No Alarms or Alerts At All?!? [A: Install Growl to get alarms.]
 

Let's suppose I am NOT staring at my iPhone all day...
I just paid for the most expensive iPhone GTD app in the app store.
I'm planning on buying its $80 desktop counterpart...
Of course I'll grab the $100 per year subscription to MobileMe so the
whole thing runs smoothly...


No alerts, no popups, I can't set how long before an appointment I am alerted, and there are NO ALERTS!!!
NO TIME OF DAY SETTINGS ????

This is without a doubt the most unbelievably horrible piece of information
I will ever hear from this company, EVER.

By my own principles I HAVE TO go back to using ToDo.

I swear to god this is enough to make a guy want to SUE for HIS MONEY BACK!

This is THE MOST EXPENSIVE Task manager app in the entire app store
and there are NO ALERTS OF ANY KIND!

Get this:: An appointment/task management application with NO TIME OF DAY SETTINGS and NO ALARM SETTINGS.

PLUS: in the forums, other members say: "If you need to be alerted of your upcoming tasks, use iCal !!!

ABSOLUTELY, COMPLETELY 100% USELESS!!!

You keep the $20.

Or, you could calm down, and consider the possibility that the reviews you read were out of date. There [b]is[/b] in fact a facility for providing event notifications in OmniFocus for the iPhone, even though some might argue it is not in the true spirit of GTD.

Go read about it at [URL="http://forums.omnigroup.com/showthread.php?t=13131"]http://forums.omnigroup.com/showthread.php?t=13131[/URL]

[QUOTE=phlange;65981]NO TIME OF DAY SETTINGS ????[/QUOTE]

OmniFocus has always had timestamps for all dates, including start and due dates. So I'm not sure what you're talking (yelling) about.

In v1.7 and later, timestamps can be displayed in date columns using the command mentioned in this [URL="http://forums.omnigroup.com/showthread.php?p=65965#post65965"]thread[/URL]. Or you can view them by simply mousing over date values. Or view them in the inspector.

-Dennis

[QUOTE=phlange;65981]????!!!!!![/QUOTE]

Have you considered reading [URL="http://www.amazon.com/Getting-Things-Done-Stress-Free-Productivity/dp/0142000280/ref=sr_1_1/190-6206203-8626239?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1251970850&sr=8-1"]Getting things Done - The Art of Stress Free Productivity[/URL] by David Allen ?

A sense of calm and control is one of the main benefits of understanding and applying the GTD system.

Also, have you considered posting on the [URL="http://forums.omnigroup.com/forumdisplay.php?f=49"]Omnifocus for iPhone[/URL] forum ?

This forum discusses the Mac desktop version, and there is, I suspect, some risk that confusion and frustration may arise.

[QUOTE=RobTrew;65994]Have you considered reading [URL="http://www.amazon.com/Getting-Things-Done-Stress-Free-Productivity/dp/0142000280/ref=sr_1_1/190-6206203-8626239?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1251970850&sr=8-1"]Getting things Done - The Art of Stress Free Productivity[/URL] by David Allen ?

A sense of calm and control is one of the main benefits of understanding and applying the GTD system.

Also, have you considered posting on the [URL="http://forums.omnigroup.com/forumdisplay.php?f=49"]Omnifocus for iPhone[/URL] forum ?

This forum discusses the Mac desktop version, and there is, I suspect, some risk that confusion and frustration may arise.[/QUOTE]

LOL! That sense of calm is missing big time.... ignorance leading to panic..

Man, if I had any weed, I'd send you some. A little relaxation would do you good.

While this post comes in almost 2 years after the fact, it appears that nothing has changed. Couple of points.

1. I jumped on the Omnifocus bandwagin early, but jumped off due to lack of reminders and alarms. This was 2 years ago. Listen to a lot of Mac related podcasts includng the outstanding Mac Power Users Podcast, which got me to consider giving Omnifocus another shot. Still appears to be no alarms or reminders.
2. Omnifocus' early documentation cleary stated that while it could be used to implement GTD, the program wasn't strictly designed to comply with all aspects of GTD. Thus, the explanation that Omnifocus doesn't have reminders and alarms because the GTD system doesn't use them doesn't hold much water. Anyone that has any substantial workflow, or a life for that matter, doesn't have time to review their task list daily, or even sometimes weekly. Thus, the need for reminders and alarms. Otherwise, with the constant bombardment of emails, texts, faxes, calls, and other distractions, critical taks and appointments do not come to your attention until the last minute, creating even more pressure, or worse not at all, in which case you miss the appointment or deadline.
3. The Omnigroup overall makes excellent software. Thus, don't understand why they program doesn't have reminders and alarms. I have used dozens of task management programs for Mac Desktop, Iphone, and now the Ipad. They all have one thing in common. They all have reminders and alarms! Again, given Omnigroup's substantial intellectual heft and array of outstanding software products, I don't understand why they have not put in reminders and alarms into this product. Otherwise they are admittng the software programmers at RTM, Toodledo, and Things, are smarter and design a better product. I know this is not the case, so please put in Reminders and Alarms into Omnifocus.

The program now has alarms (I, personally, turned them off). They've been there since 1.7 or 1.8, so for over a year now if I recall correctly. They use iOS local notifications.

Sorry that's for the iOS version. The Mac version has had alerts since 1.0 I think. You need to install Growl, then you can fill your screen with worthless popups :-)

[QUOTE=CatOne;99234]
You need to install Growl, then you can fill your screen with worthless popups :-)[/QUOTE]

Exactly!
Getting an alarm once in a while is good and grabs your attention. But when one gets them constantly for every little thing, they become annoying and they loose their effectiveness.

To the OP:
First of all, calm down. Your post sounds like it was written by a troll.
If you want alarms, iCal can also give you as many as you want. As intrusive and annoying as you make them be.
Using OmniFocus and iCal is a very powerful combo!

No - There are No True Reminders and Alarms - Only Poor Workarounds
 

First, I agree that you should eliminate as many pop ups and bells and whistles as possible because they do become meaningless if you have too many. However, some tasks are so critical that they can't be allowed to fall through the cracks, thus the need for reminders and alarms.

After reading the last two posts in response to my original post, I remain unconvinced, and still conclude that Omnifocus (Mac Desktop) still lacks true reminders and alarms.

Yes, Growl works, but can't be set in advance. Sometimes this will work, i.e. leave office now or X task due today. This would work for tasks that could be completed in a short amount of time on due date. However, for many tasks of more substantial length it is of little value to be reminded on the day that it is due. I guess you could create yet another reminder task, to remind you that the main task is due and then have Growl notify you in advance. Lot of extra work, brain damage, and as noted creates more worthless and annoying pop ups.

Yes, you can sync with Ical. That is if you want to double your work load. Once the sync is complete, you then have to switch to Ical to set the Alarms or Reminders in Ical. At worst this defeats the purpose of trying to streamline your task management in one place (Omnifocus). At best it creates needless extra work. When you factor the horrible Ical editing interface, it creates substantially more work. How or why Apple continues to neglect Ical, and build in basic functionality that Google Calenders has had forever is mind boggling. Bottom line, you should be able to set the Alarm or multiple reminders in Omnifocus at the time you create the task, or when reviewing your tasks in Omnifocus, i.e one stop shopping.