FileMaker, Inc., an Apple subsidiary, on Tuesday announced a brand new version of its Mac productivity app along with a redesigned iPhone and iPad application. FileMaker 14 is the first major update since FileMaker 13, which released in December of 2013.
FileMaker 14 for Mac, available in several flavors starting today, offers a Script Workspace feature that speeds automation of common business processes. Another major new feature is a Launch Center, which uses an app-like interface to visually organize all your solutions with big icons.
Other enhancements and improvements in FileMaker 14 include a redesigned FileMaker WebDirect for delivering desktop-style interactivity to tablet browsers, speedier performance overall and much more.
The FileMaker Platform was designed to allow people without programming skills to create and run productivity and business solutions which work seamlessly across the iPad, the iPhone, Mac and Windows PCs and the web.
More than 20 million copies of FileMaker Platform products have shipped thus far. The desktop app is available in fifteen languages.
Here’s a three-minute video overview of FileMaker 14.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pRSlQJNraNY
The companion iOS app has been revamped with iOS 8 styling and includes new scripts, touch keyboard, rich text formatting, a new set-screen orientation supporting full screen, portrait and landscape views and more.
FileMaker 14 Platform highlights:
- Script Workspace speeds automation of common business processes, such as assigning a new task to the employee with the most availability, reordering inventory when stock is low or creating an invoice during a customer meeting. The Script Workspace consolidates the creation, editing and viewing of scripts and calculations, all in one streamlined workspace. Auto-complete, favorites, in-line editing, shortcuts, script step descriptions with in-line Help, automated command-lookup and other features speed development. Even nonprogrammers can use scripting to create custom solutions, with FileMaker’s point-and-click simplicity and contextual guidance.
- Redesigned FileMaker WebDirect makes it easy to deliver desktop-style interactivity to mobile browsers on tablets. FileMaker WebDirect now supports FileMaker solutions running on the latest tablets. Business users can deliver a next-generation mobile browser experience. The redesigned toolbar automatically adapts to the screen size of users’ browsers on desktops or tablets, with larger tap targets, slide-in menus that dynamically optimize screen real estate, and menus that collapse and expand into logical groups as the screen size changes or the user rotates the device.
- Launch Center brings an app-like interface with big, bold icons (no more dialog boxes and pull-down menus) that allow users to visually organize all solutions at a glance. Users can choose from 29 pre-built icons or design custom icons to give solutions a personalized look. The Launch Center works across the entire FileMaker 14 Platform, providing a consistent experience on Windows and Mac with FileMaker Pro, on iPad and iPhone with FileMaker Go, and in a browser with FileMaker WebDirect.
- Enhanced iOS experience for users, via new scripts that provide more control over how solutions look and run on iPad and iPhone. A newly redesigned iOS 8-style interface in FileMaker Go 14 (a free business app available on the App Store) provides a clean look and consistent user experience. Developers can easily make solutions full screen by using scripts or swiping to hide the user interface. They can lock in portrait or landscape views using the new set-screen orientation, display helpful information when capturing signatures, enable touch keyboards, enable richer text formatting, and use new video and audio playback controls to create self-paced training applications and other innovative solutions.
- Many new features for FileMaker developers, power users and administrators. FileMaker WebDirect is now up to 25 percent faster when opening most web-optimized layouts. It also has doubled the number of supported concurrent connections (from 50 to 100). Automatic reconnect from FileMaker Pro 14 solutions to FileMaker Server 14 helps users recover quickly from a lost or unreliable network connection. Security enhancements for FileMaker Server Admin Console protect data and solutions through stronger password controls. The new standby server option in FileMaker Server 14 gives experienced administrators higher availability of business data.
In addition to the aforementioned goodies in FileMaker’s desktop app, the new FileMaker Server is also available starting today with the following improvements:
- FileMaker Web Direct mobile browser support — Use your mobile tablet to get the power of a FileMaker desktop solution delivered in a mobile web browser.
- FileMaker WebDirect redesigned toolbar — Get the features and functionality you use the most right at your fingertips. The FileMaker WebDirect toolbar is tuned for a mobile device but is useful on any computer.
- Reconnect to server — If the network connection or the server goes down FileMaker Pro automatically reconnects to FileMaker Server when it’s available again.
- Security enhancements — Set password strength and set up a password hint in the FileMaker Server Admin Console.
- Standby server — If your primary server ever goes down, experienced server administrators can type in a set of commands via the Command Line Interface to switch over to the standby server.
FileMaker Go 14, an iOS companion app to the desktop FileMaker app, is available at no cost in the App Store.
The iPhone and iPad app, which just surpassed 1.5 million downloads from the App Store, is fully compatible with the FileMaker 14 and 13 platforms and includes the following goodies:
- New user-interface that takes advantage of some of the new user-interface elements in iOS 8
- Locked screen orientation option for workflows
- New video and audio playback control options
- New keyboard and rich text options
And lastly, FileMaker Go 13 has received a security and compatibility update in the App Store. It’s important to note that with the release of FileMaker Go 14, FileMaker Go 13 will no longer be updated and will soon be removed from the App Store.
FileMaker 14 starts at $9 per user per month, billed annually. A free 30-day trial is available for download here.
Visit the official website to learn more about what’s new in FileMaker 14.
Source: FileMaker