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-   -   Android users - how do you manage? (http://forums.omnigroup.com/showthread.php?t=24821)

Mitch Wagner 2012-07-05 11:30 AM

Android users - how do you manage?
 
I've ordered the Nexus 7 and I'm anticipating using it as my primary tablet (I know -- highly optimistic considering I haven't even gone hands-on with it). The big problem: OmniFocus. I'd love to be able to access it on the Nexus.

My current plan is to simply use the [email]send-to-omnifocus@omnigroup.com[/email] option to add tasks from the Nexus, and do everything else from the Mac, iPad, and iPhone as I do now.

I'm wondering how other Android/Omnifocus users cope.

emory 2012-07-05 11:45 AM

Get a trial account on [url]http://www.spootnik.net/[/url] and kick the tires. It's not an outstanding web interface to OmniFocus, but it is serviceable.

(No disrespect intended to the developer, it's literally the only option and the reason it exists is to facilitate OmniFocus/Basecamp interactions, not to be a Web OmniFocus)

If you go full-Android I would recommend one of the web GTD applications, the best one (imo) is NirvanaHQ [url]https://www.nirvanahq.com/[/url], I haven't seen anything on Android that comes remotely close to OmniFocus. Nirvana doesn't either but it has a good interface and an offline mode and is the most serviceable.

// side note, I would not hate it if OmniGroup was more encouraging of third party developers to do this sort of thing if it isn't one of their priorities -- would really help a lot of users out, it's a common question.

Mitch Wagner 2012-07-05 01:59 PM

@emory - Thanks for the tips. I haven't heard about nirvanahq. I'll check it out.

I'm looking into Nozbe as an alternative to OF. The downsides: Somewhat expensive, and the Android client gets poor reviews.

emory 2012-07-06 06:36 AM

I used Nozbe for a while on a trial basis. My biggest complaints about it were that the interface was a bit clunky and the developer/company was really HEY HOW ARE YOU DOING LET ME TELL YOU ABOUT PRODUCTIVITY AND NOZBE.

Mitch Wagner 2012-07-06 12:32 PM

Ha! I've used apps like that.

I'm trying out Evernote as a possible OmniFocus replacement. We'll see how it goes.

Ron1n 2012-07-17 04:41 AM

Astrid, Any.Do
 
I have all 3 versions of OF (iPhone, iPad and Mac) but I have converted to Android so need a replacement. I've tried a few but narrowed it down to Astrid and Any.Do. But my needs are quite simple.

All that said, if Apple opened up its OS a bit more I'd be back in a flash and the main reason would be OF. In fact, if I return to iOS it will be 90% because of OF.

Edited (finally): pathetic spelling :)

BrainInside 2012-10-17 07:20 PM

[QUOTE=emory;112339]I used Nozbe for a while on a trial basis. My biggest complaints about it were that the interface was a bit clunky and the developer/company was really HEY HOW ARE YOU DOING LET ME TELL YOU ABOUT PRODUCTIVITY AND NOZBE.[/QUOTE]

Haha I had the same feeling. Plus almost no shortcuts. I tested "all" the apps on the market and tried to quit omnifocus twice... it is impossible.

@Mitch - why did you purchased Nexus? Is it because of you use a lot of google apps, size, price?
I have iPad 1, exclusively for OF and ebooks. I use some more apps, but basically that was the reason I purchased that. I tried to quit omnifocus and switch fully to Google based apps and use Nexus 7 and Google Nexus Galaxy, but OmniFocus beats everything.
So if it is price what concerned you, I would recommend to buy a pristine condition iPad 1 from eBay, cheaper than a new Nexus. Plus, it will work nicely with your iPhone (if you use iPhone). Believe me, OmniFocus on Mac + iPad is a killer. I really recommend it.

whpalmer4 2012-10-17 07:35 PM

[QUOTE=BrainInside;116220]I would recommend to buy a pristine condition iPad 1[/QUOTE]
Probably a safer proposition to buy an iPad 2 at this point, perhaps one with imperfect cosmetics if price is an issue. Even the iPad 2 misses out on some features in iOS 6; it's a false economy to buy nearly-obsolete hardware, IMO.

BrainInside 2012-10-18 03:07 AM

[QUOTE=whpalmer4;116221]Probably a safer proposition to buy an iPad 2 at this point, perhaps one with imperfect cosmetics if price is an issue. Even the iPad 2 misses out on some features in iOS 6; it's a false economy to buy nearly-obsolete hardware, IMO.[/QUOTE]

Good point. But if you use it only for OmniFocus, iCal and eBooks... Apple keeps the price of it's product. If you buy iPad/iPhone in excellent cosmetic condition, you will be able to sell it for much more (considering you will carry for that device). If you want to switch more tasks to iPad, you're right. I found much easier, quicker and more comfortable to have my base camp on my MacBook Pro. But, it is uncomfortable to read on MBP, and weekly reviewing on iPad rocks. If you don't need games, camera, 3G connection (iPad 1 has Wi-Fi - good enough for me), bunch of software which requires iPad 2/3, etc., iPad 1 will be the cheapest solution. Also, accessories for iPad 1 are cheaper (like Apple case) than for iPad 3. Depends what you want to use it for. For my needs, I find no difference in iPad 1 and 3.

Clutch 2012-10-30 08:54 PM

I traded my iPhone for a Galaxy S2, but omnifocus made me go back. Now I'm tired of iPhone again and plan to change. Won't be able to quit OF, so I too will have to find some other solution.

Last time I used an automated apple script to export a few perspectives to an html file in dropbox, and I might try that again. You can't edit anything, but at least you get access to your contexts, which should be enough when you're only using your phone.

Script can be found here: [url]http://forums.omnigroup.com/showpost.php?p=51516&postcount=2[/url]

I automated it with Lingon 3, which is simple to use and available on the app store.

Yury 2012-12-03 03:34 PM

Android
 
I just bought a Galaxy Note 2, because of true pen integration. That feature alone is making me switch.

I use iPad and Mac, but iPhone just does not cut it.

wilsonng 2012-12-04 12:35 AM

[QUOTE=Ron1n;112695]I have all 3 versions of OF (iPhone, iPad and Mac) but I have converted to Android so need a replacement. I've tried a few but narrowed it down to Astrid and Any.Do. But my needs are quite simple.

All that said, if Apple opened up its OS a bit more I'd be back in a flash and the main reason would be OF. In fact, if I return to iOS it will be 90% because of OF.

Edited (finally): pathetic spelling :)[/QUOTE]

I don't understand what is meant by "being more open." Could you better explain what it means?

I'm guessing you may be mixing the term "being more open" with "more customizable"?

I sometimes hear that being "more open" means to introduce even more apps or hacks that do all kinds of things to a person's smartphone. But I'm not really very interested in hacks and cute screensavers. I just want to get my work done on my iPad or iPhone and be done with it.

Sure there are things I'd like such as a built-in SD card slot for memory expansion on the iPad/iPhone but I'm willing to live with its limitations and conceive different ways of getting things done. We all live within the limits of each ecosystem. That's just a fact of life.

kingsinger 2013-02-04 07:21 PM

I've been experimenting with todo.txt lately. Syncs with dropbox. Been helping another OF/Android user test out an applescript he wrote to partially sync the todo.txt file with OF (it will add new items to OF and mark items you marked completed in todo.txt completed in your main OF database).

While it's not perfect for a variety of reasons, it has the virtue of keeping you working with more or less the same universe of data. It also keeps the data out of a proprietary format other than OF's.

In addition, the todotxt.net client for windows isn't bad and also syncs with dropbox. So if you also work on a windows box, it gives you a way to access that info there too.

The UI of these apps won't make you forget OF. But they are a start.

I've also been using wunderlist a bit for more personal errands type tasks. Because you can share tasks lists with other, this is helpful for lists that my sweetie and I are working on together.

JL

kingsinger 2013-02-13 08:38 PM

Applescript to sync OF items with todo.txt app in android
 
I've been using this great applescript by OF user William McKeehan to sync a perspective with the todo.txt app for android: [URL="http://mckeehan.homeip.net/computers/omnifocus/index.htm"]http://mckeehan.homeip.net/computers/omnifocus/index.htm[/URL]

Todo.txt doesn't present the info in the nicest fashion visually, but you get most of the important stuff and you can filter by project/context, flagged, etc. It also has dropbox sync built-in, so any time you do a sync, it will update the todo.txt file and push the newest info to your phone.

If you are running an android device that has 4.0 or greater on it, there's another app called simpletask, which is a fork of todo.txt with holo theming and a few other goodies. It's currently free too, whereas todo.txt is $1.99.

If you mark an action item completed in todo.txt, the script will mark it as complete in omni when you run it and sync. If you create new items in todo.txt, the script will also add these times to omni. If you specify a project/context, etc., this stuff will also get added.

Todo.txt has a simple syntax for entering items, because it's a plain text task management app (the syntax is similar to taskpaper). Projects get a + in front of them. contexts get an @.

If you have flagged items, they come into todo.txt as a context called @flagged.

The script also automatically replaces spaces in any OF context or project with underscores, so that todo.txt can properly parse each line item for contexts and projects. Going back in the other direction, the script removes the underscores for you.

All in all, it's not a bad way to go, as it also has the added benefit of making your todo items available on a windows machine via dropbox and a program like todotxt.net (actually, because the file is plain text, you can look at your todo items using any text editor or maybe even a web browser in a pinch).

If there's a downside other than the look of the items themselves in the todo.txt app, it's that the script can be a little slow.

But at least for me, that hasn't been a huge issue. You might be able to automate the syncing with a hazel rule if you're into that. If so, it might make sense to add a script step at the end of AS that closes OF, unless you want it to just stay open all the time on one of your machines.

luminosity 2013-09-14 02:16 AM

Another option
 
Another option is MyLifeOrganized. It's what OF replaced for me when I moved from Windows to OS X.

MLO runs on Windows, iOS, Android, Blackberry, Pocket PC. There is no OSX version, which is a bummer. But it runs well in a VM and also in an emulator like Wine or Crossover.

I went back to using MLO when I decided to go with an Android Smartphone rather than an iPhone. I looked high and low for a way to get OF and Android to work together in a satisfactory way. The scripts (already mentioned in prior replies) to sync to Todo.txt was about the best option I found for sticking with OF and syncing with Android.

blur606 2013-09-16 04:23 PM

I just found this on Google Play.

[url]https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.discourse.send2omnifocus&psid=2[/url]

Only lets you send tasks, but it's been working well for me. There's some small bugs, but otherwise it's an alright option, especially considering it's free without ads. I think the developer just recently posted it, so I'm hoping they'll fix them soon.

letega 2014-03-06 06:23 AM

I’ve tried all these ideas.Send to Omnifocus, Spootnik, emailing tasks to myself, Nozbe and a ton others.

I finally broke down and bought an iPod touch. I just love my android so much. But I need something always with me for the tasks. So the iPod touch is light and won’t add much more weight to my purse.

I’m still not sure how this will turn out, using 2 devices. I’ll report back.


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