Yesterday I heard the news that FileMaker has decided to discontinue Bento. Here's a link to their press release:
http://help.filemaker.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/11543
Perhaps today is the day to consider an alternative to Bento.
Tap Forms is a great alternative database to Bento. It's also half the cost of Bento and will receive continued support. I first started developing Tap Forms in 2008. Since then I've released dozens of updates and I have many more updates planned for the future. Rest assured, I will continue to develop Tap Forms for as long as I can. I love working on it, so it's more than just a business for me, it's my passion.
So check it out on the iOS and Mac App Stores and contact me at support@tapforms.com if you ever need any assistance with Tap Forms. I'm always available and happy to help.
Thanks!
Brendan
Hi Brendan,
you are right! :-)
I’m a Bento user since version 2 and I’m looking for an alternative and luckily I found Tap Forms. It has a view more options than Bento has which is already very good! Next to Bento I’m using HandBase which is also a great database tool. This app is also developed by a single developer and he is developing the app for multiple platforms and therefore there are no frequent updates or enhancements. The great disadvantage is there is no nice Mac Desktop companion. The one that exists is just a raw tool. Working with the Desktop version is a pain. And looking to the Windows version of the Desktop tool which has experienced the biggest development is even not promising. Luckily Tap Forms has a nice app for the Mac Desktop and I think you can also really work with it. As by now I’m still evaluating the options, but thus far Tap Forms is the most promising solution as my Bento replacement. I already have subscribed your RSS feed and created a login for the forum and looking forward to hear any news about Tap Form.
Thanks a lot and keep working on Tap Forms.
Cheers
Joerg
Hi Brendan.
I was ready to buy Bento and … shazam ! Sayonara Bento.
But I read a little comment on Tapforms on MacGeneration
( http://www.macg.co/unes/voir/132107/filemaker-stoppe-le-developpement-de-bento )
and I looked your website
TapForms seems to be a very good job.
My regret is that there’s no demo version for the Mac.
25$ is not a lot of money but 25$ here and there …
Do-you have a plan for such a version ?
Thanks in advance,
Phil
Hi Brendan,
in one of your many support request you will find my name as well.
I have bought all your apps including the Mac Version, just to see how it works.
Yes, have seen that Bento news as well and have already tried to move my Inventory database to Tap forms.
The text part is easy, already done, but the conversion of the two pictures per record is not possible, at least I have not found the solution.
Do you have an idea ?
Thank you
Peter
PS: I am very skillful in data conversion. Your idea can be complicated as well, if you do not have an easy one.
Hello Phil,
I do have plans to make a demo version, but it’ll have to come after my next update as I’m in the middle of a bunch of coding and I don’t want to release that when it’s not finished. But I will, but also can’t say when that will be.
Thanks,
Brendan
Thanks for the response.
Hello Peter,
I’m currently working with another customer who may have come up with a solution to the Bento photo export issue. I am just waiting to hear from him regarding his experiments. Ultimately a Bento import tool or function built-in to Tap Forms to do that would be ideal. I haven’t really had a chance to look at the Bento database file format yet to figure that out. But I will look into it soon as I have been getting a lot of requests for something like that lately.
Thanks!
Brendan
H Brendon,
it should not be too difficult to extract the import data from Bento.
The user need to have Bento for Mac and export the database as a template.
The Template is packed file and when you open it, you see the structure CONTENTS/RESOURCES/MEDIA with several sub folder 1 each for each picture.
The names are like “0B2CC8FC-AF2F-4679-92F8-B84098082872” and in that folder is a file with name image.jpg or image.png.
The data is in CONTENTS/RESOURCES/DATA and the file is called like lib_inventory/162053.json
in the format
{“Fields”:[“guid”,”gnDateCreated”,”gnDateModified”,”itemGnField”,”pictureGnField”,”costGnField”,”quantityGnField”,”serialNumberGnField”,”purchaseDateGnField”,”notesGnField”,”purchasedFromGnField”,”CalculationGnField”,”DescriptionDetailsGnField”,”roomGnField”,”fieldGnField”,”InvoiceGnField”,”CategoryGnField”],
“Data”:[[
“lib_inventory:5A572666-4F52-44BC-9A28-C25FC5C98A09”,{“t”:”14.06.2011 23:04″,”e”:”2011-06-14T23:04:23″},{“t”:”06.07.2013 22:25″,”e”:”2013-07-06T22:25:43″},”Apple iPad 3 Tablet WiFi und Cellular 4G 64GB schwarz Retina -Display MD368FD/A”,”bento://asset/567AFFCF-74B5-45F0-A1EF-8314EFE580F6/image.jpg”,{“t”:”799,00 €”,”e”:”799″},{“t”:”1″,”e”:”1″},”SN123456″,{“t”:”08.03.2012″,”e”:”2012-03-08″},””,”Apple”,{“t”:”799,00 €”,”e”:”799″},”IMEI 01 2772 42424 7″,”Wohnzimmer”,{“t”:”799,00 €”,”e”:”799″},”bento://asset/6C2C409D-B3B3-4169-88E9-DE1B8EF9649D/image.png”,”PC & Telekom”],
[“lib_inventory:3CB9BE2E-1B2B-4F77-B6D1-205443D2BDFA”,{“t”:”14.06.2011 23:04″,”e”:”2011-06-14T23:04:23″},{“t”:”06.07.2013 22:25″,”e”:”2013-07-06T22:25:41″},”Apple iPad 2 Tablet WiFi und Cellular 4G 64GB schwarz MC775FD/A”,”bento://asset/35214996-1B01-45A6-A89D-2DEED331BE37/image.jpg”,{“t”:”699,00 €”,”e”:”699″},{“t”:”1″,”e”:”1″},”SNSER123455″,{“t”:”15.05.2010″,”e”:”2010-05-15″},””,”Apple”,{“t”:”699,00 €”,”e”:”699″},”IMEI 01 1234456 0″,”Wohnzimmer”,{“t”:”699,00 €”,”e”:”699″},null,”PC & Telekom”],
The bento assets are linking direct to the folder where the image is stored.
I could deliver a full example with pictures and sample files if you like to see it.
To have a pure Bento conversion import functionality would be great, but you could make it universal and let the users import a csv file with one or more fields where a folder and file name are pointing to a folder with the image.
The question is how many users are able to use it.
I guess your customer is doing similar experiments. I could help as well.
Just an idea.
best regards
Peter
How about a crossgrade discount for Bento users?
I would be interested in the Bento Export solution too. I am looking at migrating from Bento to Tap Forms. Could you share any updates on the solution your other customer has developed? I can export the text from my Bento DBs to .csv, no problem. But handling the photos and linked files in the source Bento DB is a big pain and is a very manual process. I’ve just done it for one of my Bento DBs, but it only had 25 records. Some of my other Bento DBs contain 100s of records…
And like Mark I think it would be really great if you would consider offering a sale price on all 3 versions of Tap Forms for us ex-Bento users. Just to ease the pain a little :-)
Thanks,
Stuart
Hi Brendan,
I”m another Bento ‘orphan’ searching for an alternative, and I have heard really good things about TapForms. The #1 feature that made Bento work for me was the integration with iCal and Mail and Contacts. Is ther any way to do somethig similar in TapForms?
[These functions are so essential to how I use Bento at work that our IT staff froze my machine and have not updated it to Mountain Lion.]
Thanks
Stuart, I’ve just recently published a rather technical article on exporting your data from Bento into a format that Tap Forms can understand. Check the first post on my blog: https://www.tapforms.com/2013/08/13/exporting-photos-from-bento/
Carey, Tap Forms integrates with Contacts, but only in such a way that you can add a specific Contact field type to your form and look at or edit its information in a popover display. It doesn’t import all the fields from the Contacts database as Bento did. Also, it doesn’t integrate with iCal. As for Mail integration, Tap Forms can email records and you can also add an Email field type which will then show an email button to the right of the email address which will launch Mail and then make a new email addressed to the email address entered into the field.
Thanks!
Brendan
Hi Brendan,
Since this post is over a year old, do you have plans or have you already made TapForms intergrate/link to iCal?? I too need that as my #2 feature.
Thanks!
Lisa
Hello Lisa,
I have not integrated with iCal. I have a lot of things on my to-do list. That’s just one of them.
Thanks,
Brendan
Hi, Brendan. I too currently use Bento and am shopping for a replacement. Question: Will the TapForms database sync with both the iPhone and iPad versions, so that one database will be consistent among all three? Thanks.
Hello Michael,
Tap Forms uses iCloud to sync between databases on all your iOS and Mac devices. The way it works is whenever you make a change on one device, you initiate an iCloud sync on that device. Tap Forms will generate some data files that contain your changes and stores them in a special iCloud folder on your device. Sometime later, iCloud will take that data and upload it to Apple’s iCloud servers. Eventually the files will be downloaded to your other devices and they will auto-sync. It’s a half manual, half automatic procedure. I’m being rather noncommittal with the “eventually” and “sometime later” terms because sometimes it can take iCloud a while to do its thing. Although generally with typical changes it will take only a few minutes to get your data from one device to to your others.
Thanks!
Brendan
I have been a Bento devotee for many years… my biggest complaints: 1) when they broke the connection with iCal and Address book (MAC) sometime back… and then, more significant, 2) the antiquated sync process via WIFI (a pain). When Bento announced they would drop support, I took that as my cue to find and alternative. I’ve been working on it for months. In the interim, I’ve become a heavy Evernote user… love it! The only thing missing was a true DATABASE function.
NOW I HAVE TAP FORMS. It’s amazing.. iCloud sync. Access to Contacts. Links to records easily with my Evernotes – an amazing combination.
I’ve met Brendan already via support – and know he’s working to continue to improve the interface. Finally, good-by Bento. Hello cloud synch and ready links.
I feel like I’m back in control.
Keep up the good work, Brendan.
Ken
I am looking for a bento alternative to ensue continuity for my work on a large video archive metadata. I paid for Tap Forms only to find out that as far as i can see, there is no way to add video file references to a record as one can do in Bento. Photographs, yes but now video. Can anybody show me I am wrong or can someone (Brendan?) tell me if such a facility will be added to Tap Forms?
Hi Christopher,
Have you tried using the File Attachment field type to reference your videos? The next update for Tap Forms (for iOS and Mac) will allow multiple file attachments per File Attachment field.
Thanks!
Brendan