Apple releases Freeform - Digital Whiteboard for iPad, iPhone and Mac

14 December 2022 / From Johannes Domke / Apps, News / Post a comment

With the new update versions of iPadOS, iOS and macOS, the Freeform App comes to compatible devices in addition to other new functions and adjustments to known features. This new one App from Apple offers cross-device and cross-user work on a digital whiteboard on which notes, handwritten entries, sketches, blocks of text, images, links and much more can be collected. This allows projects to be planned, concepts to be worked out and other tasks to be completed. Designs for publications or the organization of events can also be realized in it. After a system update, Freeform is available.

After updating to iOS 16.2, iPadOS 16.2 or macOS Ventura 13.1 you can use the new Apple Freeform app on iPhone, iPad and Mac.

Chapter in this post:

1 Freeform as free design space for collecting ideas
2 Available from system versions iOS 16.2, iPadOS 16.2 and macOS Ventura 13.1
3 Similar posts

Sir Apfelot recommendation: Clean up your Mac hard drive with CleanMyMac

Freeform as free design space for collecting ideas

Apple itself describes the new Freeform app for Mac, iPhone and iPad as a flexible workspace that makes it possible to see all content related to one thing in one place. In addition to your own creations in text and images, links, copied content, videos and files can also be inserted. An integrated preview function ensures that you can view the files directly without having to download them first and search for the right program. Freeform's individual canvases are stored in iCloud, so you can access them from different devices and share them with others. More information is available in the official press release.

"Freeform opens up endless possibilities for visual collaboration for users of iPhone, iPad and Macsaid Bob Borchers, Apple's vice president of Worldwide Product Marketing. "With an infinite workspace, support for uploading multiple files, iCloud integration, and collaboration features, Freeform creates a common brainstorming space that users can take anywhere.The new Apple app for collaborating on a variety of devices is free and can be connected to services such as iMessage to invite contacts to collaborate. In addition, the sharing feature known from other apps is used. Even more functions in the video:

Available from system versions iOS 16.2, iPadOS 16.2 and macOS Ventura 13.1

In order to be able to use Freeform, you have to update your chosen device. The new iOS 16.2 and iPadOS 16.2 are also coming to the iPhone and iPad Apple Music Song on the devices. If you have an Apple Music subscription, you can use a karaoke function in the music app after the update. However, there is another adjustment to the iPhone: the AirDrop reception "For everyone" can then no longer be used indefinitely, but is limited to 10 minutes. You can find reasons for this in the linked article. The update on iOS 16.2, iPadOS 16.2 and macOS Ventura 13.1 can be found in the respective settings of the devices General -> software update.

Update notes on Mac (2021 MacBook Pro running macOS Ventura) and iPhone (iPhone 12 Pro running iOS 16.1.2).

Johannes Domke

After graduating from high school, Johannes completed an apprenticeship as a business assistant specializing in foreign languages. But then he decided to research and write, which resulted in his independence. For several years he has been working for Sir Apfelot, among others. His articles include product introductions, news, manuals, video games, consoles, and more. He follows Apple keynotes live via stream.

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Apple announces three winners of the WWDC23 Swift Student Challenge
In advance of World Wide Developers Conference starting on Monday Apple presented three Swift Playgrounds that were submitted as part of the Swift Student Challenge. In the press release on the subject it said: "This year, Apple increased the number of winners to 350 from 375 in previous years to allow even more students to attend the event and be recognized for their artistry and ingenuity.The three featured submissions are Eye Training by Asmi Jain, Baseball App by Yemi Agesin and Dinosaur Fossil Memory by Marta Michelle Caliendo.
Apple presented the three winning projects of the WWDC23 Swift Student Challenge by Marta Michelle Caliendo, Yemi Agesin and Asmi Jain (left to right). Image source: Apple.com

Apple's Swift Student Challenge
The Swift Student Challenge, in which students use the Swift programming language in the associated Playground's app should use to develop a novel and at the same time practical app, has been around since 2020. The number of winning places, increased to 375 this year, has been awarded various prizes. In addition to a one-year membership in the Apple Developer Program, there will be apparel, a hat, a pinset, a pair of AirPods Pro 2nd generation, a Swift certificate code and, for participants selected by lot, an invitation to Apple Park – this year for the first time This is because the pandemic restrictions are no longer as severe. ( )
The three presented winners in 2023
How Apple decided to introduce the three people mentioned above is not disclosed. This quote shows that, in addition to these three, more practical and helpful apps were submitted by the other 372 winners: "We are amazed by the amazing talent of the young developers participating in our Swift Student Challengesaid Susan Prescott, Apple's vice president of Worldwide Developer Relations. "This year's entries demonstrate not only the next-generation's commitment to building tools that improve our lives, but also a willingness to embrace new technologies and tools and use them in original and creative ways."
Eye training by Asmi Jain
The first featured winner is Asmi Jain, a 20-year-old student at Medi-Caps University in Indore, India. After her boyfriend's uncle was struggling with eye misalignment due to brain surgery, she developed a Swift Playground that is used to track eye movement when following an object shown on the display. The aim of the observation and evaluation of eye movements should be the targeted strengthening of the eye muscles. Although it arose from an individual case, the project should also help other people to strengthen their eye muscles.
Baseball game by Yemi Agesin
The second featured winner is 21-year-old Yemi Agesin, a student at Kennesaw State University in Georgia. He has developed a Swift Playground that depicts a first-person baseball game. In addition to sport, the developer's second great passion also flows into this: filmmaking. For further projects he wants to develop cooperative game environments that can be used by several people at the same time, for example via augmented reality (AR). As part of the WWDC23 participation, he is therefore particularly looking forward to the ARKit and the RealityKit, according to the press release linked above. Perhaps this is another small nod from Apple towards the anticipated mixed reality headset.
Dinosaur Memory by Marta Michelle Caliendo
The third developer featured is 25-year-old Marta Michelle Caliendo, who is a concurrent student at the Apple Developer Academy and at the University of Naples Federico II. At the latter institution, she is aiming for a degree in the field of natural sciences. Accordingly, their Swift Playground revolves around dinosaur fossils. By means of a memory game that shows anatomically correct illustrations of the same, she wants to draw attention to the danger of animals becoming extinct. Your future projects should also revolve around the topics of animal and species protection. A concrete example: With an app, she wants to help monitor and protect sea turtle nests on the Italian coast.
Setapp Family Plan: 240+ apps for four people just $19,99/month
If you regularly visit this blog, then you probably already know Setapp. We mention this ever-growing collection of apps for Mac and iOS devices already for six years regulary. In addition to the individual subscription, there is now a new offer for families. Up to four people can share a subscription and each have a Mac and an Apple mobile device (iPhone or iPad) with the apps in the collection. From just $19,99 a month or $215,88 a year, up to eight devices can be equipped with programs from a package of over 240 full versions. TL; DR: Here is the offer page
Setapp is now also available as a family subscription. Get over 240 full versions for one Mac and one Apple mobile device for up to four people. This is much cheaper than four individual subscriptions. Image source: Setapp

Setapp: Easy-to-use app package for the whole family
From customizing the system and leveraging a faster workflow, to various work and creative apps, to developer tools, everything is included with Setapp. First of all, you install the Setapp app as such. You can then choose the right apps and install them. So you don't have to download all 240+ apps directly, you can use them individually. The individual programs are full versions without advertising, which also receive regular updates. With the new family plan, up to four people can access the catalog of macOS and iOS or iPadOS apps on two devices each.
Benefits of Setapp's new family subscription
- Much cheaper than four individual subscriptions ($19,99 / month vs. $39,96 / month)
- Access to all Mac and mobile apps for up to four people
- Each person has their own account with their own app management
- You cannot see which apps are being used by other people
- Anyone who has not yet had a Setapp subscription can test the offer for 30 days free of charge
Advertising campaign for the family subscription with two new spots
Clean up the system and compress files for sending - that's what the two new commercials are about, with which Setapp is presenting its own offer as well as the now available family subscription applies. Setapp has teamed up with the production company Radioaktiv Film (“Apple Bounce”, “House of Disney+”, various music videos, commercials, and much more) to create these spots. So are Cleaning and Dry cleaning emerged. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Srf0f02L5JA https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=swysrDi4tWw
Deals in the UGREEN shop: USB-C hub and two chargers cheaper (sponsor)
In the official Ugreen webshop you can currently get several practical accessories for Mac, iPhone, iPad and Co. cheaper. For example, there is a discount on a 7-in-1 hub for Mac and iPad. But you can also buy two chargers, each with several connections and 45W or 65W power, at a discount. The details and the links to the individual offers can be found in this article.
UGREEN 7-in-1 USB-C Hub: USB, SD, Ethernet and HDMI
The UGREEN 7-in-1 USB-C Hub brings you two USB-A ports, card reader slots for SD and microSD memory cards, an RJ45 port for Ethernet and LAN cables, an HDMI port for output of video with up to 4K resolution and 60 fps and a USB-C port for power. The latter is primarily intended for use on a MacBook or iPad. But you can also use these accessories on desktop Macs to make them more usable. Instead of 39,99 euros, you can currently buy the hub for 34,99 euros. Here is the product page.
UGREEN Nexode 45W USB-C charger with 2 USB-C ports
This handy charger delivers a total of 45W of power via two USB-C ports. This allows two mobile devices to be charged at the same time via their quick charge function. Not only numerous iPhone and iPad models are compatible, but also several versions of the Apple MacBook Air as well as Android smartphones and tablets from various manufacturers. Thanks to GaN technology, the charger with two USB-C ports and 45W power is small and light. It is therefore ideal as a mobile companion when travelling, at university, on vacation - and of course at home, where it does not take up much space. Instead of 45,99 euros you can buy it for only 29,90 euros. Go to the product page here.
UGREEN USB-C charger 65W with 2x USB-C and 1x USB-A
This charger from UGREEN offers even more power and an additional USB-A connection, which is currently also being given a decent discount. In addition to the MacBook Air, it can also charge compatible models of the MacBook Pro (please note the data sheet) and can be used for the quick charge function on iPhone, iPad and Android devices. Two USB-C ports and one USB-A port are available for this. The latter is ideal if you use older devices or charging cables but do not want to buy an adapter for them. Instead of the regular 38,17 euros, you only pay 23,99 euros for this charger as part of the current deal. You can find the product page here.
GOYO: free VST plugin for voice isolation in audio recordings
Since it the Sir Applerot Podcast there, improving the audio recordings is a work in progress for me. In my case, I struggle with reverberation and ambient noise as our recording room is far from optimal. Removing this "disturbance" from the audio recordings used to be a very time-consuming task that required a lot of work in post-production. TL;DR: Continue to GOYO
The VST plugin GOYO is used for voice isolation in voice recordings - completely free!

Improving the acoustics with woolen blankets
I have already received a few good tips for improving the room acoustics from a professional in the field (thanks, Ralf!). His tip to hang thick blankets behind the two people who are speaking reduced the reverberation in our recordings considerably. However, the blankets do not help against noise caused by touching cables, fan noise, hard drive vibrations, dogs pattering and other things. I was all the more pleased that Ralf recently wrote to me that I should get the plugin GOYO from Supertone should watch.
GOYO: free and quickly installed
The GOYO tool is currently in beta and therefore still free. So you can download it for free and use it as a VST plugin for all kinds of DAWs like Cubase, Logic Pro, GarageBand, FL Studio, Ableton Live and even my podcast tool Hindenburg. Installation is super-simple, you double-click the GOYO package and the Mac immediately suggests moving it to the appropriate place for the VST plugins.
Here you can see how to activate the GOYO plugin in Hindeburg. It is sorted in the "Supertone" folder as that is the manufacturer.

What does the GOYO plugin do?
If you look at the GOYO website, the plugin describes itself as a "voice isolator". You can also find this reference to the function of the tool on the website:
De noise. de reverb. De Voice. All in one plugin
So basically it does everything you need to improve voice recording:
- It removes room reverberation.
- It removes ambient noise.
- It allows increasing the level of speech.
And the best thing about it is that you have your own controller for all three things and you can turn the signal in and out as you like. And although the Supertone plugin is still in the Beta version available, it works surprisingly well. Luckily I produced a lot of audio recordings that contain all sorts of errors. GOYO can iron them out without exception. Unfortunately, the reverberation in my office is extremely strong because more than half of the walls are made of windows. That's nice for the view, but very bad for audio recording. But the plugin even gets rid of this extreme reverberation. Also impressive is that there are no artefacts - even when the audio recording includes two speakers.
Adobe Enhance Speech works great, but somehow the audio sounds boring afterwards because all noise is completely removed.

GOYO vs Auphonic vs Adobe Enhance Speech
There are always multiple solutions to every problem. The same applies to bad audio recordings. The tools I've tried so far are
- GOYO (Plugin)
- Adobe Enhance Speech (online service – also beta)
- Auphonic (online service)
All tools have their pros and cons, which I will probably detail in another post, but a few brief comments will suffice to draw a comparison with GOYO.
- GOYO works as a plugin in the audio tool of your choice. I use Hindenburg and can edit the recording directly with GOYO and immediately try out the effect and control it using the controls.
- Adobe Enhance Speech is an online service from Adobe that is currently in beta. You can only upload your audio there and get the result back. There are no setting options and the tool makes an all-round improvement. It's very good at removing reverberation and ambient noise, but clearly struggles when two people are talking at the same time. In our case, artifacts often came back as a result. In the finished audio, this sounds like strange distortions. From my point of view, the audio seems a bit "dead" after the treatment.
- Auphonic is also an online service that offers a little more setting options. For me, Auphonic is currently the best solution, because we have already reduced the reverberation with the suspended ceilings and actually only use Auphonic to improve the voices and automatically adjust the volume between the two speakers. You can also remove background noise with Auphonic, but it didn't remove reverberation well.
I use GOYO as a plugin in Hindenburg and it is super easy to use.

My conclusion to GOYO
The fact that GOYO is currently still free and you can work with it directly in the DAW is very practical. The results I have been able to achieve with it so far are very convincing - even though the final version is not yet available. That's why GOYO is a for me Pick of the week. The operation is extremely easy due to the three controls and understandable for every beginner. I am also a layman in this area and understood it directly and heard the differences in my recordings more than clearly. And the fact that even my friend Ralf is enthusiastic about the tool shows me that this really has to be a very good audio tool. Ralf deals with audio recordings all day long and has hardware and software at his disposal that we hobbyists can only dream of. He can certainly give a more professionally sound assessment than I can. If you want to take a look at GOYO, you can find it at goyo.app. For people who would like to see a video about the GOYO plugin, I have linked one here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VXyKMCDVd4U
Apple Trade In: Starting Monday, 2022 Mac models will be accepted
If you buy a new device from Apple, you can lower the price by trading in the old device. The corresponding program is called "Trade In" and can be used for the iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch, Mac and other products. Bloomberg journalist Mark Gurman, who is well connected in the Apple world, now says that starting June 5, 2023, relatively new Mac models will be accepted for trade in. One should interpret it however one wants, he writes in one Tweet. For him, this is an indication that Apple in the context of the WWDC23 Keynote introduces new computers.
According to Mark Gurman, the 2 MacBook Air and MacBook Pro models equipped with the M2022, as well as the 2022 Mac Studio, will be tradeable. This points to the introduction of new chips and Macs during the WWDC23 opening.

M2 MacBook Pro, M2 MacBook Air and Mac Studio soon eligible for Trade In?
With the start of the World Wide Developers Conference 2023, not only new versions of various Apple operating systems are to be presented. New hardware will also be announced during the inaugural Keynote which are presented to the public - above all, of course, the mixed reality headset for AR and VR, which has been discussed for a long time. Furthermore, there have been rumors for months that a MacBook Air with a 15-inch display could be presented. The new information from Mark Gurman suggests that a MacBook Pro and a new Mac Studio could also be introduced. When purchasing, the previous models from 2022 could then be paid in advance. The two MacBooks are the featured during the WWDC22 keynote Basic models of the Pro and Air series with M2 chip. They both offer a 13-inch display and go with the Pro models presented in January 2023 M2 Pro and M2 Max in advance. Furthermore, from Monday the MacStudio be accepted for the "Trade In" program. This was during Peek Performance events presented in March 2022. He can choose to use one Max M1 or M1 Ultra equipped. So the new Apple computers expected for Monday could introduce new generations of M chips: M3 and M2 Ultra. That would be mine theory put forward in March conform to Apple's M-chip circuit.

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Apple releases Freeform - Digital Whiteboard for iPad, iPhone and Mac

Freeform as free design space for collecting ideas

Available from system versions iOS 16.2, iPadOS 16.2 and macOS Ventura 13.1

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