{"slug": "bear", "name": "Bear", "category": "notes", "category_name": "Notes and knowledge", "description": "", "recommenders": 4, "commenters": 7, "warners": 1, "score": 3.179, "rising": 1.35, "first": "2026-04-24", "latest": "2026-09-28", "why": "I can recommend Bear (https://bear.app) been using for ~6 years or more. Truly native and 100% macOS-ish.", "why_is_quote": true, "has_verdict": false, "sentiment": {"recommend": 4, "neutral": 1, "compare": 1, "warn": 1}, "spark": [0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 1, 1, 0, 0, 2, 0, 0], "listed": true, "loved": [], "caveat": "", "short_quote": "I can recommend Bear (https://bear.app) been using for ~6 years or more. Truly native and 100% macOS-ish.", "kind": "", "icon": true, "domain": "bear.app", "github_repo": null, "official_url": "https://bear.app", "pricing": "", "aliases": ["Bear"], "verdict": null, "praise": [{"label": "", "summary": "", "quotes": [{"id": 788198608, "item_id": 49262413, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49262413", "by": "delduca", "date": "2026-08-11", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I can recommend Bear (https://bear.app) been using for ~6 years or more. Truly native and 100% macOS-ish.", "excerpt": "I can recommend Bear (https://bear.app) been using for ~6 years or more. Truly native and 100% macOS-ish.", "context": "Mac user ~6 years", "use_case": "Markdown notes", "switched_from": "", "story": "Show HN: Write.md, a free, open-source, themeable Markdown editor for macOS"}, {"id": 787813041, "item_id": 49238315, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49238315", "by": "morgan814", "date": "2026-08-09", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "nothing that compares to Bear, Things, DEVONthink, Transmit", "excerpt": "> Linux is better still. Linux as an operating system is easily better than macOS. Third party software is lacking though. There\u2019s really nothing that compares to Bear, Things, DEVONthink, Transmit, etc. What I also missed in Linux was the prevalence of what Apple calls \u201cx-callback URLs\u201d [0]. They are incredibly useful and great for glueing different pieces of software together. With some of Apple\u2019s recent decisions,", "context": "", "use_case": "", "switched_from": "", "story": "Windows 11's built-in Weather app wastes more than 1 GB of RAM"}, {"id": 770909729, "item_id": 48181858, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48181858", "by": "ctippett", "date": "2026-05-18", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "copying the Bear app interface for the web", "excerpt": "It appeals to me as a minimalistic version of the Bear[1] notes app. A few years ago I played around with copying the Bear app interface for the web, the idea was to create a visually identical mockup of the app so you could immediately visualise changes made when customising various theme values. I stalled with the implementation of the last part, but the rest of it is up at bear.christippett.dev [1] https://bear.ap", "context": "", "use_case": "", "switched_from": "", "story": "Show HN: Files.md \u2013 open-source alternative to Obsidian"}, {"id": 766202850, "item_id": 47887678, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47887678", "by": "james-bcn", "date": "2026-04-24", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I am a big fan of Bear App for it's wonderful simple design", "excerpt": "I love this! It is like you have taken all the things I want from Obsidian (plus plug-ins) and made them into a single, well designed app. Great! Feedback: * This is so good you should find a way to keep it open source but also profit from it so you can develop it full-time. You could just have an official app version - I would pay for that. * Feature creep. I am a big fan of Bear App for it's wonderful simple design", "context": "", "use_case": "notes", "switched_from": "", "story": "Show HN: Tolaria \u2013 open-source macOS app to manage Markdown knowledge bases"}]}], "caveats": [{"label": "", "summary": "", "quotes": [{"id": 795366243, "item_id": 49710390, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49710390", "by": "sliqqq", "date": "2026-09-15", "stance": "warn", "quote": "they all didnt even come close to what I personally wanted", "excerpt": "Working on an Apple Notes clone, but everything is a local Markdown file. Still in development, started as a hobby summer project for Second Brain people and Markdown hoarders like me. Goal is to be able to read any form of files. I worked with Notes, Obsidian, Bear and Typora before and they all didnt even come close to what I personally wanted, so that's where the project idea comes from. I'm struggling with the ex", "context": "", "use_case": "", "switched_from": "", "story": "Ask HN: What are you working on? (September 2026)"}]}], "who": [{"by": "delduca", "context": "Mac user ~6 years", "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49262413", "date": "2026-08-11"}], "tags": [], "use_cases": ["note-taking", "markdown notes", "notes"], "compared": [{"slug": "obsidian", "name": "Obsidian", "co": 4, "switched_from": 0, "switched_to": 0}, {"slug": "apple-notes", "name": "Apple Notes", "co": 2, "switched_from": 0, "switched_to": 0}], "makers": [], "threads": [{"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47882697", "title": "Show HN: Tolaria \u2013 open-source macOS app to manage Markdown knowledge bases", "mentions": 2}, {"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49866597", "title": "Show HN: Building a Markdown editor for Mac, iOS and web", "mentions": 1}, {"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49686380", "title": "Ask HN: What are you working on? (September 2026)", "mentions": 1}, {"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49258011", "title": "Show HN: Write.md, a free, open-source, themeable Markdown editor for macOS", "mentions": 1}, {"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49232138", "title": "Windows 11's built-in Weather app wastes more than 1 GB of RAM", "mentions": 1}, {"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48179677", "title": "Show HN: Files.md \u2013 open-source alternative to Obsidian", "mentions": 1}], "sentiment_by_month": {"2025-11": {}, "2025-12": {}, "2026-01": {}, "2026-02": {}, "2026-03": {}, "2026-04": {"recommend": 1}, "2026-05": {"neutral": 1, "recommend": 1}, "2026-06": {}, "2026-07": {}, "2026-08": {"recommend": 2}, "2026-09": {"warn": 1, "compare": 1}, "2026-10": {}}, "quotes": [{"id": 797988386, "item_id": 49874274, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49874274", "by": "librasteve", "date": "2026-09-28", "stance": "compare", "quote": "I do not want to pay $$ per month just to sync notes between iPhone and Mac", "excerpt": "ok \u2026 I\u2019ll play ball. I really like your idea and the demo is very convincing. I already use Apple Notes as my daily driver over Obsidian, Bear and the others because I do not want to pay $$ per month just to sync notes between iPhone and Mac. However, I would much prefer a native md option over whatever proprietary rtf stuff that Notes does. So I am your perfect target user. Show me a well designed md centric notes t", "context": "", "use_case": "note-taking", "switched_from": "", "story": "Show HN: Building a Markdown editor for Mac, iOS and web"}, {"id": 795366243, "item_id": 49710390, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49710390", "by": "sliqqq", "date": "2026-09-15", "stance": "warn", "quote": "they all didnt even come close to what I personally wanted", "excerpt": "Working on an Apple Notes clone, but everything is a local Markdown file. Still in development, started as a hobby summer project for Second Brain people and Markdown hoarders like me. Goal is to be able to read any form of files. I worked with Notes, Obsidian, Bear and Typora before and they all didnt even come close to what I personally wanted, so that's where the project idea comes from. I'm struggling with the ex", "context": "", "use_case": "", "switched_from": "", "story": "Ask HN: What are you working on? (September 2026)"}, {"id": 788198608, "item_id": 49262413, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49262413", "by": "delduca", "date": "2026-08-11", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I can recommend Bear (https://bear.app) been using for ~6 years or more. Truly native and 100% macOS-ish.", "excerpt": "I can recommend Bear (https://bear.app) been using for ~6 years or more. Truly native and 100% macOS-ish.", "context": "Mac user ~6 years", "use_case": "Markdown notes", "switched_from": "", "story": "Show HN: Write.md, a free, open-source, themeable Markdown editor for macOS"}, {"id": 787813041, "item_id": 49238315, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49238315", "by": "morgan814", "date": "2026-08-09", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "nothing that compares to Bear, Things, DEVONthink, Transmit", "excerpt": "> Linux is better still. Linux as an operating system is easily better than macOS. Third party software is lacking though. There\u2019s really nothing that compares to Bear, Things, DEVONthink, Transmit, etc. What I also missed in Linux was the prevalence of what Apple calls \u201cx-callback URLs\u201d [0]. They are incredibly useful and great for glueing different pieces of software together. With some of Apple\u2019s recent decisions,", "context": "", "use_case": "", "switched_from": "", "story": "Windows 11's built-in Weather app wastes more than 1 GB of RAM"}, {"id": 770909729, "item_id": 48181858, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48181858", "by": "ctippett", "date": "2026-05-18", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "copying the Bear app interface for the web", "excerpt": "It appeals to me as a minimalistic version of the Bear[1] notes app. A few years ago I played around with copying the Bear app interface for the web, the idea was to create a visually identical mockup of the app so you could immediately visualise changes made when customising various theme values. I stalled with the implementation of the last part, but the rest of it is up at bear.christippett.dev [1] https://bear.ap", "context": "", "use_case": "", "switched_from": "", "story": "Show HN: Files.md \u2013 open-source alternative to Obsidian"}, {"id": 768644496, "item_id": 48040281, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48040281", "by": "alwillis", "date": "2026-05-06", "stance": "neutral", "quote": "Bear just got a cli, MCP support and a Claude connector", "excerpt": "Bear just got a cli, MCP support and a Claude connector [1]. [1]: https://blog.bear.app/2026/04/bear-2-8-bearcli-claude-connector-and-mcp-server/", "context": "", "use_case": "", "switched_from": "", "story": "Show HN: Tolaria \u2013 open-source macOS app to manage Markdown knowledge bases"}, {"id": 766202850, "item_id": 47887678, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47887678", "by": "james-bcn", "date": "2026-04-24", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I am a big fan of Bear App for it's wonderful simple design", "excerpt": "I love this! It is like you have taken all the things I want from Obsidian (plus plug-ins) and made them into a single, well designed app. Great! Feedback: * This is so good you should find a way to keep it open source but also profit from it so you can develop it full-time. You could just have an official app version - I would pay for that. * Feature creep. I am a big fan of Bear App for it's wonderful simple design", "context": "", "use_case": "notes", "switched_from": "", "story": "Show HN: Tolaria \u2013 open-source macOS app to manage Markdown knowledge bases"}]}