Omnifocus crashes all the time on iphone 3g

[diesel]

Omni Response:

The OmniFocus for iPhone FAQ:
http://forums.omnigroup.com/showthread.php?t=8442

This has been filed internally at Omni as:
<bug://bugs/48370> (Crash on launch, also rebooting phone??)

If you are also experiencing this issue please
Email OmniFocus Support (mailto:omnifocus@omnigroup.com?subject=<bug://bugs/48370> (Crash on launch, also rebooting phone??))


Original User Question:

Original User Question:I use omnifocus as a standalone app (i don't have a mac) and i just purchased it. To "test" it, I created a simple task in the inbox with a voice recording a two pictures. After going back to home, it kept crashing. Must have crashed 3 times. No other app i installed has done this. Please comment. thanks.

[Brian]

I'm able to crash the app with reasonable frequency if I take a picture while listening to music on the iPod at the same time - I suspect us plus camera plus iPod equals too much memory; Apple loves iTunes more than us, so we get shut down.

I also know that one of the changes we're making in version 1.0.1 of the application is to encode the audio at a lower bit rate. We got email from folks that told us we were using crazy high quality levels. (Higher quality than the mike on the phone would justify, and data files that are too big for a mobile device.)

One action with an audio recording and two pictures could conceivably cause the out-of-memory problem we were discussing in the other thread, if the audio file was large enough.

[mtkoren]

I also get crashes - on my 2G. Seems to happen after I enter a few actions or projects.

[BwanaZulia]

Syncing is on of the things that I feel crashed it.

BZ

[Lizard]

If iTunes gives you the opportunity to send in your crash reports, please do so. We haven't persuaded Apple to pass those crash reports on to us yet, but we're working on it.

[LawDaddy]

Here's an article on the difficulty of troubleshooting iPhone apps in the walled garden that is iTunes:

http://furbo.org/2008/07/14/bugging/

[jen71]

in addition to having lost all my data with the mobile upgrade, omnifocus now crashes

Every. Single. Time. I use it.

none of my other apps crash. just omnifocus. it crashes when i create a folder. it crashes when i try to add a task. sometimes it crashes when it's trying to access the database, just for shits and giggles, it seems.

this is Not Cool.

[Stormchild]

I'm not going to say OmniFocus isn't crashing for other people, as it may well be, but I think it should be mentioned that pretty much *any* app other than the stock ones included with the iPhone/iPod Touch can crash or (sadly, much more often) cause kernel panics that reset the device (i.e. bump you out to the Apple logo, which you will stare at for a frustratingly long time while it boots (and presumably runs fsck) on painfully slow SS memory).

I do get an occasional crash that drops me back out to the springboard (aka home screen), and I attribute those to OmniFocus, but I suspect the kernel panics are an issue with the OS. I've had just about every one of my third-party apps cause my iPod Touch to spontaneously reboot now and then; it usually happens immediately when opening the app.

It does seem to have settled in a bit though. I find it often happens after installing a new app (though it could be any app that triggers the kernel panic, not necessarily the one just installed, leading me to believe the installation process is causing some kind of general instability).

[SohoNYC]

I have written a bit in these forums about my OmniFocus for the iPhone crashing and eventually losing all my data; it has happened twice in the past week. I was able to restore my data before the last crash yesterday, which at the same time did a subtle upgrade to the iPhone's 2.0 Firmware. I also used this opportunity to successfully install OmniFocus's 1.0.1.

I just had my first crash with the updated OmniFocus 1.0.1. I haven't lost data...yet. FYI, I have quite a few applications and have not had any others crash, although I do not use them anywhere as much as OmniFocus.

By the way, how does one free up iPhone memory if they did open up multiple applications in a row, other than restarting the phone?

Phil

[Anjan]

... pretty much *any* app other than the stock ones included with the iPhone/iPod Touch can crash or (sadly, much more often) cause kernel panics that reset the device

Brilliant extrapolation to justify your purchase of an expensive piece of crappy software? I have a 2G phone and I haven't had ONE crash with all the apps I'm using on it. There is, however, one difference between your configuration and mine - I didn't pay for one of the most expensive beta level software on the App Store - OmniFocus. I think its pretty clear what the root cause is here.

I religiously use OmniGraffle and OmniOutliner because they are in a class of their own but since OmniFocus this company seems to have hired a lot of Microsoft employess - overpriced and buggy software.

Here's hoping they change their ways and stop ripping off their customers.

[Brian]

Anjan, we don't have a problem with you using the boards to express your views about us, our apps, or our competition.

That said, I had to I edit your post to remove offensive language. Express yourself in an appropriate manner, or we will be forced to ban you.

[Anjan]

Anjan, we don't have a problem with you using the boards to express your views about us, our apps, or our competition.

That said, I had to I edit your post to remove offensive language. Express yourself in an appropriate manner, or we will be forced to ban you.
Ok Brian - Good to know that your boards are open to users than are not infatuated (wonder if that's considered offensive) with OG.

/sarcasm

Joking aside - it took me a while to figure out what was "offensive" in my post and you have to be kidding me to censor that!! So I can't call OmniGroup 'rapacious' for pricing an application in a range of less than 1% of the apps sold in the App Store??? Listen, ban me if you really can't take pointed message commenting on ravenous practices, but please don't grab at straws by jumping on synonyms of perfectly acceptable words/thoughts.

[Ken Case]

Anjan, OmniFocus has been the top-selling productivity application since it shipped on the iPhone, outselling the $1.99 "to do" application right next to it. You may not appreciate the value of all of the work we put into this application, but it's clear that many of our customers do.

OmniFocus is an application that I expect to use daily for years. Are you really saying that it's worth less than the price of two games that I'm likely only going to use for a few months (if that)?

[Saaby]

Yup it's kind of an expensive app, but really how much are we all making hourly here? I bet I make less than most people here, because I just have an entry level job. Even at that OmniFocus costs only a portion of my salary from a single day, so I just paid it and moved on. They do excellent work, and if you've ever lived in Seattle, where Omni is based, well it isn't cheap! I guess silicon valley isn't either, but I digress.

The app only costs as much as a month of Edge data, or $10 less than a month of 3G data.

When I think of the 3G data (I'm still on 2G iPhone) I can either make it sound cheap "That's only $1 a day, people spend more than that on bottled water." or expensive "That's like almost as much as I pay for my home high speed connection!" It's all about perspective, so clear out of the one you're in and take a snapshot of a more optimistic one eh?

But this wasn't supposed to be about pricing anyway, it was supposed to be about the app crashing.

Sorry Omni, that Apple won't pass any useful crash data onto you, nor allow you to push updates fast, handle licensing in your own way (Like being able to bundle OmniFocus desktop and iPhone together for a discount), etc...I think you're doing great work, and now that I've paid for the app ;) I'm in it for the long haul.

That said, the thing that seems to make it crash for me is sync+anything. If I try to do anything while it's syncing, it seems to crash. If I wait for Sync to finish it seems pretty stable.

Also, I know you're working really hard. I'm all for anything that can be done to improve sync speed. My boss has MobileMe, and it's able to sync new calendar events pretty darn quick, so I know with some more time you'll be able to get there...Apple did get a pretty big jump start, after all.

[Young Daniel]

After spending $200-$500 on a phone that requires you to spend at least $70 a month for 2 years...$20 is expensive? And feeling that $20 is expensive justifies writing a review for a product you've never used? I'm starting to see why a program that helps you organize your thoughts and separates tasks into logical contexts doesn't appeal to you.

[pslade]

I have no problem paying the money for the application. I just want it to work when I use it. It seems that whenever there are important things that I need to capture and add an action for the application crashes on me mid way through. I then have to go to the inbox to see whether enough of it was saved for me to edit. I can also make the application crash sometimes just scrolling through the nearby actions and marking some of them complete. I then need to go back in and see how many it remembered and how many I need to re-mark (and hope it doesn't crash again). I would say it crashes about half the time I use it :(

My entire database is pretty small, maybe 100 items max. Again, the money isn't a problem for me, I would have happily paid double for the functionality, I just am just frustrated that I can trust it to keep running when I need it.

[Lizard]

pslade: We hear your frustration about the crashes. We've fixed some of them in 1.0.2 and we're also adding a mini CrashCatcher to make it easier to report whatever crashes are still happening. That'll help us find and fix them more quickly.

[Anjan]

Anjan, OmniFocus has been the top-selling productivity application since it shipped on the iPhone, outselling the $1.99 "to do" application right next to it. You may not appreciate the value of all of the work we put into this application, but it's clear that many of our customers do.

OmniFocus is an application that I expect to use daily for years. Are you really saying that it's worth less than the price of two games that I'm likely only going to use for a few months (if that)?
Ken,

I can see the point you are trying to make but you have to understand that the expectations of a fair priced, well made software is something we have come to expect of Omni. When you have severe issues like I'm reading on this forum, even after the update, I don't think its worth spending the $20 on. Come to think of it, are you compensating users for their loss of data/time? Or there is no implied punitive effect of releasing an obviously beta level software?

I hate making direct contradiction to claims but Ken you are waaay off the mark to claim Omnifocus as the top productivity app. I see that listed at #23. The following substitute apps (can be possibly used instead of OF except it doesn't sync with Desktop OF) are ahead of you -

YouNote (Free)
Evernote (Free)
Evernote (Free)
Zenbe Lists (Free)
To Do (Free)
reQall (Free)
DoBot Todos (Free)
EasyTask Manager (Free)

Point to note is that none of these apps (and others like OF, Things, ToDo) are ready for prime-time. They are unreliable and are causing severe problems for users that relied on them. I manage software development so don't think I don't understand the complexity of software engineering. But there is some inherent responsibility when you are charging for your product - A SLA if you will. And when you are charging a relatively high price - there is, justifiably, expectations of quality above and beyond. OF is failing terribly by the nature of problems users are encountering. The applications I work on are licensed for six figure amounts PER YEAR. If there were problems like this then I'd be out of a job.

First develop an application that DESERVES $20 and then claim that a lot of work went into developing it. And see if users buy your premise that other developers selling software are not hard workers or working for a pittance. You are free to charge any amount you want but when other developers provide a complete 360 degree GTD app for half your price, who do you think would pay twice? GL with that :)

[whpalmer4]

I hate making direct contradiction to claims but Ken you are waaay off the mark to claim Omnifocus as the top productivity app. I see that listed at #23. The following substitute apps (can be possibly used instead of OF except it doesn't sync with Desktop OF) are ahead of you -

YouNote (Free)
Evernote (Free)
Evernote (Free)
Zenbe Lists (Free)
To Do (Free)
reQall (Free)
DoBot Todos (Free)
EasyTask Manager (Free)



Point to note here is that apparently you failed to see (or comprehend) the string "best-selling" in Ken's text. Gee, what a surprise, people will download things that are free! If I was looking for an iPhone app of some sort, of course I would download all the free apps that I came across that looked at all promising. BFD.


First develop an application that DESERVES $20 and then claim that a lot of work went into developing it. And see if users buy your premise that other developers selling software are not hard workers or working for a pittance. You are free to charge any amount you want but when other developers provide a complete 360 degree GTD app for half your price, who do you think would pay twice? GL with that :)
By similar reasoning, I take it the applications you work on are the cheapest option in the space? Why would anyone be so stupid to pay more than they had to?

Hard to understand how cisco books so much revenue selling all that gear for so much more than the competition. Don't you IT guys know about the free router software you can run on old PCs?

I'm reminded of Oscar Wilde's definition of a cynic: "he knows the price of everything, and the value of nothing"

[Anjan]

Point to note here is that apparently you failed to see (or comprehend) the string "best-selling" in Ken's text. Gee, what a surprise, people will download things that are free! If I was looking for an iPhone app of some sort, of course I would download all the free apps that I came across that looked at all promising. BFD.

Wild guess - you must have a blog somewhere. The coherence and logic are awe inspiring!:rolleyes: While you go back and check into the definition of cheap versus fairly priced, I will stop responding to this thread because the conversation is drawing sophomoric ruminations. I could care less if you wanna pay a BMW price for a Hyundai but Brownian pattern of thought just annoys the hell out of me.

Thank you and have a good day.

[xmas]

If you are having issues related to crashing on launch, then please let us know:

Email OmniFocus Support (mailto:omnifocus@omnigroup.com?subject=<bug://bugs/48370> (Crash on launch, also rebooting phone??))