FileMaker 19 for macOS Launches With Support for Third-Party Libraries

[MacRumors]

Apple subsidiary Claris today announced the launch of FileMaker 19, marking the debut of its first open platform for developers to build custom apps that leverage JavaScript integrations, drag-and-drop add-ons, AI through Core ML, and more.

Claris says that with FileMaker 19, developers are able to be more productive and businesses are able to leverage Claris' global community of developers, add-on marketplace, and existing developer resources to collaboratively solve complex digital programs.

FileMaker 19 includes access to plug-and-play add-ons, JavaScript libraries, and more, as outlined by Claris:

FileMaker 19 enables Claris' global developer community to use the platform they already know to deliver powerful custom apps to more than 1.3 million active users faster than ever before. With FileMaker 19, developers can:

• Create in a snap with plug-and-play add-ons -- Use add-ons like Kanban boards and photo galleries to snap together robust apps faster than ever before, or leverage JavaScript, web services, native FileMaker code and more to create sharable add-ons to sell in the Claris Marketplace.
• Use readily-available JavaScript libraries -- Use readily-available JavaScript libraries or create custom code to directly embed maps, animated graphics, data visualization, and more into their apps.
• Build smarter apps -- Enable rich user experiences with Core ML machine learning models, support for Siri Shortcuts, and NFC (near field communication) tag reading. Unlock the potential of data with image classification, sentiment analysis, object detection and more.
• Create directly in the cloud -- Fast track app deployment by creating apps directly in FileMaker Cloud, skipping the multi-step configuration process and making apps instantly sharable.
• Host where you want -- In addition to Mac and Windows, FileMaker Server can now be hosted on Linux, an industry standard OS, for high availability and reliability.

Pricing on FileMaker 19 begins at $15 per month per user, and the software can be purchased from the Claris website.

Article Link: FileMaker 19 for macOS Launches With Support for Third-Party Libraries

 

[nwcs]

Well, for sentimental reasons I’d like FileMaker to survive but I don’t think I would ever use it these days. I’d go with either Azure SQL for cloud or just use SQL Server on a Win machine and .NET on the Mac. I’d be curious to know what kind of marketshare FM has even on the Mac side.

 

[martyjmclean]

This seems like a solid upgrade! The last few have been lacklustre imo.

It’s nice you can still buy a perpetual license as well.

 

[PlayUltimate]

Well, for sentimental reasons I’d like FileMaker to survive but I don’t think I would ever use it these days. I’d go with either Azure SQL for cloud or just use SQL Server on a Win machine and .NET on the Mac. I’d be curious to know what kind of marketshare FM has even on the Mac side.

According to the attached, its marketshare is nearly insignificant.

FileMaker Market Share and Competitor Report | Compare to FileMaker, MySQL, Microsoft SQL Server

Read FileMaker customer reviews, learn about the product’s features, and compare to competitors in the Databases market

www.datanyze.com

 

[Boyd01]

I have so many legacy filemaker databases that I don't want to switch. Have been planning to upgrade for quite awhile, and will have to when I finally make the transition to Catalina, since my old 32-bit version will finally stop working. This looks like a nice upgrade, I especially like the idea of Javascript integration. Look forward to giving it a try soon.

 

[ksgant]

Wow...."Filemaker" and "Claris". Now those are two names I haven't heard in a long, long time. Kind of warms the cockles of my heart.

 

[lunarworks]

Well, for sentimental reasons I’d like FileMaker to survive but I don’t think I would ever use it these days. I’d go with either Azure SQL for cloud or just use SQL Server on a Win machine and .NET on the Mac. I’d be curious to know what kind of marketshare FM has even on the Mac side.

I was about to say the same thing. I have no use for this software, but it's weirdly comforting that it's still around.

 

[4jasontv]

Points for Claris for making non-subscriptions options available. The pricing is suspicious but I will give them credit for at least offering it.

Edit: Apparently the non-subscription option doesn't allow you to make iOS or cloud accessible files.

 

[harriska2]

Got 2 for 1 nonprofit pricing a year and a half ago. Love it. Almost as good as my old Oracle and PL/SQL.

 

[Logic368]

I will never buy another FileMaker product. Bought FileMaker 14 back in the day for $400. A couple years later, Mojave came out, and it suddenly wouldn’t open anymore. Never got a notice from them that I shouldn’t upgrade to Mojave. Since I couldn’t downgrade from Mojave, the only option was to spend another $400 to get FileMaker 15. What a piece of **** company. Migrated to Airtable and never looked back.

 

[centauratlas]

Wow...."Filemaker" and "Claris". Now those are two names I haven't heard in a long, long time. Kind of warms the cockles of my heart.

Now we just need an article about the "Magic Windows" word processor (for the Apple ][) and my day will be complete.

 

[4look4rd]

TIL file maker is still a thing, and lol it charges $20/user/month.

at this price you can get a real CRM.

 

[MacLawyer]

Does Filemaker still make a Windows version?

 

[Mr. Dee]

Well, for sentimental reasons I’d like FileMaker to survive but I don’t think I would ever use it these days. I’d go with either Azure SQL for cloud or just use SQL Server on a Win machine and .NET on the Mac. I’d be curious to know what kind of marketshare FM has even on the Mac side.

There is also Microsoft Access. There desktop dbms with subscription is $550. You purchase a full copy of Office Professional for that kinda money. I guess they are not interested in growing market share.

 

[simonmet]

Funny how you only ever hear about this software every couple of years when they offer a mediocre update, then it disappears into obscurity again.

 

[Boyd01]

Also funny that when an update does occur, lots of people who don't use Filemaker show up to bash it.

I don't like the price either - which is why I still use my 10-year-old copy of FileMaker Pro 11. It still runs just fine on Sierra, have not tried it on Mojave but confirmed it won't work on Catalina (no surprise, since it's 32-bit). Anyway, I have certainly gotten my money's worth from FileMaker 11. And I use the same version on two Macs and one Windows computer. The old versions allowed this, but evidently the new ones don't. Not to happy about that.

I started with FileMaker sometime in the early 1990's. In 1993 I built a complex relational database that I used to manage my department's multi-million dollar purchasing, payroll and contracting, which I continued to upgrade until I retired in 2011. We had a filemaker server so that a number of staff could use it. In 1994 I built my own personal finance database that I still use today. It contains every penny I've spent since 1994. Starting in 2008 I have built increasingly complex relational databases to manage the geodata for the free maps that I offer at https://boydsmaps.com

Like I said, I don't like the price and don't like the restriction on installation. I guess I could switch to something else, but why should I re-invent the wheel? So I will upgrade (reluctantly) and hopefully that will last me for another 10 years. The thought has occured to me, however, that I could just continue with my existing FileMaker 11 with a virtual machine in Parallels when I upgrade to a new Mac. But the new version does seem to have some nice features. I will certainly try the 30-day free trial at least.

 

[MacBH928]

I don't understand who uses this product or why is Apple, the $60B in cash company, is still keeping it around (but somehow magsafe was too much). I don't even know who are the competitors to this product. I can't think of a situation where someone would say "I need FileMaker"

Its also expensive. I am sure there is some open-source alternative.

 

[hobowankenobi]

I don't understand who uses this product or why is Apple, the $60B in cash company, is still keeping it around (but somehow magsafe was too much). I don't even know who are the competitors to this product. I can't think of a situation where someone would say "I need FileMaker"

Its also expensive. I am sure there is some open-source alternative.

The situation is: We need a specific DB that fits our workflow....we don't want to change our workflow to fit off-the-shelf DB options, and we don't have or want devs to create it.

There is not much out there (last I checked) that can hit the sweet spot of power vs ease of creation, reporting, and mods, and works on Macs, Win, and iOS that FM does.

 

[mannyvel]

Really, Filemaker is about decent performance with a great UI builder. It's brutally easy to make something that's easy to use, performs well, and needs no maintenance.

They missed the client-server boat, but they could probably have a big niche in mobile/tablet solutions if they wanted to market it that way. I'm still annoyed that they killed Bento, and their pricing is prohibitive, but as an easy way to build database-driven good looking solutions it's still one of the best.

Their problem is they're part of a company again, and it doesn't sound like their management is into the whole "lose money and grow" train. Instead, they're on the "let's milk our existing customers" train.

 

[Kabeyun]

Heh. Forgot about both Claris and FileMaker. But congrats, Claris! You found a way around pissing people off over subscription pricing for a static product: gouge them on the single license price!

 

[4jasontv]

The situation is: We need a specific DB that fits our workflow....we don't want to change our workflow to fit off-the-shelf DB options, and we don't have or want devs to create it.

There is not much out there (last I checked) that can hit the sweet spot of power vs ease creation and mods, and works on Macs, Win, and iOS that FM does.

Tell that to photographers.

 

[George Zip]

I have many databases, simple and not so simple, in FMPro. Several are for work/clients and are part of my daily workflow; very happy it's still a supported app.

Thinking back; it was the first app I officially bought when I started my firm in 1992, running on a PowerBook 160. Dang.

I usually upgrade after a few versions have released, as each usually adds under-the-hood things I don't need/use for my simple databases. I do wish they'd upgrade a few things (like using the system-wide spell-checker; I can *never* get Filemaker's spellcheck to work consistently re/adding words/etc.) and some of the user interface -- which, save for button styles, is exactly the same as I used it nearly 30 years ago.

 

[4jasontv]

Does Filemaker still make a Windows version?

Yes, but it sounds like it is one price for either platform else it should read 'create apps on Windows and Mac computers.'

 

[nwcs]

TIL file maker is still a thing, and lol it charges $20/user/month.

at this price you can get a real CRM.

That’s really the answer for many people: a proper CRM. Far more features, already built, and scales up/down as needed.

 

[erinsarah]

Really, Filemaker is about decent performance with a great UI builder. It's brutally easy to make something that's easy to use, performs well, and needs no maintenance.

They missed the client-server boat, but they could probably have a big niche in mobile/tablet solutions if they wanted to market it that way. I'm still annoyed that they killed Bento, and their pricing is prohibitive, but as an easy way to build database-driven good looking solutions it's still one of the best.

Their problem is they're part of a company again, and it doesn't sound like their management is into the whole "lose money and grow" train. Instead, they're on the "let's milk our existing customers" train.

If this was cheaper and my 50-year-old self had the time or energy to learn it from the ground up, I'd think of all kinds of uses for it - helping my wife track client info for her at home business, building a membership directory for my church, building a personal financial tracking system...but frankly I've got a lot of online streaming TV to watch and learning to build a database is just too far down the list.