If you're an Obsidian user who lives on your phone, January 2026 just delivered your Christmas present. The Obsidian 1.11 update—particularly the mobile version—isn't just another incremental release. It's a fundamental rethinking of how we interact with our second brains on the go. But here's the catch the community is buzzing about: this update will break your current setup if you're not careful. Themes and plugins need love, and the default theme plus restricted mode might be your new best friends for a bit. Let's unpack what this massive shift actually means for your daily workflow, answer the burning questions from the trenches of r/ObsidianMD, and figure out how to navigate this powerful—but potentially disruptive—new world.
Why Obsidian 1.11 Feels Like a Platform Leap, Not Just an Update
For years, Obsidian's mobile app felt competent but… separate. It was a faithful companion to the desktop powerhouse, sure, but it didn't always feel like a native citizen of iOS or Android. The 1.11 update changes that DNA. This isn't about adding a few features; it's about embracing the mobile operating system itself. Siri, widgets, system-level shortcuts—these aren't afterthoughts anymore. They're core to the experience. The developers are signaling that mobile isn't just for viewing notes anymore; it's for capturing, interacting with, and acting upon your knowledge in the flow of your life, often without even opening the app. That's a profound shift. If you've ever fumbled to unlock your phone, open Obsidian, and start a new note while an idea slips away, this update is built for you.
The Mobile Redesign: More Than a Fresh Coat of Paint
The first thing you'll notice is that everything looks different. And I mean everything. The navigation bars, button placements, and overall spacing have been reworked from the ground up to prioritize thumb-friendly interaction on larger modern screens. It's cleaner, but more importantly, it's intentional. Common actions require less stretching and hunting.
But this beauty has a cost, and the Reddit thread is full of users hitting it head-on. The warning in the release notes isn't kidding: "please remember to update your themes and plugins." Many popular community themes, especially those with complex CSS snippets, are rendering incorrectly. Icons are misaligned, panels are overlapping, and some UI elements vanish entirely. This is because the underlying HTML/CSS structure of the app has changed to accommodate the new design language and widget framework.
What should you do? Don't panic. The immediate fix, straight from the developers, is to switch to the default Obsidian theme and enable Restricted Mode (Settings > Community Plugins > Restricted Mode). This disables all community plugins, letting you see if the issue is with a plugin or the theme itself. Then, re-enable your theme. If problems persist, it's the theme. Check the theme's GitHub page or Discord channel—most theme developers are scrambling to release compatibility updates. For now, embracing the default look might be the price of admission to the new features.
Siri Integration: Your Voice-Activated Vault
This is arguably the headline feature. You can now ask Siri to create notes in Obsidian. It's deceptively simple on the surface, but the implications are huge for capture.
Let's walk through a real scenario. You're driving and a podcast sparks a business idea. Instead of trying to type at a red light (please don't), you just say, "Hey Siri, create a note in Obsidian with 'Podcast idea: vertical farming for urban apartments.'" Siri processes it, and Obsidian creates a new note in your designated inbox folder (which you configure in Obsidian's settings). The note is timestamped and ready for you to elaborate on later.
The Reddit community is already experimenting with advanced uses. By combining Siri Shortcuts with this new integration, you can create multi-step automations. Imagine a shortcut called "Meeting Note" that you activate by voice. It could: 1) Create a new Obsidian note with a template for meetings, 2) Populate the title with today's date and "Team Sync," 3) Start a voice memo recording in the background, and 4) Present you with a quick menu to tag participants. This moves capture from being a manual task to a contextual, hands-free system. The key question from users is about organization—thankfully, you can specify the folder path in your Siri shortcut, so "create a note in my Projects > Blog Ideas folder" works perfectly.
Home Screen Widgets: Glanceable Knowledge
Widgets are the second pillar of this mobile-first strategy. Obsidian now offers a suite of home screen widgets that turn your vault from something you open into something that surfaces information to you.
You have a few types. The Quick Note widget is just a text box on your home screen. Tap it, type, and it appends that text to a specific note (like a daily journal). It's frictionless. The Search widget lets you perform a vault search right from the home screen. The Recent Notes widget shows the last 4-6 notes you edited, perfect for jumping back into your current workstream.
The most powerful, in my opinion, is the Query/Dataview widget. This is where Obsidian's linked data shines on mobile. You can create a widget that displays a live list generated by a query. For example, a widget titled "Today's Todos" that shows all incomplete tasks tagged #todo and dated for today. Or a "Waiting For" widget that lists notes where you've tagged other people. It turns your home screen into a dynamic dashboard of your most important context. Community feedback shows people are hungry for more customization here—sizing options, more query parameters, and the ability to mark tasks complete from the widget itself are top requests.
Configuring Widgets for Maximum Impact
Don't just slap a widget anywhere. Think tactically. Create a dedicated "Obsidian" home screen page. Place your Quick Note widget at the top for instant capture. Below it, add your key query widgets (Today's Priorities, Waiting For). On a second widget stack, put the Search and Recent Notes widgets. This creates a one-stop productivity launchpad that has nothing to do with social media or email.
Supercharged Shortcuts and Quick Actions
The update deepens integration with iOS Shortcuts and Android's automation tools. New actions have been exposed, allowing for incredibly sophisticated workflows.
Beyond creating notes, you can now use shortcuts to: Append to a specific note (great for logging data), Search your vault and return results (imagine a shortcut that finds all notes related to the person you're about to call), and Open a note at a specific heading (perfect for jumping straight to the "Agenda" section of your weekly meeting note).
A pro-tip from early adopters on Reddit: Combine these with Focus Modes. Set up a "Work" Focus Mode that, when activated, changes your Obsidian home screen widget to show your work-related project queries. Your "Personal" Focus Mode could switch it to show your reading list or recipe ideas. The app contextually adapts to what you're doing.
Practical Migration Guide: Updating Without Losing Your Mind
So, you're excited but wary of the breakage. Here's a step-by-step, community-tested approach to updating.
- Backup Your Vault. This is non-negotiable. Use Obsidian Sync, iCloud, Dropbox, or just manually copy the folder. Have a rollback point.
- Update the App. Get the early access version from the official links if you're brave, or wait for the stable release.
- Immediately Enable Restricted Mode. Go to Settings > Community Plugins and flip the Restricted Mode switch ON before you do anything else.
- Switch to Default Theme. In Appearance settings, select the default Obsidian theme.
- Test Core Functionality. Create a note, use search, open a few existing notes. Ensure the base app works.
- Re-enable Your Theme. Switch back. Does it look broken? If yes, you'll need to wait for a theme update or find an alternative. The minimalist Paperlike Screen Protector can make the default theme easier on the eyes if you're sticking with it.
- Re-enable Plugins One by One. This is tedious but crucial. Enable one plugin, test the app thoroughly, then enable the next. This isolates any plugin-specific crashes. Popular plugins like Dataview, Tasks, and Templater are being updated rapidly, but some niche ones may take time.
If you hit a wall, the r/ObsidianMD community and the official Discord are your best resources. Search for your theme/plugin name + "1.11 compatibility"—chances are, someone has already found a fix or workaround.
Common Pitfalls and Community FAQs Answered
Based on the 166-comment Reddit thread, here are the big questions and their answers.
Q: "My custom CSS is wrecked! Help!"
A: Yep, this is widespread. The DOM elements have new classes and IDs. You'll need to inspect the new app structure (using a remote debugger on iOS is tricky) or, more practically, wait for your CSS snippet author to update it. Rely on the community forums for shared fixes.
Q: "Siri creates notes, but where? It's a mess."
A: You must configure the default folder in the Shortcuts app. Edit your "Create Note in Obsidian" shortcut and set the "Folder Path" parameter. Use something like "/Inbox" or "/0-Capture" to keep things organized for later processing.
Q: "Widgets don't show my query/data correctly."
A: Widgets, for security and performance, run with slightly restricted permissions. Very complex Dataview queries that rely on certain JavaScript functions might not render. Simplify the query for the widget version. Use a simpler "LIST FROM #tag" instead of a complex TABLE query as a starting point.
Q: "Is this update worth the hassle of breaking my plugins?"
A: For pure desktop users, maybe not yet. But for anyone who uses mobile as a serious capture or review tool? Absolutely. The friction reduction from widgets and Siri is transformative. Think of it as short-term pain for a long-term, significantly smoother workflow. If your mobile setup is critical, the advice is to carve out an hour for this migration. It's an investment.
The Future of Mobile-First Knowledge Work
Obsidian 1.11 isn't the end of this journey; it's a bold new starting point. It acknowledges that the most valuable ideas often strike us away from our desks. By baking itself into the mobile OS fabric, Obsidian is becoming more than an app—it's becoming a system-level knowledge layer.
The next logical steps, as the community is already speculating, could be deeper Apple Pencil/Stylus support for handwritten notes that convert to text, Live Activities for tracking time-sensitive notes, or even integration with automation platforms like Apify to auto-populate notes with web data. The foundation is now there.
My personal take? The initial compatibility headaches are real, but they're the birth pangs of a much more mature and powerful mobile Obsidian. Once your themes and plugins catch up, you'll wonder how you managed your thinking on the go without these tools. The call to action is simple: back up your vault, follow the cautious update path, and start experimenting with putting your knowledge on your home screen. You might just find your phone transforming from a distraction device into the most powerful thinking tool in your pocket.
