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Drafts isn’t the cheapest (or the dearest) notes app around, but it’s at the top of the tree for people who like a central place to start their notes. For my use case it beats other capture tools hands down.
This week I experimented (not for the first time!) with ways to append text to a file in an Obsidian vault, without first opening the Obsidian app.
Why? Because I’m easily distracted!
I want a method that takes me as quickly as possible from deciding to write, to words on the screen. Click, write, export.
Bebop, Scratchpad, Apple’s Quick Note, Apple Shortcuts, Funnel, and PopClip are all great options, but each falls short of one or more of the following criteria:
Bebop is an iOS only app that captures text directly to a new note in a location of your choice, or appends text to an existing note, with the option of adding the current date. I wrote to the app developer asking if it might be possible at some point to append text to a static file without needing to type the name of the file as the first line of every note. I can use Bebop to add to my OBTF, but having to manually type “OBTF” on the first line of every note becomes tiresome very quickly.
Scratchpad comes close to the free version of Drafts as a bare-bones notes capture tool, but there were a lot of conflicted files created while I was experimenting with it.
Apple Shortcuts allows you to create your own macro (thanks, @GeetDuggal) in order to get text into Obsidian, or you can use ones that have been done for you. Apple’s Quick Notes are a good way to capture information as you work but there’s no built-in way to export it.
Funnel can also capture voice recordings, images, scans, sketches and more, directly to Obsidian (amongst other destinations). Nice! You get 30 free captures before needing to pay either a subscription or a one-time purchase fee.
PopClip is the fastest way to get existing text from anywhere (including web pages) into my OBTF, on my Mac. Highlighting text on a web page also brings across the source as a link. I’ve set up PopClip to append whatever I highlight to my OBTF, which is nice, but there’s no way to automatically add the current date that I can see. Highlighting Markdown isn’t so great as Popclip the formatting symbols.
Drafts can’t compete with Funnel as it only captures text, but it’s still my favourite. That’s because it works on both Mac and iOS, and lets me create a template that adds the current date to the front of the note. You can use this action from @FlohGro, or create your own.
Drafts Pro (necessary for creating and editing actions) is absolutely worth the price! It’s quick to start typing (you won’t get faster input anywhere), it archives every note made, reliably syncs between Apple devices, allows complex templates with variables, and easily appends text to existing files. Even the freemium tier has my vote as it ticks four of the five aforementioned points.
Look, you actually don’t need any of these apps. You might want them, and that’s okay, but you don’t need them.
You don’t need to spend money, either, and you certainly don’t need to spend time learning how to create macros or wrangle your devices into adding today’s date.
All you need is somewhere to capture the things you don’t want to forget, plus 5 minutes at the end of the day to place them where you want them to go with today’s date (typed only once) as a header.
Everything else is a nice-to-have, not an essential. It’s icing, not cake.
The way I see it, there’s nothing wrong with having nice things as long as we don’t get so soft that life feels too hard without them!
One last thought: pen and paper work too.
PopClip is one of my most used Mac utilities, it’s truly remarkable! Use this link with the code ELLANE to try it for free for 30 days (instead of the usual 7 days) on Setapp. While you’re there, check out their other plain text friendly tools. I receive a small commission when you join Setapp with my link.
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