MD FlowA lightweight reader for your Obsidian vault
MD Flow is a native Mac, iPhone and iPad app that browses folders of Markdown files and renders them instantly — Mermaid diagrams, KaTeX math, callout blocks and YAML frontmatter included. An Obsidian vault is exactly that underneath: a plain folder of Markdown you fully own. So MD Flow opens one as-is, with no import step, no plugins and no sync setup.
Which is handy, because you don't always need the full editor just to read what's in your vault — or in the growing pile of AI chat exports, generated research and notes most of us now keep as local .md files beside it. MD Flow is free on the App Store, with a one-time $7.99 Pro unlock (unlimited folders, cross-folder search, PDF export) and no subscription.
#When a reader beats an editor
- Quick reference. You want to glance at a note, not enter an editing environment. MD Flow opens instantly to a file browser + rendered preview.
- Reading on another device. Your vault lives in iCloud? Point MD Flow at it on your iPhone or iPad and read your notes without configuring anything.
- Sharing. Export any note as a polished PDF (MD Flow Pro) — math, diagrams, callouts and tables survive the page — and send it to someone who's never heard of Markdown.
- Browsing an archive. Old projects, meeting notes, AI-generated research — skim through folders with previews rendering as fast as you can click.
#Your vault's formatting, rendered
MD Flow renders the things vaults are full of:
- Callout blocks (
> [!note],> [!warning], and friends) with their proper colors - YAML frontmatter as a tidy metadata header instead of raw dashes
- KaTeX math, Mermaid diagrams, syntax-highlighted code, tables, task lists
#Nothing to configure, nothing at risk
MD Flow opens your vault read-only in practice: it never modifies, moves, indexes, or uploads your files. There's no import step and no second copy of your notes — remove the folder connection and nothing has changed. Obsidian stays your editor; MD Flow is the fast way in when you just need to read.
MD Flow is free on the App Store for Mac, iPhone, and iPad (one purchase covers all three).
