Autodesk Launches AutoCAD App Store

Today Autodesk borrowed a page from Apple’s book and launched an App Store for AutoCAD in Autodesk Exchange. I have been working with Autodesk under NDA for some time now to get SYCODE’s AutoCAD plug-ins into Autodesk Exchange. So have many other third party developers. Here is a screenshot showing a search for SYCODE’s plug-ins. Click the image for a larger view.

Autodesk has taken pains to make the user experience seamless like that of Apple’s App Store.

Step 1: Find the plug-in you want in Autodesk Exchange.

Step 2: Click the Trial/Install button. You may be asked to sign in using your Autodesk ID. Accept the Terms of Use and License Agreement.

Step 3: The plug-in will begin downloading to your computer. Note that there is no progress bar. So if the plug-in is large this may take a while without giving you any feedback. After the plug-in is downloaded the installer will start automatically.

That’s it! You don’t need to select where to install the plug-in, add it to the start up suite and all that stuff. SYCODE’s plug-ins can be found in AutoCAD’s Plug-in tab in the ribbon. Other plug-ins may have other ways to access their commands.

I’d like to congratulate the team at Autodesk who have worked tirelessly to make this happen. Your efforts have paid off well. Now go celebrate. 😉