For the first time ever, we're splitting a review into two completely different parts, and this is the one for you if you already use this software. Existing users know what it does, you just need to know whether it's worth your time and money upgrading to the latest one. Consequently, we can do this pretty quickly: with certain small exceptions, the answer is yes. Upgrade to FileMaker Pro 15.

There's a lot to say about the new features, though this is not the biggest update the software has ever seen; but you saw that bit about small exceptions, and that's what you want to know first. If your company is still on OS X Mavericks, then you can't update. FileMaker Pro 15, FileMaker Pro 15 Advanced, and FileMaker Pro 15 Server each require a minimum of OS X Yosemite.

Beyond that, upgrade

We're saying in our Hands On for new users that the real reasons to buy into FileMaker Pro are the ones that it has always had of power, customization, and ease of use compared to systems like Microsoft Access. It's a similar thing for experienced users: as nice as the new features are, and as important as some of them will be for certain uses, they're perhaps not the reason to upgrade.

You should upgrade to version 15 because you're working in this FileMaker Pro ecosystem, and every database solution you've created will benefit from being on the latest. You'll benefit from having all your users and all your databases on the new system. That said, there are key and specific new features that are of interest.

Key and specific new features of interest

Your mileage will vary, depending on what you use FileMaker Pro for, but we sat up at the word iBeacons. FileMaker Pro 15 can now support the use of iBeacons: the small and as yet under-utilized transmitters. These can be fixed into place beside or on equipment, they can be used in to track moving people around a site. The FileMaker company gives an example of a gym that has iBeacons on every workstation: a manager using a database can see which stations are in use now, and how that changes over time, for bookings and for deciding when you need more equipment.

FileMaker Pro 15 supports iBeacon devices' UUID information, and lets you use that in regular calculations within your database fields.

This is not version 15's only new feature, or its only nod to solutions that work with mobile data. There are improvements that exploit the latest Apple technology, such as Touch ID. This is obviously a highly-secure iOS feature, it's what is behind your ability to use your thumb to unlock devices and to pay for goods and services. Yet as far as we as database developers are concerned, it is a doddle: you tick an check box to say you want Touch ID enabled, and you've got it.

Apple's 3D Touch gets used, too. This quick-access feature on iOS means that you can now press on the FileMaker Go icon, and jump straight into a particular database. We're used to having to open the app first, and then drill down to the database we want, but you can see immediately how much quicker this is for us, and how much clearer it is for people we want using our database solutions.

Also on iOS, FileMaker Pro 15 adds greater support for Apple's Sharing Extensions; that means you can leverage the iPhone and iPad's ability to send data to another app. Again, it's a simple addition for developers: we don't even have to specify what apps we can share data to, either; it's calculated via the type of data.

One more extra, for iPhone users in particular, is an extension of the FileMaker Web Direct service. This was previously only for users on computers and iPads, but now it's accessible via iPhone. That does mean you've got to design layouts for the iPhone screen, but you knew that.

Back to the Mac ... and PC

There is a general improvement to how FileMaker Pro looks on computers. We're not that fussed about this one: FileMaker Pro 14 was fine, but it is true that 15 is clearer. Interestingly, it's walked back a little from Apple's minimalist style, and produced controls that are more clearly buttons. That's version 14 at the top, and 15 below:



You get the option to change how your database looks when users enter confidential information such as passwords, though. With another tick in a check box, you can have what the user enters be replaced by bullet points.

On the more technical side, FileMaker Pro 15 has borrowed a little from Apple's Swift language, and how it highlights errors. Scripts in FileMaker Pro now get clear red highlighting when you've got something wrong or, more likely, you've pasted in a script from another database, and have yet to update it.

It's a nice touch that makes updating or debugging scripts quicker, and is an example of how FileMaker Pro is just friendlier to its users, whether they are end-users or developers. The rest of the world doesn't always play so nice, but you've got to deal with them, so version 15 extends the existing ESS (External SQL Sources) Adapter. This was a way to connect to Oracle and Microsoft SQL Server, and now it adds compatibility with Postgres SQL and IBM D2. We've not used either in our database solutions, so we can't assess this, but it's giving you two-way communication with these, and that means you can plug a FileMaker Pro front end onto a massive database. So that's all good, then.

Pricing changes

You can tell that we're keen on FileMaker Pro, but that doesn't mean we're casual about recommending you upgrade. Cost is a factor, especially if you need to also upgrade your Macs: while OS X Yosemite is free, and while it should work on just about any Mac that was successfully running OS X Mavericks, you know that you're going to be buying new hardware sooner or later.

We can't tell what that will cost, but we can say that with one significant difference, the prices for FileMaker Pro 15 remain as they were for version 14. The standard FileMaker Pro 15 is $329, or $108 per year. FileMaker Pro Advanced is $549, or $180 per year. Then FileMaker Server is $1,044, or $348 per year.

The difference is that there is now a FileMaker Licensing for Teams. It may or may not work out cheaper, but what it does is give you flexibility: rather than specifying how many users will be on desktops and how many on WebDirect, you pay a fee for a certain number of users -- who can then use whatever the need. There are full pricing details on the official site but, for example, the cost for five users for a year is $888. That works out to around $178 each, which is just shy of the per-year cost for one FileMaker Pro Advanced seat.

What's still missing

Seeing annual prices like this does make us wonder when FileMaker Pro will go the Adobe route, and become software as service or a rental system. Let's not encourage them, though. What we'd prefer to see is the ability to create databases on iOS, but while it's clear to see how the company is canted toward mobile database solutions, it's not at all clear when we'll ever see this.

FileMaker Pro 15, Advanced, and Server each require OS X 10.10 Yosemite, Windows 10 Pro or Enterprise Edition, Windows 7 SP1 or higher. FileMaker Go for iPhones and iPads requires iOS 9.3 or higher. See the official site for all pricing details.

-- William Gallagher (@WGallagher)

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