Hi,
I would just like to know why in 2018, does an Application year after year refuse to implement small, but important 3rd Party Extensions directly into its App?
I know that this style of App is great for 3rd Party Developers, but why aren’t the Owners and Developers of this App getting their own people in-house to create or copy similar successful 3rd Party Extensions and implement them straight into the App? Why in 2018 with a modern App do I still have to go looking for a RoundCorners App for Sketchup Pro 2018, when, by now, it should be already built into the App?
I have decades of experience with Graphics Based Apps, and their 3rd Party Extensions have been implemented immediately they become successful and widespread. Why make the customer install an App each year that really looks not much different from the previous year, UNLESS you make that App better and simpler for the end user?
Every year I have to use a new yearly ‘updated?’ Sketchup Pro, only to find that I have to go and find, and reinstall my favourite extensions, which already should be the base set within Sketchup, but aren’t.
Somebody needs to go look at all the basis widespread Extensions outside of Sketchup that end users use, look at them, study them and implement them as their own immediately into the next version of Sketchup. You don’t think Adobe didn’t do this initially to become successful in the early years…Illustrator did it…and Photoshop did it! It’s 2018, and people using Sketchup STILL have to go find find basis Extensions and then sometimes install the tedious and illogical Library Files from 3rd Party Developers and go through the same rubbish time and time again. What other App makes you go and search for basic things that should already be implemented in an App? Half these Extensions aren’t extensions anyway. Is the Extrude action an Extension? No. So why are similar actions left to be standalone Extensions? I want to round a corner OR extrude one shape to a different shape OR render correctly and professionally AND I NEED TO FIND A 3RD PARTY EXTENSION TO DO THAT? That should be part of a modern, progressive App by now. It’s not with Sketchup.
The installation process should be:
(1) The new yearly App starts it’s installation process.
(2) The Installation process looks at the last version of the App, deletes it after keeping all extensions from the previous year.
(3) The Installation process installs all existing Extensions into the new App version.
(4) The Installation process notifies the End User of Extensions that no longer work, or need updating.
Done.
Instead, we have to guess at what Extensions from last year are missing in this year’s App and then we have to go and find, (through a process akin to file sharing in the early 90’s!) those Extensions and install them through an archaic process.
Get with the times guys. Sketchup 2018 still feels like Sketchup 2000.
The End User deserves a better Application experience than this. We don’t make the owners of Sketchup jump through difficult hoops just to take our money. Stop making the App so difficult to use with Extensions. Go buy the best ones and stick them directly into Sketchup 2019. Or you are going to be left behind.