Expert’s Rating
Pros
Cons
Our Verdict
The latest liberation of Keynote for macOS brings petty to the tabular array , letting Keynote show its mansion of years .
Best Prices Today: Keynote 8 (Mac)
Keynote 8for Mac has n’t get hold of the apex of its perfection , but Apple intelligibly did n’t have a wishlist of features to push it forward . The tardy loss for Mac brings it up to date with simultaneous release ofKeynote for iOSand Pages ( MacandiOS ) and Numbers [ Mac and iOS ] .
Keynote 8: Getting up to speed
We have n’t reviewed Keynote since version 6.5.3 in 2015 , so it ’s worth a look of what ’s changed since then . Apple persist in to labour forward evolution through incremental releases from 7.0 to 7.3 , which restoreda number of features that we found lackingin 6.5.3 .
Keynote 8: New features
In Keynote 8 , Apple total a little list of feature that make it easier to move presentation between iOS and macOS . Also , there ’s more consistence with tools and expectation across Keynote , Pages , and Numbers on both platform . That should deoxidize any friction as you knead among apps and across platforms , even if nothing else has changed .
Image galleries are the only new synergistic feature , letting you insert and label range of a function in a inning that can be paginate through manually or as an auto - advance slideshow . you may preview this while setting it up , and then get ahead through the images while presenting or set it to run . Creating a pretender - slideshow through builds in version 7.3 was madden ; now , it ’s just a drag and fall process . For automatic or manual playback , you could set one of three form of builds through the images : Appear , Dissolve , and Move In . For automatic playback , you may set the duration between persona . This is a very welcome addition .
The image veranda feature lets you create slideshows that you could either bring forward manually or set a timed , robotlike advance .
medium natural selection remains extremely laggy , even on a 2017 iMac . While I have an iCloud Photo Library of over 37,000 images , they ’re stored at full resolution on this iMac , and it take minute to bring up the initial selection view . If you swop away from Keynote , at least the load progress is not lose ( as it is inPages 7 for Mac ) . The media selector is a arrangement - encompassing purpose , but it ’s pronto apparent how badly optimized it is in a course of study designed to use images .
Keynote now extend doughnut chart , a lacking option despite the many other kinds of charts available in this and other Apple productivity apps . As with all the update to apps , there are new material body of all form you could sneak in and then cut to customize . Support for genuine - meter collaborative editing for Keynote file shared via the Box text file divine service is now let in here as in all the productivity apps on both platforms .
foreshorten File Size let you contract image and use more effective data format .
Apple also added a way to deoxidise the data file sizing of presentations , something useful when you ’re dragging in full - resolution images or movies that you ’re using just a circumstances of . WithFile > concentrate File Size , you may choose to downsample , using Apple ’s versions of more efficient HEIF trope and HEVC video concretion , and cut back picture and audio to store just the portions used in the single file . Be untrusting , though , that you do n’t produce a presentation that needs to run on an older Mac that ca n’t exhibit these file data format .
Bottom line
Keynote 8 for macOS is not much more than a criminal maintenance release , despite inserting the suite - wide-eyed image gallery feature of speech as a slideshow alternative . Even though it ’s a mature app that ’s mostly good to use , Apple should be considering a roadmap for melioration of its washy elements , and pushing forward with young modes and better processes for build and retool interaction .
