Apple is developing a digital whiteboard and collaborative sharing tool called Freeform. It will launch on the iPad and iPhone later this year. You can use your Freeform canvas to brainstorm ideas, diagram new projects, bring together assets or simply sketch and jot down your thoughts with others in real-time – as you would with a real whiteboard but with the added perk of it all being virtual.
Freeform supports most file types, allowing you to embed and preview images, video, audio, PDFs, documents and web links all within the canvas. You can also select and move text and drawings and rearrange them as needed. Finally, you’ll be able to see updates from collaborators in your iMessage chats and start up a FaceTime call with them with just a tap from your canvas.
While Apple Pencil support and the larger display means the feature is very well-suited to the iPad, Freeform is also set to launch across Apple’s iPhone and Mac lines. This means you’ll be able to access your canvas no matter what device you or your collaborators are on, as long as they are on an Apple device.
Freeform will launch sometime this fall, likely when the new version of iPad OS comes out. It will be compatible on all iOS 16 devices and MacOS Ventura. I think this app will be tremendously useful for people who want to use their existing Apple devices to be collaborative. This upcoming app is similar to the Android and Windows version of Microsoft Whiteboard.
I wish that e-notes, running E INK screens had similar functionality to Apple Freeform or Microsoft White Board. How great would it be for multiple Remarkable, Onyx Boox or Supernote uses to collaborate in real time. The only e-note that has something similar is Quirklogic with Papyr. You can draw in real time and everybody’s e-note will update in realm time. It also has synergy with the Quirklogic Whiteboard too.
Michael Kozlowski is the editor-in-chief at Good e-Reader and has written about audiobooks and e-readers for the past fifteen years. Newspapers and websites such as the CBC, CNET, Engadget, Huffington Post and the New York Times have picked up his articles. He Lives in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.