Remindian tackles a problem anyone who uses Obsidian for task management knows well: keeping your tasks in perfect sync with external to-do apps without losing custom formatting or metadata. It’s a native macOS menu bar app written in SwiftUI that offers two-way synchronization between Obsidian’s task formats and four popular task managers — Apple Reminders, Things 3, Todoist, and TickTick — treating your Obsidian vault as the source of truth.
What Remindian does and how it works
At its core, Remindian is a SwiftUI app targeting macOS users who rely on Obsidian’s Tasks plugin or TaskNotes format for managing to-dos inside markdown files. It watches your Obsidian vault for changes in real-time using file system watchers and performs sync operations with external apps.
The sync is two-way: changes in Obsidian update the external task managers, and changes in those apps reflect back into Obsidian. The app supports tag-based and file-based list routing, letting you map Obsidian tags or specific files to different external destinations. Recurrence rules and task completion states are handled carefully.
Architecturally, Remindian is a Universal Binary supporting both Apple Silicon and Intel Macs, with zero external dependencies, which means it’s lightweight and doesn’t require auxiliary runtimes or services. It includes features like an onboarding wizard to configure your vault and mappings, an auto-updater for maintenance, a global hotkey for quick access, and integration with GoodTask’s tag writeback.
The surgical sync approach that sets Remindian apart
What truly distinguishes Remindian is its surgical, metadata-preserving synchronization mechanism. Unlike most sync tools that rewrite entire task lines or files, Remindian only modifies the checkbox state and completion date metadata in the markdown lines. It does not reconstruct the whole task line or overwrite other formatting or metadata tags.
This approach is technically challenging because it requires precise parsing and editing of markdown lines without disturbing user-added content like comments, tags, or custom metadata.
By keeping Obsidian as the source of truth and limiting edits to the minimal necessary changes, Remindian avoids common pitfalls like data loss, formatting breakage, or sync conflicts that plague bulk rewrite strategies.
The tradeoff is that the codebase needs to carefully track task states and metadata, and the sync logic is more complex. However, the payoff in a smooth, reliable two-way sync experience is significant, especially for power users who depend on rich task metadata.
The code is clean and leverages SwiftUI’s modern declarative UI framework, making the app responsive and native-feeling. The use of native macOS APIs ensures integration with system-level features like file access permissions and global hotkeys.
Quick start
- Download the DMG from the latest release
- Drag Remindian to your Applications folder
- Right-click → Open on first launch (required for unsigned apps)
- Follow the onboarding wizard to select your vault, grant access, and configure mappings
- Tasks start syncing automatically
This straightforward installation process is designed for non-technical users as well as developers who want a hassle-free setup. The onboarding wizard guides you through vault selection and permissions, which are crucial on macOS due to sandboxing.
Verdict
Remindian is a niche but well-crafted tool for macOS users who manage tasks inside Obsidian and want seamless two-way synchronization with mainstream task managers. Its surgical edit approach is worth understanding for anyone building sync tools or integrations where preserving user metadata is critical.
The app’s reliance on macOS-specific APIs and SwiftUI means it’s limited to Apple desktop environments. Users on Windows or Linux won’t benefit without a rewrite. Also, the focus on Obsidian’s specific task formats means this isn’t a generic task sync solution but a specialist tool.
If you are invested in Obsidian for knowledge management and want to keep your task workflows integrated with your favorite macOS task apps, Remindian is worth trying. Its zero-dependency build and thoughtful design minimize friction and protect your data’s integrity during sync.
For developers interested in sync algorithms, Remindian’s code offers a solid example of how to perform surgical markdown edits without wholesale rewrites — a pattern that can inspire more robust sync tools in other domains.
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→ GitHub Repo: Santofer/Remindian ⭐ 276 · Swift