Thanks Brendan for clarifying this with IBM. It is obviously an important issue.
I must say I would be very surprised if IBM did not encrypt the data, or if the user would not have such an option somewhere. As you said in an earlier reply, IBM is an older company than, eg, Apple; one of the statements of Apple is that, afaik, the data is encrypted in such a way, that data on iCloud cannot be decrypted by them even if they wanted to. This day and age IBM should provide a similar option… Anyway.
If the response of IBM is negative, is it a major change in TF to encrypt the record content before sent to Cloudant? Ie, that only encrypted data would be stored on their servers? Or at least offer that as an option for a TF Form? After all, it is perfectly possible for a specific form that one would want to encrypt only 1-2 fields, not the whole thing (a bit like Bento does).
(I did not get the nearby sync working at all, although I followed, with a brand new database, what is in the description. I got, at first setup, a reply on some system error on both my iPhone and my iPad, and none of the sync works. Cloudant is my only option.)
I actually used one of the pre-defined Applescripts from DevonThink… most likely didn’t save to UTF-8. it happens :)
Thanks for the tip Tuncay!
I would appreciate a funktion that overrides the individual styles in the mac version.
When i create a specific form that requires i.e. A white font i can format all fields according to a black background but the notes field contains its individual styles. So i have to change every contend individual. Thats not real convinient.
( i’ve created an LCARS-form for my library just for fun and every field is looking fine. Only the description of the books is mostly in black instead white and i have to change everything by hand)
Now that it’s possible to add more than one image to a field, TapForms needs a way for users to reference, caption, or describe each image. I added a text field beneath each image field for this purpose, but since I’m dropping more than one image into each field, I have to refer to them by sequence – (1), (2) – in the “description” field, and if I change the sequence, I will have to manually change the numbering.
What would be ideal is for TapForms to provide a way to caption or describe each image – perhaps some meta-information – and that information would be attached to the image and move with it.
On a somewhat related note, when I tried to drag an image from one image field to another, I discovered that if I accidentally “dropped” it en route, or if I didn’t position it just right when releasing it to the new field, it simply disappeared, and there was no “UNDO”! This was particularly disconcerting since I had originally dragged it from my browser where I had captured it with a screenshot extension which I had since closed, and it therefore no longer existed. So I had to reconstruct the page and reshoot it. The best way to prevent this from happening would be to 1) provide an “undo” for dragging and dropping images, 2) when a user drags an image either into the app or between image fields, make image fields highlight when the dragged image is in the correct position to be dropped into place. Typically, this is done with shading and a dotted border along these lines:
Yes it did and it has.
Select the date-time field. from there you can set it and put the description in calendar.
Well said Walter! I agree with everything you said. People need to sit back and relax.
I am pleasantly surprised with Cloudant. I was hesitant at first. I have been using it for months during the beta testing, and really have no issues with it. It is fast and reliable. So far, I have not even come close to being charged. I have multiple databases and use everyday at home and work.
As far as the paid upgrade, you get a lot of value with Tap Forms. Reasonably priced when you break down cost over the life of the software. Much better option than some of the subscription based software out there. People want quality apps, but don’t want to pay for the development and support. There is enough bad software out there. I am more than happy to pay and help support great, dedicated developers like Brendan.
I agree that Cloudant seems to be working well so far — after some frustration with initial set-up. I’m also more than a bit concerned about using a new service with little track record, and having it be the only sync option available. We (software users in general) are starting to catch on to the fact that subscription services may not be around for as long as we’d like to use the software, and that prices and terms will change!
Is anyone else now getting multiple emails from Cloudant sales reps? Gross!
Still, good work on the recent upgrades!
When you click on the open book icon you are placed in the welcome script which is wonderful but there is no exit without creating another My Life database. Please provide either an option to exit without creating a My Life database or simply make the creation an option.
I’ve been waiting for the new version to be posted. I checked today and I see it has an update of August 10, 2016. However the version number still says 5.0. Was just the description updated or was the version number not changed and that is why I’m not getting a notification that there is an update available?
So disappointing, Brendan!
Having paid £26 for the OSX & IOS versions I’m shocked to find that they no longer sync over iCloud.
That was the great advantage of the previous product for me – synching across my several devices. Now I’m supposed to open an account (possibly chargeable) for IBM Cloudant, which I’ve never heard of before.
The alternative of wi-fi synching requires all devices to have Tap Forms open at the same time, which is hopelessly impractical and messy.
I feel deceived that the store description refers to Cloud synching without making it clear that it’s not iCloud.
Subscription? Bleh! Take that back at once…a pox on your keyboard! I think the pricing is fair and there won’t be another version like this in near future–does suck for those that just bought TAP, but we are talking less that 40 bucks for months and months of product use (and months and months of his development). I am sure that subscription would be more, and no one likes their credit card on file and being auto-charged if they can avoid it.
Louis,
That in and of itself is a controversial topic. Not everyone agrees with software subscriptions. I myself subscribe to Adobe Photoshop too and have no problems with it. But it may not be so easy for everyone to accept. They may feel they’re being nickel and dime to death.
This is the first time me ever charging for an upgrade, so it’s a new experience and learning process for me too.
Thanks for all your understanding.
Now back to my 320 emails which keeps growing…
Yeah.
I’m not suggesting you go this route. I am, however, interested in what a developer and users of a very cool and useful productivity app think of the whole thing. The fact that there are new possibilities is fascinating.
The first few well known developers who switch their productivity apps to subscriptions will be self selected canaries in the coal mine for all the rest. While, however slight, there’s a chance that just good enough apps (that would gain features over time) could disrupt the more established ones with the right subscription price.
Or, hopefully, it’s just that we get some new cool types of apps. I don’t know if it’s even possible, but, I’ve had an idea for an app/service that, if available, I’d personally pay more than $10 a month for.
Here’s my first App Store Subscription Model prediction.
Marco Arment will make one of the first big splashes with a subscription only app for the total creation, recording, editing and publishing of podcasts. It’ll be his first Mac app and, if iOS 10 doesn’t have the needed changes, he’ll bring it to the iPad once the system is opened up further.
I saw a tweet today that productivity apps are good candidates for subscriptions, even if the productivity app goes into a read-only mode if the subscription ends.
I still haven’t decided if I would entertain even going down that route. It didn’t seem to be a good move for TextExpander. They got lots of flak for it. I think people will just take a little time to get used to the idea, especially if more apps go that way.
Just finished watching the WWDC Introducing Expanded Subscriptions in iTunes Connect session video.
https://developer.apple.com/videos/play/wwdc2016/301/
I had read that the durations for subscriptions could be 1, 3, 6 and 12 months. This video didn’t cover that so I’m assuming that’s still true.
The presentation that did show prices was in U.S. dollars, the lowest being $.99 and steadily increasing by a dollar. From here on out I’ll just round up to the nearest U.S. dollar.
A developer could combine these durations and prices to come up with a variety of subscriptions.
At the $1 subscription
$1/year (12 month subscription)
$2/year (6 month subscription)
$4/year (3 month subscription)
$12/year (1 month subscription)
At the $2 subscription
$2/year (12 month subscription)
$4/year (6 month subscription)
$8/year (3 month subscription)
$24/year (1 month subscription)
At the $3 subscription
$3/year (12 month subscription)
$6/year (6 month subscription)
$12/year (3 month subscription)
$36/year (1 month subscription)
And on and on.
I was originally hoping that Apple would allow subscriptions below $1 as some apps might not justify $12 a year indefinitely. Obviously, though, I hadn’t thought through the implications of the duration options.
Then there’s the ability to offer different prices for the different durations. A developer could set the subscriptions as follows.
$1 every 1 month
$5 every 6 months
$9 every 12 months
Or…
$1 every 3 months
$3 every 12 months
All together, it means that developers can find a reasonable subscription price for their app.
