We've been trying different tools, and we've found Excalidraw (https://excalidraw.com/) to be satisfying our needs. It's relatively new and albeit it's lacking a few features, it has proven really good for drawing diagrams and designing new solutions like ui mockups and stuff like that.
Ask HN: What collaborative whiteboard are you using?
91–100 of 170 posts
Re: Ask HN: What collaborative whiteboard are you using?
#92Didn't know there were so many options!
Re: Ask HN: What collaborative whiteboard are you using?
#93I've added shared whiteboarding to my handwriting app: http://styluslabs.com/share It is possible to deploy your own server.
Re: Ask HN: What collaborative whiteboard are you using?
#94I use MSFT whiteboard with my surface pro 7 and share it over teams. (teams also has a whiteboard tool, but for some reason it is very clunky) If it doesn't have to be collaborative, then I use Onenote, because the scribbles can be saved as meeting notes. It helps that I work at MSFT and everyone uses Windows + has whiteboard installed.
OneNote can be collaborative. It also runs reasonably well on an iPad with Apple Pencil. I used this combo for a remote meeting recently while we were all on teams for audio. Some people were using OneNote on Windows and drawing with a mouse. There was occasional sync/lag issues, but I will certainly try it again.
The Teams Whiteboard is pretty bad, and clunky to get to in the middle of a meeting. Most Teams users don't even know it's there.
As others have mentioned the ideal solution would have an easy way to point at things on the whiteboard. The lack of a hover state on touch based systems makes this more tricky, but there can, of course, be a pointer tool.
Re: Ask HN: What collaborative whiteboard are you using?
#95Re: Ask HN: What collaborative whiteboard are you using?
#96If you have an Apple Pencil, I made https://whiteboard.zjm.me/ as a collaborative whiteboard tool. (It also supports mouse, but a stylus is way better.)
Seems to be the only one here with real stylus support - pressure sensitivity and draw with pen, pan with finger. Very nice!
Re: Ask HN: What collaborative whiteboard are you using?
#97Earlier quoted context omitted.
huh, i didn't realize i was missing this and now i miss it. that said, it's usually not too bad to underline and then click "undo" (which is what i have been doing since i didn't know what i was missing)
If you're on a collaborative whiteboard does undo undo the last collective edit or just your own edits?
I suppose Google Docs has trained me to be surprised if my ctrl-Z undoes someone else's edit. I haven't noticed wondering about this before though so perhaps I just haven't hit this case? It's a great question.
Re: Ask HN: What collaborative whiteboard are you using?
#98I started building my own with a friend because nothing else had what I wanted (great freehand drawing and text tools) and was cheap. We've only just finished the MVP, so feedback would be very helpful! https://browserboard.com/ I have no idea if it'll hold up under load, I guess let's see. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ You can share the URL to collaborate with someone else.
Worth noting a few updates ago Excalidraw included in freehand drawing with the Freedraw tool (X or 7, as of writing).
Re: Ask HN: What collaborative whiteboard are you using?
#99Here's the best set up I've used so far: 1) Get the cheapest iPad that supports the Apple Pencil. The 2018 non-Pro was this for me last I looked. 2) Get the Google Jamboard app (not the Jamboard hardware, it is not at all worth it). 3) Share the "jam" with yourself on a different device (a nearby laptop) 4) Screenshare the laptop. Things I think any virtual whiteboard scheme needs to have: 1) You need to be able to s…
To elaborate on my last sentence more, whiteboarding is about trying to think! I'm trying to diagram thoughts out for people. The last thing I want to do in the middle of my thoughts is have to stop the thought to futz around with menus or keyboard shortcuts to remember how to open a box or a widget or some shape or whatever. That's a guaranteed interruption every few seconds. Computers are great and can do new things, but for whiteboarding specifically it's unclear to me why so few whiteboard apps seem to get it that their primary goal is to be invisible and get out of the way.
Re: Ask HN: What collaborative whiteboard are you using?
#100Its still very much in development, but we're building https://whiteboard.systems/ Its based on the idea that for most system diagrams, you just need boxes, text and arrows. everything else is superfluous. Its collaborative by default so you can invite someone to join you with the URL. The tools aren't discoverable yet, so to use it: - option(⌥) + click to create a box - option(⌥) + drag to create a grouping box - se…
As you requested feedback, it's dead simple and I like that. Speed and low friction is super useful in a lot of situations.
I have just some "bugs" I guess (Windows Chrome):
- Can only add text to a box immediately after selecting it. Move it first, then cannot add text. Probably should be a blinking insert symbol to indicate when you can edit text or not, as this would at minimum make the state "discoverable". Personally I feel a lot of people will try to double click to edit text.
- Backspace deletes boxes but "delete" does not.