This post is part of a new series called Bear Your Way, where we hope to inspire users of all professions, hobbies, and interests to get the most out of Bear.
Fellow lifelong students, class is back in session. Previously, we discussed some ways you can use Bear to take better notes in the classroom, the office, and everyday life. Now that Bear 2 is out, we thought that post could use a part 2, thanks to some new features that fit right in with taking notes.
Compare information with tables
Tables are a great new way to list, compare, and visualize information in Bear. They’re great for everything from organizing ideas for your next product to recording the evolutionary branches of related species, and they fit right in with any other content in a note.
To create a table, click the BIU button, then the table button. To add rows and columns or make other changes to a table, use the More (⋮) button in any table cell.
Stand out with nested styles
Another new feature in Bear 2 is nested styles, which means you can bold and italicize, or ==highlight and strike and italicize== text. It offers some great ways to grab your own attention when reviewing key lecture and meeting notes later.
To style text, select it and tap the BIU button, then click multiple styles among the formatting tools.
Say it with a Pencil
Sometimes, the pen is mightier than the keyboard. Maybe your notes work better as a drawn diagram, a mindmap, or simply handwritten text. Bear 2 has an all-new sketcher with some great features, all of which you can learn about in our recent blog post.
Paste from your iPhone
Let’s paint a scene: Say you’re working on your Mac but you need a photo of your professor’s notes, a meeting brainstorm, or your latest prototype. What if you could take a photo with your iPhone and it instantly shows up in your current Bear note?
Right-click anywhere in a note. At the bottom of that menu, you should see either your iPhone’s name or a menu called Inset from iPhone or iPad, with a few options including Take Photo, Scan Documents, and Add Sketch. Get out your iPhone (or iPad), unlock it, then select Take Photo in Bear on your Mac to open the camera app on your device. Snap your shot, then watch it appear in the note on your Mac. It’s not magic, it’s Mac-gic! Ok we’ll see ourselves out.
Bonus tip: Lo-fi music for hi-fi notes
Ok Bear doesn’t directly have much to do with this one, but it’s a great way to create a mood for doing your best work. One of the cool things about lo-fi music, aside from often being lyric-less, is that it doesn’t have the highs and lows of most typical music. It maintains a steady, relaxing vibe so you can focus.
Of course, there’s a whole world of lo-fi music and playlists out there. But if you’re looking for our recommendations on a place to start, we have a few for Spotify, YouTube, and Apple Music:
YouTube
Spotify
Apple Music
Class dismissed
We hope these tips, including part 1, help you to take and review better notes across school, work, and life beyond. We’d love to hear any tips you have for the rest of the class at Reddit, Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.