Review: FileMaker Go

Published September 15, 2010 | By Spencer Scott

FileMaker recently introduced FileMaker Go for both the iPhone and the iPad. In my past experiences with Bento for those devices, I was anxious to give this a try and see how it holds up under real world use as they have a superb track record on the iPad/iPhone. Let me first start out by saying you will need to be a user of FileMaker Pro, which is now at version 11. FileMaker Pro is what you are going to use to actually create the databases, and FileMaker Go will allow you to access and edit this information.

I am a big user of FileMaker products, but I’m not what you would call an expert in FileMaker Pro, so this was going to be a good test on how easy or how difficult this app would be to use. You can connect to your databases in FileMaker Go by accessing via LAN or the internet through 3G or wi-fi. There are other methods, but this is what I started out with. As I was unfamiliar with how to share a database in FileMaker Pro, I read through the help guide for just a few minutes, and within 5 minutes I was connected and viewing my test databases in Go. It really couldn’t have been easier to connect aside from a person showing up at my house and doing it for me. Big kudos to FileMaker for making easy to read help files and instructions. Other ways to connect include via file sharing, which you can achieve via file transfers in iTunes, sharing in e-mail, or the way I preferred – use iTunes to transfer the files.

Getting access to your files is obviously important, but what you can do with that information is the real task at hand. Opening the database files shows your database exactly as it is in FileMaker Pro. Now that you have access, you can proceed to view or make edits to it in FileMaker Go. In my test, I created an e-mail campaign database in FileMaker 11 and accessed the hosted file in FileMaker Go. From there I used Go to add some entries into the database while watching TV, and when I returned to my iMac, the file in FileMaker 11 was updated with my changes.

There are so many uses for this I really couldn’t list them all here. But my one great example is that I also help run a non-profit, and when it is time for a meeting I can use FileMaker Go to pull up data without having to lug my laptop with me, and with the beautiful screen on the iPad, it is perfect to show to others. All the same can be said for the iPhone version as well, but the big screen on the iPad just makes this a perfect match.

FileMaker Go is available for $39.99 in the App Store. If you work with FileMaker Pro databases on a regular basis and you have an iPad or iPhone, this is a worthwhile investment. FileMaker Go is one of the apps available for iOS devices that really highlights what this platform can be used for. Ease of use, terrific connectivity, and overall design makes this a 5 star app.

Rating:

Link – http://www.filemaker.com/products/filemaker-go/for-ipad/

Posted in Reviews | Tagged FileMaker

Beatrice

FileMaker Go is indeed a great app. In fact it turns your iOS device into a true business tool. And it is just as easy to install and use as you described. But dId I miss something? You can transfer files using iDisk? Did you mean iTunes?
Spencer

Yes, that was my mistake.
FMBiz

You can transfer PDF files created in FileMaker Go to iDisk by using the the “Open In…” function but you must have GoodReader installed and configured to access your MobileMe account. Any WebDAV capable app can do this but GoodReader does it very well.