That is a no brainer, Airtable all the way! But it WAS the best lead-in that I could think of.
My situation:
My little hobby business has become a full grow kid now, and I need a better way to track things like names, addresses, numbers, positions, product purchased, payments, LOTS of notes, etc. I can hands down, with my eyes closed, do this in Airtable, BUT, does anyone see a way of doing this in IOS Numbers, and with maybe a twist of Shortcuts thrown in for saving some time here and there? I have never used IOS Numbers past the VERY SIMPLE spreadsheet. I am trying to be reasonable here, thinking that if I can use the products that I all ready have, then there would be no reason to pay the fees for Airtable. The fee is not a problem, it’s why have two hammers when ya only need one?!
Using Microsoft Office ain’t gonna happen, and neither is Google Sheets. Not on my watch. And I don’t want ANOTHER app to keep up with.
I’ve spent almost three decades using Excel. Numbers is clean and powerful but I could never get comfortable with its differences. That said Apple has a great support portal featuring separate comprehensive user guides for Numbers for iPhone, iPad and iCloud. And aside from the built-in forms there are also forms that users have shared.
It your data is more database-oriented and you know it well then AirTable seems to be the best option. By the way, Gareth Pronovost has some excellent YouTube videos on using AirTable for business.
I have never been a “spreadsheet person”. I am weighing my options on which would be a better foundation to build off of. I find it funny, (laughing at myself), that I cringe at paying for Microsoft Office, but have no problem paying for Airtable, and as you pointed out, if a person needs a database to work from, Airtable is the king right now. You can make it sing, dance, AND cook supper, all at the same time. I was hoping that what I had, (Numbers and Shortcuts), would work, but I am not someone who gets stuck on tradition. I sure don’t mind changing to the best tool for the job!
And you are correct, Gareth puts out some fantastic videos!