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Bear Review

Note-Taking Apps

9.2/10How we rateiOSMinimal

Quick verdict: Best elegant note app for Apple users. We recommend it when you want a beautiful, minimal Markdown app on Apple only.

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About Bear

Beautiful writing app.

Pros and cons

Pros

  • Beautiful
  • Markdown
  • Apple

Cons

  • Apple only
  • Subscription for sync

Our review

Bear is a beautiful Markdown note editor for Apple devices. The UI is clean and focused; tags and themes keep things organized. Sync and extra themes require a subscription. Export is available in standard formats. There is no Windows or Android app, so Bear is for Apple-only users who want an elegant, minimal note app.

We recommend Bear when you are on Apple and want a beautiful, Markdown-based editor. For cross-platform or local-first linking, use Obsidian or OneNote. For all-in-one and collaboration, Notion is the alternative.

Key features

  • Markdown
  • Tags
  • Themes

Frequently asked questions

Frequently asked questions

  • Bear is free to use; sync and premium themes require a subscription.
  • No. Bear is only available on iOS and Mac.
  • Yes. Bear supports export in standard formats.
  • Bear is Apple-only and focused on writing; Obsidian is local Markdown with linking and plugins and is cross-platform.
  • Yes. Sync across Apple devices is available with a Bear subscription.