PKM Weekly - 2025-08-24

A look at the latest Personal Knowledge Management PKM news from the past week.

Hi Everyone,

We are back with another episode of PKM Weekly. Let’s see what is in store for us today.

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Obsidian

• Bases - Available to Everyone

This week, the Obsidian devs released Bases to everyone (changelog), and the response has been overwhelmingly positive. The ability to view your data in a database, all from simple markdown files, is great, and I'm excited to see what other improvements the devs can bring to the table.

If you want a quick way to see what Bases can do / some great use cases, then check out this video from Nick:

• Obsidian Roadmap Update

With the release of Bases, the devs are now turning to other things, and the roadmap has been updated. Lots of amazing things planned:

• Why Obsidian is so good - from an unhappy Notion user

OP writes about Obsidian and praises it for its speed, flexibility, local data control, and customizability, making it especially attractive to users dissatisfied with Notion’s limitations. The thread also features practical tips and diverse workflows shared by experienced community members, with an active discussion about how best to organise and automate note-taking in Obsidian.

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Capacities

• My journey from 100+ Obsidian plugins to finding peace with Capacities

OP wrote on their transition from using Obsidian (with over 100 plugins) to Capacities for note-taking. The OP loved Obsidian but struggled with plugin overload, maintenance, and a disjointed user experience from so many extensions. Switching to Capacities, which organises information as objects (like People, Books, Meetings) with built-in templates and cohesive design, brought clarity and reduced the hassle of maintaining plugins.

Check out the full post and comments on Reddit.

• Capacities v Craft

The video "Capacities vs Craft: Which is the better note-taking app?" by melody aka Melocreating provides a detailed comparison of the note-taking applications Capacities and Craft.

In true AI style, this is a summary of the video:

The video provides a direct comparison between Capacities and Craft note-taking apps. Capacities excels as an object-based, highly interconnected "second brain" app, great for organising long-term knowledge and exploring connections between notes. Craft stands out for its intuitive, visually appealing interface, cross-device Apple ecosystem integration, and unique features like handwriting and whiteboard support—ideal for daily journaling, quick notes, and visual thinkers.

The creator recommends Capacities for knowledge collectors seeking structure and links, while Craft is better for creatives wanting everyday, frictionless note-taking. Both apps are recommended for their strengths, and the creator uses them together for different workflows.

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TANA

• Tana Release Notes

The Tana team has included a few improvements and updates in the latest version of the app (changelog)

1. New - The same node can now be open in multiple tabs.

2. Improved - Better transcription model which supports 60 most common languages, very good at recognising language switching and automatically choosing the correct language. Used both for live transcription in app and from mobile capture. Non-supported languages in the app fall back to Whisper (if you set it with the Set default transcription language command).

3. Improved - Field descriptions on card grouping columns and table columns are now shown as a little ?, hover to read.

4. Various fixes

It is not so much the updates that have been implemented this week that are exciting, but rather what the devs have potentially lined up. There are a few teases,

1. Stay tuned for more exciting news next week

2. A bigger improvement early next week. And more are lined up for the coming weeks

• Tana Live Build v3: Manager Mode

Last week we were back-to-school, next week we go back-to-work

The Focus: How teams can keep track of shared assets and updates, and surface the right information to the right people. Whether you’re managing features in an app, pages on a website, SKUs in a product pipeline, or maintenance logs in manufacturing, the pattern is the same:

1. Capture structured updates

2. Automatically funnel them into dashboards for different roles

3. Zoom seamlessly between small details and the big picture

All built live in a blank workspace in 60 minutes, so you can see how routine tasks can become organised reports and actionable dashboards for managers, operators, and stakeholders alike.

When: Next Wednesday, August 27th, 1 pm CET
Where: Google Meet (sign up here)

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Logseq

• Latest Changelog (Thanks Danzu)

1. Mobile Experience Overhaul - Complete redesign of the mobile interface, replacing Ionic with a custom Silk framework. This brings improved navigation, better touch interactions, and enhanced performance across iOS and Android platforms.

2. Semantic Search - Introduction of local AI-powered semantic search using embedding models and HNSWLIB. Users can now search by meaning and context, not just keywords, with hybrid search combining traditional and semantic results.

3. Logseq CLI - New command-line interface offering offline search, graph querying, data export, and graph management capabilities. Developers and power users can now interact with Logseq graphs programmatically.

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AnyType

Anytype Desktop 0.49.0 Released - changelog

1. Invite Links Without Approval: Users can now add new members to a space simply by sharing an invite link (Editor or Viewer). Manual approval is no longer required.

2. Updated Templates Section: The interface for templates in the Edit Type sidebar is improved, showing up to 6 templates and a visual swiper to browse more.

3. Reorganised App Settings: App settings are now clearer, with "Data Management" renamed to "Local Storage", "My Sites" moved higher, and "Account Deletion" under "Login Key".

4. See All in Widgets: Widgets with more objects now provide a "See all" button for expanded viewing.

5. Shortcut Conflicts Resolution: Assigning a shortcut that’s already in use triggers a confirmation prompt to override or remove the mapping, with system shortcuts protected.

6. PIN Code Security: PIN codes are now stored in the system keychain (with backward compatibility for local storage until updated).

7. Remote Storage Indicators: New banners alert users when remote storage usage exceeds 55%, with real-time sync status.

8. Copy Identity from Member Card: Member’s identity can now be copied from their card in the space.

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Heptabase

In the latest version, we've introduced a new toolbar on the whiteboard, making it easier to use different whiteboard tools.

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Noteey

V1.30.0 is available for update! New Features and Improvements:

1. Significantly improved the product's performance and loading speed.,

2. Tags now support multi-selection.,

3. PDF highlights can be added directly to projects or boards.,

4. Improved text element experience,

5. Improved linked projects and boards experience

6. Quick notes in video highlights now generate screenshots by default.,

7. When opening the Library in the right sidebar, you can also hold Cmd/Ctrl to open cards as floating windows.,

8. Removed folder hierarchy restrictions within projects.

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Thymer

So, it seems that August has been and gone (just about), and unfortunately, there is no sign of the Thymer release. The devs did post a demo update, which looks incredible, and it seems that we are nudging closer and closer to an Alpha / closed Beta release.

Local-first and real-time multiplayer. Stress-testing both:

https://x.com/wcools/status/1958903592036847669

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That’s all for this week. Thank you very much in advance for reading and I look forward to bringing you more PKM news next week.