Full-cloud Onshape is the first and only professional 3D CAD system to run on Android phones and tablets

CAMBRIDGE, Mass., Aug. 12, 2015 /PRNewswire-iReach/ -- Today's engineers and designers carry their lives – their contacts, calendars, texts and emails – in their pockets and now they'll be able to bring their CAD system wherever they go, too.

Onshape for Android is the first professional 3D CAD system to run on Android phones and tablets. The new mobile release comes just five months after the launch of Onshape Beta, the only full-cloud 3D CAD system that lets everyone on a design team simultaneously work together on the same model using any web browser, phone, or tablet.

"We founded Onshape with a vision to make CAD accessible on any device, anywhere," says Onshape founder and Chairman of the Board, Jon Hirschtick. "We're proud to be the first in the industry to run on Android. And by 'run,' I mean really run. You're not just viewing models. You're able to sketch, extrude, fillet, shell, create 3D models, edit their shape and size, and put them into assemblies. Wherever you go, Onshape is there."

Tens of thousands of CAD enthusiasts are now using Onshape Beta to design products, with full mobile access being one of their most requested enhancements. Onshape for Android is available now for free in the Google Play store.

For the first time, professional 3D CAD users are no longer restricted to one primary workstation, as their data is now readily available on any device. In addition to Android, Onshape also runs on iPhones and iPads – and in a web browser on Mac, Windows, and Linux.

The Onshape development team created a precise touch-screen interface that replaces the traditional keyboard and mouse interactions. Every CAD command and action is controlled with a swipe of your finger.

"When we first started, a lot of people were skeptical that CAD could be done on such a small device," explains Ravi Reddy, team lead for Onshape Mobile. "We solved the precision selection problem and made sketching easy with touch-based finger offset tools. We added intuitive lock and unlock modes to help with pan, zoom, and rotate operations for sketching and assemblies."

"We rejected the standard notion of providing a view-only version of CAD on mobile or choosing a subset of features," he adds. "We were determined to build a full CAD product that can be used anywhere and from any device."

The mobile app is not intended to replace Onshape's use on desktops and laptops – it is meant to greatly expand a CAD user's access to their work outside the home or office. Early testers of Onshape for Android say they now appreciate the flexibility to CAD where they never imagined:

• Silas Hughes, R&D engineer for Rest Devices, creator of the Mimo Smart Baby Monitor: "Onshape's Android app is snappy and smooth. It already has become a tool I use and trust when fabricating."

• Ben Nahill, computer engineer at MIT Lincoln Laboratory: "It's surprisingly solid! I don't have to carry my laptop with me when I go to the machine shop. It's nice not to have a big computer or a bunch of printouts when I'm just looking up some dimensions."

• William Rae, instrumentation specialist, RPS Group: "Right now the ability to view shared models while away from a workstation is wonderful. We're an oceanographic consulting company and my team mostly does instrumentation platforms that measure waves and currents. Thanks to the mobile capabilities of Onshape, I've been able to view documents even while I was on a ship 30 miles offshore using a satellite Internet connection."

CAD users interested in learning more about how to design on their phone or tablet can visit Onshape.com/Learn. To create a free account, visit Onshape.com/signup.

About Onshape

Onshape is the only company in the world 100% focused on cloud and mobile CAD, offering the  first and only professional 3D CAD system that lets everyone on a design team work together using any web browser, phone, or tablet. Breaking away from the traditional model of desktop-installed CAD, Onshape has data management and collaboration built in at its core.

For the first time, the CAD system and CAD data live in one place in the cloud, and are never copied anywhere. Everyone on a design team sees and works on the same master CAD data at all times, avoiding confusing checkouts, file copies, and overwriting each other's work.

Full-cloud Onshape also eliminates the hassles of installations, license codes and servers, service packs, and add-on PDM systems. Every Onshape user always works with the same version of Onshape – the latest version.

Companies worldwide rely on Onshape today to speed up the design of consumer electronics, mechanical machinery, medical devices, machine parts, industrial equipment, and many other products. Onshape's Free Plan also makes it the ideal CAD choice for students and educators to collaborate inside and outside the classroom.

Based in Cambridge, Massachusetts, Onshape includes key members of the original SolidWorks team plus elite engineers from the cloud, data security and mobile industries. For more information, visit Onshape.com/press-room

Media Contact: Darren Henry, Director of Marketing, Onshape: Email Contact

Onshape Press Kit: Download here.

Onshape for Android Images: Download here.

Media Contact: Darren Henry, Onshape, (844) 667-4273, Email Contact

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SOURCE Onshape