In a latest, Tech giant Apple has launched a new application that can assist you a great deal in planning your travels — and it all starts as a blank canvas. Launched at 1 p.m. ET on Dec. 13, 2022, with the latest iOS update on iPhone, iPad, and desktop. The Freeform app is an infinite whiteboard that allows users to pull in content across various sources, including websites, photos, videos, and files to make a vision board of their trip before getting onboard.
Precisely, it is a digital travel inspiration board, or a vacation mood board, if you will.
The boards will ne saved on iCloud, so that you can transfer it from one apple device to another as per your convenience. But they can also be shared with multiple users collaborating on the same board, so they can be a constant work in progress as you figure out the details of your dream trip with your travel mates.
On opening Freeform, you will see a gigantic blank canvas. The icons across the top will provide you with the elements needed to let your creativity flow. The first icon on desktop is Stickies, which can be color-coded, but also have alignment guides to keep your boards neat and tidy. The next element are shapes, with a library of more than 700 graphics, including a category of places (with images ranging from globes to specific landmarks like Rome’s Colosseum and New York City’s Statue of Liberty) and transportation (with planes, bridges, tall ships, and even a rocket ship).
The last three icons provide all the basics: one to insert text boxes; another for photos, videos, and web links; and the final one for files. Text boxes can easily be dragged out to adjust the size. Photos and videos can be clicked to magnify into high-fidelity versions, while the preview cards of web links immediately take you to the site. And if it’s a file — for instance, a PDF of a restaurant menu or a tour itinerary — it will open right to the file.
On iPad, Freeform becomes even more exciting. The vision board comes to life as users can write and draw directly on the boards with an Apple Pencil, making it almost like a digital scrapbook. Files from Apple’s Notes and Reminders apps can also be inserted smoothly onto the canvas. And perhaps one of the most impressive functions is that tangible items can be scanned and placed right onto the board with the phone’s camera in a single step.
The application is also adaptable to many other projects, whether it’s plotting out the workflow for a professional project, brainstorming ideas for a screenplay or even just playing games like Hangman with pals from across the country.
Bob Borchers, Apple’s vice president of worldwide product marketing, in a statement, “Freeform opens up endless possibilities for iPhone, iPad, and Mac users to visually collaborate. With an infinite canvas, support for uploading a wide range of files, iCloud integration, and collaboration capabilities, Freeform creates a shared space for brainstorming that users can take anywhere.”
The company is thrilled to see how users take to the app and the creative ways in which they will use it — and especially all the places they’ll go. The main purpose of the app is in its tagline: “Bring your ideas to life.”
The Freeform app is free to iPhone users on iOS 16.2, iPad users on 16.2, and Mac users on Ventura MacOS Venture 13.1. Download the brand-new app here.