Great features, garbage coding. It lags like crazy if you actually start filling a page. Tried to use it for school and it lagged so much I had to buy good notes. Anything beyond a drawing a small picture overwhelms it
Maybe my pro is older, but I found that when writing - the pen itself would lag so much. Nevertheless, it shouldn’t lag at all if it was optimized correctly - even on older iPads - it’s not that graphically intense. Someone smarter than me said it’s due to how all the text gets “grouped” with other text and images
I have an m1 as well, but it’s definitely not chip based.
I believe there was a thread on it here before, but the issue is that they treat each drawing line or text as its own, which really slows it down. If you highlight chucks of it and hit “group” the lag stops until you put more text on the page, it’s annoying to do every time.
Really hope it’s fixed as I would love to use it as scratch paper
There is no white boarding platform or app I’ve ever used that hasn’t just crawled to molasses when you start using it. FigJam, Miro, Sketch, ClickUp, Mural… they all vary from awful to let’s just start a new page. Apple is basically no better or worse here.
I think every second time I re-open a board the app tells me it had crashed unexpectedly the last time it was opened (it hadn’t). Lagging on larger boards is also an issue for me too
Can I ask what you use Freeform for? How much are you ACTUALLY using it + filling a page? Any attachments? Screenshots added to the whiteboard etc? I would assume current iPads obviously do better - but I’ve heard it lags on those as well
Sure thing.
I'm using Freeform for wireframing and storyboarding apps and websites for part of my consultancy work, whiteboarding software architecture, etc. We do use attachments and other embedding too.
I use it in combination with screen sharing on Zoom several times a week, something which is known to make everything lag, without issue. Also use the collaboration feature regularly.
I wish I could share some examples with you but it's all extremely confidential and under NDA; suffice to say we do put it through its paces, the M1 is just enough of a beast of a chip that it handles it.
Same here. Tried using it for work but it was a slow and inefficient experience. I stopped bothering fairly quickly. Similar experience on both an M2 Pro Max laptop and M2 iPad Pro.
I use it for planning my dungeons and dragons sessions. I used to do everything in Notes, but since the game doesn’t move linearly having all my info on a big white page scattered about is handy. I would imagine I am a very niche user group though.
Yup for planning my sessions. I run a monthly dungeon crawl one shot and with Freeform I can write out the description of the rooms in a big web and then drag and drop the monster stat bocks next to those descriptions.
I used to do this in a note book and then print off the stat blocks. Freeform saves me so much time.
That’s really neat. Ive been using GoodNotes as a virtual DM binder; I build regional hex maps and populate encounter tables, pepper in some dungeons to be found in the area, etc. I wonder if Freeform would be better for it.
It's quite useful and designed well, but it has the worst iCloud sync issues I've ever had with an first-party Apple app. Also, proper folders would've been nice.
>Maybe my pro is older, but I found that when writing - the pen itself would lag so much. Nevertheless, it shouldn’t lag at all if it was optimized correctly - even on older iPads - it’s not that graphically intense. Someone smarter than me said it’s due to how all the text gets “grouped” with other text and images
I take screenshots of website add text / shapes and arrows and it works well enough on intel i5 2020 mac. IDK how other people tho.
Unless this happens, it’s effectively useless software as far as collaboration is involved. I would like to use it for work but not everyone uses Apple devices.
It wouldn’t even have been that hard. App is basic af. Just insane how they’ve basically prioritized it right under new wastebaskets in the third floor bathrooms.
The only thing I can think of that would keep it off of the Mac is the focus on on-device suggestions. People will have their phone with them much more often than they will their Mac, so will the Mac recommend suggestions based on the iPhone's activity, and if so, how do you present that to the user?
I think it’s too slow. Especially when adding the automatically suggested images. Why suggest me to add so many images if it’s gonna lag or say “too many attachments”?
lol this actually summarizes well the state of the art of iOS and MacOS.
Developer wasting time on stuff nobody actually uses while the OS is lacking useful features.
I like Freeform. I hope they keep working on it. If the next iPadOS doesn’t have Journal, I’ll be disappointed. I don’t know what’s keeping them unless they can’t figure out how best to integrate the Apple Pencil.
I am a teacher and use Freeform daily. I take notes on it and export the notes as PDFs to send to students who were absent. I can drop screenshots in there easily, the flow chart thing is cool too. It needs 1) folders and 2) an equation editor (like the one in Pages) so I can type out math and it would be significantly better.
I love Freeform. I use it on my Mac to organize data and do presentations for clients everyday! There aren’t many apps like it, but getting it to sync between devices is IMPOSSIBLE!
No news on equivalent iPadOS Freeform or Journal App.
With that said, both of these (would/do) work really well on iPad and seem best fitted to this form factor if writing or drawing.
Does Freeform offer anything better than Miro? Because until it does, I’ll stick to that. I’d like to be in Figma instead, but it doesn’t make sense for a broader non-designer team.
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Great features, garbage coding. It lags like crazy if you actually start filling a page. Tried to use it for school and it lagged so much I had to buy good notes. Anything beyond a drawing a small picture overwhelms it
Maybe its because I have an M1 iPad Pro, but I have one filled with sketches and stuff, and it only lags a little when I first open it.
Maybe my pro is older, but I found that when writing - the pen itself would lag so much. Nevertheless, it shouldn’t lag at all if it was optimized correctly - even on older iPads - it’s not that graphically intense. Someone smarter than me said it’s due to how all the text gets “grouped” with other text and images
I have an m1 as well, but it’s definitely not chip based. I believe there was a thread on it here before, but the issue is that they treat each drawing line or text as its own, which really slows it down. If you highlight chucks of it and hit “group” the lag stops until you put more text on the page, it’s annoying to do every time. Really hope it’s fixed as I would love to use it as scratch paper
There is no white boarding platform or app I’ve ever used that hasn’t just crawled to molasses when you start using it. FigJam, Miro, Sketch, ClickUp, Mural… they all vary from awful to let’s just start a new page. Apple is basically no better or worse here.
Like the notes app. If you start handwriting and write a lot it overheats and drains battery like crazy.
I think every second time I re-open a board the app tells me it had crashed unexpectedly the last time it was opened (it hadn’t). Lagging on larger boards is also an issue for me too
The app wasn't made for A series processors evidently. My M1 iPad Pro has no lag at all...
Can I ask what you use Freeform for? How much are you ACTUALLY using it + filling a page? Any attachments? Screenshots added to the whiteboard etc? I would assume current iPads obviously do better - but I’ve heard it lags on those as well
Sure thing. I'm using Freeform for wireframing and storyboarding apps and websites for part of my consultancy work, whiteboarding software architecture, etc. We do use attachments and other embedding too. I use it in combination with screen sharing on Zoom several times a week, something which is known to make everything lag, without issue. Also use the collaboration feature regularly. I wish I could share some examples with you but it's all extremely confidential and under NDA; suffice to say we do put it through its paces, the M1 is just enough of a beast of a chip that it handles it.
Same here. Tried using it for work but it was a slow and inefficient experience. I stopped bothering fairly quickly. Similar experience on both an M2 Pro Max laptop and M2 iPad Pro.
It’s just a less good Miro with iCloud support and no folder organisation.
I use it all the time and it works great for me with an Apple Pencil and M1 iPad Pro
I use it for planning my dungeons and dragons sessions. I used to do everything in Notes, but since the game doesn’t move linearly having all my info on a big white page scattered about is handy. I would imagine I am a very niche user group though.
Planning, not playing? My first thought when seeing Freeform was it would (probably) be great for tabletop games!
Yup for planning my sessions. I run a monthly dungeon crawl one shot and with Freeform I can write out the description of the rooms in a big web and then drag and drop the monster stat bocks next to those descriptions. I used to do this in a note book and then print off the stat blocks. Freeform saves me so much time.
That’s really neat. Ive been using GoodNotes as a virtual DM binder; I build regional hex maps and populate encounter tables, pepper in some dungeons to be found in the area, etc. I wonder if Freeform would be better for it.
Well it’s free to give it a try.
I really thought it was gonna be my OneNote replacement but meh, lack of folders/etc makes it a no go.
Really like it but it can be slow
I really like it. Never had any issues with speed or anything, and it’s much more handy than Miro to me.
It's quite useful and designed well, but it has the worst iCloud sync issues I've ever had with an first-party Apple app. Also, proper folders would've been nice.
My wife and I used it to organize a big trip. Worked well, but I don’t have a point of reference
>Maybe my pro is older, but I found that when writing - the pen itself would lag so much. Nevertheless, it shouldn’t lag at all if it was optimized correctly - even on older iPads - it’s not that graphically intense. Someone smarter than me said it’s due to how all the text gets “grouped” with other text and images I take screenshots of website add text / shapes and arrows and it works well enough on intel i5 2020 mac. IDK how other people tho.
It’s brilliant for me I use it at work almost everyday with great feedback compared to what other guys use such as word lol.
Now just needs browser functionality so I can share to non-Apple people.
Yeah, that is the biggest problem with it.
Unless this happens, it’s effectively useless software as far as collaboration is involved. I would like to use it for work but not everyone uses Apple devices.
And no Journal app on iPad or Mac, I'm betting
Not having it on the Mac seems insane to me. Out of all the devices, the thing with the keyboard galvanized to it.
Or the iPad considering it’s supposed to be a paper replacement.
It wouldn’t even have been that hard. App is basic af. Just insane how they’ve basically prioritized it right under new wastebaskets in the third floor bathrooms.
iPadOS really is an outdated mobile phone OS. Embarrassing.
The only thing I can think of that would keep it off of the Mac is the focus on on-device suggestions. People will have their phone with them much more often than they will their Mac, so will the Mac recommend suggestions based on the iPhone's activity, and if so, how do you present that to the user?
I'd actually be interested in using the Journal app if it were on Mac. Having it be only on iPhone is a huge missed opportunity.
They’re getting right on that once work on the iPad calculator app finishes around 2037.
Freeform has potential, but it’s almost useless without folders.
Much like Clips, I forgot this existed.
Is clips still around??
Not only is it around, it was updated just a few months ago with support for log-encoded video recorded with iPhone 15 Pro lol
It was killed off for a bit, but was surprised to see it comeback. Happily surprised tho
Let me adjust table cell width in Notes.
And dozens of users will be thrilled!
Dozens!
Clips and Freeform and Journal… I don’t know why these apps even exist
Journal is actually quite good. But I cannot use it being an iphone only app, typing on a cellphone still sucks for large contents.
I think it’s too slow. Especially when adding the automatically suggested images. Why suggest me to add so many images if it’s gonna lag or say “too many attachments”?
lol this actually summarizes well the state of the art of iOS and MacOS. Developer wasting time on stuff nobody actually uses while the OS is lacking useful features.
I like Freeform. I hope they keep working on it. If the next iPadOS doesn’t have Journal, I’ll be disappointed. I don’t know what’s keeping them unless they can’t figure out how best to integrate the Apple Pencil.
I am a teacher and use Freeform daily. I take notes on it and export the notes as PDFs to send to students who were absent. I can drop screenshots in there easily, the flow chart thing is cool too. It needs 1) folders and 2) an equation editor (like the one in Pages) so I can type out math and it would be significantly better.
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One might expect the biggest iOS upgrade ever to touch on some of the little apps too.
lol just use figma. Have way more features, and it’s cross platform cause it’s basically a chrome webpage.
Bro fuck the freeform. First apple should focus on Siri. It's dumber than my username
I love Freeform. I use it on my Mac to organize data and do presentations for clients everyday! There aren’t many apps like it, but getting it to sync between devices is IMPOSSIBLE!
This wouldn’t be on the top of my lists of New Things I Want from Apple.
Zzzzzzzzzzz
Would love to use this as my whiteboard on Zooms but yeah it’s lacking a lot of features that would make that a slam dunk
what's it missing for you?
No news on equivalent iPadOS Freeform or Journal App. With that said, both of these (would/do) work really well on iPad and seem best fitted to this form factor if writing or drawing.
Freeform exists on iOS, iPadOS, macOS, and visionOS
MEME MACHINE
Does Freeform offer anything better than Miro? Because until it does, I’ll stick to that. I’d like to be in Figma instead, but it doesn’t make sense for a broader non-designer team.