Hey There,
Many of you may already know about this since I sent out the promotional e-mail last night, but I've just announced the imminent availability of Tap Forms Mac and iOS version 5!
On Thursday, August 4th, Tap Forms version 5 will become available for both Mac and now a universal version for iOS.
There are over a dozen new features in this release.
See the video here.
https://vimeo.com/tapzapp/tapforms-5-promo
I will be updating my home page on Thursday with buttons and more information about the upgrade. I am also working on a FAQ which I will post separately.
You can now read the FAQ here:
https://www.tapforms.com/forums/topic/faq-about-the-tap-forms-5-upgrade/
Brendan
I cannot access the Vimeo to see the new 5 version.
Hi Bill,
Hmm… It should be public for all to see.
Try this direct link: https://vimeo.com/175336259
Thanks,
Brendan
Is 8.99€ in the german store the 50% off price?
Thanks
René
so instead of updating the original you charge 11.99 from customers who already paid by slapping a few new features and calling it 5. sad.
Hi Brendan,
Have bought the new version and was surprised that it looks like the old version.
Anyway, you need to pay your living.
Have tried to restore the backup from the previous iOS verson and version 5 can load it, but it is not visible.
It cannot be used and therefore I cannot use version 5.
Have tried with itunes and iCloud.
Hi,
Just purchased the Mac version and discovered iCloud sync is gone, now all sync has to go to jet anther external party (IBM). This can’t be right to force us to use IBM and not support any of the existing Cloud services?
Hi
A pity i can’t sync anymore with Dropbox or iCloud. No warning about this before purchasing version 5 for Mac.
Bought the version 5 and discovered that iCloud sync is not supported. Thats a no go for me. How can you do that to your loyal users. I would be willing to give up all of the sharing stuff to be able to use my iCloud account. Please respond.
Purchased my copy in November 2015 for £25.99. An upgrade that costs another £18.99 (for 48 hours) is a bit steep. When do you propose to stop supporting the old version?
Long time user of Tap Forms and love it. Bought iOs and Mac versions only to discover my synch through iCloud (even through DropBox) is not supported. Cannot get a local synch between my iPhone and my Mac. My Mac transferred previous forms with ease but I CANNOT SYCH locally with my iPhone. Checked with IBM (very helpful person there who is trying to figure her way around Tap Forms and has been flooded with folks asking about their service) and not much help on specifics there except it looks like I might have to pay for it.
What happened? I’m totally lost and not a little bit disappointed!
Tapforms 5 voor iOs: modify (changing) forms is no more available. Can’t sort the fields for an other/better view on iOS.
Cloud sync with IBM services: yet another acount to keep in mind and maybe to pay.
I rather prefer the older version.
Deal breaker with Version 5 because iCloud sync is not supported. How can you do that to your loyal users. I would be willing to give up all of the sharing stuff to be able to use my iCloud account. You need to support multiple sync methods and let us decide what we want to do instead of shoving some 3rd party money hungry company down our throats that can change their pricing at a moments notice. Yes no warning until the last second before launch. After looking at the demo not much has really changed so I’ll stick with the older version but of course you’ll drop that version real soon to force people to the new downgrade of tap forms 5
Long time user of the old version which is great, but I have problems with the new version. The circled ! doesn’t do anything. Need instructions. Syncing? Being first release of Version 5 I hope rapid updates remedy our issues.
Beware if you try the free trial and sign up for the 3rd party service tap forms doesn’t send the password correctly if you use a long password ie longer than the displayed field in the setup dialog, you will never be able to sign in so now your forced to use an insecure password to access that data.
Having download the version 5. After migrated all my forms to version 5 I found that all the pick lists are no more available. Pity. Please correct.
Like many others here; I’ve been using Tap Forms for some time; however, the lack of iCloud or Dropbox sync support is a deal breaker for me. I don’t need yet another account to keep track off; sorry, but I won’t be upgrading; in fact, I’m glad I read the reviews BEFORE upgrading, otherwise I’d have to ask Apple for a refund now. I’ll keep using v.3 until I find a replacement. Sorry Brendan; thanks for your help in the past, but I won’t sign on for this.
First of all, sync works great now, much better and more reliable than iCloud ever was. I understand there was more than one reason why you dropped iCloud, and I support your decision. I use Nearby Sync since I could keep the data local and I didn’t want to sign up for yet another account.
I think you may need to clarify how to upgrade both Mac and iOS devices so that they will sync. I upgraded my Mac and thought that I had to upgrade my iOS devices the same way, by migrating a backup. After looking through this post and the v5 FAQ, I spent the better part of an hour trying to load my Mac desktop backup into my iOS devices through iTunes, then trying to create and load iOS Tap Forms HD backups into iOS Tap Forms 5, until I finally realized that what I had to do was “send” the Mac database to my other devices. What held me up is that the Send function is extremely well hidden on Mac and iOS. Finally, the same document was present on all devices and could be open for syncing.
Now, I understand that sharing was covered in one of the videos. But since I normally associate the term “share” having to do with sharing with people other than myself, I didn’t make the connection that in this case “share” really means “propagate across my own devices.”
I hope these suggestions help you fill in the gaps in documentation that slowed me down. It looks like you’ve got a lot of help files that now need to be updated, including the downloadable PDF user manual (which I looked at, but was clearly for the old version).
Anyway, I have no regrets paying for the Mac and iOS upgrades. It looks like a lot of good work has been done.
Thanks a lot Brendan, just installed the major update 5.
Cloud service is a breeze to set up, didn’t know the IBM cloudant option.
Keep up the good work!
Sorry for my comment early yesterday: “Tapforms 5 voor iOs: modify (changing) forms is no more available. Can’t sort the fields for an other/better view on iOS.”
It is still present – under an other icon.
Thx fot the quick respons from Tapp Forms.
Hi Folks,
Just so you don’t think I’m ignoring you with all your concerns and questions, whenever you post here I get an email and I’ve been responding personally to all your emails. I think I must have replied to over 500 emails yesterday.
201 so far today :)
Brendan, I’m sure everyone here would have benefited from seeing those private replies. Just a thought.
Dear Brendan, I have held back from writing an iTunes review until I hear your response. First problem is I can’t seem to migrate all my data form Tap Forms HD to 5. I have decrypted/unlocked all fields but it stubbornly refuses to move all records in some of the forms and fields. I also can’t get cloud ant to accept my registration! Is this because I am not an American?
If your password on cloudant is longer than 17 characters then tapforms wont send the entire password. You will need to make the cloudant password around 15 characters or less for tapforms to send the password and allow the login to your account through the tapforms app. I ran into this yesterday testing both out and had to make my password shorter to get tapforms to login to the cloudant account.
I have a fix coming out in a 5.0.1 update which should make the migration process go more smoothly from 4.0.7 to 5.0.1.
Wohooo it supports offline sync. We can now securely share business databases without any (hackable) cloud service. Thanks.
Brendan and team, I must say that as a loyal and promoting user I am deeply disappointed about the switch to IBM that has not been mentioned at all since your announcements on 8/2. I was about to purchase when I read the comments and downloaded the trial version. Apart from the fact that I expected slightly more, IBM is at least for me (and obviously for other users, too) a definite no-go, a bitter pill I am not willling to swallow. I fear its time to look for an alternative if ICloud vanishes from the portfolio of possibilities for syncing. Please consider not to further upset your loyal followers!
Ben/Germany
Hi Ben,
I completely understand your concern. If there’s a way I can add iCloud syncing again, I’ll be sure to investigate it. The problem is iCloud doesn’t support sync using the CouchDB sync protocol which Tap Forms is now using via the new database engine I’m using called Couchbase Lite.
Thanks,
Brendan
After contacting Brendan and watching all of the videos, Voila! Success! All is working perfectly for me. I’m a “local save” guy so thats what I use. I also logged into the IBM cloud but prefer to stay local. This has got to be the best best Mac database ever. Thanx to Brendan for this great app. I’ve been using it since Bento was discontinued but this Version 5 is the TOP!
I backed up my db from TFHD but do not see anything under the Migrate file button. Just emptiness . I notice in HD it is a .zip file.
How do I migrate my old files over? They are in Dropbox I guess, but if 5 doesn’t use Dropbox how do I get my files over?
Use the Upgrade to Tap Forms 5 function in the Tools area to migrate to the new version. Tap Forms will make a backup file for you from there and then transfer it over to Tap Forms 5 where you can start the migration.
Nice work Brendan !
Where can we find the manual ?
TY and Have a nice day.
Thanks!
The manual can be accessed from the Help menu in the Mac version.
Or here: https://www.tapforms.com/help-mac/5/en/topic/sharing-with-another-device
Oops. That was the link to one topic.
Here’s the intro topic: https://www.tapforms.com/help-mac/5/en/topic/introduction
Thank you for that quick answer ;)
Hi, I upgraded to v 5 today, imported my old database, upgraded ios, all good. Then I closed the mac program and reopened it… to get error message ‘malformed database schema (maps_48_sequence) – no such table: main.maps_48’. The program kept shutting down unexpectedly when I tried to open the imported database… error message tap forms mac 5 quit unexpectedly – report for apple… extensive message (which I’ve kept). I emailed myself the old database from my phone and am now recreating it manually. I couldn’t import it from the desktop – same error messages. I’m recreated it manually, by typing in fields. Also I now can’t see any of your templates. Option top left ‘All forms’ only shows my new form. ‘All forms’ shows blank (in old menu bar area where templates used to be listed). Any ideas? Thanks.
I was away during release, now the price is up to regular it seems, despite what is mentioned in the app description.
I had been using the old version since Bento was discontinued and would be interested in upgrading, but cannot afford to pay the full price again. Will there be another sale for those who were too late to upgrade?
The new features are appealing to me, and I’m not at all concerned about losing iCloud sync because I can see the clear superiority of CouchDB (IBM Cloudant). Apple has generally botched syncing, and CouchDB has not. That’s a big step forward, IMHO.
The thing that bothers me is the extremely high cost to upgrade. $50!? Wow. How about $10 for existing customers?
Hi Brandon,
There is an upgrade discount for existing customers. I give a 50% discount to all past Tap Forms customers.
Send me an email with your proof of purchase ( screenshot of your iTunes receipt) and I’ll send you a coupon.
Thanks!
Brendan
Brendan are you going to keep the 3.5.19 going? What’s stopping me from migrating to the new version is the synchronizing between devices with the new version. Seems very complicated to me!
Hi Judith,
Yes I will as long as I can. You may notice that version 3.5.19 was released just recently as a compatibility update for macOS Sierra. I’m just not actively adding new features to it. And eventually I will have to release an update which removes Dropbox syncing from it because in June, 2017, Dropbox will be shutting down the back-end service which Tap Forms relies on for Dropbox syncing.
Does that 50% discount for past customers still apply? I have version 3.5.19
Hi Judith.
It sure does. Just email me.
Hi
I am looking to create a database for inventory for my customers. I want to inventory all it hardware with make,model,device type, date purchased,warranty,location etc.
I also want to log actions against each item so I can have history. Is this easily done ?
I came across TapForm V 5 and it looks interesting. I believe there are some predefined databases that come with the app and wondered if there is something like I am looking for to hit the ground running with minimal configuration.
I came across something called stock control http://www.kiwiobjects.com/2-stock-control-a-en/ which is also of interest.
I would like to give TapForms a try if anyone can assist me.
Thank you?
Hi
Has anyone got a template which is similar to:
http://www.kiwiobjects.com/2-stock-control-a-en/
Thank you in advance.
Vino
Hi, Just to say that I was hopping mad when I realised I needed to pay to upgrade to the new version on Mac, iPad and iPhone. However, now I’ve been using the new version, I absolutely love it. I use Nearby Sync and it is super speedy and seamless. It’s a lot better than the rather flaky Dropbox sync of old. So thank you for the many hundreds of hours you must have put in. I’m one very happy customer.
Lizzie
Totally agree! I didn’t realize how fast and easy it was for the first few syncs locally until I realized having all three of my devices open at the same time and on the same wi-fi they all synced automatically. Voila! Great!
Thanks guys! I really appreciate your comments. I’m glad that you’re enjoying the new version.
I’ve been a long-time user of Tap Forms, and just recently upgraded to TF Mac 5 on my Mac and iPhone. I actually prefer the new “Nearby” syncing over the old Drop Box method. I was running out of data space on my Drop Box account and really didn’t want to upgrade my DB account.
One detail that I missed when I discovered that my Mac Mini was not sending the migrated data over to my iPhone, was that my Mini had to be upgraded to Mac OS Sierra. Once I upgraded the OS on my Mini, sending and sharing now works flawlessly.
Great job Brendan!! Outstanding customer and tech support too!!
Dale.
I originally paid £33 for previous version, and to upgrade now is an additional £48.99, absolute greed. Not only is it extortionate pricing but apparently in your wisdom, you removed dropbox sync.
Just concerned that if i were to upgrade, then next week another version at a rip price will come out again.
Hi Adrian,
Thanks for your post.
If you read my Tap Forms 5 FAQ you would see that I offer a 50% discount on Tap Forms 5 for existing customers (Q: Can I still get the upgrade price if I’ve purchased from the Mac App Store? https://www.tapforms.com/forums/topic/faq-about-the-tap-forms-5-upgrade/ ).
I don’t feel at all that I’m being greedy and I’m certainly not extorting from my customers. Tap Forms 5 is a huge upgrade from version 3.x. It had also been 8 years since I started developing Tap Forms and this is the first time I had charged for an upgrade. I think it was time to charge because it was such a huge upgrade. I think that’s fair and reasonable.
As for Dropbox being removed. Yes, I removed it, but I did that because Dropbox is terminating the service that provides the Dropbox Sync API that Tap Forms 3.x currently uses. In fact, the Dropbox sync service will cease to function in June this year once Dropbox shuts down the Dropbox Sync API servers that Tap Forms is communicating with. But Tap Forms 5 has 2 new sync services that you can use. One is IBM Cloudant, the other is Nearby/WiFi syncing.
Plus I’m coming out with an update which also includes iCloud sync and Apache CouchDB syncing (if you’re so inclined on setting up your own CouchDB sync server). It will be a free update.. Perhaps I’ll charge again for another upgrade in another couple of years. I don’t know. I haven’t thought about it that far. Or maybe not for another 8 years. Only time will tell.
if you’re not interested in upgrading, there’s nothing forcing you to do so. Tap Forms 3.x still works and when the Dropbox Sync API servers come to a screeching halt this June, I’ll release an update to the previous version of Tap Forms which removes the Dropbox option so there’s no confusion. You’ll still be able to sync with iCloud with it. But all new development is going into the 5.x release.
Thanks,
Brendan
Still the best database software for the Mac…period!! Worth every penny.
Dale.
I gladly paid for the V5 upgrade it is a great product
Potential user here – I guess I will wait until I start getting a more stable product.
I find this to be the best and most reliable app for Mac. I love making an entry on my Mac while my iPhone is open and on wi-fi – it all transfers as I type! Love this app!!