- 92.9LEGITIMACY SCORE
- 93.4SAFETY SCORE
- 4+CONTENT RATING
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Bear - Markdown Notes App Complaints & User Negative Comments 2024
Bear - Markdown Notes app received 39 complaints, negative comments and reviews by users. Have you ever had a bad experience using Bear - Markdown Notes? Can you share your negative thoughts about bear - markdown notes?
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Bear - Markdown Notes for Negative User Reviews
✓ 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 notes etc. but not for something as basic and essential as iCloud syncing. This is basic functionality imo..Version: 1.9.7
✓ Great for typing notes, butWill you please make the quality of the wringing and drawing with Apple Pencil better? It’s very pixilated. Also, when I use a dark theme it would be nice to have a dark paper instead of white. Thank you a lot!.Version: 1.7.3
✓ So much noise..I really don't see any reason for all the fuss. It's an almost okay app, with nothing special and up against many others that solve its problems in a more elegant, effective and less costly way (including free apps). Additionally, the pay-to-synch model is off as. Could easily go one star only because of all they hype, while real good apps get no exposure/highlight. Nah..Version: 1.2.1
✓ Text selection hit or missSelecting text is hit or miss, mostly miss. It's a constant struggle and a major pain point that prevents me from going premium..Version: 1.8.5
✓ Be carefulI’ve really enjoyed using the app, I love the simple and minimalist layout and how easy it is to use but unfortunately one time all of a sudden I couldn’t access the app and even after refreshing / closing the app / uninstalling and installing it again I couldn’t open it. I thought I’ve lost all of my notes. Thankfully, after an update that appeared couple months after the incident, I was able to access the app and see all of my notes again. That’s why I stopped using the app even though I really liked it at the beginning. Just be careful while using it, maybe copy the notes into other app or program so you always have a backup..Version: 2.0.17
✓ Would be great if sync workedThis is a pretty great app, except for its sync functionality. But that one flaw is detrimental to the whole experience. Bear has a support article written over a year ago on how to avoid sync problems that basically tells you to open the app on all synced devices any time a change is made. This has been a problem for too long and that’s a ridiculous way to handle it. These sync conflicts aren’t rare. They happen with almost every change. The whole point in using sync is to access the same set of notes from all my devices. But it’s such a pain that I keep going back to Apple’s notes. Bear also claims they keep both versions of a note marked as conflicted so that users don’t lose data. Of all the other notes apps I’ve used with sync, none have lost any data. Bear needs to do its own conflict resolution and proper background sync..Version: 1.7.6
✓ Love the app but I think the update broke itI love this app! I’ve used it for years for everything. Shopping lists, journaling, budgeting, scheduling, you name it. Bear is like my personal assistant. It has great note customisation options but it’s still so simple to use and doesn’t have the cluttered or ugly layout many other note apps do. Normally it is incredibly smooth and easy to use. All in all, it would be a 5 star app on any other day, and has been all the way up until the most recent update. I was really surprised at the new update. Keyboard integrated controls, a whole new world of options for your notes, and SO much more. But maybe too much? My phone freezes every time I use the app now. It glitches, it lags, it bugs out. I can’t use it! This morning I was just trying to write a to-do list and I got about halfway through before the app essentially broke. Every time I try to go back into it, it freezes immediately again. All my other apps are working fine and my phone is up to date and working well otherwise. It’s just this app, and only since the update. Definitely worth the download!! But… maybe once this is fixed..Version: 2.0.2
✓ Nice app but missing some featuresI like the idea of a minimalist app for “beautiful notes”, but exactly for this reason it should allow me to turn off the markdown and see the output of my notes. Maybe having a “reading mode” would help, especially if I wanted to use it for presenting some data or for lectures. Besides, I wish I could resize the pictures, again because I want to have beautiful notes, and pictures from different sources have different size/ratio. Finally, I wish I could pay once for all, rather than having a subscription, but ok, I admit that this is not a deal breaker if the app is useful..Version: 1.7.7
✓ Pro is a scam, won’t even syncI bought pro and it won’t even sync my notes once I got a new phone, I even backed up the sync I want a refund.Version: 2.0.7
✓ Not “in-app” purchase. SUBSCRIPTION based!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 writing across two devices (something Google notes does for FREE) only to discover after you’ve installed it that it’s SUBSCRIPTION based and will charge you $20 a year for something that should be a standard feature in a writing application! No, I will not subscribe. I will leave you negative feedback, delete the app, and avoid your company in the future until you catch on that users are NOT interested in paying multiple times for software. I’d have BOUGHT THIS APP OUTRIGHT if your prices were reasonable, but a $20 annual fee is absurd. After two years your app will cost TWICE what Scrivener does and have fewer features! Uninstalled and a complaint has been filed with the Apple Store that they stop showing subscription apps as “in-app purchases” and start showing them as “subscription-based fees” so I know not to waste my time downloading them. PS: Scrivener, which has about twenty times the features of this app, is a one time fee of $25. Less if you get it during National Novel Writing Month. I bought that software without complaint on two platforms at full price because they were UP FRONT and HONEST about their pricing structure and it is WORTH it..Version: 1.6.6
✓ WEB version PLEASE!I (and probably many others) would absolutely (and happily) pay for the subscription IFF Bear would just focus on releasing a web app. I’d even pay if the price increased to (maximum) $30/year! Seriously, PWAs are the future—you would open yourselves up to so many more consumers (i.e. non Mac OS users) WITHOUT having to develop apps for other entirely different OS. It’s a beautiful and well-made app—please democratise it..Version: 1.7.14
✓ BearSo excited to download this app and use it! Then I saw that it is subscription based! (aka rental software). So disappointed! Bu Bye!.Version: 1.7.14
✓ Excellent, but tags are the wrong choiceEffective and pretty UI, bugs are very rare, frequently updated, perfect sync with no issues, secure, and the best take on editing Markdown. One problem: the choice of tags, over folders, for organisation will turn your notes into an unmaintainable nightmare over time as your collection grows. There is also no way to put the app into a “pseudo-folder” mode; if you tap a non-leaf tag, you’ll see a list of all of the descendant notes under it, not just its direct children. Allowing a more folder-like method of organisation would make this the perfect notes app..Version: 1.7.6
✓ Limited and even brokenMarkdown as a standard is a widely used syntax that Bear slightly expands upon with their use of tags so as to support inter-linking what you write. Supporting whitespace by wrapping text between #two hashtags# is a welcome innovative idea. But the welcome changes end there. Bear locks down images into iCloud storage but in such a way that you cannot actually access them. Bear also provides weak image manipulation tools which do not include cropping. This extends into the drawing tool, where canvas size is automatically chosen by wherever a stroke may have landed. In other words, you could draw a lovely image but it could be uselessly and awkwardly bordered by whitespace, often shoved in a corner. I think they expect users to use the whole canvas every time which is stupid to assume. Then there are the export options that are still severely lacking. Many static site generators rely on markdown and are thirsty for an application like Bear so that simple blogs can be maintained. Git integration is not an option. Again, flat file storage for images is not an option. Even on Desktop, you are locked in to only working on iCloud which means you can’t get to work on a regular folder of text files. That’s pretty lame in my opinion! I want to like Bear, but it always feels broken in these ways..Version: 1.8.3
✓ Could easily be five stars!This app provides a beautiful, distraction-free writing environment, which is much appreciated. But for the life of me, I can't understand why these developers won't let us sort our folders/tags in the left-hand column MANUALLY. This may come as shocking news, but being forced to sort things alphabetically or by date DOESN'T WORK for everyone! These are OUR folders... we should at least be able to structure them the way it makes sense to US. And WHY does it require so many unnecessary taps to create a new note? Whenever the sidebar is open, there is NO WAY to create a new note! Can't be done from there. You have to — for some unknown reason — open an existing folder first, and then the New Note button will appear at the bottom of the screen. Sheesh! Talk about inconvenient. I guess that's why I keep sticking with Ulysses. I prefer Bear's visual environment, but until they fix these issues, it just won't work at all..Version: 1.7.10
✓ Good things come to those who waitAn excellent app. I have enjoyed using it for the past three years. Unfortunately, other apps like Apple Notes are slowly creeping up behind with some of the necessary tools I need to make notes which are not a subscription. I am in the process of thinking of cancelling my subscription as over the last couple of years; the improvement has been prolonged. I have seen some excellent features in Panda. Still, patience is running thin in terms of the amount of money which is not a lot, and the time you have to wait, which is a lot. I will see how things proceed over the next few months. I would’ve given it a five star if you could use it via the web. I know it’s a small team and quality over quantity is something I see they are looking into hence my patience. I would recommend this app to anyone, but as I said, Apple Notes are creeping up quite quickly, and I am finding it hard to decide why I should pay for a subscription where the development is prolonged. Let’s see what happens..Version: 1.9.6
✓ Limited- Can't share notes to edit with others. - Can't search within a note - dealbreaker. - Dragging pictures out of bear into something else downrezes them unless you open the picture to be viewed in full screen. - Can't link folder from cloud storage..Version: 1.7.7
✓ Beautiful but pay to sync?It's a wonderful app to use and well thought out. Would be 5 stars but for the pay to sync based on a subscription service is stingy.Version: 1.2.1
✓ Almost greatI think I prefer this over Evernote although I am still using both. I use it for personal and work and find with a lot of tags it can get a big messy. Which is where I prefer a notebook and sub-notebook system. Also I would love to be able to add reminders to my notes. I use that a lot on Evernote, where I quickly put something down and remind myself to look at it or flesh it out later..Version: 1.3.2
✓ Love the App, but…I really love bear, but I wish they would make some improvements and add new features. Will likely be ending my subscription and finding an alternative with more features..Version: 1.9.7
✓ Good but needs moreOverall happy with Bear but some further develop needed especially expanding Tag management options. As there is no folder method of organising notes, Bear is dependent on Tags for this function. E.g. My request would be to add to the selected notes function menu, the option to not only remove tags but add existing or new tags to all selected as well. Just imported about 800 notes from the green elephant but the task of Tag management to suit the Bear-based method is laborious and time consuming. However, overall is a great app..Version: 2.1.3
✓ A good app marred by a lazy development teamA really good app, especially when it was first released but for some reason the dev team behind have been mostly AWOL for a while..Version: 1.9.3
✓ Needs some more workVery impressive in so many ways but has some major problems for note taking. 1. It has some irritating multi minute delay when using the share to bear notes 2. It does not have the ability to search within a note, so if you have long notes and are looking for a phrase it will get you to the note but not to the actual place where the phrase is in the note. Apple note, Evernote, simple note and nearly all other note taking apps can do these two things well. I really want to use bear notes as my main note taking app but these issues must be resolved. The sync issue is so slow I can not continue working with the shared note until is “shows” up in bear notes. I have tested this with iPhone and iPad and both are multiple minutes slow, adding a sync button might help this but what is strange is that all the other note apps can do instantly without fanfare or help from me. The search feature within long notes is a must, I just don’t know why this has been so long in coming with Bear, naturally I am assuming it is coming to Bear? I am using the premium features and it was the same with basic free as well. Please fix, this would be an instant 5 star app..Version: 1.8.1
✓ Not beautiful, tiny fontI don’t know why everyone says this app is beautiful. It’s not, there’s nothing special about it in terms of how it looks or how it’s organized. It has a strip of additional controls at the top of the keyboard that makes the writing area smaller. I think they’re controls for “markdown“ which in my world is not part of writing. Not a writing app. Just another word processor. And harder to use than Pages. The tagging to group things sounds useful. But the font is too small and you cannot change it. It’s tiny even if you have the text size setting on the iPad enlarged. If you put it in full screen mode to type it still starts 2 inches in from the side. It doesn’t have good design at all..Version: 1.4.1
✓ Love the app, but it needs more attention from developersI’ve been a pro user for quite some time and I love the app. There are some critical improvements needed to the editor (including table support) that the community have been asking for years and the developers keep promising is coming but never deliver. I’ve recently stopped using/ paying for bear. Unfortunately there are not better alternatives out there and I’ll come back to bear when they implement the new panda editor. Please, implement it and I’ll happily pay for it again!.Version: 1.8.3
✓ Slow developmentThe app was amazing back when it came out. But, the devs are taking ages to implement simple additions that Apple Notes app has for a few years now. Too bad it has potential, but not worth it without core features (like tables...). The app also has the same design since it’s launch, which is not bad per say but is starting to feel a bit outdated. Hope you have something big cooking to win me and others back to Bear!.Version: 1.8.2
✓ Great at what it does, BUT limiting for Non-MAC usersGreat at what it does, BUT for me, it’s missing a key feature I need. If you are only looking for a writing/note app to use solely with your iPhone or iPad, you’ll want to give this a try. This is a solid writing app for iPhone or iPad. It works well, you won’t be limited on features, and allows good organization of notes. HOWEVER, as a Windows user, I haven’t figured a way to access or to continue editing writing started on your iPhone once in front of my computer. I don’t want to use my iPhone to type when I have access to my computer. This app has so much potential, but as a windows user is missing the mark. It may be a different experience for Mac users, but the opportunity is to improve support for Window users by creating a way to access content or create content from a web browser. If I need to take notes, make a list, modify existing notes/lists, etc. and have access to my computer, the computer trumps my iPhone. If I allowed access and editing ability from a windows internet browser, this would be my go to app. Since it doesn’t, it may end up getting deleted from my iPhone..Version: 1.7.6
✓ Nice, but..lNice app, simple to use and works reliably, but is lacking in features that many other Markdown-based apps have, such as support for tables. These have been promised by the team but have been “on their way” for over two years now while minor new features appear from time to time. If you want simple, Bear works for you, but if you want something more full-featured then there are alternatives..Version: 1.8.3
✓ Boo to subscriptionThis is a wonderful, simple text editor and web clipper but it shouldn’t have a subscription based sync. I’m not saying it should be free but it should have one time purchase feature over the subscription based synchronization..Version: 1.2.5
✓ Best you can get to replace Evernote.Power Evernote users here, with 12,500 notes and 2,570 tags that reached my wits end with Evernote’s delinquent absent-minded error-prone regressive programming. I tried a bunch of different competitors from Joplin, Notion, Zogo, and settled with Bear. It's exceptionally well designed on mobile. Desktop suffers from a lack of a WYSIWYG display bar option and support for tables. The web clipper on the desktop could use some work to perform better than Evernote's with different clipping options, like capturing the whole page instead of just simplified text. However, the mobile’s clipper is better. The import from Evernote works excellent if you don't use tags; otherwise, you'll have some manual work to do if you wanted nested tags setup. You'll have to do micro exports bases on the deepest level tag and manually move them after import to their new tag. I've accepted that I'll only move over essential notes, and the rest will stay as an archive in Evernote. Security is also much better on Bear where you don't have Evernote reading your notes. They did a great job integrating with CloudKit for Sync. Took a while on import but is very fast now. This app is definitely on its way to become a 5-star app to crush Evernote, a worthy goal that will bring riches and admiration to many people that are looking for “the one.”.Version: 1.8.3
✓ DisappointingNo search within your notes, no way to automate back links, and a stark lack of new features for a while now means it lost its edge compared to more modern offers, its a shame really..Version: 1.8.3
✓ NopeGood program but I refuse to buy on Subscription. Make it $9.99 and I’ll buy..Version: 1.6.6
✓ Nice app but what am I paying for?In its current state, the app works very well. It is a well designed note taker, and overall is quite slick. However, I cannot understand what I’m paying for. It’s not for improvements, because the developers just let feature requests hang for years, and refuse to commit to timelines. It makes me think they aren’t actually serious. The Craft app, on the other hand, has had substantial monthly updates since inception, and every update is polished and well thought through. I’ve switched over because I prefer to use products that the developers actually improve..Version: 1.8.3
✓ Lacklustre SupportMy genuine review of this app is decent enough. Limited to iOS, with a web version being teased four years ago and still hasn’t even been completed. It functions how you would expect it to, with support for tagging and nested tags. But, when it boils down to it, it’s so extremely limited. More advanced features seen in better markdown editors aren’t here and they’ve been in their competitors for years on end. Polish doesn’t excuse lack of functionality. It’s also got horrible support and it’s almost abandonware. When you have to wait three months for bug fixes, and then go by even longer without transparency posts and instead just mindless website propaganda it begins to paint a picture. Bear is functional, with what features it has. It’s polished, shiny for anyone who wants simple note taking. But for advanced users who have more needs than just taking notes in a single spot, it’s a lot harder to justify using. When the team learns to pick up the pace, maybe the review will change. But when I can go and pick up Obsidian, a beta app that’s only been in development over the course of COVID, that goes above and beyond Bear in every way, why would I pick this application? Update: Four months. For bug fixes. Are you kidding me?.Version: 1.8.4
✓ Decent app, a bit latter, needs the new editor asapIt's a decent app, can be a bit laggy if you have a lot of notes and clippings. Definitely needs the updated "Panda" editor but that's been in a never ending beta "coming soon" for years now..Version: 1.9.7
✓ Sturdy notes and idea app, but the subscription though...I like just about everything about this app, save for the subscription model. At $15 per year, I would expect this app to be even more robust, ie Mac OS X snippet integration and the ability to import embedded hyperlinks (such as making a note via the share sheet while inside the App Store. It will only make a plain text note, and not a hyperlinked note. By comparison, Apple Notes creates a note with a hyperlink to the app itself, automatically). I am in the middle of the free Pro trial period, and right now, I find those added features to not be worth 15 bucks a year- especially when there are similar, pay-once options on the market. It’s a decent app; the price is just too steep by half. And again, the subscription model doesn’t work for me in such a crowded space. Oh well..Version: 1.5.1
✓ Great app so far but can be betterGreat app, good experience so far but a couple of small features would make it even nicer. I would really like to see some touch id lock feature for your notes and some sort of reminder feature to catch up with something you started last night and have to finish today or something like that. These is the only reason i am giving 3stars....oh one more thing, it would be really great if the red bear background from the loading screen would switch to the same colour of the theme and icon when they are changed..Version: 1.3.2
✓ Where are the folders?I was extremely excited when I began to explore Bear as a much needed Evernote replacement. The import of my notes is flawless, the notes are fresh and clean, images and docs import nicely.... But where are the folders and sub folders??. hashtags? Sorry but there is not way I can use Bear to run my business, my many projects and tasks, clients and jobs....with hashtags! What a total departure from a system of Notebooks and Notes, folders and subfolders that have stood the test of time since computers were created. With this structure, Bear is pretty useless for me..Version: 1.5.5
✓ Nice, but one glaring problemThis is a nice app for journalling with several great features. Because the iPhone app syncs with the Mac app, I must mention a glaring problem: there is no capability to assign your own password to open Bear on your Mac; it must be the same as your password for starting your Mac. Almost all apps allow you to define your own password; why not this one? That is a huge omission when a Mac is used by more than one person if separate identities are not able to be set up..Version: 1.7.18
🙂 Bear - Markdown Notes Positive Reviews
Bear - Markdown Notes works most of the time. If it is not working for you, we recommend you excersise some patience and retry later or contact Bear - Markdown Notes.
⛔ Bear - Markdown Notes Problems
