What we need is a notes app that looks and behaves like a rich text editor but saves in Markdown. And by this I do not mean the clunky ‘source editor mode’ or whatever Obsidian calls it, where the Markdown formatting characters appear and disappear constantly displacing the text on your screen; instead I mean proper formatting like in a word processor. For everywhere else where Markdown is used intentionally the markup should be handled openly, like iA Writer and BBEdit do already, and not be hidden away.
I primarily use Apple’s Notes app for note taking. It syncs across all of the devices I use, has rich text formatting like headings, bold, lists (I do not use or need links). I use its document scanning feature because it is good but not because I want it part of my note editor. And, Notes can be shared collaboratively with most of the people I need to share notes with. It is one of Apple’s very best applications on all platforms.
That being said, I wish it saved to a directory of flat text files instead of some SQLite database synced across the cloud. I could use Obsidian to have something like this but it has simply never stuck with me. It is far too clunky and cumbersome. And isn’t anywhere near as good as Notes is across all platforms. I know that is vague feedback but it is simply true.
Many Obsidian fans are willing to put up with the slight inconveniences it comes with to use something that stores files, in an open format, and isn’t owned by a large tech giant. It is also very extensible and is opinionated. I totally see the appeal. But I just can’t get it to work for me.
What I would like is a version of the Notes app that saves files. I want every feature of the Notes app, including and perhaps especially the collaboration, except that it saves files instead of a database.
But I will likely never get that. Apple won’t do it and a third-party may not be able to do it. So, I’m stuck with the Notes app which is very good.