It’s time for another release cycle, and we’ve got a host of new features coming in Ushuaia. ❄️
Update: Ushuaia is rolling out now! Read on to see what to look out for.
Established on 12 October 1884, Ushuaia is the southern-most city in Argentina.
It’s just across the ocean from Antarctica, with a year-round average temperature of 6°C (42°F). Brr, right!
That said, this charming town features breathtaking mountain views, adrenaline-pumping ski locations and the awe-inspiring Tierra del Fuego National Park. It should be on any keen adventurer’s bucket list.
Without further ado, let’s get into what’s rolling out.
QR Code Field Type
We’ve added a new field type that will dynamically generate QR codes based on data captured in your Forms.
This code can then be printed and placed on a stock item or an asset (for example) for easy scanning. It’s also easily scanned by other persons in your team, making for a simple “display & scan” option for sharing information in the field. Oh and this field will work offline, no network required 🙂
Snowflake Connector
Snowflake’s Data Cloud provides data storage, processing, and analytics solutions that scale impressively.
We’ve added Connectors that will allow you to push and pull data from a Snowflake database or data lake. So if you’re using the Snowflake platform, you can now enjoy smoother data transfer to and from Appenate.
Support For DropBox Business
The Dropbox Connector didn’t support saving files to a Dropbox for Business Team Folder. As a result, folders were created instead of being saved to the Team Folder.
If you’ve upgraded your account to Dropbox for Business, you can automatically push files to the Team Folder with this new connector – which eliminates the need to manually move files over.
Support Multiple Workspaces in PowerBI
You’ll now be able to integrate with datasets that are in multiple PowerBI workspaces, instead of the default “My workspace.”
We hope this makes our PowerBI users’ lives a little easier. 🙂
Formula Filter to Restrict DS Rows
We’ve added an option to download a subset of the Data Source rows to a user’s device. This will be useful for cases where a single user needs access to only a small portion of a larger Data Source.
This helps to reduce app sync time and bandwidth, adding to your efficiency.
Improved User Management
We’ve modified the Folder Settings User selection list on the Screens page so that you can now grant users permissions to folders while they’re still in ‘Invited status’.
You now have the ability to set up users that will be coming on board before they actually start rather than afterwards.
We’ve also added a toggle to the ‘Active Users’ system Data Source that will display ‘All Users’ when it’s checked.
In this way, you can access ‘Invited’ status users directly from your Forms.
Inject PDFs Into Template Outputs
This new feature makes it possible to merge attachments with Form entries in a PDF output using Data Templates.
This way, you no longer have to upload these files to the server separately. You also don’t have to manually merge the output of your Data Templates, saving you valuable time.
Faster Form Testing
When testing Forms, active Connectors can make the process more time-consuming than it needs to be. For this reason, we’ve added the ability to temporarily disable Connectors on Forms.
This way you can save time while testing – without having to spend your time removing and re-adding Connectors.
You can now also toggle required Fields on and off. This way you don’t have to fill Fields to test a multi-page Form with a host of required Fields. Simply toggle them off, test, and turn them on again (important last step there. 😅)
Your future tests will be quicker than ever before!
Windows App Signing Workflow for Clients
We now have the ability to sign our Windows apps. The Appenate app is already being signed, however, we can now sign our customer’s Branded Apps as well.
This means that signed branded Windows apps will be more trusted by default on Windows systems.
WaaS – SSL Certificate Generation & Auto-Renewals
We’ve added the ability to auto-generate and auto-renew SSL certificates for branded websites.
That means you can enable HTTPS for your branded site with a single click without needing to buy a certificate. And you’ll never have to worry about expiring SSL certificates again!
Note this is only applicable to WaaS domains and does not extend to marketing websites.
Improvements & Maintenance
We like to think we have a little more finesse than this guy. Anyway, let’s get into what we’re fixing and improving.
‘Overwrite Existing’ Option
Appenate used to handle media files with duplicate names by appending an _XX on the end – but what if you want to overwrite the file instead?
We’ve added this option to prevent multiple media images with suffixes attached to them – so you can keep your media files clean and tidy. After this goes live, you’ll be able to set an “Overwrite Existing” property on Media, Sketch, Gallery Media, Attach, and Signature Field Types.
API – Bulk Delete for Tasks
Deleting Tasks one by one can quickly drain your daily API call limit.
That’s why we’ve added an option to delete multiple Tasks with a single API call, leaving the rest open for more useful purposes.
Increase DS Driven Tables Row Limit from 100 to 250 rows
The default for the Table Field is currently 100 but we now allow a little more flexibility for users by upping the limit to 250 in this update!
Future Date for a Retiring Customer (In Progress)
As a Vendor, when you retire a customer, you couldn’t really plan it. You need to do it on the date the customer is to be retired.
With this new feature, you’ll be able to specify a date in the future on which the customer would retire.
Web UI Refresh
The Web team has been hard at work on the Web UI Refresh since Dec last year. We’re now rolling out a fresh new look and feel, with a focus on consistency across the web portal.
The following features are also shipping as part of the Ushuaia cycle:
- Expanded Options For Password Policy
- Added Linked Screens Table to Designer Settings
- Branding Center being moved into its own parent menu
- Fixes to 2FA Auth Limitations with SharePoint
- Show TEST Mode Screens on Set Iconboard
- Dynamic Check of Auto-Complete Threshold in Choices
- Ability to Save Without Exit
- Toggling of User Authentication Types
- Improved Delete Notification for Master Users
- Entry Exports: Default Data Templates (In Progress)
- Adding a Switch Context User Permission
- Display Correct Windows OS Version in User Details
- Define Usage of Default Emails For Orgs (In progress)
- Update Form Email Connector for Clarity
- Revise Default Sender Email and Name vs. From User that submitted Form Entry
- Fix Task Dates To Save Correctly
Heads Down, Powering Through 2022
It seems like every year tries to one-up the one before, doesn’t it?
While our thoughts are with those in the European conflict, we’re also focusing hard on consistently improving Appenate to give you the best possible experience when building hardy, industrial-grade apps. 🙂
As always, thank you for remaining a loyal Appenate customer, and we hope this new batch of features helps your business succeed just that little bit more.
Stay safe out there.
Update: The new cycle is now in planning and will be announced in the coming weeks, so keep an eye out for that.