IFC Canvas Support

Touch-first BIM review for iPad

Every question, bug report, and feature request goes to one address. A person reads it, not a ticket queue.

Typical response: within two working days.

Before you write

If your message is about a specific model, these three things almost always resolve it faster:

The app version, found in More → About IFC Canvas.
Your iPad model and iPadOS version.
What the file is: the authoring tool that exported it, its IFC schema (IFC2X3, IFC4, IFC4X3), and roughly how large it is.

You do not need to send the model itself. If it turns out to be necessary, we will ask, and only ever with your explicit agreement, because your models are commercially sensitive and IFC Canvas is built so they never leave your device.

Common questions

Which files can I open?

IFC and IFCZIP models on the IFC2X3 and IFC4 schemas, plus BCF (.bcf, .bcfzip) coordination files. Open them from Files, iCloud Drive, or any app that can share a file; IFC Canvas also appears as an Open in target for IFC files anywhere in iPadOS.

Newer schema variants such as IFC4X3 are not officially supported yet. Some open anyway; if yours does not, re-exporting as IFC4 from your authoring tool is the reliable route. Tell us when you hit one. Which schemas to add next is decided by what people actually bring us.

Is there an iPhone version?

Not yet. IFC Canvas is iPad-only by design, because the review tools assume a large canvas. An iPhone companion is on the roadmap and is not part of this release.

Does it need an internet connection?

No. Parsing, geometry, rendering, measuring, sectioning, and BCF authoring all run on the iPad. There is no account, no server, and no sync. The app works in an aircraft, a basement, and on a site with no signal.

What is free and what needs a subscription?

Opening and reviewing a single model is free, with the full review toolset available in that session: properties, model tree, hide/isolate, levels and 2D floor plans, grids, spaces, measure, section, and BCF issues.

IFC Canvas Pro adds the Projects workspace: federating several discipline models into one coordinated project, and keeping that project, with its saved views and coordination issues, between sessions. A free session is complete while it is open; what it does not do is persist after you close the file.

How do I restore a subscription on a new iPad?

Sign in with the same Apple Account you subscribed with, then open More → About IFC Canvas and tap Restore Purchases. If it reports that nothing was found, you almost certainly subscribed with a different Apple Account. Sign in with that one and try again.

How do I cancel?

Subscriptions are managed by Apple, not by us. On your iPad open Settings → [your name] → Subscriptions, or use apps.apple.com/account/subscriptions. Access continues until the end of the period you have already paid for.

My subscription lapsed. Did I lose my work?

No. Your projects, saved views, and issues stay on the device. You can still open a lapsed project to read it and export your BCF issues out; resubscribing restores full editing.

Why is a model slow to open, or refusing to open?

Very large or geometrically complex models can take a while on first open, because IFC Canvas builds a cache the first time so later opens are fast. If a model will not open at all, email us with the schema, the exporting application, and the file size. Files exported with unusual geometry representations are the usual cause, and they are worth fixing properly.

How do I report a bug or request a feature?

Same address. Concrete reports get fixed fastest: what you did, what you expected, what happened instead. IFC Canvas ships no analytics and no crash-reporting SDK, so what users tell us is genuinely the only signal there is.

Privacy

IFC Canvas collects no personal data and transmits nothing. The full policy is at ifccanvas.app/privacy.