The early days of personal computers brought us advertisements on what we could use a computer to do. If I remember correctly, arecipe database was high on the list. I cut some of my database teeth on CP/M systems using dBase II (farewell, green dot; we hardly knew yet) but these days databases on Mac, iPhone, iPad et al are mostly professional level or mostly hidden within applications.
Yet, here we are, 2018 on the horizon and 2017 fading fast in the rear view mirror, and a database lives and prospers on the Mac. A database you can use to create your own customized utility to do what you want without having to hire someone to run FileMaker Pro, Oracle, mySQL, or 4D. It’s called Ninox.
Databases have three basic components. Entry screens, reports, and the data itself. Ninox starts with a laundry list of templates to make the whole database creation process much easier to get started. Here’s what an invoice app looks like in Ninox.
Very Mac-like, no?
Ninox makes it easy to start creating forms and fields and almost every component can be customized but the basics are true Mac. Drop in photos or images for an inventory app. Use the real estate template to track listings and sales. Ninox makes it easy to collect and organize almost anything, with all the details you find important to know, stored nice and safe within a Mac database.
If you track laundry lists of features you’ll like this:
- Invoices and Accounting
- Meetings and Events
- CRM
- Create forms, field and triggers
- Smart relations between tables
- Build calculations with visual formula editor
- Multiple views to slice and dice your data
- Group records by any criteria
- 7 built-in chart types
- Invite others and set permissions
- Calendar
- Real-time sync across devices
- Export to CSV / Excel
- Import CSV files
- Import Contacts
- Import Bento files
- Rich text
- Choice
- Date/Time
Not only can you track almost anything that can be entered into a database, Ninox is powerful enough to handle an accounting system balance sheet, become a customer relationship manager, plan events, track inventory, create and print invoices, or just handle a to-do list that has burgeoned into a project management requirement.
That’s how database life on the Mac works, but Ninox also has an iPhone and iPad app that averages about 4.5 stars from users. One of the reasons you don’t see many database applications for the masses is because databases are difficult to set up, require ongoing maintenance and management, and require constant adjustments and tweaks. Applications that perform specific tasks often have their own built-in database, but Ninox gives you the option to control your own information management destiny.
Ninox is not a simple flat file recipe management database. It’s a full featured relational database made easier to use by a Mac-like interface and a host of templates. If you need more power, there’s a subscription for teams and Ninox Cloud which allows multiple user capabilities.
Considering all you can do with Ninox the price is modest; both macOS and iOS. Caveat? Yes. One. There is no try-before-you-buy option. Otherwise, if you’re serious about managing your own database, the price is sufficiently modest to try.