Notion's offline mode might just make me ditch Obsidian

Notion is certainly 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 principally due to Notion’s one deadly flaw. The second you lose web, the app successfully turns into ineffective.

I’ve discovered that the exhausting approach on flights, cafes with rocky Wi-Fi, even when desirous to test a washer’s upkeep schedule in my basement laundry with out a 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 just wanted entry to my notes. For a really very long time now, Obsidian has been my security internet. However now that Notion has lastly mounted that deadly flaw by rolling out offline mode, it might 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 dearth 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 while you misplaced entry to the web, you additionally misplaced the app’s utility. You could possibly be staring on the prettiest dashboard on this planet, however in case you wished to test your notes throughout a flight or in an space with out a sign, it was successfully ineffective.

For me, that was the hole Obsidian stepped into so neatly. With its markdown-based information dwelling in your native storage, it by no means mattered if the web was on or off. I might take my laptop computer on a long-haul flight or my telephone right into a low-signal zone, and my notes had been all the time there. Clearly, I couldn’t sync information throughout with out the web, however my work to date was proper there and able to be accessed. I can’t rely the variety of occasions 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 approach anyplace, it feels just like the steadiness is bridging the hole within the function set. As somebody who’s incessantly on the go, I wanted that type of reliability, and Obsidian has been the place the place I hold something vital.

After all, Obsidian and Notion are very completely different in how they strategy note-taking. Obsidian leans into extensibility with plugins for nearly the whole lot, and the truth that all notes are just easy markdown information means they’re as moveable because it will get. However the app isn’t excellent. Even the best duties can take just 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 shortly helps you to hyperlink tasks, create aesthetic and practical pages, share them to the web with one click on, and extra. Options like Notion Kinds are unbelievable for fast knowledge entry on the go. Suffice it to say, Notion has all the time felt like the higher device for managing larger 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. All the things syncs again when you reconnect, much like Obsidian. On paper, which means I now not want two separate instruments. My use case is best served by Notion, and gaining access to offline mode means I ought to be capable to ditch Obsidian. Effectively, as is all the time the case, the main points matter, and Notion’s offline mode comes with loads of quirks that it would be best to be careful for.

For starters, in contrast to Obsidian, Notion’s offline mode isn’t automated. Any web page that you simply wish to entry offline should be marked for offline use on every machine you intend to make use of. When you neglect to try this, you’re out of luck. Premium plans do ease issues by robotically 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 option to pressure a full obtain. When you have a sophisticated setup utilizing a number of subpages, you’ll need to manually toggle every one for offline entry. Subpages don’t robotically tag alongside while you mark a guardian web page offline. On high of that, embedded content material, buttons, and types cease working with out a 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 device.

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 device because of its extra outlined schema of getting issues executed. Obsidian presents extra freedom and has by no means let me down with offline entry, however all too usually it’s a must to soar by means of hoops for easy duties. Typically you even want to put in third-party plugins for what ought to be primary performance. That isn’t splendid for the way I exploit apps.

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

On the similar time, I don’t see myself deleting Obsidian any time quickly. Markdown information saved regionally are nonetheless unmatched for permanence. If one thing goes flawed, I do know my notes are sitting on my exhausting 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 wish to dwell in two worlds anymore. Splitting notes between apps provides friction I now not want. If Notion can do sufficient for me day after day, then Obsidian begins to really feel like a security internet I don’t must test fairly as usually.

For now, I’ll in all probability combine Notion extra into my each day workflow whereas preserving vital entry paperwork on Obsidian. I nonetheless must see how nicely offline syncing holds up in real-world use. How nicely does Notion deal with conflicts? Will Notion enhance the database restrict? These are questions that solely long-term use can reply. However offline mode, even in its present type, is sufficient for me to significantly take into account ditching Obsidian. And it might just be for you as nicely.