Bear is a Markdown notes app for iPhone, iPad and Mac that organizes notes with #tags. It’s free to download, and Bear Pro, which adds iCloud sync between your devices, costs $2.99 a month or $29.99 a year. It has 4.7 stars from 6,874 App Store ratings.
Quick verdict
Bear suits you if you write a lot on Apple devices and would rather tag notes than file them. The praise is broad: many reviewers like how it looks, many call it easy to use, and many like the tag system. Several say the free version covers what they need. The complaints cluster in a few places. Several reviewers want real folders, several report losing notes, and several find the formatting keyboard slow or clumsy. If you need a Windows or web app, or want to share notes with other people, check before you subscribe; several reviewers ask for each.
Bear at a glance
| Developer | Shiny Frog Ltd. |
|---|---|
| Store listing | Bear on the App Store |
| Price | Free; Bear Pro $2.99 monthly or $29.99 yearly, with a 14-day free trial |
| Ads | Not stated in the listing |
| App Store rating | 4.7 stars from 6,874 ratings |
| Downloads | Not in our data |
| Version / last updated | 3.0.4 / November 3, 2026 |
| Requires | iOS 16 or later |
| First released | November 2, 2016 |
| Data checked | November 12, 2026 |
What is Bear?
Bear is a plain-text writing app that uses Markdown for formatting and hides the Markdown symbols when you read. The listing says you can “take notes, plan your day, journal thoughts, organize tables, create lists and tasks, sketch ideas, link notes together, write a book” and start with “no signup and no account.” It also lists a 2017 Apple Design Award and the 2016 App Store App of the Year.
Key features
- Markdown editing: plain text with bold, italics, strikethrough, links and tables; the listing says Markdown hides “for a clean reading experience.”
- Tags: #tags, multi-word tags and nested tags anywhere in a note, pinned tags and tag icons (TagCons) in the Sidebar.
- Linking: WikiLinks between notes, plus an Info Panel with a Table of Contents and Backlinks.
- Tasks and folding: add tasks to notes, see every note with tasks, and fold sections out of the way.
- Sketching: an extendable canvas on iPad for Apple Pencil and other styli.
- Capture: a web clipper through Bear’s app extension, Siri and Shortcuts, and Apple Watch dictation that appends to recent notes.
- Search: Spotlight search and Special Searches like @todo, @images and @yesterday; text search inside photos and PDFs needs Bear Pro.
- Export: plain text, Markdown, TextBundle, Bear note and rich text for free; HTML, DocX, PDF, JPG and ePub need Bear Pro.
- Look: nearly 30 themes for Light and Dark Mode and alternate app icons (Bear Pro), plus your own fonts, line height, width and paragraph spacing.
- Languages: support for all scripts, including right-to-left languages such as Arabic, Hebrew and Persian.
Bear vs. what a notes app should have
“Listed” means the App Store listing names the feature, “Partial” means it covers part of it, and “Reviews only” means reviewers describe it but the listing doesn’t. “Not listed” means neither the listing nor the reviews in our sample show it.
Must have
| Feature | Status | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Fast note creation | Listed | No signup or account; notes from Siri and Shortcuts |
| Organization (tags, folders or flags) | Listed | Tags and nested tags; several reviewers want folders as well |
| Search or filtering | Listed | Spotlight and Special Searches; one reviewer says search stopped finding words inside notes in late 2024 |
| Sync across devices | Listed | iPhone, iPad and Mac via iCloud with Bear Pro; several reviewers praise it and several report sync problems |
| Sharing or exporting | Listed | Share Sheet and many export formats |
| Home Screen widget | Reviews only | Two reviewers praise the widgets |
| Backup or recovery | Reviews only | Reviewers describe a manual backup and restore; a few say there is no version history for notes |
Should have
| Feature | Status | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Markdown or plain-text formatting | Listed | |
| Dictation or voice capture | Partial | Dictation on Apple Watch; a few reviewers ask for voice or audio recording |
| Themes and dark mode | Listed | Nearly 30 themes in Light and Dark Mode with Bear Pro |
| Font and layout customization | Listed | Fonts, line height, width and paragraph spacing |
| Share-extension capture | Listed | App extension for clipping web pages |
| Siri or Shortcuts support | Listed | |
| Smartwatch capture | Listed | Dictate and append to recent notes on Apple Watch |
Nice to have
| Feature | Status | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Automation or scripting | Partial | Shortcuts is listed; one reviewer uses x-callback URLs |
| AI/LLM integration | Not listed | One reviewer is glad there is no AI; another wants it |
| Images or attachments | Listed | Photos and PDFs in notes; a few reviewers struggled to find how to add photos |
| Collaboration on a note | Not listed | Several reviewers ask for sharing or editing notes with others |
| Web or Windows access | Reviews only | Two reviewers mention a web version; several ask for a Windows or web app |
| Note lock or encryption | Listed | Encrypted notes and Face/Touch ID lock with Bear Pro |
| Accessibility features called out by users | Not listed | Two reviewers say VoiceOver is hard to use |
Bear covers writing, tagging and capture on Apple devices. Reviewers also ask for a Windows app and a way to work on a note with someone else.
Common problems reviewers report
The data we collected doesn’t include developer replies, so this table shows what reviewers report and when, not an official fix. Older reports may describe earlier versions, and version 3.0.4 may behave differently.
| Problem | What reviewers report | When |
|---|---|---|
| Lost notes | Several reviewers lost notes, a few of them right after an update; others after a phone reset, a repair or restoring a backup over newer notes | July 2023 to September 2026 |
| Formatting keyboard | Several reviewers find the formatting keyboard slow or clumsy; a few want the old toolbar back | August 2023 to June 2026 |
| Sync | Several reviewers report notes that didn’t sync, duplicates, or a web version that overwrote their writing | August 2023 to September 2026 |
| Bugs after updates | Several reviewers say an update broke something, such as tables, math rendering, pasting or images; one says the table problem was fixed quickly | August 2023 to November 2026 |
| Adding photos | A few reviewers found adding photos to a note confusing or couldn’t find how to do it | August 2023 to October 2025 |
| VoiceOver | Two reviewers say the app is hard to use with VoiceOver; one cites unlabeled buttons and focus problems | December 2025 and June 2026 |
Pros (from user reviews)
- Design: many reviewers praise how Bear looks. One calls it “the best, most beautiful note-taking app,” and another says “the typography is so refreshing.”
- Easy to use: many reviewers call it simple or intuitive. A few others found it hard to figure out, including one who gave up on the Apple Pencil “scribble” options on iPad.
- Tags: many reviewers like organizing with tags, and a few single out nested tags. One says a note can sit in several “tag folders” at once.
- Fast: several reviewers say it’s fast, including one who compares it to Apple Notes on long notes.
- Sync: several reviewers praise sync across their Apple devices. Several others report problems (see the table above).
- Price and free version: several reviewers call Pro worth the money, and several say the free app already does what they need.
- Export: several reviewers praise the export options. One grad student says footnotes export to Word without “weird formatting issues.”
- Evernote replacement: several reviewers moved to Bear from Evernote.
Cons (from user reviews)
- No folders: several reviewers want folders alongside tags, and one says the lack of them lost Bear a customer.
- Subscription: several reviewers object to Bear Pro being a subscription, and several ask for a lifetime or one-time purchase. A few don’t want to pay just to sync. Several others, as noted above, find the price fair.
- Lost notes: several reviewers report notes that disappeared. A few say there’s no version history for notes, or ask for one.
- Formatting keyboard: several reviewers find formatting slow or clumsy, and a few want the old toolbar back.
- Bugs: several reviewers say updates broke features they relied on, and several report sync trouble.
- Requests for Windows, web and sharing: several reviewers ask for a Windows or web app, and several want to share or edit notes with other people.
- Accessibility: two reviewers say VoiceOver users will struggle.
Most reviews in our sample are 5 stars. The data we collected doesn’t include a star breakdown of all 6,874 ratings, so we can’t say how common these complaints are across all of them.
Pricing
Bear is free to download. Bear Pro costs $2.99 monthly or $29.99 yearly, with a 14-day free trial, and the listing says price may vary by location. The listing says Pro adds iCloud sync between iPhone, iPad and Mac, encrypted notes, a Face/Touch ID lock, export to HTML, DocX, PDF, JPG and ePub, text search inside images and PDFs, and over 30 themes and app icons. One reviewer wrote in April 2025 that the annual price had risen to $29.99.
Privacy and permissions
We couldn’t read the App Store privacy label for Bear, so we make no claim about what data it collects. The listing says “We cannot see your notes, tags, or anything else,” that Bear needs no account, and links to a privacy policy at bear.app. A few reviewers praise the privacy. One reviewer reads the privacy policy as allowing data use for beta testing with Microsoft and objects to it.
Who it’s for
Bear fits you if you write on an iPhone, iPad or Mac, want Markdown without seeing the symbols all the time, and are happy to organize by tags. Writers, students and journalers in the reviews use it. It’s a weaker fit if you think in folders, need a Windows app, want to share notes with others, or rely on VoiceOver. Whatever you choose, keep your own exports of notes you can’t lose, since several reviewers lost theirs.
FAQ
Is Bear free?
Yes, Bear is free to download, and several reviewers say the free version does what they need. Bear Pro costs $2.99 a month or $29.99 a year after a 14-day free trial. It adds iCloud sync, encrypted notes, more export formats, text search in images and PDFs, and more themes.
Does Bear have folders?
The listing describes organizing with #tags, including nested tags and pinned tags in the Sidebar. Several reviewers say there are no folders and ask for them. Many others like the tag system, and one says nested tags work “almost like folders.”
Does Bear sync between iPhone and Mac?
Yes, with Bear Pro: the listing says it syncs notes between iPhone, iPad and Mac via iCloud. Several reviewers say sync works well, and several others report notes that didn’t sync or duplicates.
Is there a Bear app for Windows?
The listing names only iPhone, iPad, Mac and Apple Watch. Two reviewers mention a web version, and one of them says writing done there didn’t sync and was lost. Several reviewers ask for a Windows or web app.
How this review was put together
We haven’t tested Bear. This review is based on public information from official sources: the app’s Google Play or App Store listing and rating breakdown, the developer’s website when there is one, and recent user reviews on the store with the developer’s replies. Features and claims are the developer’s own descriptions; what users like and dislike comes from the store reviews. Everything was checked on November 12, 2026. Apps change with every update, so check the store listing before you install.
