Jun

26

Bento 4 Delayed?

Filed Under Bento News, Editorial 

First of all I would like to apologize for the absence of new posts in recent months. Again, I would like to encourage any requests for specific content by you, our followers.

Otherwise, there is a lack of new developments, except for two template kits Filemaker released, the most recent one is a “survival kit” for students. In general, the template exchange is the only place with constant activity.
There is no known progress on Bento 4 to report, which is slightly disconcerting. I was really hoping on a similar schedule as last year – didn’t happen. We users are waiting for some simple features that are years overdue – notably styling of fonts. So the wait continues…

I do have one bit of positive news: I’m using Bento almost daily again, mainly to update my various tennis adventures. I added and edited lots of form elements, and I didn’t have a single crash in recent months. Filemaker didn’t eleborate ever on this, and there was no news about it in the forums – but somehow those few little updates to Bento 3 didn’t just fix bugs but also added program stability. Knock on wood…

Comments

32 Responses to “Bento 4 Delayed?”

  1. Peter on June 28th, 2010 1:34 am

    Perhaps they have had to rethink Bento 4 and proper integration with the iPad, since what they have now, smacks of a rushed implementation, that falls far short of the iPad capabilities. In fact the crippled version on the iPad weakens Bentos position in the marketplace. They have kicked a major goal with the iPad and didn’t.

    One wonders why not? Did they think that the iPad may not take off? Do they know that iPad Pro is around the corner with much greater functionality? Were they waiting for OS 4? Maybe they are waiting for Apple’s Data Centre (The Cloud) to be finished and the needed upgrade to MobileMe?

    Whatever the reason, instead of porting a intuitive application onto the most dynamic ground breaking technology platform in 30 years, and grabbing hold of a chunk of market share, they have given Bento a limp at the moment, in our mobile, cloud seeking world.

    Let us hope that they wow us with Bento 4 and the implementation on the iPad. The possibilities would be extraordinary if they do the job right.

  2. Neil on August 25th, 2010 2:58 pm

    Development of Bento, along with many other great apps have been stymied because of iOS.

    Snow Leopard’s successor has not even been named yet and there is no sign of an update for the aging and increasingly buggy iLife suite.

    Bento 3 is a half-baked mess.
    A list of its annoying quirks would take a few hours to type out, as would the shortlist of missing-but-could-easily-be-implemented features. I’m not sure it’s worth the effort to bother, as we have no guarantee FM is even working on anything much more than another few templates.

  3. Florian on August 25th, 2010 3:04 pm

    All I can promise is that I will report any news immediately, like beginning of Beta-testing of Bento 4 and as much as I can without getting sued…

  4. Spade on September 11th, 2010 2:20 am

    I’m trying to understand the purpose of this website. Is this a resource for Bento users? Or a FUD site to discourage people from ever becoming Bento users? Judging by the tone of the articles and comments here, it feels more like the latter…

  5. Florian on September 11th, 2010 6:46 am

    Spade, see our headline:
    “(This site is) written by Bento users for Bento users.” We are not affiliated with Filemaker, Inc, in any form. That means that everything goes. I’m running the site with the help of the former runner, if needed. And I don’t keep it as a secret, that over the years I’ve developed a love-hate relationship with Bento. I’ve also been a Beta tester last year which gave me some additional insights and created additional mixed feelings.
    Bottom line: you’ll find bunches of enthusiastic articles, downloads and special tips you’ll find nowhere else, including (legal) hacks. But you’ll also find critical and negative observations regarding instability issues and lack of even basic features, for example.
    I’m a Bento power-user who loves to help people, but I refuse to accept sloppy programming by Filemaker. There are some bugs (which I reported to Filemaker) that have never been fixed, which is unacceptable. And I’m waiting impatiently for new version upgrades to see long-awaited features added, like font-styling!

    Thanks for your comment. It gave me a chance to clarify things. You may call this site anything you want, and take from it whatever you need, leaving the rest alone.

  6. Scott on October 14th, 2010 10:05 am

    Bento 4 REALLY needs an upgrade path. I do not use it nearly enough to pay full price for the same program 4 times. I will be using other solutions from now on if they do that again.

  7. Florian on October 14th, 2010 10:24 am

    Hi Scott,
    first of all, I still haven’t heard anything about Bento 4 – it might never come… and did you miss the upgrade price for Bento 3? It was $29.

  8. Ryuji on October 23rd, 2010 7:16 pm

    Bento 4 needs several features that are overdue:

    * stronger relational functions
    * built-in browser component
    * better image block
    * better management of the links to files
    * better ways to select/switch between database files

  9. Florian on October 23rd, 2010 8:41 pm

    Hi Ryuji,
    this site is not really the best place to post these requests, because it’s not monitored much by Filemaker (if at all). Please post at the Bento forum. It is actually moderated by Filemaker employees.
    And it will help if your requests are more detailed (like: what do you mean exactly by “better image block?”)

  10. Steve on November 12th, 2010 2:28 pm

    Bento 4-Where are you?? I have an imac, macbook, iphone & ipad…I cannot use Bento unless I can sync my main computer (imac) with my laptop! Any word if Filemaker is considering this?

  11. Florian on November 12th, 2010 2:35 pm

    Steve,
    no news of any kind about Bento 4. And Filemaker NEVER gives anything away about future plans. I was a Beta tester last year, and we were not supposed to give away any secrets then; and Filemaker ditched one feature last minute, so they don’t even know themselves for sure what they’re going to do.
    If you run Bento on both computers there are several workarounds for using the same database on both, but I agree: it’s not the same as straight forward syncing.

  12. Steve on November 12th, 2010 2:53 pm

    Hi Florian,

    Thanks for the fast reply….if the imac is my main computer how would I update the laptop…then when away and I add things to the Bento version on laptop how would I update that computer?

    Also if I have customized fields or forms on one computer will that bring it all over as well.

    Thanks again.

  13. Florian on November 12th, 2010 3:07 pm

    Steve,
    we have an article on our site about people using dropbox, take a look. I personally have not tried it.
    As we established, Bento doesn’t have real syncing. But Bento 3 has sharing over your local network, not over the internet.
    Finally, you can just transfer the Bento database file between computers. The database file includes the layout (fields, forms…) AND the data. What it does not include is the data from Address Book and iCal. If you need to transfer that data also, you’d have to create an Archive in those two apps.
    The original Bento database file resides at: (user)/library/application support/Bento and it’s called Bento.bentodb
    You could use a back-up database file for transfer purposes (choose back-up Bento data from the File menu).

  14. Hendrik on November 23rd, 2010 1:07 pm

    I suppose the iPad delayed the working on Bento 4. For me, Bento is an incredibly useful tool, that replaces my old spreadsheets. But since Bento 1, I am waiting for the real relational stuff and styling of fonts. Could it be that Bento was only a teaser for Filemaker? But that software does not do the same things. It takes days before you have a working solution (if ever) and it lacks some of the Bento features. I hope it is not the case. And, by the way, I find Bento for iPad dreadful. It could do much more!

  15. Fustbariclation on December 22nd, 2010 3:00 am

    I’m wavering as to buy Bento. Some say it ‘replaces all their spreadsheets’, but I’m not quite sure how it does that. I’ve used the demo version and I’m not much wiser.

    It does seem easy for designing forms. With some relational features it might be quite handy.

    When is 4.0 expected? Any clearer idea? I don’t want to buy 3 then be faced with an upgrade just to get what I need…

  16. Florian on December 22nd, 2010 3:37 pm

    Peter,
    no news yet about Bento 4. The Mac app store opens in January, maybe they wait for that. But I have no other lead to report.
    Bento DOES have some relational features through the Related Data Field. But it is NOT a spreadsheet, it’s a database with SOME spreadsheet features. You just have to create some test projects and judge after that.

  17. cash on December 24th, 2010 3:45 pm

    my bet is we’ll see Bento 4 on Jan 6. It will launch with the mac app store, just like iwork. vamos a ver.

  18. Florian on January 7th, 2011 3:17 pm

    The Mac App Store is open – they don’t even sell Bento! The wait continues. Filemaker, Inc. – shame on you for letting us hang like that.

  19. jim on January 13th, 2011 9:34 am

    I just saw Bento 4 on the Filemaker website in the education store. When I called to ask about it they said it was a mistake and they have not information about this. The woman sounded like a robot. Obviously someone created this image and the product is ready to go out.

  20. Florian on January 13th, 2011 9:57 am

    Hi Jim,

    thanks for the great info. Your prediction sounds plausible! Let’s pray and believe that we’ll see Bento 4 fairly soon! Finally; it’s about time.

  21. Steam_Bucky on January 27th, 2011 6:50 am

    I pray Jim is right – i need some extra statements like, IF, THEN, ELSE….

    But will they put it in version 4?

  22. Florian on February 7th, 2011 7:25 am

    No one knows, Steam. All I know is that they are always planning about 18 months ahead when it comes to major new features. Smaller ones can be added on shorter preparation.

  23. AW on March 6th, 2011 8:26 am

    It is coming – it is coming!
    I have found a proof that Bento 4 is coming in the next 3 months. I asume to the WWDC if i think of a grace operiod of 2 months.
    Ye ike to know more?
    (its somthing i found in the Google-cache)
    http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:41u24m93E0AJ:216.245.32.104/is-bin/INTERSHOP.enfinity/WFS/FileMaker/en_GB/-/GBP/ViewCatalog-Start%3Bsid%3DN-bXcrZCctXXdvspT1APh5Yq9EU_XHXh38g%3D%3FCatalogCategoryID%3DGNCsGAs41HUAAAEuTzxZ9mvL%26search_category_uuid%3DGNCsGAs41HUAAAEuTzxZ9mvL%26sort_attribute_1%3Dproduct_ProductFamilyCode%26sort_direction_1%3Dascending%26sort_type_1%3Dstring%26sort_localized_1%3D0%26sort_attribute_2%3Dproduct_SortOrder%26sort_direction_2%3Dascending%26sort_type_2%3Dstring%26sort_localized_2%3D0%26sort_attribute_3%3Dproduct_SkuGroup%26sort_direction_3%3Dascending%26sort_type_3%3Dstring%26sort_localized_3%3D0%26sort_attribute_4%3Dproduct_SKU%26sort_direction_4%3Dascending%26sort_type_4%3Dstring%26sort_localized_4%3D0%26MpLanguageID%3D%26CountryCode%3DGBR+%22bento+4%22+database&cd=6&hl=de&ct=clnk&gl=de&clien

  24. Florian on March 6th, 2011 8:58 am

    Nur ein kurzer Satz, lieber Alex: schau in elf Tagen wieder hier bei uns vorbei, nur so zum Spaß…

  25. Marcel on March 16th, 2011 2:20 am

    Heute ist ein Update für Bento auf meinem iPhone erschienen, das Synchronisation mit Bento 4 ankündigt. Nur wird Bento 4 noch immer nicht auf der Homepage erwähnt.
    Du hast etwas vom 17.03. erwähnt Florian. Wird es morgen offiziell vorgestellt? Welche Neuerungen wird es bringen? Lassen sich mehrere iPhones mit Bento synchronisieren? Wird der Sync generell besser? Ich hoffe sehr.

  26. Florian on March 16th, 2011 5:16 am

    Marcel,
    interessante Frage über mehrere iPhones… kann ich nicht beantworten. Ob sich an der Qualität der Synchronisation etwas geändert hat, wurde auch nirgends erwähnt (wurde nicht unter “Verbesserungen” aufgeführt). Es ist aber zu hoffen, daß das Bento team auch immer an der Synchronisation arbeitet. Meine Frau hat Bento für iPhone, wir benützen es aber kaum. Am Besten solltest du dich an die Foren wenden, da dort Filemaker Angestellte arbeiten, die Alles, was das iPhone betrifft, testen können.
    Deine anderen Fragen darf ich in diesem exakten Moment nicht beantworten, es gibt da immer ein Embargo…

  27. Neil on March 16th, 2011 3:27 pm

    Bento 4 is here and it’s a monumental disappointment.
    The keynote feature is label printing.
    Oh good grief.

    None of the hoped-for features are there. After 18 months they have yet another half-baked dot upgrade.

    Filemaker: You’re fired.

  28. Florian on March 16th, 2011 3:32 pm

    Neil, I’m with you… please tell me anyway: what new features were you looking for?

  29. Rick on March 16th, 2011 10:05 pm

    Export to the web is the feature I would most like to see.

    The info on the App Store is aimed at people discovering Bento for the first time, rather than people who already have a licence for version 3 and want to know what’s new. So any info on what’s in 4 (including label printing) would be most welcome.

  30. Florian on March 16th, 2011 10:12 pm

    Rick,
    I posted a pretty comprehensive review of Bento 4 this morning. Just go to the BentoUsers homepage.
    And BTW, you can export to the web now, if you have an iDisk (mobileMe).

  31. Marcel on March 21st, 2011 2:42 am

    Hello Florian

    Is this true? Can you really export to mobileme? but this is not for syncing is it?

  32. Florian on March 21st, 2011 4:04 am

    Marcel,
    yes, no. It’s exactly as you stated it.

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