I have been using Craft for the last 2 years, but have come back with Bear 2. I realized today, that I am really missing the ability to have more than one note open at a time.
Would it be possible to add tabs to Bear for macOS and iPadOS? This would greatly improve productivity by increasing the speed at which I can complete some tasks in Bear with this option. Or, be able to have more than one instance of Bear open so that I can have the windows side by side. Thoughts?
It has (always?) been possible to have more than one window of Bear opened. I think if you right click on a note in the note list, you should see an option to open that note in a new window. But only one window is allowed to have side bars (tag list & note list panes) - is this what you mean when talking about multiple instances of Bear?
Regardless, I like having tabs implemented as it allows me to focus on the task at hand but not lost in multiple Bear windows, when I need to constantly reference a few notes when working.
Tabs are superior to the multi-window layout, imho.
Thank you, @pol2ctd - youāre right about new note windows on Mac. However, I would prefer the option of tabs. Additionally, there is no way, that Iāve found, to do this on iPadOS. I use the iPad frequently with a keyboard, and adding tab functionality would greater improve workflow.
iPad has already support for Split view that works great with Bear,
iPad Pro (and maybe iPad Air?) also supports Stage Manager where you can have multiple instances of Bear open at the same time, either side by side, or minimized on the left side ready to cycle between them:
Thank you @roar I guess my problem then on the iPad, is that I donāt know how to invoke a 2nd window to do split screen. Split screen is good (and I would use it), but it still does not replace the value of tabsā¦
I would absolutely love tabs and would like to attract @trix180 ās attention on a UX problem with the current multi window implementation.
If you
Then you can mistakenly close the main window and then, you cannot access your note list and tags again unless you manually create a new note from the menu (if I remember right - not at my Mac now), which recreates a main window. But itās a very obscure and arcane way to do so.
Tabs and windows, with per-tab settings of showing note list and/or tabs, would provide a much more unified experience and be readily understandable by anyone.
Yes, I also find that really annoying on Mac.
On iPad with Bear in split window, both windows can activate note list and taglist if needed. I really think Bear on Mac should behave in the same way!
Devs should also make it possible open a note from note list in a new window without also activating that note in current main window. I usually donāt want to see the same note side by side.
Thank you @roar - Iāve used the split window view many time, but Iāve just looked past that ā+ā sign at the bottom!!! This just opened a new world for me! Thank you!
Long press on the Bear icon on the doc to access/re-open the main window
If you want my personal opinion I disagree. I guess that can work for Craft because it doesnāt come with multiple windows support but windows+tabs+3 columns is honestly something I canāt call good UI/UX. I think per-tab settings are very misleading if not properly communicated for each tab, which means dedicating UI for that, and only that, purpose. Maybe Iām not used to tabs outside browsers.
I did not know the right-click on the Dock trick. 
Maybe itās just me, but I would argue that itās quite hiddenā¦
Tabs as a system-wide feature is quite a powerful and unobtrusive feature. Itās been available as a system API to every Mac app since High Sierra IIRC (4-5 years ago) ā starting with the Finder, and every app using the native windowing model ā so users are perfectly used to it.
Maybe putting the whole UI in every tab is not the right call ā there might be a better solution to find ā you are way better designers than I am! But I donāt think the current system works great either (you can lose the main window all too easily and multi windowing is clunky as you have to fish for the right window which can slip under other apps, etc.). Tabs are a great feature because they scale: you can have many (if you work on something complex and want the full power of the app) or none (if you are a beginner user), which I would think is in line with Bearās philosophy.
Almost all apps work in a consistent way with tabs (Pages, iA Writer, OmniFocus ā even Scrivener!) ā thereās only Bear and Ulysses I can think of which have this strange āmain and satellitesā window model. Which would not be a problem, if I saw the use; but I fail to see a way where it is superior to the tabs model. If you are interested, I can list many UX issues Iāve run into with this āmain and satellitesā model.
Ulysses has the feature to show two editors side to side. I never used the function but I think you can use tabs in ulysses, the usual macOS provided tabs that you can activate in ulysses. Maybe that I am confusing something. Iāll take a look after dinner
With the arch browser you have some criticism of tabs because even in context of browsers tabs can be painful. One note in an open window is not a problem but a killer feature so that you can place a note beside any other app f.e. Actually the problem appears if you have multiple windows open, loose overview or have to drag the windows around
Really unsure if that idea is good but the first that came to my mind is an minimal form of window management in bear itself however that may look like. Or notes opened in own window are collected in one window that separates the notes by - guess! - tabs? The latter one in turn would make impossible to place two open notes side to side.
I retrace KillerWhales struggle as indeed it is a pain to work with all the open windows. But to find a solution seems to be damn hard
CMD + Click ā Edit: Thatās not correct! CMD + doubleclick is the way to go!
+1 I would also like tabs.
Tabs would enable me to jump between multiple notes easily. I use bear for work and typically have a five notes open at a time. Tabs are a great organizational tool for jumping between tasks or keeping information at your finger tips.
Currently, I either pin all my notes to the top or use separate windows for each note. Both approaches are not ideal. Pinned notes change their order based on modification time forcing me to scan the list each time. Separate window for each note is cumbersome to jump to the note I want (using the Window list sort of works but requires mouse input), and CMD+` is slow and often have to toggle through the entire list.
In most apps tabs allow you to maintain a specific tab order and they usually have keyboard shortcuts to instantly jump to a specific tab (or at least have shortcuts to jump to the next or previous tab). Having this would save me so much time.
@trix180 Craft does have multi-window support in macOS that include the sidebar navigation. However, that does not negate your opinion. For me personally, because Craft has tabs - that is what I rely on exclusively - I do not use multi-windows because of this.
While my preference is tabs, on macOS, multi-windows works in a pinch. Thank you for considering.
I made a proposal here for collecting notes or parts of notes in a fourth pane for multiple purposes. I wanted to wait after final release but the discussion here motivated me to post it now. Would something similar what the video mockup shows solve your problems with multiple open windows?
That is a pretty cool idea. But it doesnāt quite replace tabs for me. The reason I like tabs (but multi-window support does work) is I like having 2 or more notes open all day and frequently swapping between them.
As @danmills7 said. I often work on sets of 5-6 notes at a time and want to cross reference them. Tabs would do the trick; your idea, while nifty, would not be enough in my case.
Are you expecting the tabs in the main window or in the standalone one? Does it have to be tabs or would f.e. a drop-down list with collected notes also be fine?
Solving such a problem is a challenge for every ui designer
Honestly, Iād advocate for a whole rethinking. Letās go back to features. What I want / need (and what I think people want tabs to address) is
Tabs solve this. Obsidian has this sliding panel mode which is even better.
Itās not a new problem; there are models in place, and Apple even gave tabs to document-based apps system-wide.
Any solution that address the above points would work, but I would argue that the wheel has kind of been invented already.
