New Beta testing: Multiple Color Highlighter 🌈

[zowiewho]

Hello people!

A while back, we proposed a new way to apply multiple color highlighters to text in Bear and received a lot of valuable feedback. We’ve been hard at work refining this feature, and now we are excited to announce that it is ready for all our beta testers!

For the new highlighter, you can now choose from five different highlighter colors:

• Green (default)
• Red
• Blue
• Yellow
• Purple

We’ve put a lot of effort into ensuring that the new color palette looks great across all themes. Each highlighter color maintains its distinct look and feel. The colors also remain consistent when you switch themes so you can easily distinguish the highlights. For instance, if you use the default green highlighter to mark all the important notes and red for sections needing further edits, you’ll still be able to distinguish the green and the red at a glance, regardless of which theme you’re using!

Under the hood

While highlighter is not part of the official markdown standard, it is widely adopted and supported as a Markdown extension using the == syntax, like this ==highlighted text==

We use the colored circles from Unicode to distinguish the multiple colors:
==🟢Green==, ==🔴red==, and ==🔵blue== highlights.

In this way, the colored circles will also be visible if the app you are using an editor that does support the highlight Markdown, even in even in plain text.

How to use

Mac

• Select text you want to highlight in the editor
• Press shortcut ⌘ ⇧ M
• The default green highlighter will be applied to the text
• Alternatively, click the BIU button on the top right of the editor and select the highlighter icon
• Choose the color you’d like to apply for the text
• To change the highlighted color, click the icon before the text and select a different color to apply

iOS

• Open the BIU keyboard
• Tap the highlighter icon to apply the default highlighter color to the text, or long press the highlighter icon to select different highlighter colors
• To change highlighter color, tap the highlighter icon before the text, then select a different color to apply in the popup menu

Let us know what you think!

Whether you want to color-code your notes, emphasize different types of information, or just add a splash of color, these new options are here to make your writing experience more dynamic and flexible in Bear.

Download the latest version in TestFlight and try out the new highlighters. How do you like the new color options? How do you feel about the themes? Is it easy to use? Share your feedback with us! Your insights are invaluable in helping us continue to improve Bear.

Thank you for being an amazing part of our community. Happy highlighting!

The Bear Team

[Pdxpectations]

I downloaded the Test Flight app, but it says I need an invite to get access.

[bolive]

It looks great! Exactly like you planned. I only have iOS devices so I am unable to test on Mac. It is quite helpful to have the different colors to assist in differentiating between sections.

On that note, would you consider having additional separator options?

[bpeps563]

this looks great, can’t wait for the feature to make it out of beta!

[brian]

Easier highlighting on macOS when you assign keyboard shortcuts (⇧⌘P was taken for purple - it’s pin note):

On iOS and iPadOS, the displayed highlight color is red but you get the current default - green.

I suppose green as the default makes sense if you’re in Ireland (oh, wait), writing an article about St. Patrick’s Day, or Kermit the Frog. But, as I posted before, for writing in…

• Literature - green is for main ideas and takeaways (with annotations) and used sparingly
• Argument mapping - green is used for supporting arguments
• Law - green (and blue) are used sparingly with yellow used most often for case brief facts, analysis, and procedural history.

So, in many cases, green means something different. Yellow is the standard default color for important text. Even if users can eventually configure the default color in the settings, I still think green as the shipped default is nonsensical.

[cookiejar]

I prefer that the text not change colour. It is more natural to my eye. Attached is a comparison using the red, green, and blue text and background with the same hex values as in the beta. There too, I suggest the highlighter pastel colour palette of highlighter pastel Color Palette

De gustibus non est disputandum.

[Chamiu]

@zowiewho

We use the colored circles from Unicode to distinguish the multiple colors:
==🟢Green==, ==🔴red==, and ==🔵blue== highlights.

I’d be happier without emojis.