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-   -   Text Expander (http://forums.omnigroup.com/showthread.php?t=17166)

mumblingsages 2010-08-04 12:29 PM

Text Expander
 
Any plans to support text expander in OF for iPad? or iPhone for that matter?

Brian 2010-08-04 05:51 PM

We've got feature requests open on supporting it in both iPad and iPhone editions - interested parties can email our [EMAIL="omnifocus-iPhone@omnigroup.com"]support ninjas[/EMAIL] and let them know they'd like to see the change. Items with more customers attached tend to bubble up the priority list.

Thanks!

lmsboy 2010-08-05 02:23 PM

[QUOTE=mumblingsages;82661]Any plans to support text expander in OF for iPad? or iPhone for that matter?[/QUOTE]

Who really want's to use another App to write a text and transfer this to something like OF? I don't think that this is productive. I never understand, why people really wants TE support on any App...

Steves71 2010-08-06 08:21 AM

[QUOTE=lmsboy;82766]Who really want's to use another App to write a text and transfer this to something like OF? I don't think that this is productive. I never understand, why people really wants TE support on any App...[/QUOTE]

I don't think you realize what the OP means by textexpander support. As it stands, if you use textexpander with OF for iPad/iPhone you need to do as you mentioned, type it up in textexpander then copy/paste into OF. If support for textexpander was added it would eliminate this need to switch apps as OF would be able to use any of the shortcuts. It's basically a workaround to the sandboxing nature of the iOS and allows it to work like it does on a Mac.

I am another that would benefit by OF enabling support for textexpander.

lmsboy 2010-08-06 01:40 PM

So does it mean it would work in background? I thought Apple disallowed this to Apps, so I was thinking, that you'll always have to use copy/paste/AppSwitch which would be very bad ;)

Steves71 2010-08-06 11:20 PM

It doesn't work in the background as such, you don't have to have textexpander running in the background to make it work. I'm not a developer so don't know how this link between two programs is executed but from the user side of things it appears that if an application is developed to include textexpander support it can read outside it's own environment and see the shortcuts created in the text expanded application folder.

A few application that I have used that provide textexpander integration are Appigo ToDo, Twitter for iPhone (formally Tweetie 2) and Twittelator Pro. One of the main reasons this would be helpful to me is for phone numbers. I could set up a list of frequently used phone numbers within textexpander then within OF when creating a new event to phone someone all I have to do is type the shortcut that I predefined. This would save a huge deal of time jumping back and forth between OF and the address book app and when I see an event to make a phone call I could initiate it directly from within OF on the iPhone.

That's just one example but there are many more ways in which it would save time.

lmsboy 2010-08-07 02:09 AM

That sounds really good!! So yes, please support it ;)

whpalmer4 2010-08-07 09:14 AM

[QUOTE=Steves71;82891]One of the main reasons this would be helpful to me is for phone numbers. I could set up a list of frequently used phone numbers within textexpander then within OF when creating a new event to phone someone all I have to do is type the shortcut that I predefined. This would save a huge deal of time jumping back and forth between OF and the address book app and when I see an event to make a phone call I could initiate it directly from within OF on the iPhone.
[/QUOTE]

I'm not sure I see any huge advantage in this particular example. If you go to the Address Book app, you can tap and hold on the desired phone number, and select Copy. Now go to OmniFocus and paste it into the note of the action to call someone. When it comes time to actually execute that action, you can just tap the phone number and the iPhone will call it.

Your scheme might save a bit of tapping but at the cost of remembering a bunch of abbreviations for various phone numbers. Measured as a percentage of the total number of taps to enter the action, shortcut, etc. going to the Address Book might not be much marginal overhead. Streamlining this by allowing you to pick contact cards directly from the Address Book database while in OmniFocus would seem like a friendlier solution.

Not to say that Text Expander support wouldn't be welcome, of course!

Steves71 2010-08-07 11:07 AM

@whpalmer4 I gave this as an example because it is one I already use with the Mac version of OF. I already have over 20 textexpander shortcuts to phone numbers, all simple to remember eg. bobmobile, bossmobile, bossoffice etc. So when I'm on my Mac I don't have to switch to the address book to get a contacts number. It would work exactly the same with an iOS version, everything could be done within OF without having to switch out to a different app to get additional info.

It's not just phone number, URL's too, not simple web addresses but long ones that go to a specific page that I visit on a regular basis. If these could be entered via a textexpander shortcut too it's all saves time from switching apps.

I use shortcuts for plenty of other shortcuts too, and I'm sure anyone else who uses textexpander on their Mac has their own way of using it and will agree that it can become a huge timesaver, and would save even more time on an iOS device. Unless you are a regular user of textexpander a lot of people don't realize it's benefits, I too thought like that up until a year ago.

Where OF helps you to organize your life and help you to be more productive. Textexpander can help you save time in the organising part, leaving more time to be productive.

hypotyposis 2010-12-07 07:14 AM

Ok, I'm bumping up this thread because I've become seriously addicted to TextExpander, and I'd like to know whether there's any chance to see support on OF iPad any time soon. (And yes, I've already sent in my vote a long time ago.)
The Textexpander website claims it's "very easy" to integrate Textexpander into another app, and have the following link to their free SDK for such purposes: [url]http://smilesoftware.com/TextExpander/touch/sdk.html[/url]

The reason the app became indispensable for me is because of the ease of creating symbols with it (both on desktop and iPad/iPhone). For technical fields (in my case, medical), it's really useful and unfortunately not standard otherwise. My joy at being able to insert a simple arrow up is quite sad, really.

Please, OG, make this happen quickly!


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