Obsidian/Q/Can custom Obsidian plugins run on iPhone?
Can custom Obsidian plugins run on iPhone?
- Answer/Official from Mobile development, Manifest, and the Obsidian sample plugin:
- Short answer: Yes. Custom plugins can run in Obsidian for iPhone. Obsidian's developer documentation covers mobile emulation, inspecting the app's webview on an iOS device, and detecting iOS with
Platform.isIosApp. A plugin declares mobile compatibility with "isDesktopOnly": false in manifest.json. - The development workflow is usually desktop-based. Write and compile the TypeScript on a Mac or PC, then put the built
main.js, manifest.json, and optional styles.css in VaultFolder/.obsidian/plugins/<plugin-id>/. Copy or sync that compiled plugin folder to the iPhone, restart Obsidian, and enable it under Settings → Community plugins. - Mobile compatibility is the important constraint. Node.js and Electron APIs are unavailable on iOS, so code or dependencies that use modules such as
fs, path, or electron can crash. Prefer Obsidian's cross-platform APIs, use Platform for platform-specific branches, and test the plugin on the phone. - A practical development loop: start with the official sample plugin, keep
isDesktopOnly set to false, test first with desktop mobile emulation, then inspect the actual iPhone from Safari's Web Inspector on a Mac. Obsidian documents inspection for iOS 16.4 or later.