Framer For Mac

Prototyping is supposed to be fast. If it takes longer to flesh out a design than to write the actual code, you've got a problem on your hands. Add to that all the ideas that don't get the go-ahead, and you can see why a dedicated prototyping tool can save you a ton of time and money.

Framer is meant to make this step of the app or website creation process as straightforward as possible. It lets you work on your project using a very intuitive set of tools that any designer with no coding knowledge can easily get their head around. What's more, it comes with an excellent tutorial and plenty of templates.

Once you've installed Framer, you can dive right into the detailed tutorial, which takes you through the app's basic features step by step. It teaches you how to add elements and create connections between screens and frames via a simple iOS app project.

When you're done with the initial guide, you can access many other tutorials on the app's website, along with examples and templates. It really couldn't be easier to start prototyping.

Framer offers ready-made screens for all kinds of devices, as well as graphic resource packs that you can slap onto a project instantly. No more wasting time searching for graphics online. If you want to see how an image would look in a frame, for instance, you can add one directly from Unsplash.

Of course, team projects are now done remotely more often than not, and no one wants to export their designs every time they want to show them off. Thankfully, this app offers real-time collaboration on projects and even a dedicated version of the service for larger teams.

The app itself isn't as impressive, given that it's basically an Electron wrapper for the web app. Mind you, it looks great and seems very responsive, but it's not that different from just using the web version.

Nevertheless, it should be easier to keep your work organized by taking your prototyping out of your browser, and the fact that a native version is available for Apple Silicon devices is a big plus.

For a one or two-person development team, the free version of Framer should be perfectly suitable, as long as you don't plan to work on many projects at the same time. The upgrade notice might be a bit distracting, though. For larger teams, Framer is perhaps even better, thanks to its comprehensive collaboration features.