Freeform is a Game Changer

[Deedeekay]

I know there are other threads but they're all in specific OS forums. Freeform works on iOS/iPadOS and MacOS which is one of the key brilliant things about it.

So, maybe I'm a complete rube noob. Maybe there's been something like this out there, somewhere, and Apple is copying someone else. I haven't made a supreme effort to find anything like Freeform but, over the years, I have looked for stuff like this and nothing has ever come anywhere close to this, at least that I could find.

And I don't care. I think this is a game changing app that will drive Apple device uptake across multiple industries. It's one of those things that on the surface might seem a bit, "Eh," to a lot of people but will absolutely become a major part of creative, collaborative spaces, not just between professionals but between everyday individuals. In ten years time people will be wondering how we ever did without it. I'm happy to be quoted on that so here's a script for you, "Hey Siri, remind me in ten years whether Deedeekay was a moron or not!"

Okay, regardless of this I may or may not still be a moron but I'm pretty confident I'll be right about this.

The combination of simplicity, versatility, intuitive controls, ease of use, smooth operation and sheer power is just... honestly, at least to me, mindblowing. The potential for it is seriously stunning in my mind. There's pretty much no business that I don't see embracing this in some way, shape or form. Even in real space I can see this being used between creatives for things like breaking a story/storyboarding in a writers room, having a collaboration on a large screen with everyone accessing an iPad to contribute for business meetings discussing strategy, and with the new ETE encryption of iCloud, probably even legal teams on cases (can't wait for the accidentally shared access links).

Also, will be fantastic for TTRPG's and ORPG's. God I wish I'd had this during the pandemic.

 

[antiprotest]

There are indeed digital white boards for collaboration, and Apple is late to the party. However, as with a number of other things, Apple making this an integral part of the ecosystem drastically lowers the bar of entry. So it does make a big difference. If a friend or group uses Apple devices, I know they will have Freeform and we can start using it right away, like FaceTime and iMessage.

How do you think you will be using this?

 

[Deedeekay]

There are indeed digital white boards for collaboration, and Apple is late to the party.

Yeah, I've seen a few but they were all very, "Meh," IME.

How do you think you will be using this?

Storyboards and comic layouts for my scripts.

And D&D. Definitely D&D.

Just by merit of having it I also think it will open future opportunities much more readily for collaboration and communication in creative spaces.

Plus I bet there will be templates for lots of things and explanatory/educational tools that will be widely shared that I'll use.

Can it be scripted? Ooh. If that's not already possible, I bet that'll come eventually. Imagine an interactive, educational file you could open to learn various concepts. I bet educational institutions are going to do a lot with Freeform.

 

[GerritV]

Freeform couldn't have come at a better time for me, as I'm diving deep into sketch noting at the moment.
Already testing Concepts and Linea Sketch, while my expectations for Freeform were high.

Glad to say that, already after one day of use, I simply love the app. And I'm hoping for Apple to improve it (like adding double-tap-to-undo). So I'm now putting aside my 3rd party apps and see how far I get with Freeform. BTW, I use it on iPad, not on Mac.

Here's a neat little tip (not sure if it was announced or documented anywhere): draw a closed shape with the Pen tool, next activate the Fill tool and simply tap once inside the boundaries of your shape. Boom ! Shape is filled. Note that there is a wee treshold, means your shape doesn't have to be 100% close.

 

[Ctrlos]

The only thing missing? iCloud.com integration so I can see my whiteboards on any web browser.

 

[Jessica Lares]

Heh, I tried doing double-tap to undo too and was surprised it didn't work. Isn't that in just about everything nowadays?

 

[apostolosdt]

I've been using Notability on my iPad and running it as a digital "blackboard" when teaching online. If Freeform is at least as functional as Notability, I'll prefer it, if nothing else for its integration into the Apple sphere.

 

[GerritV]

Heh, I tried doing double-tap to undo too and was surprised it didn't work. Isn't that in just about everything nowadays?

+1, my main wish as well (see my post 2 steps up)

 

[GerritV]

I've been using Notability on my iPad and running it as a digital "blackboard" when teaching online. If Freeform is at least as functional as Notability, I'll prefer it, if nothing else for its integration into the Apple sphere.

Integration into Apple sphere is there, including the toolbar you get in Apple Notes, the shapes you get in Apple Keynote etc. etc. So, depending of course on what your functionalities are, the Freeform learning curve can be very short indeed.
Compared to Notability and the likes, the infinite canvas is a major plus IMHO.

 

[Marbles1]

It doesn't have snap to grid. Which is really odd.

It's also partially a vector drawing package and partially a whiteboard. It's not great at either.

It feels like something created in the spare time by a junior apple dev. Weird to have such a small app get prominence.

 

[frou]

It's fairly bare-bones but I'm finding it nice to use.

I wish it had a Preferences window to customise some defaults though. For example, "Connection Lines" between objects are always created in the bezier curve style. I prefer them to simply be straight lines, and at the moment that means having to manually edit the properties of every single one.

 

[cateye]

Having played around with FreeForm a bit, it reminds me a lot of Microsoft OneNote, which has existed for ages and is fully integrated across MacOS, Windows, iOS, iPadOS, and the web. There are countless others, each with their own focus (whiteboarding, idea-mapping, flow-charting, collaboration, etc.). Like pretty much all Apple software that copies an existing theme, the barrier to entry is very low, and the ease of use is high. As a result, however, it's also pretty basic.

Nothing wrong with that, it's great to have a free, easy-to-use option, but it's hardly moving the needle on the idea and if you're using it seriously, you'll hit limitations fairly quickly.

 

[jmckenzie]

Won't work for organizations that don't have corporate Apple IDs, as you generally don't want people using their personal Apple IDs to work with company data.

 

[bodonnell202]

Meh, I opened it, tried it and deleted it. I don't have a use for it but I'm sure others will.

 

[BenGoren]

Most of the time I’m using my iPad (first small-bezel 13” pro model) these days is to handwrite notes in class using Notability.

I’m seriously considering using Freeform next semester.

I’ve been using one of the “Cornell” templates in Freeform, which I generally like. But these are all math classes, so I’m often sketching graphs. (You’d be astonished at how often, even in graduate-level math, you’re still drawing simple two- or three-axis sketches of really simple functions.) Notability has a stickies function that you can plop a dot-grid sticky on the page, but I quickly gave up on it … too many clicks and too much time before you can even draw the axes.

I’m not completely sold on moving away from the page-based layout to an infinite whiteboard … but, then again, it’s not uncommon for me to start an equation at the left margin and run out of room at the right margin. And run out again with the same equation on the next line. (Did I mention? Graduate-level math?)

Has anybody had a chance to play around enough with Freeform to know how likely it’s going to work okay for class notes? Maybe suggestions for how to organize them? I’m currently doing one Notability document per class per day … do I want one board per class per day, or just one board for a class for the whole semester, or … ?

Thanks,

b&

 

[now i see it]

The major problem with it is that it’s a part of iOS. Soon the newer version of Freeform will come out and the older version won’t be able to open it. That means all devices have to be on the same version of iOS.
Frankly — it’s another form of iOS lock-in

 

[BenGoren]

The major problem with it is that it’s a part of iOS. Soon the newer version of Freeform will come out and the older version won’t be able to open it. That means all devices have to be on the same version of iOS.
Frankly — it’s another form of iOS lock-in

Hunh? Not sure where that’s coming from.

Apple certainly hasn’t done it (in any meaningful way) with Pages or Numbers or the like.

Historically, Microsoft and Adobe have been much, much, much worse offenders for that sort of thing. Not sure about Adobe, but Microsoft seems to have mostly learned that lesson.

Plus, let’s not forget: it’s not just iOS; it’s MacOS, too.

I haven’t even bothered to look, but I’ll bet you dollars to donuts that the files are compressed XML that are trivial to parse. Probably won’t be long before we see third-party apps with some sort of Freeform support, whether it’s just importing and exporting the files or extending it in some way or who-knows-what.

b&

 

[macsplusmacs]

I love it so very much.

I like GoodNotes and the other one, I can't remember the name.

But Freeform just feels better. Maybe the lack of a "page" metaphor.

ever-expanding canvas makes a difference for me. along with all the tools.

 

[boss.king]

I found it pretty underwhelming. Digital whiteboard apps are nothing new, and Apple didn't bring anything new to the space despite being soooo late to the party. For users coming in fresh to the iPad or these tools in general, it's nice to have a first party option that comes free with the device, but I'd be hard-pressed to find a reason to switch to this for personal use.

And it's worse for professional use — this is a non-starter since it's only on Apple devices. Cross-platform compatibility is table stakes.

 

[Danfango]

Rather like it. Just did a maths lesson with it and FaceTime for my youngest child.

It’s noticeably less painful than goodnotes for sync. I write on my iPad and it’s reflecting it on the Mac instantly.

 

[Deedeekay]

…and Apple didn't bring anything new to the space…

But it has: convenience and ease of use across the Apple ecosystem.

This is a huge thing that I think a lot of critics are overlooking.

 

[ericg301]

this is Figma, no?

 

[boss.king]

But it has: convenience and ease of use across the Apple ecosystem.

This is a huge thing that I think a lot of critics are overlooking.

I already have a few other note-taking and whiteboard tools that were easy to set up and can be used from any Apple device, but they're not limited to only Apple devices, so how is that new? Sure, it's made by Apple, but being Apple-exclusive is actually a downside in a lot of ways for this type of tool.

 

[boss.king]

this is Figma, no?

Not really. It's kinda like FigJam (which is just the whiteboarding aspect of Figma) but I think a closer comparison would be something like Miro.

 

[Analog Kid]

I like that it sync across devices with so little latency. I can open a FF window on my Mac, screen share it to conference call, and use my Pencil to edit it.