Bear is made by Shiny Frog, a small Italian development studio founded by Danilo Bonardi, Matteo Sacco, and others. The app launched in 2016 and won an Apple Design Award in 2017, which tells you a lot about its aesthetic quality.
Bear is a note-taking and writing app for Mac, iPhone, and iPad. It uses Markdown for formatting, but you don’t have to know Markdown — the editor renders styles inline, so bold text actually looks bold as you type. It’s the kind of small touch that makes the writing experience feel polished.
Organization relies on tags rather than folders. You add hashtags anywhere in a note, and Bear creates a nested tag hierarchy in the sidebar. A note tagged #work/projects/website will appear under the work > projects > website tree. Some people find this more flexible than traditional folders since a note can live under multiple tags.
Bear’s design is consistently praised. The typography, the color themes (including a lovely dark mode), and the attention to detail make it one of the most visually pleasing writing apps available. The editor supports images, sketches, code blocks with syntax highlighting, and tables.
Bear 2, released in 2023 after years of development, added tables, backlinks, a redesigned editor, and other long-requested features. The update was free for existing subscribers.
Bear is free for basic use on a single device. Bear Pro at $2.99/month or $29.99/year unlocks sync across devices, export options (PDF, Word, HTML), and additional themes.
The main limitation is Apple exclusivity — there’s no Android or Windows version, and no web app. If you’re all-in on Apple devices, though, Bear is one of the best writing experiences you can find.
