Bear

What reviewers actually said

Built only from these 120 real reviews (foreign ones translated). Superscripts jump to the quote here. Apple has no per-review links, so [ref] opens that app's reviews on the App Store.

1. [R64] 3/5 · US Greed is a sin: This is a 5 star app held back by one simple mistake: pricing. I would GLADLY pay this dev a one time double digit fee to flip the switch to use my own iCloud memory to sync notes between my devices, because this app is very intelligently put together. Unfortunately, they are attempting to charge a monthly fee for that service. You might argue that clicking buttons is very difficul
2. [R79] 1/5 · US Not worth the coin. You have to pay to store to iCloud?!: You have to pay to store to iCloud?! That’s silly and greedy. I have been developing software for over 40 years. I can understand wanting to get paid for your work. But this limitation makes this software untestable for one’s environment. Free apps do save to iCloud. It also doesn’t allow you to edit the raw .md files, which free app
3. [R81] 1/5 · US Not “in-app” purchase. SUBSCRIPTION based!: EDIT 04/16/25: Annual price raised to $29.99. Same complaints as before. Software is not a service and I will not RENT it from you., Previous review: I am sick and tired of all these apps that claim to be free with “in-app purchases” that you think will be a reasonable $3 or $5 price tag for something simple like the basic ability to sync your writin
4. [R318] 3/5 · GB Beautiful App but…: iCloud sync is locked behind a subscription fee 🤢 Wonderful to use, well designed, themed etc. but I don’t like blocking of essential functionality behind a subscription fee. Especially considering iCloud sync comes with my phone already… why am I paying to unlock a feature that already comes with my iPhone. I’d have the subscription for encryption and themes - collaborative
5. [R45] 3/5 · US Honest review: This app has nice features, but it doesn’t beat Apple Notes, which is free. For specific needs, I already use Microsoft Word and Apple Pages. So I’ve got more than enough apps that cover everything Bear does, and more. The only edge is exporting to multiple formats, but copy and paste to Word or Pages does the job. Paying $30/year ($2.5/month) makes no sense with all the overlap. S
6. [R292] 3/5 · GB On the fence: Been looking for a decent note taking app. Saw a review for this app on YouTube and decided to try it. It’s ok, bland, no decorative options from what I can see. Do like the formatting. One BIG FLAW for me is that there is no lifetime subscription. You want me to pay monthly or yearly to write stuff down? Not a chance in hell.
7. [R220] 1/5 · US DONT DO IT!!: This app is so thirsty for money they have FORCED ME INTO A YEAR SUBSCRIPTION. I only tried to get a trial, but I guess I didn’t cancel it in time. I tried to file for a refund but of all the refund requests I’ve ever filed, this one doesn’t ‘meet the qualifications’ well I DONT WANT IT. I EVEN OFFERED TO PAY FOR THE MONTH THAT I WAS “using” IT. But no I need to pay for a whole year
8. [R93] 1/5 · US Need lifetime: Please add lifetime purchase
9. [R9] 5/5 · US Just better than anything comparable: - It works - It works consistently - Great UI - Smooth down to the smallest of interactions - Fast - Same great experience on every Apple device No matter how many times I try other note taking apps, none of them come close to the simple, great experience of Bear.
10. [R10] 5/5 · US Should need no introduction: Bear slaps. I've used it for like 8 years now. Super simple, just the right amount of complexity. Themes and styles are beautiful, including all the custom icons. Sync is always super fast and smooth. Exporting, tagging, formatting, all just work exactly how you'd want. Everything feels crisp and easy to use, especially and most importantly the note editor UI, which is
11. [R12] 5/5 · US The very best! ♡: This app is reliable, easy to navigate, and stylish. I love using it every day! Please consider adding a feature for user-made themes in the future! And a feature to toggle a note’s history + restore versions!
12. [R17] 5/5 · US Thank you for the safe space: This app feels safe, calm, useful, simple.
13. [R6] 5/5 · US Exactly what I needed: I was looking for an Evernote alternative where I could use tags, and this is perfect. I both like to write and store recipes using tags for season, type, occasion etc. The support for nested tags is much appreciated, and their Pro plan is very reasonable. Not much is paywalled (it’s just cloud features, themes, and search), so give it a try!
14. [R23] 5/5 · US Brilliant, lovely: So easy to use and intuitive. The aesthetics make it fun. I haven’t found a better app for organizing all the notes, documents, links, and courses I collect and refer to to support my career-change coaching practice. The tagging system allows me to classify something by topic and also author or source. It’s a beautiful personal library. And the customer service is extremel
15. [R24] 5/5 · US Clean and Powerful: This app shines in the little details: it’s crazy fast, compare it to Apple notes and you will see a night and day difference, especially for long notes. It has table of contents, which makes it easy to navigate long notes. The tag system is miles better than folders. You can manage your todos by following a thin line under each of your notes that shows the progress of your tod
16. [R25] 5/5 · US Tried them all-came home to Bear: This app is so streamlined that it can be deceptive how brilliant it is. Bear works with your mind, without friction. Hashtags are one of five key power tools here. Use them to create a filing system, as well as to cross index any files you want. Bear seems simple, but it is in fact the most elegant writing tool out there. In its elegant simplicity exists ultima
17. [R2] 5/5 · US Great app at a great price: I love the Bear app. It’s WAY better than Evernote and reasonably priced. Keep up the great work!
18. [R13] 5/5 · US Bear is the Best!: Hands down my favorite notes app I’ve ever used. It’s getting more features all the time and has everything I need. Most aesthetically pleasing app, too. I love how it syncs across my iPad and MacBook, and the way it centers the content inside the window is an amazing but simple feature that not all other notes apps have. Well worth the money. My go-to for many years now. Smal
19. [R30] 5/5 · US Solid and beautiful text editor: I’ve used Bear for a few years now. I really enjoy the functionality, UI, and ease of formatting. I have the yearly subscription, so my notes sync across devices readily. I can also adjust font, spacing, and color themes easily. I’m not an advanced Markdown user, but I’m beginning to learn more features I’ve barely touched, like making your notes into your own pseu
20. [R22] 5/5 · US Indispensable: I do a ton of notetaking, and Bear is now my indispensable tool for doing so. The UX is great across iPhone, iPad, and Mac, syncing across devices just works with iCloud without any extra subscription, and the Markdown support is great for portability between systems like blogs.
21. [R33] 5/5 · US Amo: Me gusta mucho,tiene muchas opciones de texto,puedes hacer de todo un poco,es buena para ipad y teléfonos,simplemente me encanta
22. [R44] 5/5 · US Great Note app for light formatting: I don’t like the iOS Notes app much. I wanted a text editor with light formatting options, like WordPad in Windows. Bear is perfect for this. You can apply bold, italic, underline, strike-through or highlight to text, have bullet lists, numbered lists, H1, H2, H3. You can add footnotes. It’s got pretty much everything I need. Hashtags make organization ea
23. [R98] 3/5 · US WARNING FOR TRANSFERRING NOTES: Let me start off by saying I love bear and have been using it for maybe half a decade now. I have tons of notes in there, and even with the free version it does exactly what I need it to do. So then here comes the issue: I recently got a new iPad and wanted to copy the notes from my old iPad onto the new one (I have the app on all my devices, but because I have the
24. [R54] 5/5 · US Best Note Taking App: This might be my first review on the App Store. This is a fantastic app. I’ve used Onenote, Notion, Obsidian, and many others and keep coming back to bear for one reason. Simplicity. It can be as complex or as simple as you want, but the simplicity it creates for the user is just so good. It syncs with iCloud securely, and attachments are search with their super fast search.
25. [R70] 3/5 · US No Cross Platform: I've been using this app on and off for years to journal but the lack of cross platform (pc or browser version with cloud sync) made me move to Obsidian. It's a shame because I'm choosing to pay double the price of Bear Pro for a subscription to Obsidian with enough space to accommodate my files. That money could be going to Bear if they had the capabilities. If cross-platform s
26. [R130] 2/5 · US It’s ok, from the developers’ responses, they’re pretty opinionated on it not getting better.: I tried Bear several years ago and it didn’t work for me mainly because I have an Android phone, and need it to sync with my phone, not just Apple devices (MacBook and iPad Pro). I looked into it again thinking maybe I could use it for some more work that I’ll just not do on my phone. I like tagging syst
27. [R180] 3/5 · US Not enough for me: What Bear doesn’t have is a web app or Windows app nor a Chrome extension, which would make me take this app more seriously as I work in a Windows workplace, even though my personal devices are Apple. Otherwise it’s a beautiful app.
28. [R341] 3/5 · GB A very good app but: Lack of Windows version or even a WebApp in 2021 is “a bit” disappointing. I had a sub for more than a year but I was tired of not having the access to my text from many devices. So I moved to the other app. There is also Typora an amazing markdown editor for both Mac and Windows. There is a problem with notes sorting too. As the only option is to use tags. It’s not the best
29. [R19] 3/5 · US Tags for folder organization???: I’m looking for a new Notes app. I like the color themes that Bear offers. The app looks really good. The text and paragraph formatting options are limited imo. Where Bear lost me though was when I discovered in order to create folders and nested folders, I have to use tags. I mean, come on. Just let me create folders and nested folders. Had to delete the app. I th
30. [R78] 2/5 · US Quality App Uses Atypical Organization: Bear is a nicely designed app that uses an unusual tagging structure for file organization. I think it will work well for many users looking for an Apple Notes replacement that uses plain text however, certain design decisions make it unusable for me. Bear doesn’t use a traditional hierarchy of directories for note organization but instead uses a tagging s
31. [R142] 3/5 · US Interesting: Bear is ok but the lack of folders is annoying. In fact it’s a deal breaker. In no way does the tag system give more freedom or make things easier, in fact the opposite is true. Just because something is better for you personally doesn’t mean as a business owner you don’t try and accommodate everyone who might possibly be using your product. And answers like “we have determined this i
32. [R21] 1/5 · US All my work is gone: They updated the app and absolutely everything that I’ve kept there is gone and customer service has helped very very little. If ur gonna use the app at least keep your work backed up elsewhere
33. [R39] 1/5 · US App not syncing across devices - iOS 26 broke it: App not syncing across devices - seems to have broken with iOS 26. :(
34. [R108] 1/5 · US Ruined a perfect app: God I would give anything to have back the old Bear. She worked flawlessly…. now she’s only a shell of what she once was.
35. [R14] 3/5 · US Great for saving info: Well, it was a great app, but the latest update just screwed up the copy and paste function. Used to be you could just copy and paste, then edit your data; now after you copy, it gives you a multiple choice for paste for which no selected options work, so they just rendered my favorite note taking app useless for copying data to edit.