An excellent note-taking app to collect and organize thoughts is a blessing in disguise. People use Evernote, OneNote, Bear Notes, Google Keep, and others, as a digital file cabinet. Today, the note-taking space is so crowded that if you want to move from one app to another or someone needs to pick a new option, the task appears more daunting than ever. That said, Microsoft OneNote is an excellent note-taking app if you're quite comfortable with using MS Office apps. It's free, available on all platforms, and comes with handy features. Bear notes is another capable offering with a prime focus on UI and reliability.
On paper, both OneNote and Bear Notes may sound identical, but they differ in various areas such as note organization, sharing, editor, and user navigation.
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In this post, we are going to compare both OneNote and Bear Notes on the Mac. We will also talk about the mobile app experience on the iPhone. Let’s get started to pick a relevant note-taking software for you.
Cross-Platform Availability
OneNote is available on iOS, Android, Windows, iPad, Mac, Web, and as a Chrome extension. Bear Notes is focused on the Apple ecosystem. It is only available on iOS, iPad, Mac, and as an extension on the Chrome web store.
If you plan to use the notes app either Android or Windows, your answer ends here. Go with Microsoft OneNote.
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Read MoreUser Interface
If you have used Microsoft Office apps, then you would feel right at home with the OneNote. The major options, such as drawing, editing, and view, are tucked inside the ribbon at the top. The notebook, pages, and sections are on the left side.
Microsoft has stuck with the winning formula for UI and UX over the years. And it works well with the OneNote software. OneNote also supports the night theme, which I rarely use but might find useful in dark situations.
Bear Notes is known for its intuitive user interface. The app uses a slick-looking UI with notes and tags on the left sidebar. Using Bear Notes, you can easily witness the company’s close attention to the UI.
Bear Notes also support multiple theming options. You can go to App Preference > Themes and choose from the dozens of available themes.
Notes Organization
This is one of the main differences between the two apps. Notes organization can be the deal-breaker for many users. Some may prefer OneNote’s Notebook style, while others might prefer the tags-based organization in Bear Notes.
Let’s start with OneNote first. Microsoft mimics the physical notebook style in the software. You can create an OneNote Notebook, add sections in it and further create pages to write notes.
Bear Notes doesn’t offer any Notebook-style organization. Instead, it relies on tags to quickly search through and differentiate notes in the app. So it's entirely your personal preference on the organization style you like.
Note Editing
Microsoft brings the familiar Word editing options to the OneNote with a couple of changes designed for a note-taking app.
With OneNote, you can change font, style, fonts, use different headings, choose from multiple color options, and even use various tags like Question, Remember, Important, To-Do, and more.
OneNote also lets you insert a table, files, images, audio recording, and even maths equation. You can integrate some built-in stickers too.
OneNote offers drawing capabilities. It’s mostly useful if your PC or tablet has Pen support. You can use Pen, Marker, and Highlighter, change the ink color and intensity and use the eraser to undo mistakes.
Note Taking App For Iphone
While OneNote throws every possible option at you for editing, Bear Notes smartly hides them to keep the note-taking area clean. When composing a note, you can tap on the little pen icon at the bottom to open the floating menu with editing options.
It covers the basics but lacks the rich-editing options offered by OneNote. The lfunctions include different headings, line separator, quote, code block, to-do, highlighter, file integration, and more.
For note details, you can tap on the info icon at the upper right corner, and Bear will display modification date, words, characters, read time, and paragraphs. I like how Bear Notes mentions keyboard shortcuts for editing options in the app.
Speaking of keyboard shortcuts, you should memorize OneNote keyboard shortcuts to fly through the app and editing options.
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Read MoreNote Sharing and Syncing
OneNote syncs all the created notebooks and data to Microsoft’s OneDrive platform. Bear Notes uses Apple’s iCloud storage to keep the data in sync.
Bear Notes allows you to share the note in PDF, HTML, DOCX, and JPG format. Just tap on the info button at the top and choose the file type to share the note. Unfortunately, you can’t invite others to make changes to the note.
OneNote lets you share an entire Notebook with others. You can use the invite link and ask others to collaborate with you on the notebook. Sadly, you can’t share a section of the notebook separately. However, you can share a page of a section as PDF.
A Word on Mobile Apps
Bear Notes is only available on the iOS platform and that's why we will talk about app experience on the iPhone. OneNote sticks with the same note organization as the desktop. Open Notebook, go to the section, and start filling-up pages. I like how Microsoft has integrated Sticky Notes add-on in the OneNote mobile app. The search function also works as expected.
Bear Notes iOS app is a joy to use. It feels and looks more polished and responsive than OneNote. You can find the same editing options as well as theming choices.
Price
OneNote is free but has a catch. It uses the OneDrive service to store notes and data. OneDrive only offers 5GB of free space. After that, you need to pay for the additional OneDrive storage to keep using OneNote.
Bear Notes work on a monthly subscription. It costs $1.5 per month to use. Bear Notes does offer a free trial to test out the service.
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Both OneNote and Bear Notes are excellent note-taking apps. If you want something free and works across all platforms, then go with OneNote. Bear Notes offer better UI, robust organization with tags, and a bunch of theme options to spice up the software experience. As for now, I’m sliding with OneNote and I will keep a close eye on Bear Notes for their swift development process.
Next up:Apple Notes is the default choice for iPhone users. Read its comparison with Bear notes to choose a better app for you.
The above article may contain affiliate links which help support Guiding Tech. However, it does not affect our editorial integrity. The content remains unbiased and authentic.Read NextApple Notes vs Bear Notes: Which Note-Taking App Is Better for YouAlso See#productivity #mac apps
Did You Know
Brian Eno composed the old and popular Microsoft Sound.
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Apple Notes is a powerful notes app that makes the process of note-taking better and faster. The Notes app for Mac offers a wide range of features, making it the go-to notes app by Apple users. Plus, it comes pre-installed with your Mac and iOS devices, making it more convenient for you.
The Notes app for Mac lets you quickly jot down random thoughts, ideas, to-do lists and grocery lists, among others. When an idea pops in your head, or you thought of an interesting topic, all you have to do is open the Notes app and jot it down fast so you can come back to it later. The great thing about the Notes app is that it can be synced across all your Apple devices, letting you access whatever you’ve jotted down on your iPhone, in your iPad or Mac.
Mac Notes is not only for jotting down ideas. You can also attach photos, videos, maps, directions, links, sketches and website links on your notes. You can share these notes with other people, even those outside the Apple community, by exporting it as a PDF file. This also preserves your note’s contents just as they were in the Notes app. The exported PDF file can be saved, shared, stored or sent to just about anyone. This article will show you the step-by-step process of exporting your notes as a PDF.
How to Export Mac Notes as PDF
Saving your notes as a PDF file is a very straightforward process. To do this, follow these instructions.
- Open the Notes app for Mac. You will see the list of your notes on the left side of the window.
- Navigate to the note you want to export as PDF. Click it so that it becomes the active note and you can see the contents of the note on the right side of the window. If you want to open the note in a new window, just double-click it.
- Click File and select Export as PDF.
- Type in the file name that you want in the ‘Save As:’ field. Then, choose the save destination in the ‘Where:’ field. You may also add tags if you want to be able to search for the note using a keyword.
- Click Save.
That’s it! Your note has been saved as a PDF file, and any format or content on the note will be preserved as is in the resulting PDF document. You can check if the note has appropriately been saved as a PDF by locating the file within your saved destination. You can also search for the file using Finder. Open the file using Preview or your PDF reader on Mac.
How to Export Notes in Other File Formats
Although the Notes app for Mac is very user-friendly and feature-packed, it lacks in the exporting department, as it can only export notes as PDF. To export notes as text or HTML, you need to install third-party apps. Here are some of the best options for you.
Notes Exporter
This app from Writeapps lets you export notes as .txt. It’s a lightweight app that you can install quickly and use right away, without the need to set up configurations or tweak some settings.
When you open Notes Exporter, it reads all your saved notes on the Notes app. Then, each of these notes is exported as .txt files and saved in a dedicated folder. The best thing about this app is that it’s free.
Note2Txt
This is a paid app that allows you to export notes as text or as HTML. For a small fee, you can use this simple app to save your exported files in a separate folder, while keeping all your notes’ layouts and contents intact.
One of the unique features of Note2Txt is its flexible file-naming system. You can name the notes by just dragging the little labels into the box. You also have the option to edit the folder name, date created, date modified and note number.
Exporter
Exporting notes as text becomes a straightforward task with Exporter. This free app is straightforward to install and use. It converts your notes to text and preserves the creation and modified dates of each note. The Exporter is a reliable and efficient app that simplifies the task of exporting notes as text.
Indeed, the Notes app for Mac makes note-taking and sharing more natural and more convenient. The built-in Save as PDF feature allows you to share the file with almost anyone, regardless of the device they are using. Furthermore, if you want to add more functionality to your Notes app, the third-party apps listed above will surely add in more value to your note-taking process.
Here’s a tip: Improve the Notes app performance by boosting your Mac’s RAM with an app like Tweakbit MacRepair. It deletes junk files and optimizes your computer’s memory for faster and smoother processes.