Google’s Little-Known Apple Freeform Alternative Has Been Around For Years – SlashGear

Jamboard has been around since 2017, so it’s more mature and developed too. Google even sells a dedicated Jamboard device — a crisp 55-inch 4K monitor on wheels.

Google Search and the entirety of Google Workspace are tightly integrated into Jamboard — allowing you to do quick searches, pull images, and import documents, sheets, slides, and more (via Google). A Jamboard session (or Jam) supports up to 16 collaborators (via Google). You can join from the Jamboard phone app, one Jamboard to another, the browser, or Meets. Jamboard is also perfect for educators and remote learning in particular.

It’s not as feature-rich as Apple’s Freeform because you only get a limited selection of pens, preset shapes, and other assets. But you can create sticky notes. And Google’s advanced AI assists with handwriting and shape design. You can create as many Jams as you want, share them, or save them as PDFs.

The Jamboard device comes with two styluses and an eraser. It doesn’t need any pairing because they work passively, just like on a low-tech whiteboard (via Google). You can write with the stylus and erase with your hands or the eraser. Jamboard doubles as a video-conferencing screen too thanks to its built-in speakers and mics. It starts from $4999 with a yearly fee of $600.