Apple subsidiary FileMaker has launched the latest version of its custom app platform, FileMaker 15. The company said this upgrade improves the fundamentals of custom app development with new features in five key areas: mobility, automation/integration, ease of use, security and performance.
“This new release represents our ongoing effort to simplify the development and deployment of custom apps that work seamlessly across mobile devices, PCs and the Web,” Ann Monroe, vice president of marketing for FileMaker, said today in a statement.
Bigger Focus on Mobile Apps
The FileMaker platform has long been a popular way for businesses to create custom apps designed to fit specific business needs without needing the extensive experience of a programmer or software developer.
The new version seems focused on increasing support for mobile app development, which is not really surprising given the surging popularity of mobile business apps. The company said the latest update includes Touch ID support, allowing developers to take advantage of Apple’s latest security feature.
It will also include support for 3D Touch, the recently introduced feature that provides additional functionality based on the force of a user’s touch. New app extensions offering content customization and cloud-based file sharing are also included. iBeacon support, meanwhile, offers location-based data from the custom app, and FileMaker WebDirect will let a customer use a mobile phone to access FileMaker apps in a Web browser.
More Automation, Better Security
The upgrade also includes more automation and integration, including in-product updates and the ability to instantly recover scripting work with a new multiple undo function. Another new timesaver included in this release is the ability to highlight text in red to more easily identify problems in the Script Workspace. The ESS Adapter, meanwhile, will connect to more External SQL Data Sources, including PostgresSQL and IBM DB2.
The new release will be much easier to use, thanks to a new basic Starter Solutions, according to FileMaker. A new Web-based Help menu will provide faster results when searching for needed Filemaker information and is downloadable as a PDF, the company said.
FileMaker is also making some additional security upgrades to the new release, including a new concealed edit box that can hide sensitive information users don’t want displayed on their screens. New proactive security warnings will include notifications that appear when users try to connect to hosts or Web sites with invalid security certificates. In addition, FileMaker Server will now support SSL certificates from nine different vendors.
The company said it has also improved performance with a statistics-logging feature that can quickly diagnose any slowdowns within the FileMaker Platform. The portal in-line progress bar, meanwhile, will indicate when data filtering and sorting is complete. In the new version, this process will now take place separately from other operations so developers can continue to use their apps at the same time, the company said.
Image Credit: Screenshot of FileMaker 15 on mobile devices (pictured above) via FileMaker.
