Tabs like Web Browsers

@trix180 what @KillerWhale says here, summarizes this request/feature nicely. I understand this is not something you can spend thought cycles on right now, but it would be great if you could add it to your list of future considerations. :pray:

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I’m using Raycast only because of this extension: Raycast Store: Bear Notes


This extension is super fast. You can assign a shortcut to invoke it from anywhere, Bear doesn’t even need to be open.

It’s a very good workaround to deal with the limitations mentioned by @KillerWhale.

It’s working with Bear 2.0 already and it’s free. Alfred also has a nice extension (GitHub - drgrib/alfred-bear: Streamlined note searching and creation for Bear using Alfred) but its not working with Bear 2 yet.

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If tabs are added they would have to be implemented in such a way that they do not interfere with those who don’t use tabs.

Tabs are one of the things that made Obsidian incredibly clunky to use for me. I could never get away from them, things always opened in tabs when I didn’t want that.

I think that might be a tall order UI wise, but certainly not impossible.

The system design of tabs in macOS is made so as to be unobtrusive. In some apps (OmniFocus) you can never know it’s actually there.

If I am focusing on this it’s because it’s a system wide feature which should be easy to understand for users and not too costly to develop. It’s not my favorite - Obsidian’s sliding panes is my preferred design - but it would not be in line with Bear’s simplicity and streamlined design. I believe macOS tabs are :slightly_smiling_face:

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That’s an excellent example of what I’m talking about. I’m a OmniFocus user and I never even see tabs (they’re hidden by default). That said, I think maybe the design of Bear might make that more difficult? Either way, shows a good design.

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Hi folks,

I don’t want to end a nice conversation, but we currently have no plans to add tabs in Bear.

There was a lot of discussion about tabs at the beginning of the Bear development, but we ended up deciding that tabs don’t bring enough value for the majority of our users and as adding/maintaining them is a non-trivial amount of work and so we prefer to focus on other features.

Nothing is forever and we might change ideas in the future, but don’t hold your breath :slight_smile:

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Thanks for letting us know! I will admit I’m bummed, but it’s very enjoyable to be able to discuss features and use cases.

Maybe the promised quick switcher coming some time after release could fix the UX issues I’m talking about :wink:

Those UX issues have always bugged me as well, and the solution I’ve always hoped for is the ability to hide the note editor pane, leaving you with just the tags list and notes list, with an easy way to open up a selected note in a new window, such as spacebar.

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With tabs you don’t get a side-by-side view of two notes. I frequently need that.

I don’t think tabs and split view are mutually exclusive.

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All tabbed apps also provide distinct windows, which allows you to see as many things side by side as you want.

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I also want to add another vote for tabs–I created an account here just for saying this. I recently switched to Bear as my main note-taking app but have found the lack of tabs a bit frustrating. I have a couple of notes which I like to keep open constantly but don’t like to have them in separate windows because it introduces a lot of clutter. It’s similar to web browsers or code editors–imagine having a separate window for each VSCode tab.
I hope you will consider adding this feature, IMO it would greatly improve the UX :wink:

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I must admit that i dislike the concept of tabs for one simple reason. Actually there is always a main note in the focus of attention. For many reasons it is necessary to open another note or even several ones. But generally i want to see them side by side with my main note.

Wouldn’t it be more helpful if all those notes opened in standalone window are merged inside one and only standalone window (optional)? That standalone window however could provide a drop down list for all those notes which are opened outside of the main window. In my eyes the advantages are:

  • We have a side to side view
  • The notes opened are not spreading around the desktop in form of many windows but are collected inside one and only window that seems less cumbersome for me
  • The main window remains untouched

I don’t know your user scenarios but in my case such or similar solution would make more sense

To me it comes down being able to quickly switch between the 3-4 notes I’m actively using at the moment without cluttering the system with too many windows. Also, I’d like to be able to open a new note without losing the current one.

Actually, we can also dig deeper here. The problem I’m trying to solve with tabs is basically this: Imagine I’m writing something in my main note but suddenly I need information from another note in Bear. To me it seems like there’s no way of opening the other note without leaving the current note. Even if I try to open the other note in a new window, I have to right click it in the sidebar, which also opens it in the main window. Now I’ve lost the main note and have to search for it again.

To me it seems easier to open a new tab (e.g., cmd-T), search for and open the second note, look up the info I need, and go back to the main note (using standard browser shortcuts like shift-cmd-[ etc).

Multiple windows with a sidebar would also solve this issue (but still with the issue of clutter).

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That is a known annoyance that hopefully will be fixed anytime. But you can cmd+click a note to remain in the main note

That was actually my origin idea/wish. But bear already has its standalone windows which are a great feature: so why adding clutter as you said when you could have the same benefits by merging optionally all open standalone windows into one window.

Bumping this :fist_right:

(Did you know that post must be at least 20 characters?)

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Hi! Do you think this is debateable, at least, 2 years later?

The amount of flow breaking I get when taking notes in bear is pretty hard sometimes.

Here are my current issues:

  • No visual expectation where a note will open, my eyes keep searching for a second before I find the expected result.
  • Notes are messy stacked on top of another because I do take advantage of linked and unlinked mentions when working with information and data inside my notes.
  • MacOS (I use Multitouch with shortcuts) window management is a visual mess most of the time.

Thanks!