With the release of iOS 16.2 and iPadOS 16.2, iPhones and iPads are getting a number of significant updates. One of these allows users to choose end-to-end encryption for their photos and iCloud backups.
Another important feature worth mentioning is Freeform, an app that Apple first unveiled at the Worldwide Developers Conference in June. Freeform is like a virtual whiteboard, if that whiteboard is infinite in size and can be shared digitally with others.
I suppose you could think of it as a brainstorming tool, but I’m not sure that’s right. Actually, it’s an app for getting ideas out of your head, connecting them to other ideas and into something you can use to collaborate with others. That last part has proven to be one of the most useful features, and it’s one of the three reasons I think Freeform can be a super productive app.
Use it the way you think
. Most of the tools we use on a regular basis are great for creating things like documents or spreadsheets. There are even useful creative tools for editing photos or creating video projects. The thing is, these are out-of-the-box products.
If you’re writing a report, Google Docs, Word or Pages are fine. If you’re creating a deck of slides, Keynote is the best way to go. The problem is that these apps don’t help you at all in the process of thinking through ideas.
Courtesy of Apple
Here’s what I like about Freeform – it gives you enough structure to organize your thoughts, but for the most part it doesn’t get in the way. It’s literally an endless blank canvas on which you can add text, drawings, or links to Web sites, photos, or audio files.
Sharing ideas and working together
Apple talks about Freeform as a “real-time” collaborative experience. It’s not exactly real-time, for example, Google Docs updates things as you make changes, even when multiple people make changes, but Freeform is pretty good. Apple even provides consistency to make sure that if you make changes, they apply to the latest version of what your employees are doing.
Freeform also makes it easy to share information with your team just by sending a message. When your recipient opens the link, they open the Freeform app on whatever device they’re using and can view, edit, or interact with what you’ve sent. You can also allow anyone with the link to access your board.
Frankly, there’s something missing. Sure, you can start a FaceTime call from Freeform, but let’s be honest, a lot of people don’t do that for work. It would be great if in the future Apple would allow third-party apps to integrate Freeform boards.
Also, you have to have the Freeform app to work together. This means using the latest version of iPadOS or iOS. If your teammates are using older or outdated devices, you’re out of luck. Same if they’re on windows. You can’t view or interact with the Freeform board in a browser, which seems like an oversight. Perhaps that’s just because Freeform is a brand new app.
Not just on the iPad.
On the other hand, the fact that Freeform is not only on the iPad is actually a bigger solution than you think. Freeform is a great app for the iPad, mainly because it’s optimized to use the Apple Pencil. The thing is, not everything I do happens on the iPad. Also, not everything I might want to share a Freeform board with an app or even an iPad.
Provided by Apple
So, Apple has made sure that the app works on iPad, iPhone and Mac. It works pretty much the same on all three platforms except for Apple Pencil. As a result, you can’t draw on the boards when you’re open on a Mac. If you’re working on a Mac and you have an iPad at hand, you can “import a sketch,” but honestly, if you’re going to do that, you can just open Freeform on your iPad.