Just speak to your Apple Watch. Save it to Obsidian before it's gone.
Simple Memo lets you leave a voice memo on Apple Watch, then — via your iPhone — auto-append it to your Obsidian notes as well as your own inbox. As few as 2 taps from open to send. For voice input, just tap the mic and speak. No plugin required — the Obsidian write happens through your iPhone's own integration process.
Tap the mic on Apple Watch and speak — that's your memo. Send it and it lands in your own inbox; if Obsidian integration is enabled on your paired iPhone, the same memo is also auto-appended to your Obsidian daily note or Inbox note. Writing to the vault is a local process handled by your iPhone, and no Obsidian community plugin is required.
The moment worth capturing disappears before you open your iPhone
On a walk, right before or after driving, in the middle of chores, right before bed — ideas strike without warning, and the few seconds it takes to pull your iPhone from your pocket are enough for the thought to slip away. Voice memo apps exist, but they pile up unsorted without something to organize them. For anyone who wants that memo to end up in Obsidian, the real friction is everything between typing it and it landing in the right note.
Just speak to your Apple Watch. It lands in your inbox — and in Obsidian.
It's not that Apple Watch alone saves directly to Obsidian. A memo sent from the Watch is relayed through your paired iPhone to write into the Obsidian vault folder. The write itself is always performed by the iPhone side.
It's simple to use
The flow is one straight line: speak on the Watch → send via iPhone → recorded in both email and Obsidian.
① One-time setup — turn on Obsidian integration (on iPhone, ~1 minute)
- Simple Memo installed on iPhone (iOS 16.0 or later)
- Obsidian installed on the same iPhone
- Your Obsidian vault is on iCloud Drive or "On My iPhone" and accessible from the Files app
- Turn on Advanced Mode
Toggle "Advanced Mode" on in the iPhone app's Settings. - Turn on Obsidian integration
Toggle on the "Obsidian Integration" row that appears. - Choose your Obsidian folder
Select your Obsidian vault folder on iCloud Drive. - Pick a destination
Choose "Daily Note" or "Inbox Note."
This is a one-time setup. From then on, memos sent from either Watch or iPhone are appended to Obsidian under the same rule. See the Obsidian integration page for full setup details.
② Send a memo from Apple Watch (every time)
- Open the app (tap one)
Launch from the Smart Stack widget, a watch-face complication, or the app grid. - Tap the mic and speak
Tap the input field for voice or Scribble handwriting input. Finish speaking and it becomes text automatically. - Send (tap two)
Tap send and you're done. It arrives in your own email — and if Obsidian integration is on, it's auto-appended to your Obsidian note too.
Add the widget to the watchOS Smart Stack and the app is one tap away: turn the Digital Crown (or swipe down) from the watch face.
The honest mechanics: how Watch, iPhone, and Obsidian each play their part
We didn't want this page to make it look like Apple Watch does everything on its own. Here's exactly what happens, laid out plainly.
Two-tap sending plus voice input (standard watchOS dictation). Dictation cannot auto-start the instant the app launches on watchOS's public APIs — you have to tap the input field first. This is a platform-wide restriction shared by every third-party Watch app. Sending requires either the Watch's own connection or a nearby paired iPhone. See the Apple Watch page for details.
Even memos from the Watch pass through the iPhone's sending pipeline. Writing to the Obsidian vault folder is always handled by the iPhone side — the Watch never accesses the vault directly. The iPhone itself launches in about a second (see our measurement method), supports auto-start voice input on launch, and has an offline Outbox queue.
No community plugin installation is required. The iPhone app writes notes directly into your selected iCloud Drive folder. If your vault doesn't appear in the folder picker (e.g. an Obsidian Sync-only vault), it falls back to the URL-scheme method (Obsidian briefly opens to append on send).
Turn Obsidian from "somewhere to organize later" into "somewhere you can capture instantly"
Obsidian is great at knowledge management, but has some friction at the point of input. Simple Memo works as the entry point just before that.
yyyy-MM-dd.md; choose the Inbox note and everything collects chronologically in one file.Send it to yourself, just like Captio's classic workflow — and it lands in Obsidian too.
Simple Memo is built around the experience of emailing yourself a memo. Open it, write (or speak), send — that's it. It lands in your email, so it's easy to search, and with Obsidian integration on, it flows straight into your knowledge base too. Simple Memo isn't affiliated with Captio, but it's designed for anyone who wants that same "send it to yourself, fast" memo experience.
Great for moments like these
FAQ
Does it work with just the Apple Watch?
You can compose a memo on Apple Watch alone, but sending the email requires a connection — either the Watch's own Wi-Fi/cellular, or a nearby paired iPhone.
Is this an official Obsidian integration?
No. Simple Memo - for Obsidian is an independent app built by YURIKA, K.K., not an official Obsidian app or plugin. It provides its own integration that auto-appends sent memos to your Obsidian vault.
Does a memo I speak on Apple Watch automatically land in Obsidian?
Yes — but not directly. A memo sent from Apple Watch is relayed through your paired iPhone; if Obsidian integration is enabled there, the same memo is auto-appended to your Obsidian note too (the vault write is always performed by the iPhone, never directly by the Watch).
Does it reach my email too?
Yes. Simple Memo is built around sending memos to your own email. Whether you send from Apple Watch or iPhone, it arrives in your inbox, and — if enabled — the same memo lands in Obsidian too.
Is this affiliated with Captio?
No, there's no affiliation. Simple Memo - for Obsidian is a separate, independent app — not a successor to or official app of Captio. It's designed for anyone who wants that same "send it to yourself, fast" memo experience, with Obsidian auto-append added.
Is it free to use?
Yes. The Free plan lets you send up to 3 memos a day, free forever. No credit card is required. If you want to send more, the Premium plan (monthly or annual) gives you unlimited sends. Check the App Store's in-app purchase screen for pricing.
Does it work offline?
On iPhone, memos are stored in an on-device Outbox queue even without a connection, and sent automatically once you're back online (AES-GCM encrypted). To send from Apple Watch alone, you'll need either the Watch's own connection or a nearby paired iPhone.
How many taps does it take to send from Apple Watch?
As few as 2: open the app from the Smart Stack or a complication (tap one), then send (tap two). For voice input, tap the mic in the input field after opening, speak, then send — one extra tap.
Related Pages
References
- Apple Watch User Guide — Official watchOS guide covering the Smart Stack, complications, and dictation
- Apple Developer — watchOS apps — Official documentation of the public APIs available to watchOS apps (no API for auto-starting dictation is provided)
- Obsidian Help — Official Obsidian help for vaults, daily notes, and sync behavior
- Simple Memo - for Obsidian — App Store — App Store download page