Now Available: Mac-to-Mac Bonjour sync over local networks

[Ken Case]

If all goes well with our internal testing this morning, we plan to turn on the option to sync OmniFocus over a local network using Bonjour.

Bonjour syncing is a very simple way to let Macs and devices on your local network discover and sync with a copy of your OmniFocus database. As it doesn't require special setup or a subscription to a service, this is the simplest way to synchronize Macs or devices locally.

Bonjour only works over local networks. If you're having trouble seeing your Bonjour server from another system, try setting up a direct network between the machines that you're syncing. (You can do this by plugging an ethernet cable directly from one machine to another, or by setting up a direct Ad-Hoc Wi-Fi network between the two.) If that doesn't work either, please contact omnifocus@omnigroup.com so we can try to help you figure out what's going wrong.

The current 1.0.3 release of OmniFocus for iPhone doesn't have support for Bonjour syncing, but assuming this test goes well we plan to add that support for the next release.

We look forward to your feedback!

[Brian]

A sneakypeek with the Bonjour syncing enabled was just pushed out. Have at it, folks. :-)

[Lizard]

Known issue that didn't quite make the release notes: Setting up OmniFocus on a 10.4 (Tiger) machine to "Connect to an existing sync database" for Bonjour syncing will crash.

We have an engineer looking at this right now and plan to get a fix out ASAP.

[Nerdygirl]

Just tried out Mac-to-Mac syncing and it's mega fast. Nice one chaps. If this works with my iPod I will be one happy customer.

I probably won't use the mac-to-mac syncing much, as I primarily use my iPod and macbook, so as a practical solution it's a bit fussy at the minute although I can sync over Bonjour, then switch back and sync over Mobileme... it's just messy. I will keep trying it out though, for testing purposes, and report any issues of course.

But bring it on chaps - well done so far.

(PS Any idea when iphone v1.1 will be ready? I have to cancel Mobileme in a couple of weeks time if I don't want to be charged 60 quid.... ;) )

[ext555]

Hopefully 1.1 with support for iPhone will come out within the next 40 days before my " mobile me " trial runs out : )

For now I just use a macBook and the iPhone so I can't really test .

LOL just saw the post above , guess I'm not the only one .

[Brian]

We're testing Mac-to-Phone internally; we'll fix any issues that appear under this setup, and then roll the feature out on the phone.

Releasing solid code is always our number 1 priority, but "preventing folks that don't want MobileMe from needing to pay for it" is a very close second. :-)

[Toadling]

I mentioned this in another thread, but I'll bring it up again here. What do you think of the idea of allowing both MobileMe and Bonjour syncing to be active at the same time rather than having to choose one or the other? In other words, have OmniFocus use the Bonjour network if available, otherwise fallback to syncing with MobileMe.

I'd love the speed of Bonjour when I'm at my desk, but I don't want to give up the "security blanket" of MobileMe syncing while I'm out.

-Dennis

PS - This is assuming that Bonjour syncing between a Mac and an iPhone is actually significantly faster than going over MobileMe with those two devices on a WiFi connection.

[Lizard]

Toadling: It's an interesting concept, and I invite you to send our ninjas an email suggesting it. However, that would be a fairly major change to our current syncing system. Since MobileMe syncing stores the shared data on MobileMe and Bonjour syncing stores the shared data on a Mac, switching between the two systems would require moving your data back and forth, or a rather different approach to syncing altogether. So it'd be unlikely that we could add this any time soon.

[abh19]

Thanks for the bonjour syncing. It's just what I'm looking for: desktop to laptop.

[zosont]

I run an os x server on my home network, and this would seem like the ideal place to keep the sync database, however I'm getting an error saying that it could not launch httpd.

Has anyone else managed to host the sync database on leopard server?

Cheers. Nick

[Lizard]

I don't think we tried running it on an OS X server. We had to do separate config files for 10.4 and 10.5. Maybe we will need to do a similar thing for OS X Server? I'll try to find out on Monday.

[django]

I am testing the mac version, and I am please with it, so I buy the iphone version to test the all system before to pay more
but I am unable to synchronized the two applications with the instruction of the help unsing Bonjour
Now I understand that the help instructions are not accurate since Bonjour dont work on iphone version
so I'm very desappointed (and a bit more than that !)
sorry but the webdav activation si totaly uncomprehensible from the very first line (and I can not find the file too)
so when will it works ?

[Lizard]

django: Bonjour syncing is coming for the iPhone soon. In the meantime, if you have a MobileMe account, that's the next-easiest way to get syncing. What file are you saying you can't find?

Have you tried emailing our Support Ninjas to get some help? (omnifocus@omnigroup.com)

[django]

Sorry but I am a basic mac user
I refer to the 2nd step
Enable WebDAV support in Apache. Edit the file /etc/apache2/httpd.conf, (remember to use sudo to edit it) and locate this line
I never heard before the words WebDAV, Apache, sudo, Terminal (and so on)
and I am unable to find the httpd.conf file and I have no /etc/apache2 too
in my MacBook pro with macOS 10.5.5

and I dont want to pay 79euros to apple too

[whpalmer4]

If you are running Mac OS 10.5, you have those files. In the Finder, type <apple>-G and in the resulting dialog box, type /etc/apache2, click the blue button, and you'll get a window showing you the files in that directory. Congratulations -- you've now done the single easiest step in the project :)

However, I would recommend you just wait a few days (the exact value of "a few" I regret I cannot provide) for OmniFocus 1.1 for iPhone to be released through the App Store which will relieve you of the need to do some configuration which will be both tricky to do and even trickier to debug if you don't have Unix command line experience. Another option would be to open a free trial MobileMe account.

[django]

Thank you for the trick !
I verify that apple-G is not mentionned in the help of the finder (at least in the short cut for files and "dossier" (I do not know the translation in english)
and that this file only appear with apple-G and not apple-F
another mistery !!!
I think it would be better for me to be patient
and I it would be kind of you to propose a simplest way of synchronisation
sincerily
Francois

[whpalmer4]

It may not be listed in the Finder help, but it is a standard Finder command and the keyboard shortcut should be visible when you look at the Go menu (the command is Go to Folder in the English version). Spotlight doesn't index all files on the system, only the "user" files, I think. As you've discovered, you can't use it to find everything! "Folder" is probably the word you couldn't remember (instead of "dossier").

If you can set up a trial MobileMe account (free for at least 30 days, but check to be sure) at http://www.me.com you should be able to use that for synchronizing your iPhone until the 1.1 version is ready. The only thing wrong with it is (for this purpose, at least) that you have to pay for it if you use it beyond the trial period; OmniFocus works very reliably with it for sync. If you do this, make sure in your System Preferences for MobileMe (or .Mac if you are using 10.4) that you do not enable MobileMe syncing of your iDisk.

[mwilden]

This has probably been answered many times, but it's not an easy subject to search for. My question is whether I need to open OF on my iPhone in order to sync it to my Mac over Bonjour.

On the face of it, the answer seems obvious: yes. But I'm used to syncing my phone simply by cradling it. I put it in the cradle when I get home from work and I take it out in the morning, knowing it has all my new contacts and appointments.

However, it seems with OF that I need to remember to open the app and let it do its spinny thing before I leave for work.

[whpalmer4]

Only Apple applications get to run in the background, and only Apple applications get to use the USB cable for syncing, so if you don't have OmniFocus running, it isn't being synced.