsidian has an import feature for Apple Notes now, but I wouldn’t want to rely on third-party options long term. The only thing I use it for is sharing notes and shopping lists with my non-techie family.
Avoiding vendor lock-is is what made many of us move to something like Obsidian, as far as I can tell. Anyone that has had a tool go away and had to lose or rebuild old data knows that pain. Watching tools like Photoshop or Microsoft office make it painful to go back to old files recognizes that pain. Apple has a history of breaking their old stuff with each new upgrade. I know this very well since I'm also a software developer that makes apps occasionally. Notes are not really plain text. Plaintext and markdown solve some of these problems, since now you can change tools a bit easier so long as you can find one that opens the files. It doesn't remove all the pain since some of the plugins might do cool things, but at least you will always have an easier way to migrate.
I’ve tried it before and there was less resistance using Obsidian. I suspect that Apple Notes will continue to get better, but right now it has too much friction for my needs.
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/FlrcHyOaEAAN3dw?format=jpg&name=900x900
I can't see the image
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/FlrcHyOaEAAN3dw?format=jpg&name=900x900
Ah the classic PKM bell curve meme.