MirrorSync 7 introduces a new distribution feature informally referred to as the "Launcher File." The Launcher File is a kick-off file that facilitates seamless distribution of new versions of your app using MirrorSync. After going through a simplified initial setup process, users can employ an easy two-click process to launch their FileMaker solution. MirrorSync will automatically utilize this launcher file to serve your actual solution, downloading, swapping, and opening it for your users with minimal interaction. The Launcher File makes the process simple for FileMaker users - especially Go, where the process was previously much more complex.

The beauty of this function is that you can create apps suitable for distribution on Apple's App Store using the FileMaker App SDK and the Launcher File as your solution. With this launcher file in place, users download your app once from the App Store. From there, you stay in control - able to update the hosted file it connects to at any time. The launcher acts as a stable shell, dynamically linking to your latest solution file behind the scenes.

If you've worked with large sets of data before, you know that not all modifications are created equal. If you need to know whether the contents of a record have changed, sometimes  your modification timestamp can't actually be trusted. That's why we built Smart Updates into MirrorSync 7!

Pretend momentarily that you need to replace the value of the dueDate field in your Schedule table with today's date for an arbitrary found set you've curated of 150,000 records. Like the savvy dev you are, you head to the Records menu and aim straight for the `Replace Field Contents...` option. So far everything seems fine. Your users out in the field will sync at the end of their day and see the scheduling updates before they sign off for the night.

The only problem is that 100,000 of your records already contained todays date in their dueDate field, and your users have their own data they need to sync up, along with each others changes they need to sync down. That's a lot of records back and forth!

That's where MirrorSync 7 saves the day with the new Smart Updates feature! Smart Updates means that MirrorSync 7 knows which records actually changed and which ones didn't need to sync at all. This drastically reduces sync times in situations where modifications may be reflected by your timestamp, but no real data changes have occurred. It's designed to scale also, so no matter how much data you've got (and how wily your mod times are) your syncs remain lean, precise, and most importantly, fast.

Thought we were done? Think again! Smart Updates optimizes your containers as well. The days of splitting your tables up to isolate container fields are in the past - MirrorSync 7 intelligently decides whether updates should (or more importantly should not) include that expensive container data in each update.

In other words...

MirrorSync 7 takes full advantage of new performance features available in the latest versions of FileMaker, delivering faster, leaner syncs that scale beautifully whether you’re working with a few devices or hundreds.

If you’re running FileMaker 20.3 or later, MirrorSync now supports deferred flushing, a performance mode that reduces unnecessary disk I/O and accelerates sync operations. Combined with the option to enable transactional syncs, you get more consistent data integrity with less overhead - all with granular control over where transactions are applied (hub, spoke, or both).

Need to share offline copies of your solution? Deferred download links make that process significantly smoother. Instead of sitting idle while FileMaker syncs in the browser, users can continue working while the sync runs silently in the background. Once the sync finishes, users are now notified via email with a download link it is ready - a simple quality-of-life improvement that saves time and avoids browser timeouts.

Once your syncs are live, you now have better visibility into how they’re performing. MirrorSync 7 introduces enhanced sync analytics, writing historical and statistical data to a dedicated .fmp12 file alongside your hub database (for FileMaker-to-FileMaker syncs). This gives you a persistent, centralized view of sync performance over time - perfect for monitoring trends, diagnosing issues, and understanding how your solution behaves in the real world.

Full details available on launch day (TBD). Follow us on our socials for up-to-date announcements and other MirrorSync 7 news!