Sync is far and away one of the biggest failings of OF. The amount of time I spend trying to get it to sync blows my mind, particularly if I haven’t used it on a particular device in a while — but sometimes even if I’ve just made significant changes on my Mac, I’ll wait a while for my phone to catch up.
My read on this is that the backend data is huge and slow to sync, for some reason, which is odd considering it’s mostly just plain text. It’d be great if they could make it smaller and get rid of the need to archive anything.
There’s an OmniFocus extension for the excellent PopClip utility (available directly from the developer and in Setapp). With this extension installed, you can select text in virtually any app and create an OmniFocus action incorporating this text.
Arc is my primary browser, and I regularly use PopClip to create OmniFocus actions. For example, if I select some text from a post in this thread and click the OmniFocus icon, PopClip creates the following action. I like that the date and time are included along with the text and link.
There’s also a Save to OmniFocus Chrome extension that works with Arc. I have it tied to a keyboard shortcut (⌥O) and sometimes use it when I don’t need to select text on a webpage. The only downside is it displays the following message each time. However, it’s simple enough to press Return to dismiss the message (and it would be easy to create a Keyboard Maestro macro that clicks Open OmniFocus automatically).
I contacted the developer of this extension a while back to request Arc support but haven’t heard back yet.
Would the HookMark app be of use to you for your workflow? I find that anything that adds even a modicum of friction in my daily workflow tends to get abandoned quickly.
Hookmark (available from the developer and on Setapp) can create an OmniFocus action from many apps, including Arc.
If OmniFocus is set as the default app in Hookmark (in Settings > Notes), an action that links to a webpage can be captured by pressing ⌃H (to invoke Hookmark) and ⌘N (to create the OmniFocus action). A link to this webpage is added to the new OmniFocus action and Hookmark’s bookmarks database.
OmniFocus support followed up with me on the web clipper not working for Chrome based browsers and in particular Arc. They were unable to replicate the issue but asked me to check if Arc was listed under the Settings > Privacy & Security > Automation > OmniFocus. Unlike Things it is not, does anyone know how it’s possible to add it?
@leanda — Thanks for sharing your response from Omni Support. I suspect that Arc doesn’t have automation support. I recommend contacting The Browser Company (the company that develops Arc) with this request. In the meantime, hopefully, one of the capture methods mentioned earlier in this thread will do the job.
That’s funny. I got a different answer from support, going into detail about how Chrome’s support for macOS system services has been intermittently broken and fixed recently. It sounds like they are depending on the browsers to be good Mac citizens with the services action. They suggested a few workarounds including a web clipper bookmarklet and the PopClip approach that @timstringer mentioned.
The OmniFocus 4: Send to Inbox service works with the latest version of Chrome but not with Arc. Both use the Chromium engine, but I think the company developing the browser is responsible for at least some of the system-level integration.
On a side note, I hope Arc adds some Shortcuts actions at some point. I contacted them with this request a while back.
Ken tells me they’re actively speaking with Apple to get around SwiftUI issues for the iPad. Fingers crossed. OF is still the king. Can’t stand not using it for my day to day at the moment.
Installed OmniFocus 4 yesterday. Doing some testing and watching the field guide. Will probably switch from Things to this, but one thing is really bugging me. The mouse cursor acts really weird! I see that it does the same in the field guide also. Pointing it over the note field changes the cursor and it does not change back like it should. Have to point it at the sidebar to get the normal cursor back. Anyone else experiencing this?
I cannot reproduce this behaviour, just for the record. Do you mean the note field in the Inspector with the default “Add note” text? Something seems to be messing with the keyboard focus, are you running anything like Keyboard Maestro or something like that?
Are you saying that cursor goes from a shape like “ | “ when pointing it at the note field (so that you can type), and you wish that it defaulted back to “” when done typing in notes field? If so, I’m not seeing that. I would write Support if you’re seeing it after perhaps force closing and then restarting the app.
It’s in good shape (though this question might be better answered by an OF hater.) The biggest point release change I can think of is a rework of shortcut actions/intents.
Planned Date – A new “Planned” date field will allow you to schedule items. This makes it possible to earmark work for a specific date without arbitrarily deferring the task.
I think the “when” date in Things is equivalent to the “defer until” date in OmniFocus; it allows you to specify when a task is available to be worked on. OmniFocus 4.7 will an additional date field for planning you want to work on a task.
For example, let’s say I have a task of “Pick up M4 MacBook Pro” and know the item is going to be availble for pick-up on July 16 and needs to be picked up by July 26 or it will be sent back. I may plan to pick it up July 19 while out running some errands, but may pick it up as early as the day it arrives if I happen to be in the neigbourhood.
In this case, I would set the defer until date to July 16, the planned date to July 19 and the due date to July 26. This avoids having to arbitrarily set the defer date until July 19 and missing the opportunity to pick it up before then if I happen to be driving past.
OmniFocus 4.7 will have (3) dates: defer, planned, and due. Whereas Things has (2) dates: Deadline (due date), and “When” date (which currently serves as both a defer date (it is not available in the “Anytime” view when a future When date has been selected) and an intention date, since it shows up in the Today list on the date that the When date occurs. That When date is sort of like a planned date, except in Things you cannot get that granular with it. The When date is essentially serving two roles, which could have a clash between availability and intention. OmniFocus will allow for variation in all 3 dates.
” when done typing in notes field? If so, I’m not seeing that. I would