How does a grandfathered Viewer App interact with the new SU subscription model?

SketchUp Viewer
1

I’m one of the people who purchased the View app before Trimble made it free, only requiring payment for the VR functionality. Trimble grandfathered us in and automagically gave us the in-app upgrade to access the VR functions.

With the recently announced rather drastic overhaul on the base SketchUp licensing model, how does that translate for people who already have the Android or iOS viewer - and have paid for the VR?

Do we keep the same abilities? Do we gain some? Do we lose some if we don’t choose a subscription based SketchUp license?

Inquiring minds want to know!

2

@MikeTadros can you help Steven out?

3

Hi Steven! Thanks for the great questions.

As you noted, the SketchUp Viewer for Mobile app is designed to run on a wide range of iOS & Android devices. We launched V4 of the mobile app this past June 2018, and introduced features that allow folks to view models in AR on ARKit enabled iOS devices and ARCore enabled Android devices. At that time, we also made a change to the pricing and availability of the SketchUp Viewer for Mobile app, making the app’s standard model viewing features freely available. The AR model viewing features were/are offered via in-app subscription of $9.99/yr. As a courtesy for customers who purchased the app prior to June 2018, we wired up the app to give those folks free access to the AR model viewing features for their first year (that 1yr clock started ticking the day they upgraded to V4).

With this week’s launch, the standard viewing features remain freely available. What’s changed is that access to the AR model viewing features are now included and available to anyone with an active SketchUp Shop, SketchUp Pro or SketchUp Studio subscription–without having to separately purchase an in-app subscription for those features.

If you are a SketchUp Free user who purchased the Mobile app way back when, who then upgraded to V4 and started a 1-yr trial of the AR features, the remaining time left on that trial will carry over to V5.

When the courtesy trial expires, you will either have to purchase the in-app subscription ($9.99/yr) or sign in with at least an active SketchUp Shop subscription ($119/yr) to reactivate the Mobile AR features.

Side-note, you mentioned VR a few times in your original post. I assume you meant AR, but if you have questions about VR (available for Desktop VR devices, not Mobile VR), let me know and I’ll try to answer those as well.

Second side note, customers who have purchased the $9.99/yr in-app subscription via the Apple App store or Google Play store, and who purchase a SketchUp Shop, SketchUp Pro or SketchUp Studio subscription should be able to cancel the auto-renew billing on the App store or Play store without having to worry about interrupting their access to the Mobile AR features.

I hope this helps! We’ve tried (really) hard to cover all of our bases, in fact this post covers only a portion of all the scenarios. So if you see a gap or have any further questions, please let me know :smile:

3 Likes
4

No further questions. That fully lays things out. Only one detail was a mild surprise - that my “courtesy” upgrade to AR because I’d previously purchased the app before it was fee is a time limited upgrade. Somehow, I had a vague idea the upgrade was permanent.

It doesn’t actually affect me. The only time I even tried using the AR was at Basecamp! Haven’t had a reason to use it since, so when my “courtesy” expires, I won’t miss it. And should I ever want it, I’ll either already be on SketchUp Pro (I haven’t yet decided to continue with the Classic with M&S path or switch to Subscription) or won’t mind $10/year.

5

Perhaps worth clarifying, for those who come across this thread, since I got a question about it through email:

If you purchase an in-app subscription for the Mobile AR features via either the Apple App store or Google Play store, that in-app subscription is applicable for either iOS or Android devices (respectively). The Apple App store and Google Play store do not share subscription or entitlement information with each other. They also do not share information with Developers. So there is no way for us to offer a solution that would enable customers to pay for a single in-app subscription that will allow them to access the AR model viewing features across both iOS & Android, if they happen to have devices that run on both platforms.

With SketchUp Shop, SketchUp Pro and SketchUp Studio subscriptions, however, we can, and do, allow usage across both iOS & Android devices.

6

I purchased the AR feature through the App Store before it came with other subscriptions. Now when I try to use it it wants me to buy it again but when I try that it says I have an active subscription. Is there a way for me to use that feature without subscribing to SU pro? I’m still using the classic license.

7

Hi @junior, good question. To help clarify, I’ll say that with a SketchUp Shop, Pro, or Studio subscription, the AR model viewing features will be enabled as soon as you sign into the app, i.e. the app should not be asking you to buy anything (presuming that you’re signing in to the app with the same account credentials that are associated with your subscription).

We do not have a way to enable customers with a classic license to unlock the Mobile AR viewing features.

To do so, you would either need to purchase a Shop, Pro or Studio subscription,
–or–
you could purchase an in-App subscription (for the AR features only) through the Apple App Store or Google Play Store. The in-app subscription will renew at $9.99/yr (so if you do purchase a Shop, Pro or Studio subscription, don’t forget to go back to the App Store and turn off auto-renew).

8

here’s a short clip of what mine is doing, I still have an active in-App subscription but for some reason I can’t use that feature.

9

I dedicated $9.99 of my SketchUp pay to test this. I signed in with one account that doesn’t have a paid subscription, bought the iTunes subscription, signed out of that account and signed in with another account that also doesn’t have a paid subscription. The iTunes AR subscription still worked. That was on my iPhone.

Next I tried my iPad, with one of those accounts. I got the Pro warning, went to subscribe, saw the same as you did, and was still left with no AR.

@MikeTadros, it looks like getting the message about already having a subscription does not close the subscription promo screen, and so you close it with the X in the top right corner. That then makes it seem like you declined the subscription. I can show you tomorrow.