Plugins and the mobile app

Obsidian out of the box is a markdown editor with backlinks. Plugins turn it into a Swiss army knife.

Two kinds of plugins

Type	What they are	Where you find them
Core plugins	Built by Obsidian devs, ship with the app	Settings → Core plugins
Community plugins	Built by third parties	Settings → Community plugins → Browse

Core plugins are safe by default. Community plugins are user-contributed — read the readme, check stars, install from the official directory only.

The 5 community plugins you’ll actually use

Install these via Settings → Community plugins → Browse:

Plugin	What it does	Why you need it
Local REST API	Exposes vault over HTTP	Powers Claude Code’s Obsidian MCP
Dataview	Query frontmatter and tags	Required for several workflows
Templater	Smarter templates with variables	Better than the built-in template plugin
Tasks	Advanced task filtering	If you live in checkboxes
Obsidian Git	Auto-commit to a git repo	Free version history beyond Syncthing’s

You already installed Local REST API (it’s what powers the Claude integration). Install Dataview next — several skills on this site degrade without it.

The mobile app

Install Obsidian from the Google Play Store on your Galaxy S26+.

Opens the same vault, same notes. The interface adapts to touch:

• Sidebar swipes from the left
• Long-press a note for options
• Pin notes to the home screen as Android shortcuts
• Quick capture: home screen widget for “new note” or “append to today’s daily note”

Caution

Community plugins on mobile — most work, but some don’t (the ones that depend on Node APIs). Dataview, Templater, Tasks all work on mobile. Local REST API doesn’t need to — your phone hits the desktop’s API via Syncthing-pushed files, not directly.

Mobile-specific gotchas

• Frontmatter editor — the mobile UI for editing frontmatter is clumsier than desktop. Edit YAML in source mode if you’re picky.
• Plugin install location — community plugins must be re-enabled on the mobile install (the vault syncs them but they’re disabled by default to be safe).
• Performance — vaults with 5000+ notes can be slow on mobile. Yours is small (~30 files), no problem.

What’s NOT on mobile

• Custom CSS snippets (the .obsidian/snippets/ files don’t apply on mobile)
• Some advanced themes (most do work though)
• Anything that needs a terminal — Claude Code runs only on desktop

Quick capture from your phone

Two flows:

1. Open Obsidian → tap + (new note) → type → save — appears in 00-Inbox/ after sync (or wherever you tell it; configure default new-file location in Settings → Files & Links)
2. Bixby Routine or HTTP Shortcut → POST to 00-Inbox/inbox.md via the Local REST API (covered in Setup → Mobile sync)

Next

Sync via Syncthing — how your desktop vault stays mirrored with your phone.