Disappointed - poor value
 

I feel bad about complaining. Believe me, I'm not one of the huge army out there of web whiners.

But I just have to get this off my chest. And more positively, I also hope it will help to lift the shade from my vision and allow me to see what it is I'm missing.

I discovered GTD a couple of months ago and regard it as a neat and helpful methodology.

I then did quite a lot of research around iPad apps for GTD (pretty much a whole weekend). Time and again I came across Omnifocus as "the" GTD app. In the end, despite the massive cost - relatively speaking - I bit the bullet and bought.

My conclusion after 3 or 4 weeks of use is that Omnifocus for iPad is totally underwhelming.

Let me say that it's pleasant to use and does indeed allow the user to create and classify projects and tasks in line with GTD. But I keep asking myself -- "Is that all there is?"

In relation to other productivity apps and software in general, and when price is taken into account, Omnifocus for iPad is extremely minimalistic -- to put it politely.

I constantly see the price quoted as $40. For some reason, I had to pay only half of that, but still consider it phenomenally overpriced. If I'd paid $40 I'd be spitting feathers.

Maybe it doesn't help that I don't use a Mac or iPhone. Maybe there are additional features in those apps that suddenly bring out the value in iPad Omnifocus, and would make the investment seem more worthwhile.

Like the great majority of people in business, I get issued with a Windows PC. Not ideal, but that is the current default. It astonishes me that (for the price) there is no Windows version I can sync with to help manage work tasks. Not even a full-blown Windows app, but some sort of basic interface through which I could at least view and enter tasks and then sync them to the iPad.

That's it really. Just disappointed at the very poor value for money. I have to acknowledge that many people seem to be totally in love with this software. There are a ridiculous number of gushing five star reviews on the App Store. Utterly misleading for a would-be purchaser. I would give it 3 stars for functionality as it does what it sets out to do -- without any frills. And 1 star for value.

I'll repeat -- it works perfectly well but unless I'm missing something, this app lacks anything like the sophistication and features that I would expect to get for $20 or $40.

Other than the lack of a Windows version, what sophistication and features do you feel the app is missing?

[QUOTE=Greg Jones;112415]Other than the lack of a Windows version, what sophistication and features do you feel the app is missing?[/QUOTE]

Good question -- something to justify the price, I guess. Perhaps reporting and analysis tools? Perhaps system-generated analysis of trends in progress with projects? Richer features to actually manage projects. Some visual aids -- gantt charts? I'm not sure. Something a big step on from a spreadsheet, which is what I used to categorise tasks, projects, contexts etc. when I was reading the book in April. It's hard to see too much additional value here except a pleasant interface.

The thing is, GTD is essentially a pretty simple methodology (one of the reasons it works well), so perhaps you ask a good question: in a world where the average iPad app is a couple of dollars, and $10 is usually pretty feature-rich, what can you actually fill a GTD app with to make it worth $20 or $40? (And I see that users are asked to pay again for the iPhone and Mac apps... !!)

After I wrote my post, I noticed that there was a similar discussion a bit further down the page. The main defence of Omnifocus seems to be that it's an investment i.e. a small price to pay for greater efficiency and time-saving. It's not that $20 or $40 is too much to pay for something that will help to save time and stress. In isolation, of course it isn't. But in the context of iPad apps, it is very pricey however you look at it.

Moreover, it is GTD that is the time-saver surely, rather than the wrapper? Omnifocus is another means of implementing it -- I could well understand the value argument if the Omnigroup had originated the methodology.

And finally, the other popular defence is that it's a free market and that no one is forcing me to buy it. Indeed not. But the issue I have is that it's a leap of faith because there does not seem to be a mechanism for trialling the software before a decision is made. I read the reviews, and thought - wow, this must a totally incredible app. I then discover that it's a decent app, but nothing more, and I feel short-changed.

[B][I]Is[/I][/B] there a way of getting a refund? It's the principle rather than the cash -- I'm not that financially pressured, I can assure you. But other people reading these forums might be, and should know that there is an alternative view.

Understandable
 

I hear your comments. I purchased both the iPad and iPhone apps! While they are quite good, after using them for a while, I am not convinced I made a good investment. I too live in a Windows 7 world at work. Not having a web interface to Omnifocus is a huge drawback. Yes, there is Spootnik, but it is pretty bare-boned and I have to pay monthly for the sync.

For the Mac across the board contingent, then I can see how they have it all. But for most of corporate America in a Windows environment, it is not optimal, to say the least. Therefore, I agree that the price structure is too much.

[quote]
[B][I]Is[/I][/B] there a way of getting a refund? It's the principle rather than the cash -- I'm not that financially pressured, I can assure you. But other people reading these forums might be, and should know that there is an alternative view.[/QUOTE]

Try a search for "omnifocus refund".

Sticking with Omnifocus
 

With what I said, I am still sticking with Omnifocus. It IS quite good. I will just keep wishing for a web interface. :)

I'm not sure I understand the dynamic of buying a piece of software that does not run on windows, does not claim to run on windows, nor has ever run on windows and then being upset that it doesn't work on windows.

Did I miss something here?

J.

Web interface
 

The corporate world IS dominated by Windows. My lament is that there is not a great web interface to Omnifocus for us Windows corporate users.

The thing I think is worth the money in OmniFocus is cloud sync that works.

Nothing else I've tried has worked so well or been so reliable. And if I don't trust the sync, I don't trust the app.

I own OmniFocus on iPhone, iPad, and Mac OS X and find them remarkably underpriced for what they offer.

I wouldn't ever suggest someone buy OmniFocus for iOS without having a Mac available, I'd recommend using one of the web services like Asana or NirvanaHQ in that scenario.