Summary

The article discusses the versatile uses of Apple's Freeform app for organizing and annotating various aspects of personal life, from collections to language learning and writing.

Abstract

The author initially underestimated the potential of Apple's Freeform app, considering it as just another tool among many. However, upon further exploration, they discovered its utility in organizing personal collections, such as a coin collection and family photos, in a more visually appealing and customizable manner than the default Photos app. The Freeform app also proved beneficial for educational purposes, like studying Spanish with Duolingo, by allowing the organization and annotation of language exercises and study materials. Additionally, the app serves as a digital workspace for managing documents, account numbers, and receipts, as well as for keeping track of reading lists and drafting writing projects. The author appreciates the app's flexibility, noting that it can be used for a wide range of activities, including planning, record-keeping, and even arranging book chapters or creating a visual home inventory for insurance purposes. The article concludes with a suggestion to Apple to integrate Freeform more seamlessly with other apps for easier content sharing.

Opinions

The author was initially skeptical about the value of the Freeform app but later found it surprisingly useful.
Freeform is seen as a superior alternative to the Photos app for organizing and displaying personal collections.
The app is praised for its ability to enhance educational activities, particularly in language learning, by facilitating the organization of study materials and explanations.
Freeform is appreciated for its document management capabilities, complementing the Notes app by providing a more visually oriented organization.
The author finds the app helpful for managing a reading list and writing projects, noting its advantage over searching through a list of titles.
There is an enthusiasm for the app's potential in various aspects of life, from hobbies to planning and record-keeping.
The author suggests that Apple could improve the user experience by allowing direct sharing to Freeform from photos and web pages, similar to the functionality available for Messages or Mail.

APPLE

More Uses For Apple's Freeform App

I’m surprised by how much I am using this

Importing photos to Freeform screenshot by Author

I wasn’t very excited by Apple’s new Freeform app at first. There are many similar apps (although mostly paid, not free as this is), and Freeform seemed to be lacking important features. Still, I did start using it as a more visual and customizable substitute for Bookmarks.

Apple’s New Freeform App Looks Like Someone Phoned It In

There is a lot to like, but also a lot missing here

medium.com

Collections

In the past few months, I’ve found more uses. One of the first was to organize the photos of my coin collection. The coins themselves are safely locked up in a bank vault, so photos are the only easy way to enjoy them, but I was not at all happy with how they looked in the Photos app. I could print them out and arrange them as I like, but that’s a fair amount of effort itself. I decided instead to bring them into Freeform.

Beginning to organize the coin collection photos

Just as I had already done with website links, I could drag the coin photos around, frame them in colored boxes, add explanatory text or links to webpages with more information. I have barely begun doing this; I imagine it will keep me busy for quite a few months.

I also have an “Ancestors and Relatives” album that stretches back to the early days of photography. I want to make a genealogical arrangement of those photos in a Freeform board.

Spanish

I have been using Duolingo for years now to study Spanish. Duolingo is a great tool, but sometimes the exercises puzzle me. I’m lucky to have a daughter who majored at college in Spanish, so I often get explanations from her. But sometimes I’m not ready for that because I haven’t really absorbed enough yet to fully understand what she has told me. Freeform has the answer: I can organize, annotate, and link out just as I do with my coins.

I just began this Spanish board a few days ago, so have not done much yet, but I am excited by the possibilities. I’ll go back through the Messages my daughter and I have exchanged to find those relating to Spanish and get them into the board. I’ll put like things together, add text boxes with my questions and her responses, and links to relevant articles and videos I find online. Sounds wonderful, and would be an aid to studying anything.

Documents and numbers

Account numbers, recovery keys, warranties, certain receipts. I keep many of these in Notes, but Freeform once again makes it easier to arrange things in ways that make sense to me. This doesn’t replace Notes, but it augments.

Books

A Freeform board is now where I keep the names of books I want to read. When I was working, I’d just buy these and use a corner of my desk to pile up what I hadn’t got to yet. As we have retired and downsized, I no longer have the space to store books or the money to buy them, so I use the local library. My Freeform board provides the organization, notes, and links to reviews.

My Writing

My drafts and completed posts are online, so that’s easy enough. Freeform again provides organization and annotation. It’s usually easier than googling or pawing through a long list of titles. I can also add interesting comments that readers have left. Again, I have barely begun this project but I can already see how much it will help me.

What else?

I don’t know. Hobbies, education, record keeping, planning, and what? Shared or private, it doesn’t matter. I could use this to lay out a book and rearrange chapters, draw lines to related chapters; arrange, annotate, link!

How about a visual inventory of your home for insurance claims? Arrange, annotate, link. Those are the magic words that indicate where Freeform could help.

Recipes? Of course.

Some of these boards will be temporary, some I will use every day, some will be mostly quiet vaults. Some static, some constantly changing. I guess I was very wrong about the value of Freeform.

One suggestion I have made to Apple is to include Freeform in the list of action items you can use from a photo, a web page, etc. For example, I may take a screenshot that I want to add to a board. Presently I need to copy that, then go to Freeform to paste it in. If I could select Freeform just as I can select Messages or Mail, that would be easier.

Update: Freeform is a share target in IOS 17 betas.

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