ipad app: Magic Plan

This app was actually suggested by a colleague who was familiar with it.  This simple but free app will use the onboard tilt sensors and camera to produce an accurate floor plan of a room or series of rooms.  I have only tested the app a little, but so far in my testing it is proving to be quite accurate.

ipad app: Sketchbook Pro

Another fun app from Autodesk, Sketchbook (which comes in both a free and paid version) is exactly what the app implies, a sketching application in which you use your fingers to draw on the screen.  It is a relatively simple app, intuitive and easy to use, but I also think it is very powerful and comes with great potential.

ipad app: Sunseeker

Sunseeker is a fun little program to play with, and is worth the small price tag.  It also has some real world applications.  This program falls in the augmented reality category.  It uses the onboard camera from the ipad and overlays data on the screen.  In this case, it is a sun path diagram for your current location.

ipad app: Bluestreak

The ipad app for this simply connects to the database and gives you the update stream of who has done what.  This can be useful for managers or others who are out of the office.  Used in conjunction with comments in the save to central operation, and connect with the update stream and show you.  You can see when important updates were completed, or at what point certain tasks are (assuming your end users leave comments to that effect). 

ipad app: One Note

One Note is a small, but overlooked piece of software that is now part of Microsoft Office.  You most likely have it installed on your local machine and probably don't even know it.  The program originally started out being marketed to students as an alternative to note taking by hand, but has since evolved to be something that's being marketed to everyone.

ipad app: Theodolite

I ran across this app as I was doing some initial research on the ipad in architecture and what it could do.  IT got great reviews and the description in the store left me wanting to get my hands on it to try it (but that is what it is supposed to do right?)  After getting my ipad, this was one of the first apps that I actually bought (besides monopoly :) )

This app does quite a bit.  I don't think that I can say yet that I understand all of its abilities, but I do know that its neat, functional and could come in handy out on a site.

ipad app: Autodesk Force Effect

This app may not help you in the traditional sense of practicing architecture, but I would be remiss if I said it was completely useless.  There are a lot of things that you have no idea what they are for or how they could possibly help you, that is until you run across that one situation where it is the perfect app for the job.  (I've inserted the tool analogy here before, but I'll spare you from it this time)

ipad app: My Measures & Dimensions

Many firms use Bluebeam, a piece of software that is a cross between Acrobat, Photoshop, Indesign and Design Review.  It allows you to markup drawings, color in areas and do a variety of other tasks and is used for everything from creating drawings for presentations to markups.

ipad App: 360

This is one of my newest discoveries for the ipad and I have been absolutely impressed ever since. Ever been the one drafting, just get assigned to a project and told that pictures reside in a photos folder somewhere on the server?  You then go to look at the pictures and find that you are starting to get an idea of the project or site, but don't really know what you are looking at because you only see one picture?  Ever stand in the middle of a big open lobby or other space and try to capture the whole room with a regular camera.  You probably take a series of flat images, and when you get back to the office, maybe you stitch them together, maybe you don't.  This app can help you out with that.

ipad app: Design Review Mobile

This program has been out for a little over 6 months, and has gotten a lot of attention.  You may recognize it because it shares a common name with a program that installs on your machine when you install Revit or ACAD, but there are some differences.

ipad app: Punchlist

This program does exactly what the title implies, it streamlines the process of doing punchlists.  Take your ipad to the site and do all the markups and notes on it instead of  fumbling around with large sheets of paper where you have to fold them, turn them twist them and have something firm to write on when you take notes, only to turn around and while back at the office try to make sense of all your chicken scratch and have to spend time to translate it into a report to distribute back to the contractor.

ipad apps for Architecture

This next series of posts won't cover Revit, but instead focus on some broader issues related to the profession of Architecture.

  Having acquired an ipad over the holidays I have been busy experimenting and seeing all that it can do.  I must say that I am very impressed.  What I have been more interested in however is its application to our profession.  I did a lot of research before getting one to know what I was getting myself into and some other people's opinions on it and worthwhile apps.  I wanted to make sure before I dropped some serious cash onto one that I could benefit from it and it had some worthwhile uses.  I must say that I have been impressed since getting it.  I take every opportunity I can to try to find a new app that can do something that will benefit Architecture.