Re-thinking digital data management

I've been rethinking how I store my digital data. I used to keep it in plain text markdown files. More recently I have been keeping it in apps like Bear, Ulysses, or Apple Notes. I've never been comfortable with this method because of the lock-in. And, use I know Bear and Ulysses have export options. … Continue reading Re-thinking digital data management →

Goodbye Ulysses

My love hate relationship with Ulysses is finally over. It's been over a month since I canceled my Ulysses subscription and deleted it from my Mac, iPhone, and iPad. I haven't missed it one bit. The combination of Bear and iA Writer for my writing projects has worked out well. If you want to read … Continue reading Goodbye Ulysses →

Bear notes app iCloud sync

I’ve often wondered why when apps have issues with iCloud sync I never have an issue with Bear. I’m looking at you Apple Notes and Ulysses. So I decided to reach out to Bear’s developer for a response. Here’s what they had to say. Bear support: At the very begging of Bear development, we tried … Continue reading Bear notes app iCloud sync →

My 2020 Must-Have Mac, iPhone, and iPad Apps

Each year towards the end of December I summarize in a post, on this site, the Mac, iPhone, and iPad apps that I will be using for the next year. This is always one of my most popular posts. This year instead of a separate article for Mac apps and another for iPhone and iPad … Continue reading My 2020 Must-Have Mac, iPhone, and iPad Apps →

I’m done with Apples Notes

I have never liked Apple Notes because I have found it to be unreliable in several ways. But a few months ago I thought I would give it a try because I kept reading and hearing good things about it. So I copied all my notes from Bear to Apple Notes. After doing so everything … Continue reading I’m done with Apples Notes →

No more subscription apps

I'm on a mission to eliminate all my subscription apps. I only have two more to go. Those would be Bear and Ulysses. Why? I just don't want to pay for an app over and over year after year especially when I already have other free and paid alternatives that work just as well for … Continue reading No more subscription apps →

Marked 2 update includes improved Bear integration

Brett Terpstra released a nice upgrade to Marked 2 yesterday with some improvements for Bear integration. I purchased my copy of Marked a couple of years ago through the App Store. To preview what I was writing in Bear in Marked was a bit tricky. I always wondered why. In fact, it took me a … Continue reading Marked 2 update includes improved Bear integration →

App Update issue in the Mojave Mac App Store

There's a Mac and iOS app update for Bear out today. I ran the update on my iPhone, iPad and iMac without a hitch. On my MacBook, the update wasn't showing up in the Mac App Store Updates section on my MacBook. I knew it was available because as I already said I had run … Continue reading App Update issue in the Mojave Mac App Store →

Bear turns off Markdown compatibly mode with today’s update on Mac and iOS

I was ticked off this morning after updating Bear on all my devices. All my notes were looking a little strange. I first noticed it in my todo lists. The checkboxes didn’t look right and bold was no longer bold. Here’s the solution. Go into Settings > General and turn Markdown compatibly mode back on … Continue reading Bear turns off Markdown compatibly mode with today’s update on Mac and iOS →

The Archive – a new notes app for Mac

There’s a new notes app out called the The Archive. If you have used Brett Terpstra’s nvALT this app will look very familiar to you. Gabe Weatherhead at MacDrifter The Archive is designed around what Notational Velocity and later nvALT brought to the Mac: Fast, reliable search with ease of creation. As both of these … Continue reading The Archive – a new notes app for Mac →

Search Bear notes from Alfred

If you’re using Alfred and Bear I want to share a workflow with you that I use to search Bear notes or tags and open the result from Alfred. Here’s how it works. Searching and opening results bs -- Search for a note by title and open it in Bear. bst -- Search for a tag (a … Continue reading Search Bear notes from Alfred →

Bear app special searches

Bear has several special searches that I find useful. The other day I imported a large number of files without tags into Bear. Once imported I did a @untagged search to find them and then added the proper tag(s). This saved a lot of time. I also do a @untagged search every week or so … Continue reading Bear app special searches →

There’s one thing in Bear app that really bugs me

Last September I wrote about making a permanent move from nvALT to Bear for notes and lists. Since then I have gone all in with Bear. The first year of my Pro subscription was up in December and I renewed it for another year without hesitation. Now I’m experimenting with Bear as my app for … Continue reading There’s one thing in Bear app that really bugs me →