Seeing what changed, and ticking tasks

See what changed

Say you have a note open on your phone and edit it on your Mac. When the new version reaches your phone, mdvju notices and shows you:

• how many lines changed,
• what was added and what was removed,
• and marks beside the scroll bar where the changes are, so you can jump straight to them.

So you’re never left wondering whether you’re looking at the latest version.

When mdvju notices: while the app is open. It checks the note you’re reading every few seconds, and looks at everything again when you come back to the app. It doesn’t watch your notes while it’s closed.

What it compares with: the note as it was when you opened it. mdvju doesn’t keep old versions between openings, so it shows changes made while the note is open, not everything that changed since you last read it.

It depends on the sync: mdvju sees a change once it’s in the folder on your phone. If iCloud, or the app that syncs your folder, hasn’t brought the change over yet, mdvju can’t see it yet either.

Tick a task

Tap a checkbox in a note to tick it, or tap again to untick it. It’s the only change mdvju ever makes to your notes.

• The change is written straight into the file, so your other devices get it the same way they get any other change: through iCloud or whatever syncs the folder.
• mdvju only writes if the note hasn’t changed since you opened it. If it has, nothing is written, so it never overwrites something you changed elsewhere. The box flips back and mdvju says “Couldn’t update checkbox”: “The note changed since it was opened. It has been reloaded – try again.” The note then shows its latest version, and you can tick again.

When ticking doesn’t work

Whether ticking works depends on the folder. Some folders belong to another app, and that app may not let other apps change files in it. If that happens, mdvju tells you: “Can’t save changes in this folder. The app holding it doesn’t allow other apps to write to it.” The box stays as it was, and your note isn’t touched.

Obsidian’s own folder under On My iPhone does allow it: ticking has been tested there and works.

If you want to tick tasks and your folder doesn’t allow it, the fix is on the side of the app that owns the folder, not in mdvju.

If saving fails for any other reason, mdvju says “The change wasn’t saved – try again.”