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Learn how to use the new drawing and sketching tools in the Apple Freeform app on Mac running macOS 27 Golden Gate.

macOS 27 has added a new native drawing option to the Notes app and the Freeform app. Before this, if you wanted to sketch something quick on your Mac, you had to use the touchscreen on your iPhone or iPad as a companion drawing board. This setup was definitely cool and even useful at times, but it came with challenges, which we have discussed in our Notes app post.

The new macOS Golden Gate update keeps that old Continuity feature while also adding built-in drawing tools that rely on your Mac’s trackpad and mouse. These sketching tools in Freeform now give you more options to create your digital whiteboard the way you like.

On top of that, if you have used Freeform, you know that your boards (projects) sync via iCloud and are available on all your iPhone, iPad, Mac, and Apple Vision Pro. Having the option to draw on Mac now means that if you draw on a board on iPad, you can access, edit, fine-tune, etc., right on your Mac when you’re away. The opposite is also true: you can do a quick sketch on Mac and then use the Apple Pencil on iPad to improve it.

A suggestion before you begin

Three-finger drag is turned off by default on Mac. So, when drawing in Freeform, you’ll have to force-press and drag on the MacBook or Apple Magic Trackpad, which is hard, unintuitive, and frustrating (at least for me). To make your life easier, turn on three-finger drag in System Settings > Accessibility > Pointer Control > Trackpad Options. After that, you can draw quickly by dragging with three fingers instead of holding down the trackpad. It’s so much better.

Draw in Freeform board on Mac

1) Update your Mac to macOS 27 Golden Gate or install it on a partition.

2) Open the Freeform app and select your board or create a new one.

3) Click the new markup button in the top toolbar to enable drawing mode.

4) Now, select your preferred drawing tool by clicking the little arrow next to the pencil icon at the bottom:

• Pen
• Monoline
• Marker
• Pencil
• Crayon
• Fountain Pen
• Reed
• Watercolor
• Fill
• Eraser

After selecting a tool, choose its thickness, then pick a color using the circular dot at the bottom.

5) Now use the board to unleash your creativity. Press and drag on the trackpad, or drag with three fingers (if you have enabled it).

Use the Edit menu from the top or press Command + Z to undo and Shift + Command + Z to redo.

6) If you want to move a drawing elsewhere, click the selection tool icon at the bottom. Then drag around the drawing to create a dotted border which selects it.

Then drag to move it to another spot. You can also change the drawing’s color when it’s still selected.

Freeform boards constantly save everything as you work. When you have finished drawing, click the same markup icon at the top to exit sketching mode. You can now use text, shape, and other tools on this same board, as needed.

You can also drag and select the entire drawing.

Then, use the four corner dots to change the size (hold the Option key to scale proportionally on all sides). You can also use the arrow keys on the keyboard to move the selected drawing precisely.

Extra info: The Freeform app on macOS 27 now supports Dark Mode and folders. To enable Dark Mode, turn it on in macOS Control Center. And to create a new folder to organize your boards, click the icon at the top of the left sidebar.

Also, check out: How to quickly insert emojis in macOS 27 with this colon trick

Source link: https://www.idownloadblog.com/2026/10/19/draw-freeform-app-mac/

While Siri still isn’t quite up to the mark when it comes to having back and forth conversations and asking obscure, complex questions, it’s gotten pretty good at some key things. Things that a lot of iPhone users use Siri for, like calling someone, sending someone an iMessage, time zone or currency conversion and the like. Siri is so good at these things that I usually skip the UI and ask Siri to do those things for me even when my fingers are right there on the screen (Hey Siri command really helps there). But there’s one more thing you can add to that list – device commands.

I don’t have a scheduled Do not Disturb set up. I usually do it before going to bed. But sometimes I forget and some group chat I’m in decides to have an engaging conversation right as I’m about to fall asleep. It testing times like these all I say is “Hey Siri turn on do not disturb” and more often than not, it does. I don’t have to pick up my phone, look at it in the dark, none of those things.

And that’s just one of the device settings Siri can manipulate for you. There are loads.

About Modifiers

There are different ways you can talk to Siri about this. You can use the enable/disable moniker, or turn on/turn off. Activate/deactivate works as well. And for things like brightness, you can also ask Siri to increase/decrease it for you.

Now that that’s out of the way, let’s talk about things you can ask Siri to do.

Device Settings You Can Change with Siri

You can ask Siri to open Settings or open a specific part of the Settings app like Notification settings. You can also ask Siri if Wi-Fi is enabled.

How Do You Use Siri

It’s quite frustrating when Siri gets you wrong. And it’s also quite hard to come back to Siri once that happens. But I’m starting to train my brain to know what Siri is good at and what she isn’t. So when there are times when Siri can save me time, I try to engage her instead of opening an app for a Google search.

What about you? How do yo use Siri? Share with us in the comments below.

Source link: http://www.iphonehacks.com/2016/11/iphone-settings-change-siri.html