{"slug": "keynote", "name": "Keynote", "category": "other", "category_name": "Other software", "description": "", "recommenders": 6, "commenters": 12, "warners": 3, "score": 3.506, "rising": 0.69, "first": "2026-01-02", "latest": "2026-10-20", "why": "I can't find a sufficiently functional alternative to Keynote, which I need every day for my work.", "why_is_quote": true, "has_verdict": false, "sentiment": {"recommend": 7, "neutral": 4, "compare": 0, "warn": 3}, "spark": [0, 0, 0, 2, 2, 0, 1, 0, 0, 0, 1, 1], "listed": true, "loved": [], "caveat": "", "short_quote": "I can't find a sufficiently functional alternative to Keynote, which I need every day for my work.", "kind": "", "icon": false, "domain": null, "github_repo": null, "official_url": "https://www.apple.com/keynote/", "pricing": "", "aliases": ["Keynote"], "verdict": null, "praise": [{"label": "", "summary": "", "quotes": [{"id": 801438816, "item_id": 50089926, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50089926", "by": "Archesilas", "date": "2026-10-14", "version": null, "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I can't find a sufficiently functional alternative to Keynote, which I need every day for my work.", "excerpt": "I\u2019d like to switch to Linux, but I can't find a sufficiently functional alternative to Keynote, which I need every day for my work. It\u2019s a shame.", "context": "", "use_case": "presentations for work", "switched_from": "", "story": "Apple Keynote now showing ads in its UI"}, {"id": 796830258, "item_id": 49801891, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49801891", "by": "azalemeth", "date": "2026-09-22", "version": null, "stance": "recommend", "quote": "Keynote is great", "excerpt": "I'm still on Mojave (10.14!) and it's just brilliant compared to the more modern MacOS. There's a Firefox fork called Momiji (https://github.com/aobaharuki2005/momiji-web-browser) which backports recent Firefox to very much older macOSes, and basically I still use 32 bit x86 applications sometimes. My next laptop computer (which is sorely overdue) will be Linux with macOS in a VM. 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You need a USB-C (or Lightning) to HDMI dongle in most cases, but it works fine. - https://support.apple.com/guide/keynote-iphone/present-on-a-separate-display-tana4da2681/ios", "context": "", "use_case": "Presenting slides from iPhone", "switched_from": "", "story": "Your Phone Is an Entire Computer"}]}], "caveats": [{"label": "", "summary": "", "quotes": [{"id": 802732448, "item_id": 50170778, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50170778", "by": "tkdb", "date": "2026-10-20", "version": null, "stance": "warn", "quote": "Yes, Keynote is (was!) my go to.", "excerpt": "Yes, Keynote is (was!) my go to. But it's been years since I've been presenter guy so I may end up with a vibe-presented custom solution if I did it today. I've used and like https://github.com/nyblnet/bento, but more and more I'm just going to self-contained html because the effort in to get what I want is just so low.", "context": "", "use_case": "", "switched_from": "", "story": "Apple broke an essential presentation feature of iPads"}, {"id": 769156609, "item_id": 48072288, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48072288", "by": "microtonal", "date": "2026-05-08", "version": null, "stance": "warn", "quote": "Apple Creator Studio ads in Keynote", "excerpt": "https://httptoolkit.com/blog/apple-private-access-tokens-attestation/ Also, Apple sells themselves as a privacy company, but often pick (possibly intentionally) insecure defaults. E.g. you might use end-to-end encrypted chats, but by default iCloud backups are not end-to-end encrypted, so law enforcement can just request your backups/chats from Apple. 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It\u2019s a shame.", "context": "", "use_case": "presentations for work", "switched_from": "", "story": "Apple Keynote now showing ads in its UI"}, {"id": 798801172, "item_id": 49925073, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49925073", "by": "shetyemanasi", "date": "2026-10-01", "version": null, "stance": "neutral", "quote": "Presentation: Keynote, InVision, Microsoft PowerPoint", "excerpt": "Location: Europe Remote: Yes Willing to relocate: No Technologies: Design: Figma, Adobe Illustrator, Adobe Photoshop, Adobe Experience and Miro Presentation: Keynote, InVision, Microsoft PowerPoint Project Management: Jira, Kanban Boards, and Trello Prototyping Tools: InVision, Axure RP and Figma Programming: Basic HTML & CSS R\u00e9sum\u00e9/CV: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1stXm3PbP-_20SKp-RK-KEPfINGOgR02S/view?usp=drive_", "context": "", "use_case": "", "switched_from": "", "story": "Ask HN: Who wants to be hired? (October 2026)"}, {"id": 796830258, "item_id": 49801891, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49801891", "by": "azalemeth", "date": "2026-09-22", "version": null, "stance": "recommend", "quote": "Keynote is great", "excerpt": "I'm still on Mojave (10.14!) and it's just brilliant compared to the more modern MacOS. There's a Firefox fork called Momiji (https://github.com/aobaharuki2005/momiji-web-browser) which backports recent Firefox to very much older macOSes, and basically I still use 32 bit x86 applications sometimes. My next laptop computer (which is sorely overdue) will be Linux with macOS in a VM. A pity, because Keynote is great.", "context": "", "use_case": "", "switched_from": "", "story": "Ask HN: Is it impossible to disable Siri on macOS 27?"}, {"id": 773481284, "item_id": 48342580, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48342580", "by": "LeoPanthera", "date": "2026-05-30", "version": null, "stance": "recommend", "quote": "all of which are excellent", "excerpt": "Other options include Calligra (especially on KDE) https://calligra.org And Macs are bundled with Pages, Numbers, and Keynote, all of which are excellent.", "context": "", "use_case": "", "switched_from": "", "story": "Microsoft degrades functionality of perpetually-licensed offline products"}, {"id": 769156609, "item_id": 48072288, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48072288", "by": "microtonal", "date": "2026-05-08", "version": null, "stance": "warn", "quote": "Apple Creator Studio ads in Keynote", "excerpt": "https://httptoolkit.com/blog/apple-private-access-tokens-attestation/ Also, Apple sells themselves as a privacy company, but often pick (possibly intentionally) insecure defaults. E.g. you might use end-to-end encrypted chats, but by default iCloud backups are not end-to-end encrypted, so law enforcement can just request your backups/chats from Apple. If you are vigilant and enable Advanced Data Protection for E2E iC", "context": "", "use_case": "", "switched_from": "", "story": "Google Broke reCAPTCHA for De-Googled Android Users"}, {"id": 758958738, "item_id": 47434921, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47434921", "by": "chunza2542", "date": "2026-03-18", "version": null, "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I'm a big fans of Excalidraw and Keynote", "excerpt": "StoryMotion is a tool for creating hand-drawn animated explainer videos, diagrams, and step by step explanation animation. Improve communication for technical documentation/blog post, presentations, educational videos, and social media. Try it yourself: https://storymotion.video/editor Any feedback is more than welcome. I would love to hear your thoughts. --- A bit of a story: It's all start with my technical/program", "context": "", "use_case": "", "switched_from": "", "story": "StoryMotion \u2013 create animated explainer videos on Excalidraw whiteboard"}, {"id": 757889248, "item_id": 47368078, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47368078", "by": "jonahhorowitz", "date": "2026-03-13", "version": null, "stance": "recommend", "quote": "to do a Keynote presentation. You need a USB-C (or Lightning) to HDMI dongle in most cases, but it works fine.", "excerpt": "FWIW, you can plug your iPhone into an external monitor to do a Keynote presentation. You need a USB-C (or Lightning) to HDMI dongle in most cases, but it works fine. - https://support.apple.com/guide/keynote-iphone/present-on-a-separate-display-tana4da2681/ios", "context": "", "use_case": "Presenting slides from iPhone", "switched_from": "", "story": "Your Phone Is an Entire Computer"}, {"id": 757589825, "item_id": 47349364, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47349364", "by": "neomantra", "date": "2026-03-12", "version": null, "stance": "warn", "quote": "never going back to Keynote/PowerPoint", "excerpt": "I gave a similar presentation in January which covers the AI features that emerged in 2025 that culminated in the step-function in capability in Nov'25 and where I went from there.... (certainly my GitHub activity is bright green since) The presentation was created with Claude Code to prove itself; never going back to Keynote/PowerPoint. Press 'X' key to disable \"safe mode\". Prompts are in the repo. https://neomantra", "context": "", "use_case": "", "switched_from": "", "story": "AI productivity gains are 10%, not 10x"}, {"id": 756035971, "item_id": 47252248, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47252248", "by": "mikestew", "date": "2026-03-04", "version": null, "stance": "neutral", "quote": "running the Numbers/Pages/Keynote apps", "excerpt": "I'm typing this on a 2012 MBP with 8Gb of RAM. That seemed like plenty when I bought it, and I did dev work in Xcode on the thing. Granted, it can only run Catalina, but it still gets the job done for what I use it for now. \"Now\" being web browser and running the Numbers/Pages/Keynote apps, which is about what anyone buying the Neo is going to do with it. After 14 years of service, though, he'll get to retire soon, p", "context": "", "use_case": "web browsing and office docs", "switched_from": "", "story": "Apple Introduces MacBook Neo"}, {"id": 752547876, "item_id": 47034242, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47034242", "by": "antonyh", "date": "2026-02-16", "version": null, "stance": "recommend", "quote": "it's pure junk compared to the Keynote", "excerpt": "Competent is not the same as good. I can do the very basic things I need in Sheets, but the moment it needs more than =A1+B2 then it's uphill all the way. I also don't know how performant it is with larger datasets. I use Libre Office instead and despite the horrible UI it's been speedy and accurate. Desktop Excel is still king of the spreadsheets. As for Slides, it's pure junk compared to the Keynote, but iCloud has", "context": "", "use_case": "", "switched_from": "", "story": "OpenAI Should Build Slack"}, {"id": 750118433, "item_id": 46882402, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46882402", "by": "chunza2542", "date": "2026-02-03", "version": null, "stance": "recommend", "quote": "both software I was enjoy using!", "excerpt": "I'm working on https://storymotion.video/ a tool for creating hand-drawn animated diagrams for educational creators or technical writer. - You can export it as video (4k, 60fps) - Do some presentation. - or embed as iframe on to the blog posts or technical docs. It's combined the experiences of Keynote and Excalidraw, both software I was enjoy using!", "context": "", "use_case": "", "switched_from": "", "story": "Ask HN: What are you working on? (February 2026)"}, {"id": 749593010, "item_id": 46849563, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46849563", "by": "divbzero", "date": "2026-02-01", "version": null, "stance": "neutral", "quote": "", "excerpt": "This anecdote from history feels timely given the recent shift of Apple\u2019s iWork suite (Pages, Numbers, Keynote) from being bundled with Macs to being a freemium subscription. https://www.macrumors.com/2026/01/28/apple-updates-keynote-numbers-pages/", "context": "", "use_case": "", "switched_from": "", "story": "Apple: Our philosophy is to provide software for our machines free (1976)"}, {"id": 743567013, "item_id": 46472938, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46472938", "by": "shetyemanasi", "date": "2026-01-02", "version": null, "stance": "neutral", "quote": "Keynote", "excerpt": "Location: Europe Remote: Yes Willing to relocate: No Technologies: Design: Figma, Adobe Illustrator, Adobe Photoshop, Adobe Experience and Miro Presentation: Keynote, InVision, Microsoft PowerPoint Project Management: Jira, Kanban Boards, and Trello Prototyping Tools: InVision, Axure RP and Figma Programming: Basic HTML & CSS R\u00e9sum\u00e9/CV: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1stXm3PbP-_20SKp-RK-KEPfINGOgR02S/view?usp=drive_", "context": "UI/UX designer, 6+ years", "use_case": "Presentations", "switched_from": "", "story": "Ask HN: Who wants to be hired? (January 2026)"}]}