Digital databases help you avoid that kind of tedium. What if you want to get a list of all your associates in California? Your card file isn’t organized by state, so you have to flip through every card, one by one, to get a list. Such physical databases have major limitations compared with their digital cousins. You can find any person’s card because you know where in the alphabet to look, even though there may be thousands of cards to look through. For example, a business card file has information about people organized alphabetically by name. Ideally, the information in a database is organized so you can find what you’re looking for quickly and easily. In fact, if you look up the word “database” in a dictionary (which is a database, too), you’ll find that a database is just a collection of information, or data. But databases have been around much longer than computers-a phone book, a cookbook, and an encyclopedia are all databases. It calls to mind images of whirring computers, advanced degrees, and pocket protectors.

Though it’s technically an organization/note-taking app, many professionals use Evernote for much more, including basic databases, document collaboration and tracking online marketing campaigns.The word “database” can be alarming. Also, some App Store reviewers have complained about the lack of integration with iCloud, Dropbox or other cloud-syncing services.Įvernote’s popularity could be another reason for Bento’s demise. Use of the app’s form-creation tool requires another $5 in-app purchase. Or you can just buy the iPhone app and view it magnified on your iPad. It’s only $10 for iPads, but you have to shell out another $10 for the iPhone version. HanDBase also has a barcode-scanning feature, which could be useful for adding to product databases. The app is similar to Bento in that its interface is nicely attuned to iOS and touchscreens, and you don’t need a desktop companion app. HanDBase has been around since the days of Palm’s mobile OS. FileMaker says you can use a “custom development” as a workaround or email database files between your iOS device and the desktop software. Also, database sync between devices and programs isn’t natively supported.

Unfortunately, you can’t do much with the free iOS apps unless you also have a license for the desktop version of FileMaker Pro 12 ($299) or FileMaker Pro 12 Advanced ($499) for Windows or Mac.

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