I tried all mainstream note taking apps and I settled on Bear

Note: at 20:35 I pointed to an issue that the columns are not collapsible. Allow me to correct it, I later found out through a couple of comments that it is feasible with Ctrl + 1, 2, 3.
This option can be found on the menus.
------------------------------------------------------------------
0:00 Intro
1:37 UI/UX
5:14 Migration
6:46 Markdown
7:49 Quick Search
8:52 Export Options
11:36 Robust Organization
13:00 Web Scrapper
14:26 Annotation
15:37 Todos
16:20 Lock Notes
17:17 Privacy
18:10 Price
19:20 Cons

[@scottcardais3560]

Thanks for this overview of Bear. Other features worth mentioning are the ability to pin notes, the ability to add internal links to other notes (useful to create a dashboard), integration with Apple Shortcuts and Applescript. FYI, the View menu gives you the ability to hide the tags column and the Notes list with keyboard shortcuts. CTRL 1 shows only the Editor, CTRL 2 shows the Notes list and the Editor. CTRL 3 shows the Tags, Notes list and the Editor. I'm not connected in any way with Bear but I agree that it's a very nice note-taking app for all the reasons you gave plus the ones mentioned above. And, like you said, the price is reasonable.

[@benscyberlife]

Good points. Thanks for completing it.

[@camiloseifar]

i just found your channel and its great, keep doing it!

[@benscyberlife]

Thanks for the kind words. Cheers!

[@jimratliff]

Super-helpful review! Very balanced and credible. Bear wasn’t even on my radar but now, thanks to your review, I’m going to try it out.

[@SridharKatakam]

You are going to love it!

[@benscyberlife]

Brilliant Jim, glad it was helpful!

[@satysin630]

Control + 1, 2 or 3 will solve that annoyance you mentioned at the end with hiding the columns. You will also find the options in the View menu starting with "Show Editor Only", Hope that helps :)

[@benscyberlife]

Yes I found out a bit later. Thanks for sharing

[@udojetschmanegg]

Thanks Ben! Love the Apple Notes, but see the limited export capabilities without using 3rd party apps. As you use Obisidian as well, what are the advantages of Bear here?

[@benscyberlife]

I would say, web scrapper, bear is much cheaper. Robust UX because developers used native iOS/MacOS framework to build it. Extremely fast in indexing and working with large amout of notes. Ability to interact with a lot of different apps by sharing and/or export options.
I use and love obsidian on my windows machine though, its unmatched when it comes to competition on the windows side.
Hope that helped :)
Cheers!

[@gardriel8208]

You can collapse the sidebars with a 2-Finger swipe on the trackpad

[@LadyDianaT]

Thanks Ben for the detailed review, that was very useful! Since you've used many apps, how would you compare it with Microsoft OneNote?

[@benscyberlife]

I personally would avoid apps like OneNote for the reason the design is to keep you tied up. Back up and export options are very limited. Microsoft has a reputation for abandoning products (so many windows mobiles or appliancations for instance). If they decided to discontinue OneNote you'll be having a nightmare migrating your notes. The annotation in OneNote is great however I wouldn't sacrifice MarkDown and Wiki link ability for that.
Hope that halps
Cheers!

[@LadyDianaT]

Thanks a lot! Very helpful! Would be nice to see your reviews of other similar apps

[@tolu619]

In my opinion, the best feature Onenote has is its infinite canvas. If that's the main feature that made you consider Onenote, Affine is the best option I've seen out there. Google Docs has also added an infinite canvas feature that they call "pageless". Because of the Evernote quality dip and price hike, I've spent a lot of time researching my options and I've narrowed it down to the two that work the best for me (Affine and Anytype). I can make recommendations if I know exactly what features you're looking for.

[@kevinfitzgerald626]

Can I import Zotero into Bear?

[@benscyberlife]

@@kevinfitzgerald626 for your notes in Zotero select them, right click then export as Markdowns, in Bear, menu -> import from -> markdown folder.

[@ArtemSukhoroslov]

Correct me if i’m wrong, but Obsidian is free if you store the folder somewhere else in the cloud, let’s say, Dropbox…
I personally use it on iCloud and it syncs in 1-2 seconds across all the devices I use

[@benscyberlife]

Correct, its not as reliable as their native sync though. You'll have variation in config sometimes or conflict in file updates.

[@cooldispatch]

Cool and informative video. What was your main reason not to use Apple Notes?

[@benscyberlife]

Mainly markdown and how organizing is quicker in Bear. Apple Notes is a great choice for many though, I'm so curious what iOS 18 brings to it with new AI, math and transcribe features.

[@BorisDesmond]

thanks, I am doing just the same as you, for the same reason, excellent summary! 🙌

[@benscyberlife]

Glad it was helpful!