Aware IM Reviews

You can create web applications very quickly. It is very logical to use, so you can quickly learn how to use the software.

There are still some minor bugs, but overall they are not that annoying.

Good product for those not fluent in computer coding

Some areas have a lack of instructions and there's a large reliance on the very good forum chat.

The platform is complete including email-provider | report-generator | workflow | import. It offers all you need to build amazing apps. You can choose several popular DB's like MariaDB. Tables (business objects) are strongly linked.

The demo-applications are not the most attractive.

Impressive and neat presentation of developed applications to the end user.

I found it hard initially, having come from a non-oop background. Things like to lack of local variables, strictly predefined relationships and others, but this has faded over time.

I hate writing traditional, procedural code. Its what kept me from working my way through the K&R "C" book in 1985. I was already into 3GL tools and just didn't like writing low-level code. AwareIM isn't "no code"... but thats if I need to add in some Javascript (or Java) somewhere. And there's still "Logic" related steps/rules/"code" to write. But a lot of the work is done in AwareIM... not like a code generator makes tons of code behind the scenes for you, but an environment thats built for business to help assist you in making applications.

AwareIM developers have things we wish were improved, sure. Nothings perfect. But most of us are in close-contact with a development & support team that listen and respond to requests and bug fixes regularly.

Using AwareIM. I am able to focus on "Business Rules" rather than how to code those business rules. Prior programming knowledge is not essential (although helpful). What matters more is that you can think logically about the problem/business case, and I guess more importantly, what daft things users might do to mess things up, and then map out the business rules necessary to achieve a successful outcome. The...

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The Report writer is not great - but with so much else going on - I neither need or use it. But I guess some people are still hell bent on consuming a tropical rain forest or two.

AwareIM allows you to develop applications in less time. Its business rule based engine allows for managing business logic in a simple manner from each table or Business Object as they are called in AwareIM. Creating queries and forms is fast. Built in library of Kendo UI widgets is very nice and expanding with each new release. Customization using CSS, HTML, java script is endless.

Report writer needs to be improved. It based on Jasper Reports but has limited features compared to the Jasper Reports itself. Processing a lot of records can be slow.

I am a MS Access Developer of 28 years and have written many commercial level programs using that platform. I looked for quite a while to find a replacement for my clients who were using MS Access and I found Aware IM. I found the software to be very easy to use, very intuitive, and the How to Use, User Manual & all the Training Videos made the process so easy. The team at Aware IM were very responsive and gave me several one-on-one training sessions when I requested them. So far I have built 6 systems using the program, two of which will be rolled out to clients in the next 6 months. My customers seem to be very happy with the results so far and with the cost of the licence.

There has been a bit of an issue with linking current clients' SQL Server Data where the Foreign Key should link all the tables together. This is a bit hit and miss with the naming convention as you cannot use the same field name as the primary key in either of the tables. I am still trying to work away round this issue.

Aware IM allows me to not have to deal with most of the minute details of building database driven websites, unless I really want to. I can concentrate on the things that are most important and not have to worry much about what goes on 'behind the curtain'.

There is a significant learning curve. Like many frameworks, it is opinionated and expects things done in certain ways.

I like the fact that AwareIM provides a complete RAD solution enabling you to develop more or less anything you want (without needing to have all of the technical knowhow). You can use the default RAD GUI and develop complex applications but you can also "tinker" and do more complex stuff, integrations, JS stuff etc. etc. if you want to as AwareIM is "open" for things like that. I also like Awaresoft consistently releasing new versions year after year with new great stuff and the goodness just keeps on coming.

The learning curve is quite steep and it is sometimes difficult to get feedback through to Awaresoft about things I as a user want, bugs I see etc. but I can´t blame that on Awaresoft as I am one of their users and they surely get a lot of different feedback ideas, suggestions etc. etc. on a daily basis.

Get up to speed very quickly for basic features, ease of deployment

UI is very clunky. Difficult to deliver a polished, professional looking UI unless you are an HTML/Javascript expert, or someone that has used the product for years. Internal support was poor, so getting advanced features to work was next to impossible.

Hi David, thank you for your review. Just one question - why did you say that our customer support was poor? It is not free as support is not included in your license, but once you pay for it, it is the best money can buy. Lots of our customers can attest to it. So we are a bit puzzled and disappointed by such an assessment.

Web App development of line-of-business is easy with this fully featured application configurator - low code tool. Our line-of-business apps require robust UI and non-procedural rules engine performance and AwareIM has all of it. I have 35 plus years of 4GL framework experience with multiple framework products and I have never seen a more complete product. We develop apps that extend ERP systems with REST services (very complete) in AwareIM.

The automatic documentation part of the tool should be template-ized as we must provide documentation of complex apps. The fast application development using this agile development tool would greatly benefit from additional capability in this area.

AwareIM is a very well structured application development platform and takes care of creating the entire user interface of an application using clever visual perspective controls. The software allows a developer to build an entire application database structure behind the scenes without needing specialist database administration skills and SQL knowledge. Using AwareIM's version control and testing tools makes prototyping ideas for a proof of concept a very simple task before progressing to full application development. The sample applications, documentation and video tutorials that are available, provide excellent reference for building any application. This is all well complemented by excellent support from the AwareIM team and an active developer community.

It is an extremely addictive software application, so tend to spend hours using AwareIM without getting bored :)

AwareIM gives the opportunity to individual irrespective of a professional developer or regular administrator to create the application without boundaries.

The Configuration tool is little flaky sometimes and builds updates could be easier.

1- Excellent support - A developer that actually listens & responds DIRECTLY to customers and their needs s very rare today. The AwareIM support team does just that. Over my 10 year ownership of this powerful tool, I've experienced a dramatic evolution of the product because they listened to the needs of their user base & added new features accordingly year after year. 2- Leverage - AwareIM...

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This sounds trite, but my biggest con is that I can't allocate more of my time to using AwareIM to build more systems.

AwareIM is a future-ready software development architecture aimed at `no code or low code concept. This is a fantastic software development tool which helps one reduce time to market (TTM). With its simplified coding language, one can easily get on with development activities. AwareIM's capability can further be increased by integrating it with custom java coding. Such coding is needed to achieve certain business requirements which is not readily available with AwareIM's configuration tool. AwareIM is directly linked with Agile methodology of software development. There can be numerous iterations and releases with AwareIM. It makes coding simpler. It is beyond magic.

1. UI is not attractive enough based on today's UI options we see in the market. 2. The developer community is not as big as other RAD tools in the market, although their service is good.

AwareIM is a very powerful rapid application development tool. Technically, its based on Java platform which gives it more reliability, security and robustness. You can use most of the databases with it i.e. MySQL/MSSQL/Oracle and Derby. So far, we have developed 19 Enterprise Apps on AwareIM with an average user count of 1600 which are live in Production. Application development time gets reduced...

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It has a closed community as of now with very less experts and developers which makes it sometime difficult to overcome with a technical issue. Only one developer can work on one app (bsv) at one time so increasing manpower to meet timelines in case of critical deliveries does not work well here. Rest all is good. Very happy and satisfied to use the product.

Aware is fantastic at managing the database so I don't have to. Maintains consistency of attributes and business objects meaning that all those "test_rename" attributes that you made can be renamed in an instant and every reference is updated! Auto generates forms for every business object, makes it fast to get a prototype out and that prototype can be an iterative development artefact - no wastage. Now with REST API calls. Active and helpful community that can usually answer any of your questions.

Integration with Tomcat is a little opaque and I'd like the CSS implementation to be more visible in the development platform.

AwareIM is fully integrated with database, logic, security, web, mobile, and desktop. Coming for a 4GL C/S tool, it took 5 years of looking at other products to find a similar tool for web development until I found AwareIM. Every other product when it came to logic, it required coding in javascript, etc. AwareIM uses English like statements, has built in security, handles or the database automatically...

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Everything that we requested, mainly mobile, and adding PhoneGap has been added. The only thing we would prefer is if AwareIM had an online activation server. If we want to move our C/S application using PSQL we can click deactivate and it will then allow us to activate on another system. With AIM it requires a written request and although it has never been an issue, there may be times in the evening, weekends we may want to move to a different server. In defense of that, AwareIM will work for 30 days. We just prefer the ability to activate and deactivate on our own.

I single-handedly built an end-to-end change management app with many tables, which wouldn't have been otherwise possible given my time, skill-set and budget. You can check it out at plantain.io. The updated IDE since version 8.0 is much more intuitive. And the new features with 8.1 are great. Aware really listens and responds to its customer base. The forum is quite active with and you can get most...

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8.0 was buggy as hell. I was just learning 7.1 when I jumped to 8.0 and half the time I couldn't tell if the issues I encountered were due to my ignorance of the platform or a bug. Word of advice - don't become an early-adopter unless you are more seasoned. At least Aware squashed most of the bugs quickly and advised on workarounds for known issues. Also, the learning curve with AwareIM is rather steep (less so with the new IDE). The user guide is dry as melba toast and I sometimes found it lacking. I wish AwareIM took greater advantage of the Kendo UI library, but that's on the todo list.

The time you save programming in Aware IM is the greatest feature. The flexibility to customize your database, save money, and run on multiple platforms (Mac, Windows, Linux) sets it apart. With very little programming knowledge, I have been able to create multiple applications that are complex. My clients can serve their users both in the office and on the road. I am able to manage their data in the cloud. The developer forum is very helpful. The company is responsive to the needs of the developers and provides regular updates. I've been a developer for 10 years and have had a very positive experience.

Because it does use a fair number of third-party integrations (which can also be a pro), troubleshooting when there is an issue can be a challenge. To customize the user interface beyond what you are given out of the box does require programming knowledge such as CSS and Javascript.

Flexibility, speed of development, continuous product development, slick end user interface features. As a developer of large scale, advanced web applications for commercial use, I really like that I am able to extend and enhance the out-of-the box functionality via sql stored procedures and native javascript. AwareIM is an awesome product and is one of the best business decisions that I have made in my career.

Because of the power of the business rule implementation, the software can become slow in execution if you are not very careful in how you write processes and rules as the execution engine can get bogged down in running and re-running rules excessively as data changes.

fast learning curve, rapid development of applications with the ease of being able to create hybrid applications, is excellent for any type of company very useful in the modemdo of planning a robust and versatile development at the time of development. Database management with object-oriented methodology, multiple developments in web environment, allowing the use of data base engines more commonly used in the software market. the faclity to create documented projects.

The policy of selling by users is very expensive for medium-sized companies, the location is to say the management of several languages should be more automatic, or allow a better editor for the translation. for developers we have a hard time convincing our clients (I speak of Latin America) the reason why they should buy the AwareIM server plus the application that is developed and additionally a value for the number of users that the application will have. It must be understood that not all users are developers.

Very easy to learn. Speed of development

No cons were added to this review

You work with objects, not tables. When U create an object and define its attributes, Aware creates a database table accordingly with each attribute of the object being a field in the table. You then create different forms/layouts for each object, including or excluding attributes as required subject to the scenario in which the form will be used. Add, modify or delete an attribute of an object...

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Could do with a drag and drop WYSIWYG form designer which would speed up development further. The runtime UI behavior of a couple of components/controls is slightly 'irregular', though not an impediment.