I’ve been using Obsidian for my note taking for a little while and I love it. I love you can just do a quick [[[other note]]] and it will link to the other note. I love that the full thing is just in markdown files, so that I can have full control; even if Obsidian were to disappear.
The one thing that is a little frustrating for me is getting my notes synced between my desktop, laptop, and phone. I have tried using syncthing to just sync the markdown files directly and it worked pretty well. But, it seems a bit overkill on my phone. I think I’d rather move to a single server that I can connect them to and they can sync from there.
I have looked into a few plugins. I saw that there a git one. I am a developer. So, that seems like the natural way for me to do it. But, I also saw a post on reddit where they suggested webdav. Which might be closer to what I want. I don’t need it to be where I can type on two devices and have the stuff sync super fast or something. I just want to type my notes, close the app, and when I open it on a different device; I want it to have my latest notes ready for me.
What are you personally using for Obsidian? I’d love to hear from other people here. I don’t want to pay for Obsidian’s subscription service. I want to host it myself.
I use git to sync Obsidian. Termux on Android and git on any other device. I have two scripts, one .sh one .psh, that I run to just commit and push the latest changes. On Windows I use the plugin shell commands for one-click running the script, on Android I need to use termux.
It’s not the easiest but it is, at least to me, easy to set up :)
I’m using Syncthing. It doesn’t feel like overkill, especially since I’m also using it for music and photos. I basically just set it up and forget about it.
Same, but apparently android app is no longer supported since google play was too annoying for the developer. So wondering how long I can keep it up.
Syncthing-Fork has been out for years and has more options too
Just like @BearOfaTime@lemm.ee suggested, Syncthing-fork works fine for now, I’ve been using it on my phone to sync logseq notes and I haven’t had any issues so far
F-droid
Perhaps take a look at this :)
Planning to close my Google Play Developer Account. Please say hi if you are interested in obtaining the latest gplay release files from me to help in publishing this app.
Seems like most open source project are leaving Google’s official store? That’s nice but will leave out some potential visibility for people who have no idea other than Google Store.
I wish their was also an easy way to leave github behind :/. Wait&See !!
When Google doesn’t restrict apps via the Android APIs, they restrict them via the BS Play Store review requirements. I’ve seen apps loose important functionality over this, meanwhile there’s still rampant viruses roaming free in that dump.
I predict we’ll see more and more ‘Power user’ apps move away from the Play Store as time goes on
I know you don’t want to pay for their sync service and this is the self-hosted community, but I just wanted to note that they service does work well and gives you access to note history. I decided to pay because Obsidian is excellent and I wanted to support it. I just wish it were open source.
Yep, I used to sync my Obsidian vault with Syncthing but I had some trouble with it once where stuff wasn’t properly synced and led to conflicts so I switched to paying for Obsidian Sync and have been very happy with it. I was especially happy to see that now offer a cheaper tier that has enough storage if you only sync text files.
I just have my vault default location saved on a cloud drive. iCloud in my case as I have an IPhone but I guess it could be done with any cloud or owncloud if you have a server.
I used to use Git, but it is easier to just move the vault on a network/cloud drive as you don’t need to pull/push. As obsidian auto save when you type a character this makes the sync instantaneous with zero effort.
I simply use Nextcloud to sync the vault directory. It has clients for both desktop and mobile and works perfectly fine. I use it to sync basically everything between my work, home, laptop, and mobile.
The only drawback is that I don’t know if Obsidian automatically reloads a file if it is changed - if not, and you leave the file open in the editor, you might accidentally overwrite the new file with old data.
Just sync it using whatever cloud service you use, doesnt matter if selfhosted or not. ie. DIY
BTW if your library gets large and has a lot of plugins, it wont run to any useful degree on your phone.
I just dumped my obsidian workspace into a folder synced by Google Drive.
You and also use crypmator to encrypt your notes inncase google ai starts reading them.
the obsidian-git plugin. Auto commits and pulls/push every x minutes. Works great for me, I get full version control and works on all my platforms (Linux, Windows, Android). You just need to be careful with your .gitignore and add at least .obsidian/workspace.json to prevent conflicts.
Probably not suitable if you store larger files, but after a year of daily usage with tons of small images I’m still below 150 MB.
Does this plugin work on mobile too? I’m looking to try out Obsidian and this sounds promising.
Yes, to both Android and iOS. It uses HTTPS instead of SSH, since most phones don’t support that without additional software.
Look at the LiveSync plugin as another option. It’s pretty robust but does require a CouchDB server accessible to whatever devices will be syncing information. The developer has several repos of slightly different server options, but if you use Tailscale there’s one that runs CouchDB through Tailscale Funnel.
I’m using the plugin remotely save and sync via WebDAV. Nextcloud provides a WebDAV interface so it’s pretty straight forward, and I can read my vault online via Nextcloud Web. Im mostly happy with it but sometimes there are some sync hiccups if versions of the plugin are very far apart but I also have 5-6 instances of obsidian that I need to keep in sync.
Obsidian has a built-in sync feature. Use it.
OP said they don’t want/can’t use the built in paid sync service and wants to self host it
Alright then. I’d recommend Nextcloud.
It seems to me that Syncthing is the exact right thing to use here; what is “overkill” about it that makes you think you should use something else?
This is what i do. Just ensure version control is enabled. Works perfectly.
No Syncthing is perfect. The problem is the Android app development issue. The main all had it last update ever earlier this month.
Yeah I think it’s Syncthing-Fork now?
That’s the problem making me think about switching now lol
I’m using syncthing-fork on Android for years on multiple devices without problems.
To be fair, Syncthing-fork has been around for a while, even before the main app got discontinued and it’s still rock solid
This guide is incredible. It is pretty much instantaneous
@lambda@programming.dev Syncthing worked wonders for me, though it is only recently that I knew about Syncthing plugin on Obsidian; I used syncthing without it. I used it to sync notes for three separate vaults between my laptop and android phone.
The plugin is nice to know about. I was just putting the vault in a syncthing folder.
How is this any different from having syncthing application?
@Ogygus@lemmy.world reading the readme (https://github.com/LBF38/obsidian-syncthing-integration - or search
Syncthing Integrationon Community Plugins), it apparently offers conflicting files resolution (happens to me from time to time when I forgot to sync before opening daily notes, but not a big deal) and an option to modify .stignore from obsidian (stil in beta, and also the same for most of the configurable settings), among other features. Just to be clear, you still need to install Syncthing on your devices. I’m not in the position to give any meaningful review for them, though.
I personally use the Obsidian Git plugin and sync it to a self-hosted Gitea server. You could also use GitHub or something similar, if you don’t mind them.
