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Bear is a beautiful, flexible writing app for crafting notes and prose. It works on iPhone, iPad, and Mac, so you can write wherever inspiration strikes.
Bear 2 is our largest update ever to your beautiful, personal space to write naturally. Our advanced Markdown support and refreshed, minimal UI empower you to capture and create notes even easier with 20+ all-new features like tables, Backlinks, ToC, and more.
I'm a compulsive note-taker - first started taking notes in @Evernote circa 2011, and switched to @Bear
It's the best Apple-ecosystem note editor out there. I admit I use it less than I used to (I switched to Obsidian because of the extensibility and being cross-platform), but the cleanliness and smoothness of Bear is ideal. I don't really like that they promised a web version 4 or 5 years ago with no dice, but the editor is still solid.
Love this app. Beautiful design. Allow me to focus deeply, to write without being distracted by non essential features
Historically I have liked Bear, but I've been waiting for a web version for almost five years as my work is split between Mac and Windows. The fact that Bear 2 is launching still with no web version or even an update in the blog post on if it's still coming feels like such a slap in the face. Some of us have been waiting half a decade for a web version, being told in December 2019 "it's coming along well" and then another update six months later on Reddit saying that an editor update is needed before they can give an ETA. It's 2023, if the web version isn't coming then please just let us know so I can officially abandon this app and commit to Obsidian for good. If cross-platform is important or integral to you I cannot in good conscience recommend Bear anymore.
I switched to Bear from Agenda and it’s one of 5 core apps for my “second brain”. I can’t wait for this to finally come out.
Before I begin my review, I advise potential users to avoid the whiny reviews. Bear's creators directly interact with their users and are unusually transparent. They are always upfront that they are a small team, so it takes them longer to create an impeccable product. Their high standards are actually admirable; I've never had any type of glitches with Bear 1. I am excited about Bear 2's upcoming release. I'll be a Bear subscriber until I die or the company disappears. This has been the only app I've been subscribed to since my first iPhone. It's been the only app that has helped me tremendously with my severe ADHD. So if I may, I'd like to go a bit more into detail at just how much I love this app, and how it's become a daily Perhaps because Bear creators are so approachable, some users become impatient and self-entitled like Jack Perry's review below mine. I believe those reviews show just how amazing the Bear app is because people want more and more uses out of it, more than what it was created to be. And that is what I love about this app: its versatility. Bear is a note-taking app or writing app, a beautiful one at that. It has been the only app where I have been able to keep my notes organized. Their system of hashtags is brilliantly simple. Even better? You can use more than 1 hashtag, and your note will show up in both searches. Their Apple Watch app is perfect for quickly dictating ideas that bounce around in my head; it'll even transcribe my hashtags, so my notes are already organized in my IOS app. It also flawlessly syncs in all of my Apple products. I write everything in it. Email drafts, notes, assignment notes, musings, etc. Like I earlier stated, their hashtag system allows a note to be organized under 2 topics. For my graduate class, I just wrapped up taking [#literarytheory] All assignments, ideas, and notes for this class had this hashtag. I then used a secondary hashtag to organize them more. Throughout various chapters I took a lot of notes on Sigmund Freud, so those notes had the [#freud]. One search of [#freud], and I am able to easily see all of my notes in the search. Being able to quickly type the hashtags is awesome; the quickest way I've ever found to organize notes, even as you type! Their website has more effective ways of organizing notes, but the versatility is key. Those more complex #hashtag hierarchies wouldn't work for me, but the aforementioned one does. It's adjustable to the user. Anyways, it's rare to find a company who stands so firmly behind their product and who refuses to rush and release an inferior product just for monetary gain. I've seen that happen too much. That's why I was fine waiting for Bear 2 and am super excited about its upcoming launch! Bear app is exactly what it advertises itself to be, and I recommend it. :)
