Hey Tap Forms Users!
I've got 4 things to talk about today.
First, I'd like to introduce to you my newest app, Tap Forms for Mac (App Store Link).
Tap Forms for Mac has been baking in the oven for nearly a year and I finally felt like it was ready to take out to share with the world. As with all great recipes, it takes time to create and prepare so that everyone can enjoy. Tap Forms for Mac is also an evolving product. Over time I'll add new things and change existing things. Your feedback is welcome.
Secondly, I also added a few new things to Tap Forms for iPhone and iPad. The big new feature is iCloud sync. With iCloud sync, you'll be able to keep all your devices synchronized, including Tap Forms for Mac. The way iCloud sync works in Tap Forms is a little different than it is in other apps. I've implemented a manual push / automatic pull. What that means is, when you want to sync with your other devices, you will tap on the Sync button and Tap Forms will gather up all the changes since the last time you tapped on the Sync button and push them up to iCloud. Then, when you launch Tap Forms on your other devices, they will automatically download and process the changes from iCloud.
Another change I made to Tap Forms for iOS was better support for accessibility. This allows blind users to be able to navigate around Tap Forms and have Apple's VoiceOver technology read aloud the button names, labels, and values. Most iOS apps get support for accessibility for free, but to make a much better experience, I added code that would give Tap Forms best of breed accessibility support.
Thirdly, I gave Tap Forms a fresh new coat of paint. I hope you enjoy the new icon, logo, colours and textures as much as I do.
And last, but not least, I have renamed my company. Since 1996, my company name has been ClickSpace Technologies Inc. Today I changed it to Tap Zapp Software Inc. You'll see the change appear in the App Store once Apple has approved my request to have it changed. I think Tap Zapp Software is a much more friendly and fun sounding name than ClickSpace Technologies. Plus, it goes way better with my focus on developing Tap Forms for iOS and Mac.
That's all for now. If you've reached this far down, I know I haven't put you to sleep.
Thanks for your support and I look forward to hearing from you. You can email me anytime at support@tapforms.com
Thanks!
Brendan
Hi Brendan,
Congratulations for your great app! I am still not convinced to use it, however, since I create most of the content in my Windows PC. Is there any chance that you develop a Windows desktop client or a web based version?
Thank you
Lucas
Athens, Greece
Hello Lucas,
It all depends on how sales of Tap Forms Mac goes. My brother is a Windows developer and he agreed that if sales are good, then he’d work on a Windows version. So we’ll see.
Thanks!
Brendan
Hello, Brendan
are you going to make a version in russian ?
Hello Elena,
I certainly can make a version in Russian. But I haven’t heard back from my Russian translator yet. Once he finishes the translation then I can send out another update with Russian. The iOS version has Russian.
Thanks,
Brendan
Hi Brendan,
I bought tap forms for MAC and I use it on my Iphone and IPad. I heavily rely on the ICloud sync, and there is a disconnect between the Iphone and the other two devices. They don’t get the changes. Any input on this would be greatly appreciated
Sorry for the horribly awful response time. For some reason your message went into WordPress’ spam folder and I didn’t see it. Were you able to resolve this issue?
I second the request for a PC version. I love the iphone and ipad apps, but keep hoping for a single integrated and syncronized approach that includes a PC app.
Hi Brendan,
unfortunately I have tremendeous problems with the icloud sync as well.
The protocoll is updating fine but there are no updates on the data itself. That means there are no records updated or appended so the database remains the same as before syncing while the sync info for the registered devices (iPhone 4S and iPad 3) is refreshed as expected.
I would highly appreiciate if you could give me some advice as I ust Tap Forms for business purposes. Thanks in advance and best regards from Germany,
Detlev
Hello Detlev,
My sincerest apologies. I was looking at my WordPress blog and your question about iCloud sync was for some reason put into the spam comments folder and I did not see it until now. You sent this message on December 19th last year.
I’m wondering if you were able to get iCloud sync working better.
If you’d like some personal attention to this issue, please email me at support@tapforms.com
Again, I am very sorry for the horribly late response to your question.
Thanks,
Brendan
Brendan,
When you sync with icloud on the iPad and MAC, should forms on your MAC version appear on the ipad version? If not, how do I get my form and its records from MAC to my iPad?
Thanks,
Angie
Hello Angie,
Yes they should. But you need to be running the latest version of Tap Forms Mac. Version 1.1 was approved by Apple a couple days ago. Then, you should do a Reset iCloud Sync on your iPhone or iPad and then re-register all your devices with iCloud. Do this one at a time and wait for the devices to show up on each device before proceeding. Then click on the Sync button on your Mac and wait for those changes to automatically be applied to your iPad. Then once the iPad has finished “Processing Changes from iCloud”, tap on the sync button on your iPad to send any changes you have there over to your Mac.
Thanks!
Brendan
Hey, Great app! Is there anyway on the Mac app I can duplicate a set of records?
Hello Clayton,
Sure, just select the record you want to duplicate and select the Duplicate Record command. Right now it will only duplicate the currently selected record though. So you’d have to click on each record you want to duplicate and press command-D.
Thanks,
Brendan
Good afternoon.
I am looking for a simple and straight forward data base system to record our job work flow. Your system looks as if it will do the job nicely.
My only requirement woud be that I am able to save the initial file on our central server and then purchased 8 licences that woud all be able to access the same file. Is this possible?
Many thanks,
Andy
Hi Brendan
I have been using Tap Forms for ipad and decided to download the Mac version so as to synch my databases. Unfortunately, I can only see one registered device on each platform. i.e. on ipad ipad is the only registered device and on Mac it is only the mac. As a result I still have databases that are only available on the device they were created. I can see all the files on icloud though. Is there something I am doing wrong? (The same Apple ID was used in both instances)
Hello Rudzani,
Please try rebooting your devices or logging out of iCloud on each device and logging back in. Tap Forms simply stores some TFSyncDevice files in a specific folder on your devices which iCloud should automatically sync to your other devices. If only the one device is displaying in each list it means that iCloud itself hasn’t synced the TFSyncDevice files everywhere. Logging out and in may kick iCloud into gear.
Thanks,
Brendan
Hello there Brendan
Thank you very much. The reboot did the trick…. Greatly appreciated!
-rudzani
Hi Brendan,
is there a way to choose which iCloud Account should be taken to synchronise?
Or is there anywhere a solution that could sync any data accross iCloud accounts?
Cheers
Joerg
Hello Joerg,
The only way to change iCloud accounts is to do it with the Settings app. It would be great if Apple offered developers the ability to present the user with the option of using a different iCloud account for specific apps. But unfortunately they don’t. There’s no direct way to sync data across iCloud accounts other than switching between different iCloud accounts using Settings. It would be a royal pain in the *** to do something like that I imagine though.
Thanks,
Brendan
Looking for an alternative to Bento for a self-created database of medical tips used in the ER.
(Bento will not work with iOS 7 & Filemaker has announced that it is ending support for Bento at the end of this month.)
Have synced copies of the database on my Mac (OS 10.8.4), iPhone & iPad (iOS 6 – not upgrading to iOS7 until Bento replacement chosen)
Tap Forms seems to be ideal. The price for all 3 versions is a steal!!
And it’s great to see a Canadian doing such great work!!
Two questions: Will your program be compatible with Mac OS 10.9 (Maverick)?
Assuming iCloud is used for Sync purposes, is the complete database present on each device so that one does not depend on internet connectivity in order to access the info?
Many thanks!
…John
Hi John,
There are a couple of issues with the current version running on Mavericks. On the records list view in multi-column mode, the records list area is blank. It’s fine on the single-column list view mode though. So you can still get to your records. Also when printing, the table that lets you select your fields to print is also blank.
These issues I have already fixed in development though.
iCloud sync simply sends the changes that you make on one copy of the database up to iCloud and then those changes are distributed to your other devices to be applied to the local copies of your data. So yes, you can access all the data that has been stored locally without having to be connected to the Internet. When you get back to a WiFi connection then you can sync with iCloud.
Thanks!
Brendan
Bonjour,
tap form sur 2 supports mac book pro et iPad 2
Synchro icloud
OK pour photo
pas de synchro pour le texte ? pourquoi ??
Merci
Hello Wolles,
My apologies, but Google translator did a poor job of translating your message and I cannot understand what you are asking. Can you please repost in English? Something about text not syncing? Not sure what you mean by that.
Thanks,
Brendan
Does it sync with ICAL OR does it have it’s own calendar
I need it for a client database that shows appointments
Hi Leila,
Tap Forms does not integrate with iCal. Sorry. It does have alerts which can fire off at specific times, but it’s not really a calendar.
Thanks,
Brendan
Hi Brendan,
any chances of ical integration in near future? it would a deciding factor for me as I am looking to migrate from bento and like Leila use it to link client db with the appointment book.
Cheers!
PS really like the Demo version!
Hi Renato,
I’m very glad you are enjoying the demo version of Tap Forms.
As for iCal integration, it’s something that I would like to have at some point, but I am not currently working on it.
Thanks,
Brendan
Any plans to do it soon???
Hi Lisa,
I can’t really comment on when a certain feature will be implemented. Sorry. But I am still not working on it at the moment.
Thanks,
Brendan