Perhaps this is a gift idea for your daughters?
No, I told them to give to charity. 
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This is my perspective as well. I had hoped that v4 would bring refreshed perspectives, better usability, fresher design, but it’s true that it’s mostly just back-end changes that help the developers. That’s often times a hard pill to swallow as a user.
I don’t think Omni will rest on their laurels, but I do hope that many enhancements that have been teased out for years will finally come to fruition. cough Date based perspective filters. cough Unfortunately it feels like every time a developer re-builds an app it takes ages before the gains for the user are realized. It’s possible that much of that waiting period was eaten up during the development of v4. While there aren’t a lot of flashy new features with v4, the fact that it works almost identically with v3 means that we skipped all the painful time of waiting for the new framework to catch up (like FCP X).
Time will tell of course. 
I’m optimistic, but I’m not rushing out to purchase an upgrade at this point.
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I’ll buy the upgrade of course, just to see my zillion actions to not be more done than before. 
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I find the useability of the iOS and iPadOS of V4 way better than the previous V3 version.
The whole interaction is for me one of the significant changes which really gives way more enjoyment on using OF4 on mobile devices.
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The point releases are when they’re going to start changing the database (e.g. improving perspectives.) Relative date ranges for due/defer/soon are at the top of my list.
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And thus the subjective-ness of software…
I should say I don’t use iPadOS, so I can’t comment there. I also don’t have an Apple Watch anymore, so I don’t benefit from the new watch app. I just use macOS and iOS.
For me there are still way too many taps in iOS. Drag and dropping is clunky and I often hit the wrong target 80% of the time. The forward and back navigation is appreciated though. But what I want out of iOS is less friction with a simple “Today” list. They’re close now with the Forecast in v4, but since I prefer to use a defer based workflow there’s a lot of friction in moving things around.
[into the weeds]
Ideally I’d like to see what I have on the docket today, and then drag and drop tasks to a later date on the calendar if I can’t get to it that day. There used to be a flag that changed this behavior on v3 of iOS but now it’s not. The current behavior is to modify the Due Date not Defer when dragging. Anyway, if I use iOS as I did before (more as a viewing platform) then it’s totally useable. But if I try to actively manage anything from my iPhone it’s just tedious and not worth the effort. I’ve tried supplementing this by creating automations but they can be buggy and crash the app unexpectedly.
[/into the weeds]
macOS is just the same as v3 for me. There are a few new changes, but for the most part the app is identical in my use. For which I will say v3 was totally good for me. I was able to create a workflow that was nearly effortless.
So all that boils down to, do I pay for an upgrade that doesn’t really change any workflows for me? Right now that answer is no.
But I understand that for others this is a significant upgrade and definitely worth their money.
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speaking of enjoyment of the interaction on iPadOS…
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Completely understandable if that’s what you are comfortable with. I store all of my license credentials and legacy “final version” apps in DevonTHINK.
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Im not sure I understand this point. I have installed OF4 on all of my Macs and have not needed to remove the license from any of them to use on a different mac. Removing licenses on Macs I wiped in the past has never been necessary either. I have seen nothing to indicate OF4 is any different.
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I haven’t seen that either. I have one OF license I activate on all my Macs. Maybe there’s an activation limit of 5 in a year (or something) that requires emailing support, that I haven’t hit. I avoid the Mac App Store whenever a Mac app isn’t exclusive to it.
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Many programmers have contemplated or actually been through a redesign and rebuild of their system. They have a working system with paying clients but it is clunky in some ways and could be better. Then someone says, “I know. Let’s rebuild it! We’ll do it better this time. And we can use the latest platform technology. And a better database! And I’ve got ideas for UI changes!”
By the time they are deep in the weeds, their schedule has slipped, delivery dates have passed repeatedly, and they have run into the same difficulties that forced the decisions that were made the first time around. Plus, unless you have a new team or least a new leader, the old team already knows what the solution looks like so the redesigned version 2 ends up looking like the same old thing to the users.
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I mean…it took them several years to release OF 4 from the time of announcement, right? 
The one-time payment for v4 should be good for quite awhile.
Personally, I think there are still UI improvements possible. But compared to v3, it feels just a touch smoother and more polished. It definitely doesn’t feel like a major overhaul in the sense of “upgrading is a no-brainer.”
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I qualify for the free upgrade, I wonder if I should give it a spin?
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This episode of the Omni Show put the OmniFocus 4 development and design in perspective, pun intended. 
I thought many would find this of interest.
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Sure! Why not? It is definitely worth checking it out.
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There is an old programming truism to the effect that if you reinvent the wheel to get rid of its problems, you now have a new wheel with a new set of problems that are unfamiliar to everybody.
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Look away from the headlights! 
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It could also be said that Things’ form and function aren’t separated — tracking a hierarchy of Areas, Projects, and Items, and a set of optional metadata. That’s pretty much it. Whether that arrangement works for a given user or purpose, or whether Cultured Code’s implementation of that arrangement works, is of course debatable.
OmniFocus, which I’ve used off and on since it was an OmniOutliner GTD project, is very complicated in both form/presentation and function. When I periodically return to it, there inevitably comes the time where the Omni overwhelms the Focus. YMMV.
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I peeked, but I quickly got off of the train track. I have no need or desire to change my task management app. I’ve mastered Reminders and it works just fine. 
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