Tap Forms Organizer and Secure Database App Reviews

There are so few reasonably priced and straightforward database options out there anymore. So my expectations were low. But Tap Forms is surprisingly capable, flexible, easy to get into and on top of that has seamless cross-device support with my iPad and iPhone. So glad I found this!

Still my favorite database application with perfect synchronisation across my Mac and iPad - It gets better with every release; love it !!

Updated Review: Remains a 5 Star app I am very pleased with. I use Tap Forms daily and have not encountered a single problem with it. I’ll leave my former review below which still applies to this version. I’d highly encourage anyone needing a database app for Mac to have a good look at this. The developer is very helpful if you have any issues and does a great job of continuing to improve Tap Forms over time. I recommend Tap Forms very highly. This latest update again shows how dedicated the developer is to maintaining and fixing any issues that might arise with TapForms over time. He’s very commited to the product both for OS X and iOS. I have them both and love them both, using them frequently. As I outline below, this is a really great database app that’s easy to use, very powerful when you need that, syncs without any problems when you need that and as others have said, it just works. I consider software like this to be a thing of beauty. I know from my own software development background what a lot of work it is to design, develop, test and maintain software this good. It is easily worth every single penny it costs and really considerably more in my opinion. It’s a real bargain which I appreciate even more given the lack of any significant competition to it. Previous Review: Being retired I do not personally have need of the powerful features a small business user would take advantage of in Tap Forms but a visit to their website will fill you in on those. My usage falls into the Personal or Home User catagory of keeping a home inventory, collection databases, etc. This App is just wonderful for this in that while powerful in its feature set it truly is easy to become acclimated to and start using for one’s own databases. I’ve been using it since the previous version and have encountered zero bugs or any other problems. Early on I was a little confused about how to do something and wrote to support. I got a prompt reply with just the help I needed. Support is excellent. In this new version I love how i can now set a color for the form background as desired. It really spruces up the look of my form views and it is easy to change anytime if you like. I know it is a little thing compared to important functionality features but for me being able to make my forms more aesthetically pleasing is a big plus. I’m very happy about this. This app does everything I want and it is so easy to do it too. Database creation, form design, searching, creating saved searches and printing are all simple tasks in Tapforms. I’ve found iCloud sync works flawlessly as well. I like that I have control over how it backs up my data automatically for me. I opt to auto-backup all the data except for pictures regularly for speed. Every now and then I create a manual backup that includes the pictures I have in every record. Although everything is in iCloud as well as locally (given how iCloud works) I like to save my manual backups off to an external USB drive for safekeeping. On top of it all, Time Machine is backing this stuff up as well to another external drive. Yes, I value my data and my time, a lot. As a former Bento user I consider this a big upgrade. It worked flawlessly in importing a sizable database with photos for every record too. I was afraid that was going to be painful but it wasn’t at all. So if you’ve been hanging on to Bento which is now having issues in Yosemite and as you know if you use it has been discontinued, this is your salvation right here and then some. This app absolutely deserves my five star rating. If you need a high quality, fully featured, easy to use database app for either home or small business use, look no further. Tap forms is an outstanding value for the money.

I’ve been using databases all the way back to Appleworks on a IIe, then it was on to Microsoft Works until that program was no longer developed. Next was Filemaker Pro, but it wasn’t intuitive and had more bells and whistles than I needed. Bento was okay, but then it went away. I’m a songwriter (lyricist), and recently I was going through my archives and saw that I had assigned some songs to a music publisher back in the 1980s that I had completely forgotten about. For that and other reasons, I decided it was time to get everything in order—but what database to use? Not really expecting to find anything, I searched the App Store…and found a gem! Tap Forms is just what I needed. I have fields for Song Title, Cowriter (as a lyricist, I always have a cowriter who writes the melody), Publishers, year written, copyright information (including an image of the copyright certificate), BMI information, a lyric file attachment, audio file attachment, recording history, etc. Some of my songs have been recorded multiple times, and it’s easy to add multiple file capability to a field. I’m sure I’ll be adding fields as I discover the need. Tap Forms gives me the ability to have all the information I need on every song I’ve ever written, and I can have all of that with me at all times with the companion iPhone iOS app and synching via iCloud Drive. Often an app is only as good as its support—I can tell you first-hand that the developer support for Tap Forms is outstanding. When I first downloaded Tap Forms and started experimenting with it, I found a feature I thought was lacking and sent a suggestion to the developer. He not only responded quickly ON A SUNDAY, but he also gently pointed out that the feature I thought was lacking was actually present in Tap Forms, and could be done several different ways. I have never experienced such a prompt and friendly reply from a software or app developer. He is also quick to fix a bug, as evidenced by this update—he fixed it immediately, and the only delay was the time it took for Apple to process the update. Tap Forms is inexpensive, intuitive, and easy to use. As I get deeper into it, I know I’ll be discovering and using more of its features and expanding my use of it to a number of other things in my life that I want to organize. I love this app!

I came to Tapforms as a refugee from Bento, and am finding it a great improvement. I found the built-in forms to be pretty good, but it is also very flexible if you make your own. Sync through iCloud has occasionally been buggy, but always works out in the end anyway, even when there are glitches. Support is very quick - send in a comment or email, and you receive a reply very quickly. It does the job very well.

A long-time FileMaker Pro user, life changes made paying for the expensive upgrades unecessary, so I was very happy switching to Bento when it was released. I used it every day to track my home inventory, an ever growing list of botanicals, medical data, and landscape maintenance clients including linked botanicals associated with each property, irrigation stations, diary and to-do lists. The Mac, iPhone and iPad apps worked sufficiently well thru El Capitan and iOS9, as did the sync functionality, but were starting to show signs of incompatility. So, I downloaded the FileMaker Pro trial version, thinking it would instantly be familiar again (like riding a bicycle). Not so. In fact, I had become so “spoiled” using a simple-to-setup and use database system, FileMaker seemed unbelieveablhy tedious and antiquated. Adding salt to the wound, the latest version of FileMaker Pro killed the Bento import capability, leaving me no choice but to recreate my solutions from scratch. Even using one of their ready-made templates proved too difficult, not to mention creating an iOS layout. Uggghhh. Thankfully, I discovered the very reasonably priced and capable Tap Forms. First, it imported ALL my Bento databases beautifully, including the extensive linked botanical files for my landscape clients. Secondly, the learning curve proved to be far more minimal than anticipated. Third, my databases were back up and running with the Mac and iOS versions in a matter of two days…something I never achieved with FileMaker after two weeks. Fourth, it syncs to either iCloud or Dropbox. Fifth (and perhaps most important), the developer is unbelieavably quick in responding to queries and providing bug fixes via updates. Having used Tap Forms extensively for over three months I’m very pleased and highly recommend it! The one area an improvement would be welcome is printing spreadsheet-style list reports. However, print format capabilities far exceed those in Bento. Tap Forms is a very capable and full-featured database solution for “the rest of us.” Give it a try!

Like so many who have used a number of Mac databases over the years, Bento has been my go-to for the past couple of years. Their end of support left me with several large files that wouldn’t go with me to El Capitan. Google led me to Tap Forms. The selling point was the conversion of Bento files. The price was right to give it a try, but I admit to thinking it would be a hassle if it worked at all. I downloaded the Tap Form manual, bought the app. Surprise. The conversion went really well. So I started playing with the forms, layouts, etc. All good. Then I tried to compose and print mailing labels. And tried. And tried. Hit all sorts of issues. Decided to use the email support offered in the manual and online. Wow. Bendan Duddridge has to have the best customer service in the business. At least, that has been my experience. I contacted him (on a Sunday evening yet!) and he walked me through my problems. Okay, have to say it took more than one email to get clarity on some how-tos (and I thought I knew databases) but he was prompt, polite, and patient in getting me to where I needed to be. I found out later that he was even fielding some of my inquiries while he was at dinner with family. Above and beyond; I wouldn’t have expected that. The manual for Tap Forms 3 is very helpful though it didn’t really get me all the steps I needed. I could be wrong, but it seems there’s the assumption the user will be able to fill in the blanks. Maybe some can. I couldn’t. But as soon as I got the stuff between the blanks, all came together. I’m using two Macs now in separate offices; only one is using El Capitan. My plan is to get all my Bento stuff to Tap Forms, go El Cap on Mac 2, and leave Bento behind. Hopefully with no regrets. Bottom line: the support I received was exceptional and I look forward to exploring the many capabilities of this app. So far, impressive. I look forward to seeing the manual and other support avenues grow.

I use TapForms to keep records of those who attend our church. Although I am not a programmer, the simplicity of TapForms allowed me to create my own customized database that contains precisely the information I need including names, photos, cell phone numbers, addresses, birthdates, anniversaries, baptism dates, a record of correspondence, and so on. I not only keep these records on my MacBook Pro, but through the Cloud can easily access them on my iPad and my iPhone. Thus, these records go with me wherever I go and can be updated after a meeting with someone for coffee. Moreover, when I have had more complex questions not answered by the “help” menu, the TapForms staff have promptly responded with easy to understand answers. I looked at and tried a variety of database applications for our church. One cloud based database application cost per month what TapForms costs to use on my MacBook Pro forever. None worked as well as TapForms. I highly recommend TapForms.

This app is great for organizing really anything. Contacts, inventories, notes, etc. It’s obvious the developer has put a lot of hard work into it, and continues to. He’s very quick to respond on inquiries and always seems to be working on new features. There should be Dropbox syncing sometime soon, which I’m excited about. Really the only thing I want to see in this app, which will make me use it for real, is the ability to encypt file attachments. Right now, all it encrypts is the database. I would like to use Tap Forms to go paperless, but it’s kind of pointless when none of the scanned valuable documents can be encrypted. Or if I have a business client database, I can’t encrypt important file attachments such as contracts, financial documents, etc. It would also be extremely useful it it could let you have multiple databases. Right now, there isn’t a way to have distinctly seperate databases and which you can encrypt independently.

Actually this app is better then Bento. I just wish I had found it before I threw out all my Bento databases. The rogram world great. Support is great. I work a lot with databases and have been trying out many and some of them were good some ok but none of them even come close to Tap Forms. Very easy to use, relational tables and easy to customize.

Great app and great support!