Filed under: Software, Developer, iPhone, App Store, iPod touch
Bento for iPhone / iPod touch reaches sales milestone
Bento works very well as a standalone iPhone app, and becomes even more powerful when synced with the desktop version of the app (2.0v5 or 3.0 for Mac). The app comes with 25 pre-defined templates that can be customized to your needs, or you can create your own databases (Bento calls them "libraries") by opening a blank template and adding your choice from a selection of fifteen different field types. I've personally found the standalone app to be a lifesaver when I need to create a custom database for storing information on my iPhone.
The FileMaker announcement should come as welcome news for developers who are working on more mainstream or enterprise-oriented apps for the iPhone / iPod touch platform.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
spl237 said 12:25PM on 12-08-2009
Great. Now, perhaps Filemaker could address the most irritating shortfall in the iPhone app, which is that the automatic counter field type in desktop Bento is removed when syncing. I use this in all my databases as an index number, and the lack of support for it on the handheld version is both baffling and annoying!
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Inglesvi said 2:55PM on 12-08-2009
Without a doubt, Bento is one of the slowest apps on my iPhone. Searching within Bento Libraries is especially slow. In theory, the functionality is great, and while I applaud Filemaker for bringing us this ability, using this app regularly would be way too frustrating. For example, I keep a database of symphony orchestra music on my iPhone (I work as a music librarian).It's nice to have the data on the iPhone so I don't have to go back to the computer at my desk every time I need to reference a number, but I'd better be willing to stand and wait for quite a while as I type something as simple as "B-E-E-T-H-O-V-E-N." The typing lags tremendously while the database live searches, narrowing down the selections as I type. (Ok, now I'm finding everything that starts with "B," now I'm finding everything with "B-E," and so on. Who has the time?) Much, much worse than Spotlight on my Mac. This slow searching has got to be fixed in an update before this program can become useful to me on a daily basis.
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Norm said 7:50AM on 12-16-2009
I find it a very useful app but agree with the others, it's WAY too slow, especially when searching. I know that I can't simply pop on to it and find information, it takes a bit of time. For those using the desktop as well, there's a number of useful templates to be found over at http://www.bentotemplates.com
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