FileMaker Cloud Joins the FileMaker 16 Platform

FileMaker, Inc. today announced availability of the latest version of FileMaker Cloud, its cloud platform for managing and running custom apps that runs on the Amazon Web Services Cloud. With this release (1.16.0.55), FileMaker Cloud joins the FileMaker 16 Platform and it is available in the US, Canada, Europe, Japan and Australia.

This release of FileMaker Cloud requires FileMaker 16.0 clients at a minimum – if you’re using FileMaker v15 clients you will need to upgrade to v16 in order to access hosted solutions on FileMaker Cloud 1.16.0.55. You can read the full release notes here.

The new release includes a number of integration, security and development features:

• FileMaker Data API trial: Use FileMaker data in other popular apps and services with the REST-based FileMaker Data API in FileMaker Cloud during the trial period.
• Tableau Web Data Connector for FileMaker: Better visualize FileMaker data with the Tableau Web Data Connector for FileMaker. The connector uses the FileMaker Data API trial to provide integration with Tableau Desktop.
• FileMaker Admin API trial: Help manage and administer custom apps with the REST-based FileMaker Admin API trial in FileMaker Cloud. Create messages and script schedules, open and close apps, and more.
• OAuth 2.0 support for accounts: Simplify credential management with OAuth 2.0 using third-party authentication providers. Use existing Amazon, Google or Microsoft Azure account credentials to log in to FileMaker custom apps.
• PDF support: Generate PDFs of layouts and data from FileMaker WebDirect. Save and print PDFs of invoices, labels, badges and more, just like with FileMaker Pro.

For more information on the differences between FileMaker Cloud and FileMaker Server check out our previous article on FileMaker Cloud as well as FileMaker Inc’s comparison between the two products. This release of FileMaker Cloud brings the ability to schedule scripts via the new FileMaker Admin API trial which was one of the missing gaps when compared to FileMaker Server. FileMaker Cloud does not support Custom Web Publishing with PHP and XML and FileMaker Inc. have stated that this will not be supported by FileMaker Cloud in the future – the FileMaker Data API will be the focus as far as API integrations are concerned so developers should focus their efforts here.