The notes field in OF4 can be edited in the main outline. The inspector panel on the right side can be rearranged. You’ll be able to move the notes section or any other field around as well as show or hide them as needed.
3 Likes
Yes, they’ve made clear they’ll have the usual paid upgrades for 4.0, either for individual platforms for one price to have OF 4 everywhere with one purchase.
1 Like
FWIW, I have been an OmniFocus user since v2 and have been running the OF 4 beta for over a year now. I agree that it had developed some friction points, but I have found that the improvements in v4 have made it fun to use again. In there blog post last week, the Omnigroup stated “we consider OmniFocus 4.0 feature complete on iPhone and iPad”, so I’d highly recommend downloading the beta and giving it a try.
3 Likes
Then why release a new version. V3 and v4 work on the same software, so there’s no incentive to switch at all.
Interface changes for me are not enough, certainly not the ones currently shown
As far as I understand, they will have a kind of a base across all devices with similar functionalities starting from OF4.
This could be read as a remarkable change, and in my opinion justifies a new major release, with the expectation of rather quick following updates from that point on with new features (whatever that might be?)
1 Like
OF3 got a bunch of feature updates in the point releases, which probably got some people to bump up from 2 that were incensed about 3.0. I think this should be similar. The need to support macOS/iOS system features quickly will probably keep them releasing features in point releases for awhile.
Because, as mentioned in previous posts, they’ve had to rebuild the underlying software platform to support common functions and features across all the Apple systems.
1 Like
I have had my OmniFocus system set up such that the iPhone was the only version of the app allowed to import Reminders (with this setting switched to “On” back in the day, items were getting duplicated). But to answer your question, since OF fires in the background, YES - if I say, “Hey Siri, reminder me to call Mom at 5pm”, it gets auto-imported to OF on iPhone at some point (pretty quickly — 1 minute or so), and then that reminder fires off in OmniFocus without my intervention. Things requires the import. I had just asked Cultured Code (maker of Things) about that, and they said that they require the manual import in order to avoid duplicates.
1 Like
Hey all, when I installed OF4 for from testflight, it noted a keyboard shortcut to send through feedback… I can’t find that shortcut anywhere - anyone know what I’m referring to?
I’ve had OF4 on Mac crash a few times now so wanted to log the issues.
I may be misremembering, but I thought the keyboard shortcut in that onboarding screen was just a reminder of how to take a screenshot.
3 Likes
Normally, it should work like this:
- Open the Testflight app.
- Tap on the icon of the application you want to provide feedback on.
- Tap “Send Feedback” in the center towards the top of the screen.
1 Like
Here are the instructions for sending feedback from the recent OmniFocus 4 for Mac joins iPhone and iPad apps in TestFlight! post on Omni’s blog.
Sharing Feedback about OmniFocus
Thank you to everyone who has already taken the time to test OmniFocus 4 for iPhone and iPad - we can’t wait to hear what you think about OmniFocus 4 for Mac! As always, the best way to submit specific feedback and bug reports is by sending it to Omni directly - either via the TestFlight “Send Beta Feedback” option, or by emailing omnifocus4-testflight@omnigroup.com. If you’d like to discuss OmniFocus 4 with other members of the TestFlight and Omni community, we invite you to join the #omnifocus-4 channel in Omni’s Slack workspace!
1 Like
Apologies for quoting this whole post, but it’s been several days so I wanted to capture context on my thoughts.
I’m enjoying the OF4 beta for Mac and looking forward to upgrading on iOS. OF4 is a nice upgrade with a variety of feature improvements.
But the fact that you can change all these options to do things in line or in an inspector — and the fact that neither option feels all that nice — is exactly why folks like @svsmailus (and many others) prefer Things. If the new inline editing tools were so amazing, they’d have gotten rid of the Inspector instead of offering both. I am convinced that good software (and good art) must have strong opinions. Things remains the most tasteful (and opinionated) design in task management.
At one point, the Omni Group held that crown, but they’ve not been able to scale their design with complexity. It needs a rethink. I don’t think one is ever coming. (They also don’t have a lot of designers at Omni, and it shows.)
But like I said, I rely on OF and am excited to upgrade.
1 Like
In this recent TestFlight build, Omni was asking TestFlight users to give the inline editor a chance. Then they’re asking for feedback. From the looks of this, the inspector pane may be deprecated over time in favor of the inline editor. For now, it is still available for users who are probably trying to ween themselves off of the inspector. It’s hard to get rid of old habits and the inspector is one of them.
It’s not the end product and OF4 will evolve over time.
I’m enjoying the OF4 beta for Mac and looking forward to upgrading on iOS. OF4 is a nice upgrade with a variety of feature improvements.
Have you tried it on iOS? I think it’s a significant upgrade from OF3. I switched to the OF4 iOS betas this summer and they’ve been functional, stable, and—most importantly—basically created parity between the OSX and iOS versions, which was lacking in OF3. The TestFlight builds on OSX are crashing for me when I do certain things, so the Mac betas seem a little less stable at this point.
But the fact that you can change all these options to do things in line or in an inspector — and the fact that neither option feels all that nice — is exactly why folks like @svsmailus (and many others) prefer Things. If the new inline editing tools were so amazing, they’d have gotten rid of the Inspector instead of offering both.
I actually quite like that there is the option of using the inspector or doing it inline, and I find that the design/UI of OF4 is an upgrade on 3. In other words, both options feel nice to me.
An addendum to this is that the development of Shortcuts has really enhanced my use of OmniFocus over the past year. I have so many Shortcuts that add various project/task templates that my use of OF feels like it has grown by leaps and bounds (even after a decade of use) and made altogether more useful because of Shortcuts (and Omni Automation.)
1 Like
I have been using it on iOS for a long time.
I’m not saying it’s not a good upgrade. I rely on it every day. It’s a great app, and it fits me well. I have tried, but can’t use Things. I think that allowing users multiple ways to accomplish common tasks is good UX, but including both editing experiences just means they couldn’t pick one. Which means neither is show-stopping good. There’s still room for improvement.
The OF inline editor is in a funny place because (I think) it’s trying to do two jobs: show the project context while editing, and make the task editor feel lighter.
Things’ inspector only takes up about half the screen and loads roughly where an inline editor would be. So it’s only trying to do the second job of making task editing feel light, and succeeding.
The OF inline editor might as well be the inspector if you include all possible fields (takes up the entire height of my phone screen) and so would Things’ if they allowed as many task options as OF did. Although, the way Things puts unused fields into the lower right as icons keeps the editor shorter until the task becomes more complex (and looks great.)
Definitely a design challenge. I wish both companies were able to put more staff on their task apps.
1 Like
Have to say that I am really starting to enjoy the Mac and iOS apps. Lot of work has gone on. Spent a year with Todoist then 18 months with Things. Just great to be back. Things nearly drove me crazy with lack of filters. Todoist’s management of projects (hundreds of them) just as bad.
Now just need to revive all my keyboard shortcuts.
1 Like
I’m actually the opposite.
I like the feature set with OF but not the implementation. There are too many clicks needed to do simple things and too many hidden functions.
I also find the use of space on ios unhelpful. Way too much white space between tasks.
In comparison Things is neat and tidy, everything you need is visible. No hidden clicks or excessive tapping needed.
Things actually has quite a lot of filtering through the search. Yes it could be better, but I can find anything easily.
I keep trying OF4, but finding myself moving back to Things and breathing a sigh of relief.
3 Likes
I like Things a lot and would consider switching from Reminders to Things (mainly for the “when/start” feature if Things had the equivalent of OF’s Perspectives or Reminders Smart List. I depend Reminders Smart Lists to persistently filter projects and tasks. Unfortunately, I’ve not found a way to replicate this function in Things.
1 Like