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FileMaker Inc, a subsidiary of Apple, has announced in a statement that it will stop offering Bento, the consumer-friendly version of its popular Mac and iOS database software, in order to focus on its flagship FileMaker product line.
FileMaker, Inc. is increasing its focus on FileMaker Product Line software. Thanks to the ease of creating iPad and iPhone solutions, our customers' use of FileMaker on iOS is growing rapidly. Our increased focus will create an even better experience for these customers.

As part of our sharpened focus, we will stop further development of the Bento consumer products.
The announcement, which was spotted by The Verge, comes more than 2 years after FileMaker released Bento 4 for the Mac, with an iPad version appearing in June 2012. Since then, the product has only seen updates for minor improvements and bug fixes, with no new major features released. FileMaker will stop offering Bento in both the Mac and iPhone/iPad App Stores as of September 30 of this year and both products will continue to be supported up until the end of July 2014, according to a post on FileMaker's technical support page.

Bento-4-for-Mac-Bento-1-1-for-iPhone-and-iPad-Released-Download-Here-2.png
The decision about why FileMaker chose to concentrate on its professional line is unclear, but the company has provided instructions on how to migrate existing Bento data over to FileMaker Pro. Users of Bento are also entitled to a $120 discount when buying the full version of FileMaker Pro for a limited time only.

Although FileMaker Pro is certainly more feature-rich than Bento, there are several features missing, such as integration with the Contacts, Calendar and iPhoto applications within OS X, as well as synchronization over Wi-Fi across different devices.

Article Link: FileMaker Discontinuing Bento for Mac and iOS as of September 30
 

yojo056

macrumors newbie
Sep 3, 2010
26
0
Sad to see it go. I have version 4 and its quite handy for organizing data for projects and things. The price point of Filemaker Pro for what I do just doesn't make sense.
 

sclawis300

macrumors 65816
Apr 22, 2010
1,472
196
I never understood the purpose of Bento in the first place.

I use it to pull clients out of my contact list. Simply put a 4 digit client number in the 'note' portion of the contact and bento automatically pulls it out and puts it in order. I don't utilize bento as much as I should, but it can actually do some decent things. And like someone else already said, I wasn't about to pay for filemaker pro.
 

mabhatter

macrumors 65816
Jan 3, 2009
1,022
388
Bento is a classic case of not making a product THE BEST it could be to prevent it from being "like" another product they sold.

It was pretty obviously a top down design to make something "access-like" for iWork. Except it didn't have any integration with Pages or Numbers and in later versions they started pulling out what little integration it did have.

For being an "Apple" product (as filemaker is OWNED BY Apple) it was completely cut off from regular updates and such that iWork got, and they charged WAY TOO MUCH for minor version updates.
 

Razeus

macrumors 603
Jul 11, 2008
5,348
2,030
I use it to pull clients out of my contact list. Simply put a 4 digit client number in the 'note' portion of the contact and bento automatically pulls it out and puts it in order. I don't utilize bento as much as I should, but it can actually do some decent things. And like someone else already said, I wasn't about to pay for filemaker pro.

I'm saying, there's many free, better supported alternatives to Bento.
 

akwarner

macrumors member
Feb 26, 2006
91
13
I'm saying, there's many free, better supported alternatives to Bento.

Yes please point out what they are. Bento is one of the big things I do on my iPhone. Very easily updated database on both Mac and iPhone. If it is going away, I'd love to hear about alternatives.

Thanks.

A.
 

lazarusr

macrumors newbie
Jul 31, 2013
14
2
I keep a simple log of the work I do each day. It contains details of the client and various data about the work done.

I currently use an app called ListPro by Ilium Software. There is an iPhone app that I can use when I am with the client for data entry and then I can sync it to the desktop version of ListPro when back home. It's all very cheap and simple and I can use the desktop version to export data to CSV for accounts and other things.

Unfortunately, the desktop version is Windows only and I have been looking for a Mac alternative (which has both an OSX and iPhone app) to use instead. The only option I have found was Bento (FM Pro is way too expensive).

If anyone knows of anything else, I would be keen to hear of it.
 

DerrickEver

macrumors newbie
Jul 31, 2013
7
1
Disappointed about Bento

This is terrible news! I use Bento for so many thing including my vehicle maintenance log and the database for my thousands of CDs and LPs. Like others, Filemaker is too expensive for my needs. I'm also interested in hearing of other, inexpensive alternatives. And especially if I can easily export my data. I use the Mac and iOS versions and love the sync-ability.

But, even though Bento is being discontinued and eventually unsupported, there's still no reason why the app can't continue to be used for years to come. Right?
 

codewrangler

macrumors regular
Jun 17, 2009
139
336
Las Vegas, NV
I keep a simple log of the work I do each day. It contains details of the client and various data about the work done.

I currently use an app called ListPro by Ilium Software. There is an iPhone app that I can use when I am with the client for data entry and then I can sync it to the desktop version of ListPro when back home. It's all very cheap and simple and I can use the desktop version to export data to CSV for accounts and other things.

Unfortunately, the desktop version is Windows only and I have been looking for a Mac alternative (which has both an OSX and iPhone app) to use instead. The only option I have found was Bento (FM Pro is way too expensive).

If anyone knows of anything else, I would be keen to hear of it.


This looks like a possible replacement for Bento:

http://www.apimac.com/mac/idatabase/
 

lord patton

macrumors 65816
Jun 6, 2005
1,052
12
Chicago
I enthusiastically bought Bento when it came out, because it looked beautiful and I thought it would make tracking my clients easier. It never did anything but make my life more difficult. I stopped using it years ago.
 

Jeffois

macrumors regular
Mar 30, 2010
121
32
Cross-grade?

I've used it only sporadically, but for those who might look to migrate to an alternative, if in fact a suitable one exists, I would keep an eye out for cross-grade pricing from Bento's former competitors. I obviously don't know if this is in the offing.
 

mainmac

macrumors newbie
Jul 28, 2013
29
5
Prelude to Filemaker Lite?

I wouldn't be surprised to see a Filemaker Lite released at FMP Dev Con immediately before the demise of Bento. It would be reasonable to sell a non-networked but otherwise full version of Filemaker desktop, that you could sync with FMGo on your iPhone/iPad, and it wouldn't cannibalize existing business Filemaker sales that require networking with Filemaker Server. There has been demand for a 'Lite' version of Filemaker ever since the end of AppleWorks.
 

3282868

macrumors 603
Jan 8, 2009
5,281
0
Because Filemaker costs about $300, and some people would like a database application for their personal data that doesn't cost that much.

Some of my clients used FileMaker Pro on their Mac's. One had roughly a dozen system's. Cost her a fortunate to update all her systems. To qualify, each upgrade license had to be verified, and she had four upgrades during ownership. I had to install the first she had then each update for each system (wasn't a server system, she was very tech savvy but refused to change her setup).

I'm sure things have changed with digital downloads, but some companies still require valid license keys to qualify.
 

autrefois

macrumors 65816
It's frustrating that Apple is discontinuing this. Although I didn't use it, it sounds like Bento had several useful features that FileMaker doesn't have. Google and Apple seem to be good at discontinuing products and features...

FileMaker said:
FileMaker, Inc. is increasing its focus on FileMaker Product Line software. Thanks to the ease of creating iPad and iPhone solutions, our customers' use of FileMaker on iOS is growing rapidly. Our increased focus will create an even better experience for these customers.

As part of our sharpened focus, we will stop further development of the Bento consumer products.

Apparently whoever wrote this press release wasn't focusing well enough to avoid being repetitive!
 
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