Bean for Mac
Fast and uncluttered word processor.
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Bean overview
Bean is lean, fast, and uncluttered. If you get depressed at the thought of firing up MS Word or OpenOffice, try Bean.
If you use Text Edit but have to jump through hoops just to get a word count or change the margins, try Bean.
If you're pining away for Write Now-esque simplicity or just want a low-pressure writing environment, try Bean.
Features:
- A live word count
- A Get Info panel for in-depth statistics
- A zoom-slider to easily change the view scale
- An Inspector panel with lots of sliders
- Date-stamped backups
- Autosaving
- A page layout mode
- An alternate colors option (e.g., white text on blue)
- An option to show invisible characters (tabs, returns, spaces)
- Selection of text by text style, paragraph style, color, etc.
- A floating windows option (like Stickies has)
- Easy to use menus
- Remembers cursor postion (excluding .txt, .html, .webarchive formats)
- All of Cocoa's good stuff (dictionary, word completion, etc.)
- Please keep in mind that Bean is betaware
What’s new in version 3.7.1
Changes
- View > 2-Up will now always produce a 2-Up view when View > Layout is off, but will toggle the 2-Up view when View > Layout is on (20240802-1).
- View > 2-Up with Format > Document > Facing Pages selected now displays the facing pages visually aligned (20240808-1).
Bugfixes
- Fixed a problem where pasting styled web text (italics, etc.) from Firefox or Chrome causes the unreadable LastResort font to be used on macOS 14 Sonoma (FB13976933, 20240801-1).
- Addressed an issue where macOS 14 Sonoma does not always properly redraw the contents of textViews below when an edit is made (FB13758160, 20240803-1).
- Fixed a problem on macOS 14 Sonoma where the layout view could shift upon mouse down, causing an unintended text selection, because the text system was needlessly calling setFrameSize: then scrollRectToVisible: (20240806-1).
- Fixed a problem where the text ruler could become visible when a page was deleted (20240806-2).
Bean for Mac
Free
In English
Version 3.7.1
What users say about Bean
Value: 5.0
A big thank you for developing and maintaining your very productive & useful program over these many years‼️ I've written very good reviews over the years (under another screen name), but just wanted to say goodbye and add a final note of appreciation! I have no doubt one day when God calls you home, you'll leave a very good legacy for others to learn from and admire. (Just wish I might have met and known you)
Other user ratings:
Ease of use | 5.0
Features | 5.0
Reliability | 5.0
Customer support | 5.0
Write a detailed review about Bean
What customer like
Performance
Price
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What needs improvements
Social media integration
Customization
(247 Reviews of Bean)
Comments
User Ratings
Aug 1 2023
Version: 3.6.0
like the old days, before bloat was born. Trim, muscular, go-to-it. (Nice Icon too. Stands out in the dock.)
Dec 22 2022
Version: 3.5.0
My default .rtf (and more) editor for a decade now! It also has the ability to edit .webarchive files! Whenever I need to keep note of anything I use it. Thanks to the dev!
Aug 30 2021
Version: 3.4.5
Why does Bean always swallow the first letter of a word at the beginning of a sentence? Bad.
Nov 28 2020
Version: 3.3.4
A lovely app. Feels good to see free software that's not actively developed anymore, undergo bug fixes and compatibility updates.
Bean has been very reliable so far. The UI elements are beautiful and worth gracing a Mac screen and running under the delightful macOS / OS X / Mac OS X; the app has support for tabs; compatibility with Word, etc. appears to be close to impeccable.
The app, like many a quality old Mac software & all verisons of OS X, has also a nostalgic value, as it is over 13 years old. For us old Mac OS X aficionados, the nostalgic factor isn't unimportant, either (I find that to date there's no OS UI that comes even remotely close to comparing to Mac OS X (and now macOS) in beauty and user experience polish, with a possible exception of the Elementary OS, the second handsomest OS I know of).
Sep 29 2020
Version: 3.3.3
OK, it's not my first comment about Bean. But I feel every time astonished of how an application yet almost perfect (fast, uncluttered, with all necessary features to write almost any text, available also in my language) has still regular updates with not only bug fixes or compatibility maintenance but also with changes and features, while "no longer being actively developed". I think a lot of developers of still "actively developed" apps should learn from the creator of Bean. Thanks for the great work, I say it once again, 90% of the time I need to write a text on my Mac, I find myself opening Bean (and I have actually installed at least other 4 word processors and two or three text editors).
