Keynote (presentation software)

Keynote is a presentation program from Apple for the macOS and iOS operating systems. It is similar to Microsoft's PowerPoint or Impress (from Apache OpenOffice and LibreOffice) for creating presentations. On the Mac, it is available from the Mac App Store. Since 2010 it is available for the iPad and since 2011 also for iPhone and iPod touch.

The name for the program goes back to the term keynote, which usually refers to the opening speech of an event. Especially among users of Apple's Macintosh computers, the term "Keynote Address" is understood to mean the introductory speech given by Steve Jobs, the former CEO of Apple, every year at the Macworld Expo or WWDC.

Keynote is easy to use. For example, guides automatically appear when you drag an object across the slide, speeding up precise placement at the same height or in "harmonious" spacing relationships.

While there are a large number of templates in Keynote, the animation functions were still very limited in the first two versions. However, at the latest from version 4, Keynote '08, this has changed. In the meantime, Keynote has a new function, Light Table View, for arranging slides, as you know it from PowerPoint, for example. With the "intelligent animations" introduced in version 4, even vivid slide shows can be accommodated on a slide. The possibility of animating objects on paths (in lines and curves) has also been added.

Starting with version 2, there is the function "Moderator Monitor", which shows the current slide on the screen during lectures, while the current slide, the next slide, notes and a clock (or a countdown for the remaining speaking time) can be seen on the computer or on the iPhone/iPad/iPod of the presenter.

Keynote can import PowerPoint files (in both PPT and PPTX formats) and export to PowerPoint presentation, PDF (Adobe Acrobat), HTML, and QuickTime video formats. Mathematical formulas can only be created and transferred to Keynote via other programs such as TeXShop, MathType, LaTeXiT or the Grapher program supplied with macOS.

Since Keynote '09, there is the function to automatically animate images, shapes or texts contained in two consecutive slides in a transition (Magic Move). There is also an application for iPhone and iPod touch that allows you to control Keynote (Keynote Remote).

With the introduction of Keynote 6.0 (also referred to as "Keynote '13"), many features were removed in favor of better compatibility with the iOS version, causing problems with presentations created with previous versions. While Keynote '13 is notable for being easier to use, professional users criticized the removal of features and compatibility. Some users have switched to installing Keynote '09 and Keynote '13 in parallel to continue working with older presentations without having to adapt them to the new version.

The main reason for the disappearance of the old features was to create a "common ground" for the further development of the Mac and iOS version together with the browser version "Keynote for iCloud", which was also introduced in 2013. Apple started to gradually reintroduce old features with the previous updates for Keynote '13, implementing them equally on all platforms.

Since 2016, it has been possible to invite several people with a link to work on a presentation simultaneously on different devices.

As of March 31, 2020 (version 10), Apple keeps app version numbers consistent across all platforms.

See also

• Pages
• Numbers
• iWork
• iLife