MOST IMPORTANT NEVER inflict a useless beta version on paying customers. You really should have known better, and this kind of thing convinces us that you don’t care about your end users who need the app to get work done. Don’t answer everyone with an issue with the same message. Give a timeline when the app might work again, be useful. Hire one or more advisors who know how architects, landscape architects and engineers use mobile apps, have an opt-in beta testing group separate from your paid user base. BACKGROUND AutoCAD Mobile is NOT our primary CAD program; it’s our field drafting program for collecting site data. Files from the app are combined with other data on a workstation, where finished drawings are completed. Because of this, it does not need to be so fully featured. It’s usually used for smaller projects, since large ones have surveys that go directly to the workstation. PRIMARY USE: FIELD MEASUREMENTS. Use AutoCAD Mobile to enter site dimensions on existing buildings and sites. These are new drawings created from scratch that will become base plans for projects. Critical Functions: draw lines/polylines/shapes at specific lengths from measurements taken on site (in buildings or general site (landscape) Edit lines/shapes to specific dimensions (fix mistakes or adjust). New dimensions would be specified numerically in metric and/or imperial units. Blocks: north arrow, scale bar, common symbols like parking striping (45 and 90 degree at least). Other blocks useful, but would be placeholders for equipment since most items will be replaced as part of new construction. Local offline export to PDF, DWG, JPG. These files are used as bases for illustration in graphics apps or for quick sharing. Use via iPad OS SHARE function, including AirDrop. This also allow sharing with colleagues in field where there’s often no reliable internet connection. Non-critical functions Viewing complete drawings / plans. Plans are typically marked up (red lined) from pdf files with PlanGrid or graphics apps so they can be shared with everyone (unlike dwg files) Importing raster images. We’re entering precise information to scale from direct measurements. Raster images are typically inaccurate and not set to scale so tracing over them is not something done in acad. Likewise, we don’t use AutoCAD Mobile for presentations so images are not used. There are much better apps for putting together presentation plans that could use PDFs generated by AutoCAD Mobile. X-refs. These could be very useful for survey data, etc. when doing site measurements, but aren’t really necessary since data can be overlaid on the workstation. Takeoffs. Done on the workstation. 3D. Could be useful, but too slow to do on an iPad in the field. Currently done with annotations (typically ceiling, sill heights). Also obsolete, since new surveying technologies will do a better job.
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