OmniFocus – Task Management Software Built for Pros | Hacker News Reader

OmniFocus – Task Management Software Built for Pros

omnigroup.com

29 pointslowmemcpu23 comments

That's true. OF is the king of all GTD task management systems and have been since always. It's the only thing I miss after abandoning Apple ecosystem years ago. People who don't do GTD religiously (and believe me - for them the GTD management system IS far more important than anything else in their toolbox) and other similar methodologies tend to have no idea what kind of difference a good system like OF makes. The guys behind the product nailed it and even now, as far as I know, no one was able to replicate their success.

I'd be in heaven if the company behind it - the OmniGroup - would be willing to: 1) Develop native or semi-native apps for multiple OSes + a web app; 2) Cut down their pricing a little bit. A similar strategy got Evernote a lot of users (although they still don't have a native Linux app) - I mean cross-platform and the fact that they offer reasonable discounts to their loyal customers.

It's also a fact that there's a lot people grounded in Apple's ecosystem purely because their dependence on OF (some even write about that here in this thread). I'm sorry for you guys. Really. Leaving OF was probably the hardest technological decision I've ever made, and even now - years later - I feel a thrilling fear remembering how I was struggling with myself about that, but I really can't afford being into a vendor lock-in with Apple or anyone else for that matter, whether it's in enterprise or my private life. That's dangerous and must have consequences in the future regardless of your current views regarding what Apple does (take a look on how many Fortune 500 companies went off that index during a typical lifespan - Apple isn't eternal too).

But somehow MacOS is a very important thing in OmniGroup. Their choice... But I miss you guys and I hope you'll mature to a similar decision I made - that Apple isn't "the one" and life has a lot more to offer ;) We could be friends again. I'm sure there are many others like me...

PS: People recommending some simple task management systems they use have no idea what they are talking about trying to compare it with something like OF... It's like comparing Windows' Notepad to Vim. Yes, they both are text editors, but the latter one is kind of "on-steroids" to the point where it makes no sense to even compare them.

There is a web version now but it's still missing basic functionalities, let alone the more advanced ones.

I have been using the web version on Linux box for almost half a year (because I don't own a Mac right now) and found it to be acceptable _only_ as a companion to iPad or iPhone version. It's not usable standalone at all (for example, you cannot create recurring tasks, or even move a project into a folder, or even _create_ a project in a folder). I hope they improve the web version, but the development doesn't seems very active[1]

That said, I've tried everything else, including Todoist and even org-mode, but found myself come back to OmniFocus in the end since I found Perspective to be essential to my workflow (even though web version doesn't support Perspective at all, at least I can use it on my iPad). Org probably come closest to fully replacing OmniFocus, but syncing between a Linux box and iOS devices has been... not fun.

[1]: https://www.omnigroup.com/releasenotes/omnifocus-web

I feel you, man. Thanks for the info about the web version, BTW. For my taste even the mobile versions of OF aren't a real thing and are acceptable only on-the-go, even the iPad one isn't rich enough. But the desktop app for OSX... That's a beast (the one I can't have, since I don't use Macs anymore).

Plus I see that the web version has no persistent offline storage / mode. That isn't going to work for me. So, not only lack of features might be a problem.

OmniFocus for iPad has improved a lot to the point I don't feel I'm missing too many features from the Mac version (though there are still some awkward parts in the UI, e.g. moving/creating folders and projects) and even has support for Omni Automation Plugins now, in addition to Shortcuts support.

Web version sadly has no persistent offline storage as you said. It's also veeerrrrryyy slow since every click requires a roundtrip to a server that made slightly acceptable thanks to WebSockets (I don't live in the U.S. where their servers seems to be located). I'm connected most of the time so offline storage is not that much of a concern for me. I wish Omni Group put more effort into it though, given they charge $50 a year on top of a standalone app, which is way more expensive than Todoist. :(

Todoist is excellent. Things for Mac is great as well.

+1 for Todoist

Todoist is also the only one I know that offers an API

My Todoist bot adds features that no one will ever build into todo apps, but improve my life tremendously.

I'll never use a todo app without API again.

This. Exactly what I am looking for.

I am currently using any.do but the problem is they don't have an api.

I've been using omnifocus for several years, but recently moved all of my projects to Everdo[1].

1. https://everdo.net/

I see some appeal (cross-platform, stronger sync privacy claim) but how do the task management features compare?

Why?

Help us to learn from your experience.

Perhaps my use case is pretty simple, I only need the following:

- projects - recurring tasks - deferral dates - deadlines - ability to set the next occurrence either with a fixed period (every X days) or with a floating period (X days after the last completion)

Everdo provides all of those features in a, subjectively, simpler user interface. I think the killer feature of OmniFocus is custom perspectives. I don't use them so it wasn't hard to migrate. YMMV.

Also, even after years of use, I find OmniFocus' desktop UI a bit confusing and convoluted. It got a lot better, but still not great. They focused on iOS at some point, but I don't use GTD managers on the go.

By the way, Everdo is basically a clone of NirvanaHQ[1], a pretty popular GTD tool.

1. https://www.nirvanahq.com/

Did they release a new version?

RIP Omni group. They will be missed.

What is this referring to?

Parent is overreacting a bit. Omnigroup had some layoffs recently, but they’re not ready for the cart just yet:

https://daringfireball.net/linked/2020/03/31/layoffs-at-the-...

I've heard some good things about Omnifocus but it's Apple exclusive so guess I'll never get to try it out.

There’s a relatively new web-based version.

Unless they've made huge strides lately, it's nowhere near parity and leaves out most of the differentiating features.

I was excited hearing that. But seeing the pricing.. yikes. The web subscription for 50$/year requires a iOS or mac standalone license for 50$ one-time.

If I would be able to use the iOS/Mac native app, I wouldn't even need the web version....

I understand that focusing on Apple(OS features) is what makes these apps so great. But it's sad to not beeing able to use these apps, even when they finally offer a web version.

Yes, this is the single app that locks me into Apple's platform these days.

For myself, it is OmniGraffle. Now I just keep an older Macbook Air around solely for diagramming.

Ahaha yes. I once run hackintosh in a VM, just to draw diagrams for an important homework.

I'm similar. I have my own Eisenhoweresque productivity system for triage and prioritization implemented across ~10 perspectives, etc. I've been trying to adapt myself back to mainstream reality that Todoist or TickTick could handle for portability's sake but so far haven't succeeded. I like my own system, predictably enough.

The UI is beyond idiosyncratic, but the only web package I've found with enough power to replicate all my OmniFocus perspectives is The Amazing Marvin.

It is incredibly configurable across any number of productivity systems, and the query language for saved searches (aka perspectives) is straight up RPN with a metric crapload of task matchers and unlimited stack depth. Tag groups can be active parts of the UI that turn into task entry dropdowns, so you can make your OmniFocus tag system into actual user interface with exclusive tags. You can't be both UI and NI for example, so you can create an Urgent/Important exclusive group and make it a dropdown. It's stunningly effective in these ways and gives you so much more flexibility than Omni.

The only problem is literally every part of the app has different key mappings and UI affordances. It looks like it was cobbled together homegrown feature by feature and the design unfortunately really does show it.

It's worth a shot, but it does make OmniFocus look downright polished UI-wise. But man, the power of that system for configuration...super impressive.

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