How to start syncing and keep data from iPhone/iPod touch? [Answered: See thread]
 

I've been using the iPhone app and now want to use the desktop application as well. What's the most simplistic, safest way to get the data from my iPhone to my desktop?

Happy to help! The simplest thing to do is probably the following. (I'm assuming you're using MobileMe to do your syncing; it's generally the easiest to set up. If you're using Bonjour or some other sync method, you can modify these steps a bit. (But feel free to ask questions if you're not sure what to do!)

First, start the desktop application up. If you previously had an earlier version of OmniFocus for Mac installed, a dialog box will appear that asks if you want to back up your database and upgrade it to a new format. Go ahead and let it.

Once the database upgrade process finishes, open up Preferences, under the OmniFocus menu. Switch to the Sync tab. This is where you'll set up your synchronization, and then transfer the settings to your phone.

In the Sync preferences pane, select "Sync With: MobileMe". You should see something like this in the Location field:
<https://idisk.me.com/<your MobileMe user name>/Documents/>

Press the 'Sync now' button on the right side of the window. This will copy your OmniFocus database to your iDisk, making it available for your iPhone and/or other Macs to sync with.

Next, press the "Send Settings" button at the bottom right of the Sync preferences pane. This will create an email. Make sure it's going to one of the mail accounts that the other devices you want to sync with all receive; once that's set up, go ahead and send the mail. Quit OmniFocus on your Mac.

Next, grab your iPhone and find the email you sent yourself. Tap the link in the email. OmniFocus will launch and may ask if you want to replace your existing Sync settings. Let it do so.

At this point, OmniFocus for iPhone will contact your sync server. Once it does so, it will see that your Mac added a database to the server. OmniFocus for iPhone will ask whether you want to use the "Local" or "Server" database. You want to answer LOCAL; this sends your info from the iPhone up to the server.

Return to your Mac, launch OmniFocus, and trigger another sync. OmniFocus for Mac will ask you the same question that your iPhone did; this time, you want to answer SERVER. This copies the information from the server and replaces the database your mac was originally using.

(You won't need to answer the "Local or server" question every time you sync; just during setup.)

Does that help?

Thank you, Brian! That worked great.