What's the difference between the app and the website???

James3578

Come on! Why is this information not presented immediately!?? Did nobody even consider that users might want to know what they're missing when using the app instead of the website??? I'm about done with this software! It's just problem after problem after problem! I feel like highschool kids are making this stuff! Don't even bother answering this question just put the damn information in the app description!!! I don't even care anymore....

NeilCooke

The app is really intended to complement the web app for instant data access and quick edits on the go. There are many differences which would be too numerous to list and maintain. 

NeilCooke

I wouldn't call the mobile app limited - how many other CAD systems run on a phone? 

None

And I'm not sure we could be described as being dishonest - it's not like we're taking your money. Anyway, take a look at some of the stuff @steve_shubin does only on his phone - you'll be amazed!

NeilCooke

The app is really intended to complement the web app for instant data access and quick edits on the go. There are many differences which would be too numerous to list and maintain. 

Hunter_S

@James3578



You should chat with this guy (@James3578 ), maybe he can convince you of the benefits of Onshape

James3578

HA! Yes, I was frustrated. But.

It's important information. Knowing the difference between the app and full web version would allow people to choose the appropriate platform for each particular job.

Eventually, I would learn by trial and error but I'm not using this everyday. And not knowing the limitations of the app turns me off the app completely. I don't want to open the app only to discover that, aw, it can't do what I need to do. Little things like that are frustrating. 

James3578

NeilCooke said:

The app is really intended to complement the web app for instant data access and quick edits on the go. There are many differences which would be too numerous to list and maintain. 

Neil, you said it. They should describe the app as a limited compliment to the web app, intended for access and minor edits. But they didn't not. Obviously the differences cannot be listed one by one but a belief summary would have been nice. 

By not even acknowledging how limited the app is, the users are only being set up for disappointment, and it makes the company look dishonest. I'm sure I'm missing something because onshape is very confusing to me. The information I need is always spread out in different places. It's getting better but when I first started I was totally lost. 

Anyways, thanks for your reply. 

NeilCooke

I wouldn't call the mobile app limited - how many other CAD systems run on a phone? 

None

And I'm not sure we could be described as being dishonest - it's not like we're taking your money. Anyway, take a look at some of the stuff @steve_shubin does only on his phone - you'll be amazed!

James3578

I should apologize to the onshape team.

Obviously I'm a little off my rocker. Life's been tough. I actually am grateful still, but the tiniest things in life have been pushing me to yell at people lately. 

The app really is pretty incredible. I don't think it would be a stretch to say it's one of the most impressive apps on Android. 

steve_shubin

@James3578

If one of the very first things you want to do is unfold some sheet metal, and work with it in the flat position, then I might start on the desktop

Working on frames, I’d probably start with desktop

If I wanted to go into configurations right off the bat, I’d go with desktop

If i wanted to jump right into curvature — desktop

Program FeatureScript — desktop. Although @MichaelPascoe showed how he was doing featurescript using his android phone the other day.

Though you typically don’t start a project with the below items, nonetheless, here are other reasons for using desktop,

Viewing tangent edges

Draft analysis

BOM

Animation

Drawings

Exploded views

Global variables

Display states

Analyzing performance

Bringing a sketch into an assembly

And although some sheet metal work can be done on mobile, if you’re going to be doing a lot of sheet-metal work or intensive sheet-metal work, you would do it on the desktop

Now there may be additional reasons why you might want to start on the desktop. They just don’t come to mind right now

But I certainly would not make a big thing out of saying I have to start on this or I have to start on that. Honestly you could start on either one and jump back-and-forth. And I say that because often times you start with the sketch. And I’ve done a whole lot of sketching on my iPhone, and it’s worked great.

Now when is it that you might want to start by using your iPhone or Android phone

Well for one thing — the phones are very portable handheld devices. So if you are sitting at the table waiting for your lunch to arrive and you get an idea, BINGO ! You’re going to whip out your phone. And if you’re watching TV and all of a sudden you get a thought, BAM!! Out comes the phone and this allows you to instantly input something during a commercial, before you forget that wonderful concept that just popped into your mind

If you like to sit in your easy chair and work on things — another great time for a mobile Onshape input

And there are times when you just don’t feel like sitting at a desk.

You could be walking through a park or out in your yard. So you lean against the wall and do some input without having to wait to get back into your home office.

It may be hot in the house, and you don’t feel like waiting till it cools down, so you step outside with your iPhone and get right into whatever document you want

There’s tons of times that you may want to use your mobile phone to work in Onshape. 

Myself, I do most of my Onshape stuff using my iPhone for a few different reasons. As said — I don’t want to sit at a desk all that much, and the other reason is, because I like the touchscreen interface of Onshape on the small and convenient and easy to handle iPhone

Now for any thinking it important or necessary to know all the features of both devices, because that will determine what you start with — whether it be the computer or the phone — well I mentioned things above — where you would want to start with the desktop. But other than that, there’s a pretty good chance you could start using either most of the time.

Now on top of the question of which device is best to start with, there’s also the question of, do the mobile devices have any advantage over the desktop. And the answer is — absolutely yes. Especially for those that interface with others.

Say for instance you’re away from the office, you’re away from your laptop computer, you’re away from everything, and all of a sudden, you get some urgent call from the office or client, and they need to know something right then there and now. Well guess what — there’s a good chance that your mobile device could save you from the predicament you’re up against. Because you can pull up what it is you need to look at right there on your phone. And, it’s possible you could even make a change right there out in the field if you need to, using your phone

Now there is another option, and that is, that you could use both to work on your document. Meaning, you can use your computer and your phone — at the same time — to work on the same document

There’s times I have my MacBook Pro open and my older iPhone open, and I’m using both to work on an idea. I’m jumping back-and-forth as if I were jumping from my mouse to my keyboard or as if I was jumping from my mouse to my trackpad. And the time it takes to jump from doing input using the computer to using the iPhone, is the same time it would take to jump from using a mouse to using a trackpad. A literal fraction of a second

I might draw a sketch on my iPhone, and then decide I want to extrude that sketch using my desktop. Well by golly, you could do that. And the time between my making the sketch on the iPhone and extruding on the Mac is that fraction of a second

So you have the best of both worlds. It’s just a matter of which input device it is, that you want to use at that particular second in time

Another great feature — If you’re having a hard time trying to figure out how to do something on one device, we’ll you could try to figure out how to do it using your other device. So if I can’t figure it out on my iPhone, I could try to figure it out on my computer. And  that just gives me that much more opportunity on how to tackle a situation.

Some may find a touchscreen interface to be a little bit more intuitive. And Onshape’s touchscreen interface is state of the art. Meaning — about as intuitive as you can possibly get.

So don’t overthink this one aspect. Jump into the program using whatever you want, and have a good old time learning and doing some CAD

But I will add a bit more to this conversation.

You’re talking about the different gadgets a person can use to access Onshape. And in the CAD world right now, there’s no doubt about it. Onshape is the CAD King regarding Diversity of Devices.

And what Onshape does along these lines is truly remarkable. Nobody comes close

Well, along these lines, I could fully envision the following

Now at this point in time, car manufacturers as a whole, have not mastered the execution of touchscreen technology within their vehicles. But one article I started to look at, has implied that it’s not that it can’t be done. It’s just that they’re bad on the execution up to this point

Now if there’s anybody that could do it right, we know it’s PTC.

So what do I envision. I envision one day, and probably not too long in the future, where a person will be able to buy most any car, which can have the option of a bigger touchscreen in the dashboard. And that touchscreen will have a wide viewing angle to be easily seen from both front seats. It’ll be bright enough to work out in full daylight. And it will have the non-scratch glass of the modern smart phone

So I could see an engineer picking up a client, and driving to a job site, and driving up to a particular point, and then bringing up Onshape on his car screen, and showing the client exactly what type of valve there is going to be at that location for fire suppression. Then I could see the engineer driving a little further into the project site. And now bringing up a conveyor such as @johnmcclary company builds.

And I could see more of this as the engineer continues driving throughout the site — showing the client, as they sit in their mobile office, with luxurious seating and air conditioning. And doing all of this, not in a fancy retrofitted expensive motorhome. But doing this in a car you buy right off the lot. The mobile office of tomorrow — every man’s every day car.

The world has changed. A lot of people are working from remote locations. A lot of people are working from home.

With this idea of the larger touchscreen in your mobile office. your every day car, we’ll it becomes the office ON THE MOVE. That office that can be relocated as easy as driving to the local store

And by the way, there’s no reason why that driver could not have a Bluetooth keyboard sitting on his lap, if he would like, with a built-in trackpad on the right side of this keyboard. So for those that must have their keyboard (@johnmcclary) this could handle it for them

Now just think how nice it would be to get out of that brick and mortar office, to clear your head, and drive to the local park with the nice greenery for a backdrop, and to work in that type of surroundings

And, in this day and age, when the powers that be, cannot figure out how to keep the power on anymore, having that rolling office may be what keeps you working

For instance, if the power has gone down in your city, but you know they’ve got power in the city next-door, well that Solidworks user is going to be out of luck unless he’s got a generator or a powerfull laptop that’s charged up. Also, if his cable Internet provider has also gone down, and if the local cell service has also gone down, then his ability to send files has also gone up in smoke

But If you have that rolling office, it might just be a matter of you driving a few miles and you’re back in business, where you cannot only work on your documents, but you can collaborate with others, and you could also send emails letting your clients see the announcement that you’re sharing a file with them

And if anyone thinks this preposterous, then I ask — who out there thought the world would be in the condition it is today. We’re rolling blackouts are becoming the expected norm in places like the Bay Area and Greater Los Angeles in California. Where countries in Europe are resorting back to coal to run their generating plants, when it’s all about green nowadays. Tell me who thought we’d be in this condition.

I’d say if you want to have a business with computers having more likelihood of having full functionality at all times, you better seriously consider this mobile office idea for tomorrow’s world

You could read Onshape’s own summation of how the world has changed and is changing

https://www.onshape.com/en/blog/new-industry-report-state-product-development-2022-2023