Michael Lord

It was way back in January at SolidWorks World 2013 that we had our first (and very brief) view of (at that stage) an Alpha version of eDrawings for Android (running on a Nexus 7).   It has been a much longer wait than most would have expected (or liked) but earlier this week we saw,  eDrawings for Android become available at Google Play for $1.99 (or $2.16 for us here in Australia!)

eDrawings for Android is very much like eDrawings for iOS devices and  at this stage very much like the initial release for iPad, it is just a viewer.  I think it can be fairly safe to assume that we will see an “eDrawings Pro for Android” version in the near future!

The most noticeable difference from iOS to Android is that Augmented Reality (AR) is missing from the left hand toolbar.  Again I’m not sure that the Android versions will see that, based on the fact that they would have to work with many different cameras in conjunction with many different phones & tablets!   But that remains to be seen!

The Android version supports eDrawings Parts & Assemblies (EPRT, EASM), native SolidWorks Parts & Assemblies (SLDPRT, SLDASM) as well as eDrawings & SolidWorks Drawings (EDRW, SLDDRW).   Interesting unlike the iOS version the Android version does not support dwg or dxf drawings!  (yet!)

Files are brought into Android devices as per iOS, either via email or by the cloud storage services (Dropbox™, SkyDrive®, Google Drive, Hightail® etc).

The Android version operates with the same control/ finger actions as iOS to Zoom, Pan and Rotate.   As well as the normal eDrawings Standard Views and Animations.  You can tap a Part in an Assembly to select  to then control the display of the Part to Hide, make Transparent or Isolate. (and then again Show All)

It supports “Configurations” as well as “Exploded Assemblies”

It supports native SolidWorks Drawing which includes support for Multiple Sheets.   Interesting to note on the Drawing below that only the “odd” circle is shown around the number on the balloons!  That is random across all of the sheets so I’m not sure why or how that is!

Although I’ve only have had limited time to use eDrawing for Android, it works wells on my Nexus 7.  Having the viewer is a good start, now that is here I look forward to seeing what’s going to follow!

To see more have a look at the SolidWorks video below: