These are the required plugins you should download for the mobile version of Obsidian. Besides tweaking the interface and making Obsidian run more efficiently, they'll give you a richer set of note-taking tools.
The PodNotes plugin is great if you like to research by listening to podcasts or if you generally like to learn through listening. As its name suggests, the plugin makes it easy to take notes while listening to podcasts.
PodNotes lets you listen to your favorite shows entirely inside the Obsidian mobile app. You can use the mini Podcast player in the sidebar to play audio as usual in apps like Spotify.
Excalidraw is great software for sketching, drawing or using as a digital whiteboard. This plugin integrates Excalidraw into Obsidian, which is great if you're looking for a graphic note-taking tool or just want to doodle for fun.
On a regular phone, your screen space will be limited, so Excalidraw can be difficult to use. However, you may still find it useful for certain tasks like image markup, for example.
Kanban – which means sign or billboard in Japanese – is a visual way to manage your workflow. There's more to it if you're new to the Kanban method, but essentially the idea is to break down a process into core stages and move a task from one stage to the next until completed.
Since you have to visually arrange the cards from left to right on the screen, Kanban wouldn't be suitable for the mobile version of Obsidian. But the plugin's design makes it surprisingly easy to use on phones.
For anyone who takes notes daily, the Calendar plugin is a must. Once installed, the plugin allows you to view the calendar in the sidebar and create new notes by clicking on a specific date.
The best part about using Obsidian on your phone is the ability to take notes anywhere. Taking daily notes is much easier when you can pull out your phone and jot down ideas anywhere. If you're drinking your morning coffee, waiting for the bus, or lying in bed at night, you can immediately jot down ideas that come to mind.
This plugin centers the current line of text in the center of the screen like an old typewriter. It's simple, but a small adjustment like this can help you write more fluently and focus your attention in one place.
With the Typewriter plugin, the advice is to go into the settings and adjust the settings Center offset. This controls where the plugin focuses the text on the screen. By default, it's in the center of your phone, which isn't always the ideal viewing position. Let the text focus on about the top third of the screen to leave a little space for the keyboard, which takes up quite a bit of real estate in the bottom half.
If you're a regular Obsidian user, you probably already know about this popular plugin. But if you're new to Obsidian on mobile, you should also try it on your phone. The main reason you'd want to use Commander is to customize the look and feel of your mobile toolbar.
The toolbar is where you access all the tools you need for smooth note-taking, including inserting images, links, code, titles, and lists. And don't forget third-party plugins that can add additional functionality.
Whisper is the name of OpenAI's impressive speech-to-text AI model, and this plugin brings the AI model directly into Obsidian, so you can take notes with your voice. It also allows you to upload audio files and transcribe them directly into notes.
The only downside is that you will need credits on your OpenAI account to use it. If you transcribe a lot or are simply bored of typing, it's worth a try. You can try it out using ChatGPT's free plan, powered by WhisperAI.
