LiveCode Create: Closing out the year with big steps forward

As the year draws to a close, I wanted to take a moment to share where we’re at with LiveCode Create – and where we’re headed next.

It’s been a busy time for the team, and we’ve made some real strides. Our focus has been on four key areas: Data, Deployment, Docs, and Refinement—the building blocks for making Create as powerful as it is easy to use.

Let’s start with data.

This is where we’ve made the most significant progress – and where things start to get really exciting. With the upcoming live datastore, you’ll be able to manage your app data effortlessly. Whether it’s creating collections to store your records or using Data Views to work with your data more efficiently, it’s all about making sure your app handles data smoothly—no custom code required.

Now, you might be wondering—what exactly is a Data View?

A Data View lets you create filtered, sorted, and highly optimized subsets of your data. Let’s say you have a large collection of employees, but you only want to display employees in the “Marketing” department who joined after 2020. With Data Views, you can do just that—filter and join data from multiple collections into a clean, targeted view for your app.

The best part? This isn’t just a performance boost (though it is incredibly efficient). It also simplifies the process of presenting dynamic data to users. Whether you’re building an employee directory, inventory system, or project tracker, Data Views make complex data handling feel simple. Making data management efficient for building complex apps was always something that was part of our plan as soon as we reached a proof of concept. A first version of this is coming soon.

Deployment

Alongside data, we’ve been hard at work on deployment. We want getting your app live to be as easy as clicking a button. Whether you’re deploying to the web, desktop, or other platforms, the goal is to make it quick and seamless. Deployment will follow shortly after the datastore work lands. We realise between data and deployment that this makes up a large portion of what is needed for users to adopt the platform.

Documentation

On the documentation front, we’re pulling everything together into a new, unified portal:

• Language docs
• Widget guides
• Step-by-step examples

It’ll be easier than ever to find what you need, whether you’re exploring features or learning as you go. We’re also exploring the idea of an AI assistant trained on these docs, to give you instant answers as you build. This is really coming along, take a look at these screenshots of what we have working internally!

Refinement

And finally, refinement. Since the last developer preview, we’ve fixed over 50 bugs, added 30+ enhancements, and improved the overall experience—tweaks to responsive layout, theming, font selection, and more. These refinements are all about making Create feel smoother, more intuitive, and more enjoyable to use.

So, what’s next? Data comes first, with deployment following close behind. But we’re not stopping there. We’ll continue polishing widgets, adding new actions, and refining every part of the platform to make sure it feels right.

If you’re wondering “When will Create be ready for me?”– well, it depends. The platform’s growing quickly, and if you’ve got a project in mind, I’d love to hear about it. Drop me a DM in the Create forum, or email me at support@livecode.com (FAO Steven), and let’s chat.

Thank you, as always, for your support. We’ve got some great things coming—and I can’t wait to share them with you in the New Year.

Cheers,
Steven