During the last developer conference, Apple introduced us to a new application. One that entered a category that we hadn’t seen before in the Cupertino company’s catalog, and it totally was focuses on note-taking and organizing almost all types of projects. And of course together.
Undoubtedly, the pandemic and telecommuting have accelerated the use of remote sharing tools, such as B. the large canvases that form the basis of this new one Free Apple App included in the latest version of their operating systems.
We’re talking about freeform, an application that we can already use on iPhone, iPad and Mac thanks to the recent release of iOS 16.2, iPadOS 16.2 and macOS 13.1 and whose approach is really interesting. An application in which we can both structure the chapters of our memories and add graphic content or annotations, as well as plan a group trip or organize a project at the office.
A list of whiteboards, owned and shared
Freeform’s interface is really simple and it just makes it too fast Let’s find exactly what we’re looking for without feeling overwhelmed. The options of the different sections are carefully hidden behind the need to select an element to change it, resulting in a very clean and friendly design, as well as full of details to do exactly what we need.
First we go from a list of what Apple has called whiteboards. A list in the sidebar on iPad or Mac, but full screen on iPhone. Here we find all whiteboardsthe youngestwhich we have Divided and ours favourites. Also a section for which we have just deleted.
This is where we keep all whiteboards, both our own and those that someone has shared with us. Some panels that we can see both in the form of an icon with a larger preview and in the form of a list and that we can create by simply touching the pencil-shaped button on a piece of paper.
A toolbar with many more options than meets the eye
Once inside a board, we need to focus on the top sidebar. The first thing we find is the marking tools, which we access by touching the pencil icon. We can write or draw both with our finger and with the Apple Pencil (and its floating pointer effect), just like in any photo, and we can also use the small paint pot icon to highlight each section, simply by sketching a box on it. you. A very useful function, for example to highlight parts of a text or a concept map.
The next Bar tool is the post-it, which we can place anywhere to write down ideas. We can customize its color, the color, the size and format of the letter it contains and of course its size, although it always keeps a square ratio.
Then we find the sculpt tool, the same that we already know from Pages, for example. With it we can add squares, circles, arrows and also geometries, objects, animals, elements of nature, food, symbols, places, activities and much more. For each shape, in addition to its size, we can change the color of the fill and the type, size and color of the stroke. We can also write inside the shape and vary the layout of the text according to our needs.
That Text Box Tool It’s exactly what we’ve come to expect, a way to enter typewritten text where we can change the size, color, format, etc. And finally the content toolwith which we can insert elements like photos or videoscapture content with the camera, scan documents, additional connections or use the insert from to get any file from the Files app.
Options to move and organize the content according to our needs
Once we have added various content to the board, We can move it, resize it, view it (e.g. in the case of photos or PDF documents), delete it, duplicate it and several other options. Many of them are behind the three dots button, which also allows us to bring an element to the foreground or background, cut it, lock it to prevent accidental changes, add a description for better accessibility and even deciding whether to cast it, e.g. cast a shadow, round its corners or keep the proportions as you move it.
Moving around the board is as easy as pinching in or out with two fingers, or dragging with one. We have a high zoom level (from 10% to 400%), so we need to have plenty of space to plan practically everything. A plan that we can then share to invite others to contribute content or consult it, and in PDF format to send to anyone we consider.
After a few days of testing the app, the simplicity of Apple’s approach makes it freeform what comes closest to a physical tablet or a corkboard for pinning and organizing content. When we add to that the ability to collaborate with anyone, we have a truly versatile tool. Versatile both for the organization, which is what we want to talk about in this article, and for planning the development of our new application.
In Applesphere | What I like best about iOS 16.1: The iOS we saw during WWDC is here
Source : www.applesfera.com