Sync iPhone and Desktop Omnifocus
 

I currently use Snow Leopard and Omnifocus v1.9.4 using the Beta server to sync. I updated a project at work and came home only find Desktop Omnifocus has not received the change. I had to open and close Omnifocus on the iPhone before the desktop would see the change.

I thought by updating the iPhone the change would replicate to the desktop.

It appears I need to be on the same network to sync?

Both the iPhone and the Mac have to do a sync for the change to get to the Mac, and the iPhone has to do the sync first. They don't communicate directly with each other, but with the central server. Syncs happen on demand (when you tap the sync button), a minute after you make a change, an hour after the last sync, or when you quit the Mac app. So, if you make a change on the iPhone and it syncs the change to the server, it might be as much as an hour before the Mac picks up the change by itself, and of course longer if you didn't leave the application running, as it only syncs while it is running.

Another possibility is that the iPhone app didn't run long enough after you made the change to get a chance to sync.

Think of it as communication via putting notes on a bulletin board. You put the note up when you make a change, and when you are there, you look to see if there are any new notes for you. Otherwise, you only look at the bulletin board occasionally, and a note for you might sit there for a while before you see it.

What happens when iCal synchronization is part of the mix? I have iCal synching enabled and the calendar was updated with the changed ie., the original event was not updated

Thanks,

OmniFocus has two features which folks often call "iCal Sync", but what they do and how they work are very different. I'll try to cover all the bases, but if I miss something, clarify the question and I'll take another shot at it. :-)

iCal Sync - moving data both ways - is only supported on the Mac. You trigger it from the File menu.

The Calendar Reminders feature is supported on the Mac and in both of the iOS applications. OmniFocus will export information about your deadlines to a file that calendar apps can read. It happens as part of the Sync process, but information only moves in one direction. From OmniFocus to your calendars.

If you synced the phone app and neither OmniFocus or your calendar apps saw the change, the "not enough time to finish syncing" scenario is most likely.

We start a sync when you switch away, and iOS gives us a little bit of time to finish doing so when you switch to another app, but they can (and sometimes will) halt the app before that process completes.