I have always been a fan of Canva and what they have been able to do when it comes to creating content for users. From blog posts to now presentations, they have covered the number of different social media, professional, and business document templates people may need to create for their work or even in the classroom.
As a professor, I have used Canva for a variety of projects and presentations over the years and I have encouraged my students to use this as a tool for their respective projects. Whether it is creating infographics or their final campaign presentation, all of my students have been happy with the tools and options Canva offers.
Today, Canva announced their latest venture: their new iPhone app. I had a chance to play around their app and wanted to share with you all some of my initial thoughts:
Awesome IG filters: It appears to be the trend now with apps like Prisma and all that filters are the new app to use to lift your IG game to the next level. This is what I found to be very cool about the new Canva iPhone app. You have preset filters here that are perfect to use for content you want to share specifically on Instagram.
Links to your other Canva documents: This is what is useful here for fans of Canva – you are still able to get access and work on your respective documents pretty easily on the app on your iPhone. I was to see some of the previous work I had done on my computer here on the app.
Customized and Advanced features: I like the fact Canva has taken the suggestions of their users and really allowed us to create unique and personable content here. Some of these features for example you see in specific apps like Camera+, but here, you are able to use these features in one app. This makes things so easy so you do not have to open one app to do one thing and then upload it again in another. Very user friendly here.
Specific features with the mobile mindset in mind: Having templates made for the mobile phone in mind and guess what?! You are able to TAKE PICTURES in the app and be able to format the picture with the text you want to have. All in one place. Mind officially blown here! Canva truly understands the mobile mindset we are seeing here in society. Well done!
This is a big one for me. I am usually creating content for class, professional organizations, and even my own personal brand on the go. I think it’s super useful to have the power at the tip of your finger tips to create content that you can immediately share with others in one spot.
However, like all apps there are some things I think could be addressed and even added on the app by Canva. Here are some of my suggestions:
More design features. I think this is where they are going with this, but I think this is something users are going to be looking for here as well. One thing I noticed is the fact you do not have your business templates here (ex. infographics, proposals, etc) here, but you have others instead. It’s important to note they have the key content templates in social media formats (ex. Blog posts, Twitter images, etc), but I am sure as more people download the app, they will add to this as well.
Freezes a little bit when adding text to image: There are times where I think the app freezes a little bit (especially when you are adding some text to an image). I do not know if this is happening due to the fact this is the first day of the app being launched, but I think this is something to note here as well.
Snapchat templates. I’d love to see some Snapchat geofilter templates or even ones that help create storyboards for strategy sessions and brainstorming projects. You are able to create geofilters here already, but there is not a specific template here yet for this. This would be awesome to have here, Canva!
Overall Impression
Love the app! I think this is one thing that all of my social media friends and students will love to have on hand. This allows you to create on the go and make sure to integrate the features and personalization you want. There are other editing platforms out there and it will be interesting to see how they are responding to this new app development Canva has put out there for everyone to see here.
Thanks and have a great day!
Best Wishes,