Yes, it sure looks great. But I’m not sure it’s for me. Seems like an enclosed system, doesn’t seem to play nice with other apps. For example, there doesn’t seem to be a way to open and edit a file I created in Obsidian. So it couldn’t replace IA Writer.
Am I reading it correctly in that it essentially requires two subscriptions to operate on my Mac and my iPad? Each at $30 a year?
It’s a single subscription that includes Mac, iPad, iPhone and Apple Watch.
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Thanks. I must have really misread that.
Seems like an enclosed system, doesn’t seem to play nice with other apps. For example, there doesn’t seem to be a way to open and edit a file I created in Obsidian.
Bear keeps a database, rather than markdown files stored in the file system. You lose a lot when you don’t do this, but Bear does have a great share sheet and excellent import and export, so I think it “plays nice” with other apps.
I’m not sure I’m ready to go back to Bear. I have always loved the app but moved evertyhing (ca. 500 notes with images etc.) out of Bear a couple of months ago in frustration about the lack of updates (v1 was esentially abandonware, you paid subscription for an app where bugs were never fixed and ironed out as they were working on v2 which took forever). Issues I ran across in years of using Bear were never fixed, though reported multiple times.
I’m not sure I trust the team at Shiny Frog to provide regular updates past this initial wave of releases. I might extend my already cancelled subscription though just to keep an eye on it for one more year and to lock in the price, as it otherwise expires next week.
This is a good read however:
@AppleGuy There’s still no web app, but the founder says in this interview ‘probably next year’. In Bear parlance, that’s probably 2026-27 timeframe.
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What do you use for notes now?
Ah, mostly Craft, though their recent pivot towards team features also leaves me unhappy, and I’ve started using Obsidian for notes of long-term value. Historical notes remain in OneNote, but I’m not using it actively for new ones.
Craft is excellent at producing great-looking documents (there are some reports I need to prepare weekly to share with the client, and they’ve been curious about what I was using for that as they liked how they looked). Still, since their recent investment, their development has shifted to team features mostly, old bugs are again not being fixed, and the team has become less responsive. Block-based editing is convenient for reports and similar documents where things are often shuffled around, so I’ll definitely be keeping Craft for that.
Some of the changes introduced in Craft result in a more convoluted approach to notetaking, whereas initially it was just as quick as Bear in finding, managing and editing notes, which is why I’m intrigued with Bear 2 now again. 
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I was going to say, I’m sure I could pull that same quote with a Google search and the result would be from 5 years ago.
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Still testing Bear 2 so here are my first thoughts… The tag-only approach will take some time getting used to. I do love those tables, though! At first glance, this could eventually replace Obsidian. I never found Obsidian pleasant to use and, at first glance, it would seem that Bear 2 has everything I need.
I also use Craft, but trying out Bear now. I have no interest in the team features of Craft and have some other issues with it as well. Find it a bit sluggish on my very powerful Mac, dislike the blocks and it does not search in attachments. I really like the good looking documents and the easy web sharing, but people I share them to often get a security warning making it a non options for my work. Craft support never answered my email about this.
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Yes, but I guess this also means you can’t have Devonthink index and search those notes.
I have run into some several issues with using the iPad Magic Keyboard in Bear 2. I filed a bug report with the developer.
I want to report a bug. This is related to using Bear 2 on M2 iPad Pro and the Magic Keyboard. When text is selected I’m not able to get the right click menu to appear when using the trackpad on the Magic Keyboard. It does appear with touch. Hopefully you can fix this in an upcoming update.
I have come across several similar issues where Bear isn’t functioning properly with input from the iPad Magic Keyboard.
My note taking has become easier since I decided to remove all attachments and handle them elsewhere. I now link to attachments and it opens in the appropriate app. This keeps my text app light and fast and easy to migrate.
I liked Bear 2, but not enough to pull me from Craft. Craft is too pretty and sharing good looking docs online keeps me using it.
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Nice review from Rands.
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