I am not getting this… (syncing)

[Robyn Miller]

I somehow missed there was a new version out until just today. I downloaded the $17 iOS app even though it hurt to spend that much to upgrade. I was disappointed to see the lack of iCloud which meant if I wanted to sync my mac I would have to get the mac app as well… I nearly choked when I saw it was $50. Kinda felt like I had just wasted $17 because there is no way I am spending $50 more on this. Perhaps I can figure out this upgrade discount I saw in the FAQ; for now I have the trial version.

I am not upset about having to use Cloudant so much as the fact that it seems impossible to sync any of my old stuff to the new version unless it is directly migrated on the same device (i.e. I could port the old iOS file to the new iOS version, but it is behind the latest additions to my Mac db and I could never get the syncing to work reliably there anyway)

It also appears you can’t even access the sync settings until you have loaded/created a db file. So how the heck do I access the Mac file I just told it to sync to Cloudant?? I want the Mac file to be the center of my Tap Forms universe (or truly I just want the cloud version to be, I just update the Mac version the most often and then want to access it out of pocket).

I was hoping this upgrade would finally make the syncing seamless and uncomplicated… but it seems to be worse. At least when trying to upgrade.

[Brendan]

Hi Robyn,

Please watch this video as it will show you everything you need to do to sync Tap Forms 5 between your Mac and iOS devices.

Preferences/Settings are now on a per document basis. This gives you greater flexibility in being able to control exactly how and who you want to sync your documents with.

[Robyn Miller]

First… If you’re still just one guy doing all this… kudos. For a one man shop, this app is impressive.

Now for my whining… The video definitely helped a lot and I was able to get it synced. If you don’t know where to find this video though, the whole process is in no way self-explanatory. (and therefore a poor user experience, especially when your average user doesn’t look past the app itself)

Now the issue is that even though I changed the file name on the Mac OS version of the db, the name has not changed on iOS. Bug? And I can’t find a way to edit the name on iOS at all. Other changes I have made to the db data itself have synced flawlessly.

Also… there isn’t a way to universally save your Cloudant account info inside Tap Forms? Please please please allow sign in for Cloudant at the app level instead of file level if at all possible. It is fairly annoying to have to enter the password and set up sync again every time I create a new file. And then I have to remember to turn on sync inside the iOS app after it has transferred over, and enter the password again there when I would expect it just to automatically be enabled; but I suppose not being able to store the credentials outside of a file means this can’t happen.

This new UI is lending itself to create multiple databases rather than having lots of categories in the same database like I had before… so I am creating several new files right now and it makes me grumble a little since I am using randomly generated password, which means I have to look the thing up every time I need to enter it. Plus, typing those sorts of passwords in iOS is pretty annoying all by itself with all the flipping between cases and keyboards.

On a whole though, this new version does seem shinier (more polished) and better than the last version. Especially on iOS. The new sync seems promising compared to the old, but only time will tell. I guess I will have to suck it up and upgrade… but getting the discounted upgrade also seems like jumping through hoops without much in-app guidance. I will have to go back to the FAQ and re-read the steps. I am trying to not be your average whiny end user that is unhappy about the current state of an app, especially a new version of an app… I will put on my Agile hat and wait to see what happens as you iterate on this. It is still an amazing app, despite my complaints.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RayfjtzpQ7k (louis ck bit on amazing things that people complain about)

[Brendan]

Hi Robyn,

There’s nothing preventing you from using a single document and storing all your data in it just like you used before. Having multiple documents, each with its own sync settings is great for being able to sync your data with other people. On the iOS version, Tap Forms supports 1Passsword for quick access to entering in your login credentials. So it’s only a couple of taps if you have 1Password installed.

There’s a link on my home page to all the screencasts plus in the Mac App there’s a link to the videos in the Help menu.

If you tap on the (i) button on the main Documents screen on the iOS version you can rename the document there. Document names or document icons don’t sync across devices. This is because the syncing is done at the database level, which is a file stored inside the .tapforms document package not at the document level.

[Brendan]

P.S. Yes, I am still a one-man shop working tirelessly on improving Tap Forms as much as I can.

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