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Bear

Markdown Notes

Bear is a Markdown writing and notes app where you can collect ideas, draft longer work, and organize personal reference material or a journal.

by Shiny Frog Ltd.

Get it on the Mac App Store Developer website ↗
Helps you Capture quick notes 27 Write & preview Markdown 23 Build a personal knowledge base 14 Keep a private journal 8 Write articles, books & docs 31

What you get

You can turn scattered notes into organized, connected writing.

You get a place to capture a passing thought, plan your day, or work on a longer draft without creating an account first. You can format your writing with Markdown while keeping it readable, and put lists, tables, and tasks alongside your text.

As your collection grows, you can group notes with nested tags and connect related ideas with links. Backlinks help you see which notes refer to the one you’re reading, while a table of contents helps you navigate longer pieces. You can also save web content into your notes and find writing through Spotlight.

You can export your work as plain text, Markdown, or rich text to use elsewhere. With Bear Pro, you can sync notes across your Mac, iPhone, and iPad, encrypt individual notes, search text inside attached images and PDFs, and export to additional formats such as PDF and Word.

  • Start writing right away

    You can capture ideas or begin a draft without signing up or creating an account.

  • Keep related ideas connected

    You can link notes and follow backlinks to revisit related thoughts without relying on tags alone.

  • Keep tasks beside context

    You can add to-dos to your notes and find all notes containing tasks.

  • Take your writing elsewhere

    You can export notes in plain text, Markdown, or rich text, with more formats available through Bear Pro.

  • Protect sensitive entries

    With Bear Pro, you can encrypt individual notes using a password private to you.

Best for

  • You want quick notes and longer drafts in one place
  • You’re building a linked collection of personal reference notes
  • You want a journal with optional password-encrypted entries

Skip it if

You don’t need Bear if your existing notes app already covers your writing and organization needs and you don’t use Markdown.

Screenshots

Bear screenshot 1 Bear screenshot 2 Bear screenshot 3 Bear screenshot 4 Bear screenshot 5 Bear screenshot 6 Bear screenshot 7

From the developer

Bear is a beautiful, powerfully simple Markdown app to capture, write, and organize your life. ​ Take notes, plan your day, journal thoughts, organize tables, create lists and tasks, sketch ideas, link notes together, write a book, and much more.
Read the full description

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