Use PodNotes on mobile

Enable PodNotes and open the player

1. Open Obsidian settings and go to Community plugins.
2. If restricted mode is enabled, turn it off.
3. Browse for PodNotes, install it, and enable it.
4. Open the command palette and run PodNotes: Show player.

The player appears. The Show PodNotes podcast action in the mobile ribbon opens the same view. On mobile, the player does not open at startup. PodNotes still loads its saved data when Obsidian starts.

To add and play your first podcast, follow Getting started. If Create episode note is missing, load an episode first. A paused episode is sufficient.

Add a capture button to the editor toolbar

1. In Obsidian settings, open Interface and choose Configure mobile toolbar.
2. Add PodNotes: Capture Timestamp to the toolbar.
3. Load an episode in PodNotes.
4. Open a Markdown note in edit mode and place the cursor where you want the timestamp.
5. Tap the capture button in the editor toolbar.

The timestamp appears at the cursor. New installs use a clickable episode link. If your existing format produces plain text, set Capture timestamp format to - {{linktime}} in PodNotes settings. The final space separates the link from the text you type next.

For recent playback ranges, use PodNotes: Capture Last 10 Seconds or PodNotes: Capture Last 20 Seconds. These commands need a loaded episode and a non-empty timestamp format. See Timestamps for formats and the Timestamp offset (s) setting.

Capture with a headset

1. Load an episode in PodNotes.
2. Send your headset’s previous-track action.

When the device delivers the Media Session previoustrack action, PodNotes captures a timestamp. It inserts the timestamp into the active editor. Without an active editor, it appends to the current episode note and creates that note if needed. The fallback requires non-empty Note creation file path and Note creation template settings.

Headset gestures vary by device. Ordinary play and pause events do not capture timestamps. PodNotes registers no dedicated Media Session seek-forward or seek-backward handlers.

Download an episode

1. Load the episode in PodNotes.
2. Run PodNotes: Download Playing Episode.
3. Wait for the download to finish before going offline.

The file is saved inside your vault at Episode download path and appears in Local Files. You can also tap an episode’s More options button and choose Download. Offline playback needs the saved file on this device. See Downloads on another device.

To play your own audio or video, long-press a vault media file and choose Play with PodNotes. For MP4 and WebM files, choose Play as audio with PodNotes or Play as video with PodNotes.

Known limits and verified devices

Toolbar capture, local MP3 playback, adding a feed, dormant startup, and a completed download were verified on an Android 14 Pixel 6 emulator. That check used Obsidian 1.14.4 and PodNotes 2.21.1. The evidence is recorded on issues #89, #100, #109, #110, and #113.

These checks do not verify iOS, iPadOS, every physical Android phone, or headset delivery. Media playback also depends on the device’s supported codecs. Values stored in Obsidian’s secret storage do not sync through plugin data. Unprotected private-feed URLs can sync. Plugin data sync does not guarantee that a media file has arrived. See Sync and devices for those limits.