Everything below is about the Mac app. If your question isn’t answered here, email us — a real person reads it.
Getting started
Open a CAD file by dragging it onto the window or pressing ⌘O. CADVERT reads STEP (.step, .stp), IGES (.iges, .igs), BREP, STL and OBJ files.
STEP, IGES and BREP get the full analysis — detected features, exact measurements and spatial relationships. STL and OBJ are triangle meshes with no exact geometry to read, so those report size and shape only. If you need full analysis, export STEP from your CAD tool.
Asking questions about a part
Analysis itself needs no AI and no setup. To ask questions, choose a provider in Settings:
Apple Intelligence
Runs on your Mac, costs nothing and needs no key. Requires an Apple silicon Mac running macOS 26 with Apple Intelligence turned on.
OpenAI or Anthropic
Needs an API key from that provider, billed to you at their rates. Your key is stored in your Mac’s Keychain and sent only to them.
Common questions
Why does it say Apple Intelligence is unavailable?
Three possible reasons, and the app tells you which. Intel Macs cannot run it at any macOS version. On Apple silicon it may be switched off in System Settings → Apple Intelligence & Siri, or the model may still be downloading. In every case you can add your own API key instead, and file analysis works regardless.
The app is large. Why?
CADVERT contains a complete geometry kernel — the same class of engine professional CAD systems use — plus the runtime it needs, built for both Apple silicon and Intel in one download. That is what lets it work offline with no server and report exact values rather than estimates. Expect roughly 1.6 GB installed.
Does my CAD file leave my Mac?
No. Analysis happens entirely on your machine. If you use OpenAI or Anthropic for questions, a text summary of the geometry is sent to that provider so they can answer; the file itself is never uploaded anywhere. See the privacy policy.
How do I free up disk space?
Settings → Storage shows how much cached analysis is stored and has a Clear button. Everything cached rebuilds from your original file, so clearing loses nothing.
A large assembly takes a while.
Analysis time scales with the number of faces, not file size. A few thousand faces takes under a minute. It runs on one core, so the machine stays responsive.
Is there an iPhone or iPad version?
Not as a standalone app. The geometry engine is too large to run on iOS, so the iPhone/iPad build can only connect to a CADVERT server you run yourself on your own machine. The Mac app is the product; it needs nothing else.
Can I use it on Windows?
Not yet. A Windows version is planned.
How do I get a refund?
Purchases go through the Mac App Store, so refunds are handled by Apple at reportaproblem.apple.com.
Contact
admin@conviviumllc.com — please include your macOS version, whether your Mac is Apple silicon or Intel, and the file type you were working with. That’s usually enough to answer on the first reply.