What’s the rationale behind spending resources on a web app instead of doubling down on what makes Bear unique?
I’ve been a subscriber since the beginning. Bear has always delivered on its promise: the best note-taking app in the Apple ecosystem. That focus is why I pay for it.
A web client that can’t match the native experience isn’t a feature—it’s a distraction. This shift makes me nervous.
Aiming to expand the customer base in order to generate additional resources ?
The web app is aimed at users who not only use an apple device, but who, for whatever reason (e.g. work), are dependent on using windows pc’s and need to access their data there or on someone else’s ac. If I’m not mistaken, the original wish of some users was to have a native app for Windows and Android.
I don’t need the web app at all. But I really don’t know why I should be concerned about its existence.
Not to speak for OP (or indeed the devs), but a factor of concern is Bear’s small team working on projects that aren’t the “legacy” Mac and iOS apps — and what that might mean for future development timelines. The lack of news or updates on Panda since the web app arrived are also concerning for me, as I’d been very much looking forward to that coming out.
If you have been here since v1, you know that the team takes an extreme time to think things through and develop a polished product. We have been waiting two years for v2, when it seemed nothing happened. The web version had been promised for at least as long: now it’s getting here.
What I mean is that the team always gets to what it promises. It takes years though. That’s the name of the game. I trust Panda will come. It might be a year away though, maybe more
I understand it’s frustrating. I have been here myself. But this the way they do things, and in the end, it delivers a stellar product. I think Bear Web’s point is indeed to broaden the customer base by allowing people who can’t access Macs at work still work on their notes (OmniFocus has the same thing), which helps retaining them as customers. If that sustains Bear’s business, even though I’m not a user of the web app, I’m happy. Bear 2 is in a very good spot right now and I don’t personally experience major dealbreakers. So I’m happy for them to focus on a money maker if that helps make the whole thing last, and wait for the next native thing.
The web version imo is less about split focus and more about building a universally accessible piece of software. It’s important that when you’re not on Mac, you want universal access to your notes from any machine with a browser.
For me, the web app could make it possible to share my notes via web links. That is important because I need to share content with my students, and I keep updating it.
Native-first doesn’t mean native-only. I’m glad the devs have delivered on a (near-perfect, in my view) web companion app.
What do you mean by that? I really like the web app but it is still using my iCloud account and there is no sharing of whatsoever.
It’s not possible yet, but if I remember correctly, the devs have said it could be possible in the future.
From my perspective, the web app was the missing piece in an almost perfect app.
I manage most of my digital life inside the Apple ecosystem, but I use Linux at work (and sometimes Windows). Before the web app, whenever I needed to save something from my work computer into Bear, I had to send myself emails or use Google Keep and then manually copy things over later. It worked, but it felt clumsy and broke the whole “single trusted system” idea.
Even if I could use a Mac at work (which would be ideal), I still wouldn’t want to install Bear with all my personal notes on a work machine. The web app is perfect for this: no data is permanently stored on the device, I open it in a personal profile in Chrome, and I can access and add to my notes safely. I now use it basically every day.
So, from my point of view, the web app doesn’t take away from what makes Bear special, it completes it. It lets me keep using Bear as my main notes system, even when I’m not on Apple hardware. So I’m very happy it exists, and I hope the team keeps going in this direction.
I don’t think I will ever use the web version, and for me personally, I think it’s a bummer to see all the resources put into it.
I also chose Bear because I’m pretty invested in the Apple ecosystem, and if that were to change, for example, if I had to start using Windows for work or something, I would switch to another notes app that had cross-platform apps as opposed to trying to use Bear on the web.
I just want to add my voice here that I work on both Mac and Linux desktop machines (in fact my Linux box is a Mac mini M1 running Asahi Fedora), and having the web version of Bear is a godsend. In fact, it is literally my “syncing service” for text. I can copy stuff into a scratch note on an Apple device like my iPhone, and then grab it off Bear web on Linux (or visa-versa). For me, this is the opposite of split focus: it is the ability for Bear to be the single source of my notes on any platform I happen to be using which is incredibly valuable.
Look at a product like workflowy or telegram, it’s not a stretch to go from personal notes to published notes from a technical perspective and it’s a common path for note apps. ie you keep all rights to your privacy and the option to share publicly (and retract it) would be totally under your control.
I wish people would show some grace here, especially given the fact you can’t point out any GLARING issue with the native app that we’re all waiting on. Can you?
I love the web app expansion, it’s tailored to my needs - I’m in that camp where I work on windows PC by day but rely on Bear and other Apple ecosystem apps for personal note taking.
This exactly, even though I use a Macbook for work and personal, our work doesn’t allow downloading apps from the app store so I was stuck on Craft Docs for a year, I enjoyed it but it was way too flashy and I didn’t use 99% of the features so I wanted to move to Bear. As a very busy person both at work and in my personal life so I need to be able to access things easily and the web app achieves that for me. I’ve just subscribed today and currently moving over all my notes.