Bluebeam, a Nemetschek Company, has sent a notice to Bluebeam Revu for Mac users that the company is ending support of a native macOS version of Revu.
Stopping Mac Version
Here’s the announcement:
We have made the difficult decision to stop development on future versions of Bluebeam Revu for Mac. We will release Revu for Mac 2.1 in Q2. We understand that this decision will impact many users and organizations, and Bluebeam is committed to providing the support and resources required to keep you and your company on track during this transition.
The company then goes on to explain why Bluebeam has made this decision:
When Bluebeam released Revu for Mac, our intention was to create a version of Revu that extended the incredible efficiency and collaboration power of Revu to the Mac platform. While we pursued this multi-platform approach, advancements in cloud-computing redefined what was possible and provided an opportunity for us to reevaluate our strategy. At the end of 2018, Bluebeam committed to building a new cloud-based ecosystem of solutions that delivers powerful features, tools, and workflows accessible from any device and from any location. You will first see this vision coming to life in new products like Bluebeam Atlas and features like Drawings. In order to invest in this long-term vision, we have made the decision to begin the process of winding down the Revu for Mac product. [architosh made minor grammatical edits]
The important details to know for Bluebeam Mac users follow into this list of releases and dates and end of support. As follows:
- All Revu for Mac 2.0 customers will have access to Revu for Mac 2.1. This near future update includes improvements to the measurement tools and addresses critical issues.
- Revu for Mac 1.0 customers can purchase an upgrade to Revu for Mac 2.1 at a discounted price for a limited time (1 June 2019). Contact sales@bluebeam.com or a local reseller.
- Customers can switch to Revu for Windows for a special price. Again contact sales@bluebeam.com or a reseller.
- Bluebeam will not support Revu for Windows running on Parallels or Apple’s Boot Camp.
- Your Revu for Mac license will continue working, however, the company will not release any additional updates or bug fixes after March 2020.
Architosh Exclusive Information
We have heard directly from Bluebeam about this Revu for Mac announcement and have addressed questions to their VP of Product, Kristine Hopkins, about what this means in the larger sense. While the news, on the face of it, feels immediately disappointing, the silver lining in the news amounts to this: the company is focusing its resources on cloud-based solutions that touch far more users more evenly, across various platforms and devices—including Mac. From a statement to Architosh.
01 – The new Bluebeam Revu for Mac 2.0 offers a streamlined user-interface but the killer feature is likely the all-new PDF rendering engine for faster display.
“We want to be very honest and upfront about why we’ve made the decision to EOL Revu for Mac. Simply put, we want to commit as many resources as we can to initiatives that will benefit the greatest number of users,” says Hopkins. “While we can’t talk about specific internal numbers, we can tell you that the talent and expertise we are investing represents an incredible boost towards all our customers realizing a data-driven, mobile future.”
…we can tell you that the talent and expertise we are investing represents an incredible boost towards all our customers realizing a data-driven, mobile future.
The company told Architosh that they announced their intention to reposition investments in a data-driven, mobile, and collaborative ecosystem of solutions at XCON 2018, their annual user conference, in Austin in September of 2018. The company adds, “XCON attendees, however, know that we have been giving sneak peeks of Drawings and other innovative initiatives for the last few conferences.” adds Hopkins.
The company told Architosh that while this news may seem sudden, they are merely increasing their investments around decisions they have made quite a while ago. This may be the end of Bluebeam Revu for Mac but hopefully not the end of support for Apple’s Mac users.
Architosh Commentary and Analysis
This publication was chosen to provide an exclusive on why the Nemetschek Group selected Bluebeam to essentially be the central technology behind the Nemetschek Group’s future CDE solution. What we have learned from Bluebeam is that project is separate. The new “cloud-based ecosystem” of solutions [words in quotes are theirs] is not the future CDE solution for the Nemetschek Group.
MORE: Architosh Exclusive—Nemetschek Group Unveils Its CDE Strategy with Bluebeam Technology at its Core
Additionally, other Nemetschek companies, like GRAPHISOFT and Vectorworks that have API connections to Bluebeam today will not be affected by this decision. “All of the API integrations that our Nemetschek Group partners have made have been through Bluebeam’s Studio API. The Studio API provides connections between third-party applications and Bluebeam Studio.”
Bluebeam Revu for Mac users have perpetual licenses and the software will continue to work beyond 2020 assuming users freeze their system updates to form a stable Bluebeam Mac machine. Both before and after that March 2020 date Bluebeam Revu for Mac users will still be able to initiate and attend Bluebeam Studio sessions, says the company.
Essentially, Revu for Mac 2.1 users will have a stable version of Revu likely well into 2020 and beyond if they freeze their Mac from updates for as long as what is reasonable. Once bugs begin to emerge affecting the application, at that point the utility of their perpetual license essentially ends. Around that time, the company should have new cloud-based solutions for all users across devices and OSs.
What we feel is happening around this decision is a sense of increased urgency. Bluebeam now feels the need to increase its investment in building out its cloud-based ecosystem of solutions. The company has formidable competitors in its space. While Bluebeam enjoys a healthy market share leadership among the construction industry, in particular, it must continue to innovate at a rapid pace. Nearly all of Bluebeam’s chief competitors are delivering solutions via the cloud (browser + mobile) and this is likely going to be the prevailing model. It doesn’t mean desktop goes away fully in all cases, but what it does mean is that desktop is no longer the chief concern.
Meanwhile, we have no news on the Nemetschek CDE initiative (other than it is ongoing), which is meant to be based around Bluebeam technology at its core.
[edit. note: Earlier we had the quote attributed to the CEO and CTO. This was corrected. 2:25 PM, EDT, 4 Mar 2019]
[edit. note: We have made minor editing purposes in this article for SEO. 9:45 AM, EDT. 17 Jan 2021]
Reader Comments
So, our firm was one of the unfortunate souls to invest in the beta testing and purchase of Revu Mac. We still like the program, even though it falls far behind the Windows version, and we’re furious that not only did they stop development, they stopped sales. We’re trying to work out an arrangement so we can provide for new employees, but it just seems like bad business.
My question to Architosh would be, what PDF management tool do you recommend for Architects? We need to combine/delete/insert/replace pages, add bookmarks, adjust print and orientation settings, and mark up plans and submittals in a universally sharable format. We spent years using Acrobat Pro, and hated it. It’s expensive, and the markup annotation tools are hideous. Preview is underpowered. PlanGrid is proprietary and not really a PDF tool at all.
Weren’t PDFs invented on the Mac? Why is there such a gaping hole in something that Macs should excel in?!
So, our firm was one of the unfortunate souls to invest in the beta testing and purchase of Revu Mac. We still like the program, even though it falls far behind the Windows version, and we’re furious that not only did they stop development, they stopped sales. We’re trying to work out an arrangement so we can provide for new employees, but it just seems like bad business.
My question to Architosh would be, what PDF management tool do you recommend for Architects? We need to combine/delete/insert/replace pages, add bookmarks, adjust print and orientation settings, and mark up plans and submittals in a universally sharable format. We spent years using Acrobat Pro, and hated it. It’s expensive, and the markup annotation tools are hideous. Preview is underpowered. PlanGrid is proprietary and not really a PDF tool at all.
Weren’t PDFs invented on the Mac? Why is there such a gaping hole in something that Macs should excel in?!
Let me know if you figure this out, we are in the same boat…looking into PDF Expert which I already don’t like, PDF Pen and PDF Elements.
Let me know if you figure this out, we are in the same boat…looking into PDF Expert which I already don’t like, PDF Pen and PDF Elements.
There honestly isn’t a replacement for Bluebeam Revu for Mac. Revu is purpose built for the AEC industry and features many items that just don’t exist in any other PDF markup tool. There are many excellent markup tools for PDF but generalist tools aren’t ever going to fit the bill. The best hope is that Bluebeam gets to the big replacement solution as quickly as possible.
There honestly isn’t a replacement for Bluebeam Revu for Mac. Revu is purpose built for the AEC industry and features many items that just don’t exist in any other PDF markup tool. There are many excellent markup tools for PDF but generalist tools aren’t ever going to fit the bill. The best hope is that Bluebeam gets to the big replacement solution as quickly as possible.
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