Filemaker Go & Android Tablet

[djc728]

Simple Question : Will the Filemaker Go application work on an Android Tablet or is it specifically for the IPad and IPhone ONLY ?

[Ted S]

I'm afraid that it's iPhone, iPad, and iPod Touch only right now. I suppose its possible that Filemaker Inc would build a version for Android at some point in the future but my guess is that the chances of that happening anytime soon are low.

[djc728]

Thanks Ted, I thought that might be the case.

[John May - Point In Space]

I wouldn't hold my breath, considering FileMaker is a wholly owned subsidiary of Apple, Inc.

- John

[Ted S]

To expand a bit; Filemaker Inc. makes their signature product, Filemaker Pro, for the Windows platform as well as the Mac so obviously Apple Inc. is willing to allow their subsidiary to build products for competing platforms. So I think this is really about market share and since Android is building market share quickly, I don't think it is out of the question but I would agree that it is unlikely to be anytime soon. In rough numbers Android has half the market and iOS has the other half. That's probably not enough for Apple to allow FMI to develop FMGo for Android. If the ratio went to 90/10, Android/iOS, then I bet FMI would move in that direction but right now an Android version *may* just tend to kill iPhone sales which obviously would be bad for Apple.

On a personal note my first smartphone was an Android but I'm leaning heavily toward iPhone when the next version comes out in September(?) or October(?). Not so much because of FM Go but because I want my phone to do just a few simple things, like email, web, maps, etc, but I want it to do them well. The iPhone is a much more polished experience it seems to me.

[comment]

AFAIK, Apple takes no part in FMI's managerial decisions.

[Ted S]

AFAIK, Apple takes no part in FMI's managerial decisions.

I'm not an insider so I have no firsthand knowledge either but it's not much of a stretch to think that the mother can influence the child.

[comment]

I'm not an insider

Me neither - it's just what I hear on the grapevine. It's actually too bad, as FMI would greatly benefit from an influx of Apple's corporate culture (e.g. documentation, bug fixing, user interface, etc).

[Ted S]

Speaking of the grapevine, have you checked the news in the past few minutes? Steve Jobs just resigned.

[comment]

As it happens, I went from here to read MacWorld... But that's not the grapevine - he announced it publicly, IIUC.

[Vaughan]

Let's hope FMI did not invest a lot of time and effort porting FM Go to the HP TouchPad. :(

[sam.pedro13]

I searched lot for android version of Filemaker Go which is available for iOS devices but in vain. And it seems they dont going to port it to android. Mean while my friend suggest me Cellica Database, http://cellica.com/cellicadatabaseandroid.html And to my surprise it is far better than Filemaker Go. I can design custom forms and sync my filemaker database to my galaxy tab. The most important thing is its revolutionary syncing logic which syncs only updated data and its automatically sync in contrast to Filemaker go which requires manual syncing.

I am very happy customer of cellica database. Its worth a try.

[bcooney]

This product is not a syncing solution for Filemaker on Android. In fact, Filemaker isn't a supported database.

[DroidFan]

Hi bcooney, I respectfully disagree. Cellica Database does work with FileMaker and Android. It is supported by the developer.

[bcooney]

Really? That's not what I see on the website. You are telling me that with this software you can run FMGo or FM Client on an Android system?

[Vaughan]

"Working" with FMP, and actually BEING a FMP client is a different thing.

[Fitch]

Looks like a misunderstanding here. The product has nothing to do with FM Go. It's a similar type of product that runs on various mobile systems, that syncs with a desktop application running on Windows. The desktop app can communicate with FileMaker via ODBC.

Never heard of it before, just spent 5 minutes on their website.

[Smef]

I've recently made an Android app for accessing FileMaker databases. It uses the XML gateway of FileMaker server, giving you basic access to your databases. It's got the basic search, sort, edit, add, delete, download, scripts, etc right now, and I plan to continue to add new features. Take a look and let me know if you have any feedback about it.

https://market.android.com/details?id=com.smefworks.android.fmdroid

http://smefworks.com/fmdroid