Feature request: higher visibility for sync progress bar
 

Hi,

As OmniFocus can't sync while it's not running (iPhone OS's policy I know), I find I often have to go to the info view to check the sync progress bar, to see if it's worth waiting before I close the app; or if (e.g. for slow network reasons) it's taking so long that I should give up and try later (when I have a faster 3G/Wi-Fi connection).

(I run into this scenario almost daily, as I finish-up sorting my actions in the morning, and go to get off the train.)

One UI solution to this might be to make the sync-bar (optionally) globally visible when a sync's in progress. Something like:

[IMG]http://www.jeff-collins.co.uk/img/misc/omnifocus-sync-bar-idea.jpg[/IMG]

I'd find that pretty useful - anyone else?

Jeff Collins
London

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I check the status update mostly every time I sync. I am not patient :mad:

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I watch the progress bar every time I sync too. Have to keep touching the screen so the phone doesn't go to sleep.

If the sync only gets half-way, does it have to start again from the beginning?

h

Yes, I fully agree that the progress bar would make a significant improvement. I have grown to compulsively digging into the menus to find the progress bar—highly inconvenient. :)

Also, howiem's question is plausible: What happens if the sync process is interrupted?

Folks that want to see a change like this can email the [EMAIL="omnifocus-iphone@omnigroup.com"]support ninjas[/EMAIL]; they'll be happy to add and/or vote up a feature request on this.

If I can play devil's advocate for a moment, though: our general recommendation is for folks to just tap the power button, which puts the screen to sleep w/out quitting OmniFocus.

At that point, just stick the phone in a pocket and let it finish syncing at whatever pace the network lets you do so. If a sync doesn't finish for some reason, the next sync will picks things up at that point; a partial sync doesn't cause any problems.

Once it's fully synced, it won't check with the server again for an hour, so you're not running the radio any longer than is necessary.