topic Re: Archicad 30: What have you done? in General discussions

Archicad 30: What have you done?

Martin Jan Rosa — Thu, 08 Oct 2026 12:22:42 GMT

Dear Graphisoft,

I've been an Archicad user for 25 years, and for all that time I've welcomed every new feature, big or small, with genuine enthusiasm. You even quoted my praise in the press release for the previous version.

With Archicad 30, though, I have nothing to praise.

Let's set aside the fact that the new release is little more than a handful of minor tweaks. The only thing I'd call noteworthy is the broader IFC 4.3 scope – which, frankly, is just you delivering what you promised for AC29 and quietly left half-done. Which makes me wonder: now that you've moved to subscriptions, why keep shipping "major" versions at all? Releases like this would sit perfectly well as regular updates to Archicad itself.

I'll also graciously overlook the fact that you shipped a version that crashes on the current macOS. I know you warn about it, but then again, Golden Gate has been in developers' hands for months – and you still couldn't get ready for it? I know, it's practically folklore by now: come December, it'll get quietly fixed somehow. Same goes for the icon you sneak into my dock after installation, linking to your new product – which isn't even available yet.

I won't dwell on the AI integration either. It still looks more like ticking off a mandatory buzzword than a feature anyone seriously intended to ship. It plays well in a board presentation; in practice, you reach for something else – something that does far more and keeps up with new AI capabilities far faster. The same goes for the MCP server. Nice to have, but any moderately AI-literate user can build their own in half an hour, and it will work better, because thanks to the community around Tapir it can do things you still can't offer. I sincerely hope common sense eventually prevails and you start taking AI seriously. Because unless Archicad becomes a real AI harness for the construction industry, I'd give it a few years before it goes the way of AutoCAD: a tool for professionals with an old-school mindset.

But what I truly cannot understand in Archicad 30 is something else entirely. Forgive me, but there's only one word for it – one you hear quite a lot these days: the enshittification of the user interface.

Working in Archicad 30 feels as if someone got a little carried away with the word "zen". The UI looks unfinished. The sensible response to mouse movement is gone. You intuitively lose track of where the workspace ends and the toolbars begin, where the buttons are, where the input fields are.

Honestly, it feels like you're making me work in Archicad blindfolded. Luckily, I know the interface well enough to guess where to click – otherwise I'd be half lost. Pity the poor new users.

So I'd kindly ask: could you perhaps take a little inspiration from Apple and their glass design – and take a similar step back, as they did? Maybe a simple setting that would de-zen the UI a bit and give it back some depth, structure and intuitiveness?

Many thanks

Martin Jan Rosa

Re: Archicad 30: What have you done?

cocoloco — Thu, 08 Oct 2026 20:04:41 GMT

I just got email today and was quite excited and was wondering why the email did not include structured upgrades for this versions and what to look for, why to upgrade.

Re: Archicad 30: What have you done?

Bricklyne Clarence — Thu, 08 Oct 2026 22:15:30 GMT

@Martin Jan Rosa wrote:

Dear Graphisoft,

I've been an Archicad user for 25 years, and for all that time I've welcomed every new feature, big or small, with genuine enthusiasm. You even quoted my praise in the press release for the previous version.

With Archicad 30, though, I have nothing to praise.

Let's set aside the fact that the new release is little more than a handful of minor tweaks. The only thing I'd call noteworthy is the broader IFC 4.3 scope – which, frankly, is just you delivering what you promised for AC29 and quietly left half-done. Which makes me wonder: now that you've moved to subscriptions, why keep shipping "major" versions at all? Releases like this would sit perfectly well as regular updates to Archicad itself.

I'll also graciously overlook the fact that you shipped a version that crashes on the current macOS. I know you warn about it, but then again, Golden Gate has been in developers' hands for months – and you still couldn't get ready for it? I know, it's practically folklore by now: come December, it'll get quietly fixed somehow. Same goes for the icon you sneak into my dock after installation, linking to your new product – which isn't even available yet.

.......

So I'd kindly ask: could you perhaps take a little inspiration from Apple and their glass design – and take a similar step back, as they did? Maybe a simple setting that would de-zen the UI a bit and give it back some depth, structure and intuitiveness?

Many thanks

Martin Jan Rosa

....b....but.........we (finally) got 'Dark Mode'.....

......

Aren't we excited about that?

What's that?

You already had it as a Mac user?

Never mind.

I can't wait to try out (**cough**Bug-test-for-free**cough**) their new shiny toy, and feature tool upgrade that they've spent all these precious development resources on,......the latest one, at least..........and which is TOTALLY not an Experimental feature and tool (...and therefore that's also not replete with bugs that we're supposed to suss out.)......right before they lock it behind a paywall in the next version or two when it's a complete tool.

(**Even though, they'll totally use it to market this version upgrade as a new feature, presumably to be available to all users...and not just (Super-)MAX Subscription tier, Gold Club VIP members, when it's finally ready.)

oooh....exciting times ahead.....

Re: Archicad 30: What have you done?

Karl Ottenstein — Thu, 08 Oct 2026 22:50:05 GMT

@Martin Jan Rosa wrote: "Releases like this would sit perfectly well as regular updates to Archicad itself."

I've been pondering the same since Graphisoft introduced subscriptions... which seem to be no different than annual releases that have monthly payments.

It isn't comparable, and yet it is... For some years now, I have beta tested the Mac version of a personal finance product called Quicken that is used primarily in the USA and Canada. Trivial subscription price - from $7 to $11/month depending on the feature set:
https://www.quicken.com/products/pricing-comparison-classic/

The Mac edition has a new beta and a new release about every 2 months ... with significant new features. So, over the course of a year, subscribers are not just able to use the software, they see continuous improvements. Wishlist items get implemented. A value proposition. A subscription that you don't mind paying for. That's the aspect of subscription software that Graphisoft doesn't seem to get... as they maintain an annual release cycle that has monthly payments.

Re: Archicad 30: What have you done?

Lingwisyer — Fri, 09 Oct 2026 01:49:59 GMT

I am half expecting AC31 to be the end of annual releases with it being the first Subscription only version. Given, many of the headline features in 28, 29 and 30 were already subscription only...

AC30 new feature: Light Mode.

ps. After seeing a AC30 darkmode screenshot, is it literally just inverting the colour values? It would explain why the standard mode is so white...

Re: Archicad 30: What have you done?

Funfun Yan — Fri, 09 Oct 2026 03:08:52 GMT

The dark mode is a joke. The wall display mode should be in 29.2. The dimension endline style looks like polishing a turd. 看看这些新功能吧，对得起用户的升级费和订阅费吗？Just look at these new features—do they really justify the upgrade and subscription fees users are paying?