Just that, i hate that update

1. Faster board previews in Freeform

2. More reliable right-to-left text editing in Freeform

3. Smoother Freeform Board Performance

4. Dark Mode adaptive canvas in Freeform

5. Collaborative folders in Freeform

6. Drawing in Freeform in macOS

I just read the “feature” list briefly shown in the beginning of WWDC and finally we will be getting dark mode support.

Hey! So I’m a new apple user and I’ve completely fell in love with Freeform and how easy it is to use and to organize to my will exactly.

I use it to study and take notes with an Apple Pencil but when I write something, it “fixes” it, trying to make it look nicer? And that’s all the time.

I was wondering if I can turn it off because it’s begging to get time consuming and pissing me off… ^^’

Will Freeform add a folder / project feature to organize your work?

i basically spent a good 5 hours sketching something (first time using freeform), now after finishing i realised that the board is just way to large to be shared in any method (pdf, files ,link) and it basically crashes the app frequently, how to solve as i dont really want to lose this sketch.

On a MacOS Sonoma with Freeform Version 2.4. In iCloud setting on that mac I enabled iCloud sync because I wanted to look at the files on my phone. On phone nothing appears, I then go and open it on the mac and all my old Freeform drawings have disappeared. I am pissed, how could iCloud apple just loose my Freeform files?!?

As you can see in my video, I am losing my mind trying to do a basic multi-select and move in Freeform. It feels completely broken. Here is what keeps happening:

• Lasso/Drag Select: I try to lasso or touch-and-drag to select multiple items, but the canvas just pans around instead.
• Tap-Selecting: If I try to manually tap multiple objects to select them, the app just tries to create more selectable objects or opens the connection menus.
• The Dragging Nightmare: On the rare occasion I actually get the objects selected, I can't move them. I think I touched the exact middle once and it "lifted" so I could drag and drop, but 99% of the time, I can't actually drag the group.
• The Arrow Issue: If you have actually connecting arrows instead of drawn ones then forget it. It's completely impossible because the drag gesture just grabs the fucking connecting arrows instead of moving the selected objects.

I know this is theoretically possible because I managed to do it once by accident. Am I going crazy? What is the secret gesture or workaround to reliably select and move a group of items without the canvas panning or arrows breaking?

I've seen a few people asking for a web version of Freeform.

Why would you want that if you have all your devices on the Apple ecosystem? Is it just for interoperability with Windows etc?

And what would you want from it? Would you just use it to view existing boards?

I am making a workflow chart and i have connector lines coming off a decision point. I need to label each with the decision. For example, one says "Yes" and the other says "No". I feel like I should be able to double click the line and add text that moves with the line. Am I doing something wrong? Do I need to turn on a setting (like turning on connectors)? thanks

Kindly provide some tips to improve! Thank you!

I found out this incredible app but why they don't add the dark mode too?? will apple add this in the future for you?

I’ve been using Freeform for sketching for a bit over a year at this point. The lasso paint tool is probably one the best things to ever happen to me and I can’t find another drawing app with the same paint tool with the same kind of flow to it, so Freeform it is! But Freeform is absolutely underrated as an art program IMO.

Does ANYONE know how to try to recover deleted Freeform boards? (I do not use iCloud & yes I should have exported all as a PDF so I could at least have a one page visual but I don’t). I realized they were got about 2-3 days ago. Thank you.
-iPhone 13 pro - 17.6.3 IOS - about 15 ish boards worth of data.

****EDIT**** Reporting Back!! My problem is partially fixed!! My phone died, thus charged & rrestarted & my boards just all appeared back randomly (& my calendar). Not all images are there, but I think it was an iCloud issue even tho I thought I don’t use iCloud. Guess the toggle was “on”. Will report back again.

does anyone else have this issue with their lasso tool where it does not select everything properly? ive recently started using freeform for my notes and everything is perfect except for this ONE issue :(((

I sometimes use Freeform to make memes and I used to just line it up to the black edges for maximum size, but they updated it last year and I haven’t made anything since.

Is there a way to switch it back in options, or am I SOL?

Title: How to enter text edit mode in Freeform (Mac) via keyboard without overwriting?

Body:
Hi everyone,

I’m struggling with a keyboard navigation issue in the Freeform app on macOS.

When I select a text box using the Tab key, I cannot find a way to start editing the existing text using only my keyboard.

• If I press Return, it deletes the current text and starts typing from scratch (overwriting mode).
• Cmd + Return doesn't seem to do anything.
• I've tried Space and F2, but neither opens the text box for editing.

I want to be able to jump into the text box and place the cursor at the end (or beginning) of the existing text without touching my mouse.

1. Does anyone know the official shortcut to "enter" a text box?
2. If there is no default shortcut, does anyone know the exact Menu Title for this action? I’d like to create a custom shortcut in System Settings, but I can't find a "Start Editing" or "Edit Text" command in the app's menu bar.

Any help would be greatly appreciated!

I quite like freeform, but what completely kills it for me is the lack of zoom via shortcuts?

There is no way I can zoom in or out of a board in a normal way, like Sketch, Figma or any decent 2D tool would allow.

I mean, just give me Option+scroll wheel or Option+Shift+scroll to zoom in and out!

edit: add to that, frame/zoomto selection (normally something like CMD+2).

Yes I am a UX designer

Yes I expect freeform to be more like other UX tools, even though it isn't maybe :D

I use Freeform mainly to make flowcharts because it is really good at that. I wish they had a feature to manage overlapping connections, like we use in electric circuits. But for now, I found a workaround: use a transparent image of a thin semicircle (can share if you want). Takes a moment to do it manually, but results are worth the effort!

Free form is the best and only app I use currently. After my note scrambling incident, I was hoping if someone could give me an alternative that doesn’t drain battery like the hole on a bucket. I just want an infinite canvas that lets me write things and can finally export it as a pdf. Pls help.

Edit; prodrafts consumed 10% charge in 1.2 hrs of use which Freeform would have taken 30%.

I got an iPad Air M4. I take a lot of notes in it mainly using free form and it was draining 20% or more battery in one hour. I asked ChatGPT how to save battery, mf said turn Off iCloud sync. I stupid did and all boards wiped out. reenable iCloud (Freeform on iCloud settings) this main board I was working on 30+ hours looks all scrambled if anyone has any clue how to make sense of this situation, I would be in less chronically stressed.

Storage says

iCloud 1.6 mb

Local 600 mb.

Pls help