Comparison

Bluebeam vs AIA Events

Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.

Head to head
About

Bluebeam

Access and collaborate on PDF documents directly from your mobile device. Communicate project updates with markups and work offline by syncing files. Seamlessly join live collaboration sessions and manage document revisions from the field.

Highlights
  • Real-time PDF collaboration
  • Markup and annotation tools
  • Offline file access
  • Document syncing
  • Studio Project management
  • Live session joining
Features
Read full description

Bluebeam for iOS keeps you connected to your teams and documents, so you can quickly access the information you need in the field and capture what matters for the office. - Communicate with markups using tools like callouts, text, clouds, and status indicators - Import your team's custom Tool Sets from Revu, so your standardized markups are ready to go in the field, even offline - Attach photos captured in the field directly to a markup, so supporting documentation stays organized without cluttering your drawings - Open your files stored on your device, Studio Projects, or Studio Sessions - Join Studio Sessions for live collaboration. If your connection drops, your changes sync when you're back online - Check out files in Studio Projects to make edits, then check them back in when you're ready - Work offline by syncing Project files ahead of time or opening PDFs stored on your device Whether you’re reviewing submittals, placing markups in the field, or tracking revisions with your team, Bluebeam gives you the flexibility to get the job done from anywhere.

About

AIA Events

This app serves as a digital companion for AIA events, offering a full conference schedule, personalized scheduling, real-time updates, and networking opportunities. Connect with attendees, speakers, and share your experience on social media.

Highlights
  • Full conference schedule access
  • Personalized schedule builder
  • Real-time event updates
  • Connect with attendees and speakers
  • Social media sharing
Features
Read full description

Get the official AIA Events app! It’s your go-to digital conference companion for all AIA events, including the AIA Conference on Architecture & Design, Women’s Leadership Summit, and AIA Leadership Summit. Designed to enhance your experience and make the most of your time, this app gives you the tools to navigate your event effectively and efficiently. Through the AIA Events app, you can: • Access the full conference schedule including dates, times, and locations • Build your personal schedule, including CE sessions and one-on-one meetings • Get real-time updates to stay informed about changes and fun surprises • Connect with and get to know fellow attendees and speakers • Share your conference experience out on social media About AIA events: Browse AIA’s full event calendar at aia.org/community/events, including conferences, webinars, and educational sessions on topics across the built environment. With events throughout the year, you can connect with and learn from the AIA community and the greater AEC industry on a variety of topics. About the AIA Conference on Architecture & Design: The AIA Conference on Architecture & Design is the premier AEC industry event. It brings together the architecture and design communities to network, share knowledge, spark creativity, and uncover new solutions to design a better world. Through keynotes, education, events, tours, and the industry’s largest expo, the annual conference fosters cross-industry collaborations and solutions to showcase the strength of the AEC industry. About Women’s Leadership Summit: WLS is a premier leadership experience that brings together the industry’s largest network of women who are breaking down barriers, making themselves visible, and manifesting the careers they want—while making a difference in the world. It’s three days of high-impact programming, networking, education, community, and inspiration designed to help create gender equity for women in AEC. About AIA Leadership Summit: AIA Leadership Summit is the premier advocacy and leadership training event for AIA chapter leaders. One of AIA’s best attended leadership events, it offers attendees a unique platform to engage in critical policy discussions with lawmakers in Washington, D.C. while enhancing their leadership skills.

Screenshots

Bluebeam4 screens
AIA Events4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is rating: AIA Events at 3.5 against Bluebeam's 1.5. AIA Events also leads on update cadence (every 5 days vs monthly). On price, review sentiment, ratings volume and ads there is nothing between them.

Scored on Price · Rating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings · Update frequency · Ads · In-app purchases · Monetization · Best chart rank · Devices · Requires iOS

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Both are free to download. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

AIA Events holds the better App Store score, 3.5 against 1.5. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 392 and 242 respectively. Written reviews point the same way: 3% of Bluebeam's written reviews are positive against 8% of AIA Events's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Bluebeam ships an update monthly, AIA Events every 5 days. The most recent releases landed on September 29, 2026 and September 26, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard2 real differences · 8 level
Bluebeam versus AIA Events: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterBluebeamAIA Events
PriceFreeFree
Rating1.5 (392 ratings)3.5 (242 ratings) — better
Positive reviews2.6% of reviews7.7% of reviews — better
Number of ratings392 — better242
Update frequencyMonthlyEvery 5 days — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationFreeFree
DevicesiPhone, iPad — betteriPhone
Requires iOS18.017.4 — better
Further details — not scored
Size288 MB143 MB
Age rating4+17+
DeveloperBluebeam, Inc.The American Institute of Architects

Customer experience

Bluebeam

All ratings392 ratings
Positive9.9%
Neutral2.0%
Negative88.0%
Written reviews229 reviews
Positive2.6%
Neutral3.1%
Negative94.3%

AIA Events

All ratings242 ratings
Positive60.3%
Neutral7.0%
Negative32.6%
Written reviews39 reviews
Positive7.7%
Neutral10.3%
Negative82.1%

User reviews

Bluebeam

From 392 App Store ratings

What we love

  • ✅ Automatic saving functionality works well
  • 📱 Useful for viewing PDFs on the go
  • 🔄 Good for accessing Studio sessions
  • 📊 Desktop version is powerful and feature-rich
  • 🎯 Cleaner, more modern interface design

Room to improve

  • ❌ Massive feature loss compared to Revu for iPad
  • 🐛 Frequent crashes and freezing issues
  • 📉 Severely limited markup tools and capabilities
  • 🖊️ Apple Pencil input is unresponsive and laggy
  • 💾 Data loss and corruption issues

AIA Events

From 242 App Store ratings

What we love

  • 👍 Refreshingly intuitive
  • 👍 Extremely helpful app

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Audio/video quality issues
  • 🐛 PowerPoint slides too small
  • 🐛 Captions obscure images
  • 🐛 Inaccessible design (no zoom, hard to read text)
  • 🐛 Missing CEU amounts

Bugs and requests

Bluebeam

Reported bugs

28 issues
  • Markups fail to load or display correctly
  • App deletes markups instead of saving them
  • Documents wipe clean when reopened
  • Files uploaded disappear from app
  • Corrupted file errors when opening PDFs
Show 23 more
  • Keyboard disappears during login
  • Selection boundaries too large, preventing precise markup selection
  • Apple Pencil input stops working intermittently
  • Pen tool produces no line output despite input
  • App crashes when opening large file sets
  • Session documents fail to load
  • Blank PDF pages displayed
  • Scaling doesn't work properly
  • Blue screen errors
  • Markups missing after checkout and checkin
  • Incomplete markups syncing between devices
  • App freezes during document checkin
  • Unable to add users to sessions
  • Projects not showing up in app
  • App crashes when opening Studio sessions
  • Drawings won't load or open
  • Markup placement doesn't correspond to tap location
  • PDF goes blank when inserting callouts
  • Constant logout requiring re-authentication
  • Links to details don't work
  • App crashes on older iOS versions
  • Audio communication issues
  • File synchronization failures

Requested features

25 requests
  • Restore measurement and scaling tools
  • Add custom toolsets and tool libraries
  • Implement bookmarks for document navigation
  • Enable image embedding in callouts
  • Add undo/redo functionality
Show 20 more
  • Support multiple PDF tabs simultaneously
  • Create stamp library with standardized markups
  • Add dimension markup capabilities
  • Allow local PDF file access and import
  • Full Studio session integration
  • Improve Apple Pencil responsiveness and precision
  • Add eraser tool for pen markups
  • Enable photo capture and attachment to markups
  • Support Dropbox and cloud storage integration
  • Add form field editing capabilities
  • Implement punch list and defect tracking
  • Add RFI creation functionality
  • Support for custom columns and data fields
  • Reset viewpoints feature
  • Pen width and cloud shape customization
  • Settings menu for preferences
  • Better pen and drawing mechanics like Notability
  • Ability to download session documents to device
  • Support for opening PDF attachments from desktop
  • Batch file upload capability

AIA Events

Reported bugs

57 issues
  • Audio and video could be better
  • PowerPoint slides formatted too small
  • Captions obscure images
  • App does not allow for zooming
  • Grey text on white is very hard to read
Show 52 more
  • Text is also tiny
  • Missing CEU amounts in schedule
  • Infinite scrolling makes comparison impossible
  • Information was hard to find, keep, and track
  • App should be released sooner
  • Schedule part of the app was very disappointing
  • Difficult to navigate schedule
  • Not clear on which items submitted as part of schedule
  • Did not let users prioritize and then confirm lectures
  • Cannot pick days in schedule, resets to beginning
  • Background information for seminars not listed
  • Could not download PDFs of presentations
  • No confirmation that messages were received
  • No prompts for replies to messages
  • Handouts missing for numerous seminars
  • Session reservation needed
  • Continues to not show CE courses signed up for
  • Searching for a course number returns incorrect results
  • Zero in-app help
  • Full schedule not showing up
  • Won't recognize sign in email
  • Schedule spending an hour was lost
  • Does not show purchased tours on schedule
  • Any saved sessions are deleted once the app is reopened
  • Bookmarked sessions from full schedule don't show up next time app is opened
  • Some events are not able to be bookmarked
  • Very buggy
  • Entered conference schedule twice and it’s not there
  • App technical support doesn’t help
  • App or platform still doesn’t work
  • Does not save events that you try to register for
  • Selections to schedule are gone each time app is opened
  • Cannot filter sessions by timeslot
  • Hard to navigate
  • No conference map was provided
  • Can’t find what I want
  • Not pre-populating a session paid for
  • Search finds session as CANCELLED when it's not
  • No map of the venue
  • Seat tracker takes too long
  • Not saving CE sessions
  • App is empty, nothing works
  • Trying to select CE sessions
  • Doesn’t link to email registration
  • No other way to remedy app failure
  • Does not work
  • Can’t see the schedule
  • Can’t add to schedule
  • Doesn’t show what user is registered for
  • Extraneous apps create extra work
  • No content loads besides buttons
  • Graphics/fonts are pretty rough

Requested features

9 requests
  • Printed copy of programs
  • PDF of the program
  • Allow pre-reservation for sessions
  • Printed booklet for ease of use
  • Beta test next year's app with real users
Show 4 more
  • Recruit actual potential users ahead of time
  • Filter sessions by timeslot
  • Venue map
  • Chat function or bot for troubleshooting

In-app purchases

None

Bluebeam

No in-app purchases

None

AIA Events

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Bluebeam free?
Bluebeam is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is AIA Events free?
AIA Events is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Bluebeam or AIA Events?
AIA Events is rated higher. Bluebeam averages 1.5 out of 5 from 392 ratings, while AIA Events averages 3.5 from 242 ratings.
Do Bluebeam or AIA Events have ads?
Neither Bluebeam nor AIA Events shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Bluebeam or AIA Events?
Bluebeam ships an update monthly, and AIA Events every 5 days. Most recently, Bluebeam was updated on September 29, 2026 and AIA Events on September 26, 2026.

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