Bear was designed to be a seamless companion in the Apple ecosystem, making it blazing-fast and super easy to connect your notes with Apple’s built-in apps. Whether you’re an Apple aficionado or just getting started, now is the perfect time to discover how to make the most of these tools!
The Basics
Before we dive in, let’s touch on some fundamental tools that makes Bear’s integration with Apple apps so seamless. They might seem a bit technical, so feel free to skip ahead if it’s not your thing—but they’re worth knowing!
Clipboard
The clipboard is the magic wand behind copy-and-paste, and it’s at the heart of Bear’s interactions with other apps.
How it works: When you copy content into Bear, Bear transforms it into Markdown where possible. When you copy from Bear and to another app, you’ll get plain text (with Markdown) or rich text, depending on what the recipient app supports.
Quick Tips
- Bear’s Copy As options let you choose formats for selected text or entire notes. On Mac, you can find it in the right click menu; on iOS, tap Copy As in the pop-up selection menu, or use the ⫶ menu at the top right corner for a whole note
- Pasting tables from a spreadsheet into Bear? Voilà! instant Markdown tables!
- URLs pasted into Bear often transform into titled links—but give it a moment to fetch the title
Drag and Drop
Drag and Drop gives you a hands-on way to move text, attachments, or even entire notes between Bear and other apps. For example, you can draft a note in Bear, then drag it into Mail or Messages to share it. Bear keeps formatting intact—simple as that!
Here are some quick tips to play with Drag and Drop on your fav device:
On iOS:
- If you are struggled to make selected text “float”, hold your finger on it and gently move it—soon it’ll follow you across screens!
- Keep one finger holding the item while another finger swipes up to select the destination app
- You can find more info about Drag and Drop on iPad here
On Mac:
- Drag files in a note in Bear to add as attachment
- Drag a file on the Bear icon in the Dock to create a new note with the attachment
- Drag notes from Bear to other apps—the exported format will be plain text or a Bear note, depending on whether attachments are included
- Instructions of Drag and Drop on Mac can be found here
Apple Shortcuts
Apple Shortcuts lets you string together tasks across multiple apps into powerful automations. If you’re new to it, check out Apple’s Shortcuts User Guide, our Shortcuts blog, and FAQ to get started.
On Mac, Shortcuts functionality is largely the same as iOS, but test cross-platform shortcuts to ensure compatibility.
Built-in Apps
Now, let’s explore how Bear works with specific Apple apps through real-world examples.
Reminders
Bear isn’t about bloated all-in-one solutions, but it teams up beautifully with Reminders for task management. Use Shortcuts to sync todos from Bear to Reminders, ensuring nothing falls through the cracks.
Shortcuts from users:
Calendar
Looking to tie your schedule into Bear? Try embedding note links in Calendar event descriptions or attaching notes directly to Calendar events. Shortcuts can automate this for streamlined daily or weekly planning.
From users: Make your own journal shortcut with calendar events in Bear
Bear makes it convenient to draft emails in Bear and finish in Mail app. On iOS, use Bear’s Share option in the ⫶ menu to send a note to Mail. On Mac, drag and drop is your best friend—move a note directly into an email draft, and Bear keeps the formatting intact. 😉
Saving email links in Bear is also easy. Just drag and drop an email from Mail into Bear, and it will create a titled link that takes you straight back to that specific message whenever you need it.
From users: Linking emails via drag and drop on iOS
Safari
Bear has amazing extensions for Mac, iPad, and iPhone, making it effortless to save “Read-later” content from Safari or capture an #inspirational quote that brightens up a rainy day.
On iOS: In Safari, tap the iOS share icon on the bottom, choose Bear, and customize how you save the content. Want to save only part of a webpage? Highlight the section you need before tapping the share icon. Learn more here.
On Mac: After installing Bear’s browser extension, simply click the Bear icon to save any webpage as a note. If you highlight specific text or images, the extension will clip only the selected content. You can also adjust some options of the Bear extension. You can add default tags to all clipped notes, and append the page URL to the note for a tailored experience. Learn more here.
🐻: Occasionally, the extension may not capture a webpage correctly. If this happens, feel free to reach out to us with the link so we can investigate and improve.
More to Explore
Bear works with Apple apps in many creative ways. Highlight text and explore the selection menu to search, share, or copy content in the Apple built-in Apps. Combine apps for custom workflows, like capturing content in Safari, converting it to a PDF, saving it in Bear, and emailing it—all with a Shortcut.
Get started!
Bear’s seamless integration within the Apple ecosystem is all about enhancing your productivity while keeping things simple and fast. Whether you’re syncing tasks, scheduling your days, or just wanting to save a piece of article you loved when surfing online, Bear + Apple apps = endless possibilities.